Month: April 2020

Behind the Scenes Update and a Video to Start Your Mornings

~ SD Shanti ~ Leave a comment

Dear Readers, 

Thank you for subscribing to my blog. I hope that you are doing as well as possible, given the current conditions. 

Answer Bank 

Do you have specific questions or topics you would like covered in this blog? I am planning a section called “Answer Bank” where I will answer questions related to emotional health and wellbeing and will share my responses in a dedicated page on this site. 

Chances are, if you have a question, someone else also shares the same concerns. That is why I felt the Answer Bank could grow into a useful resource. And of course I will keep your identity anonymous when I post the question and answer there. 

Behind the Scenes at Prescriptions for Hope

Currently, I am in discussion with two child psychologists and two professional singers (one is a formally trained chanting teacher and the other is classically trained.)

My goal is to increase resources for parents and children, and to offer live chanting sessions via the Internet, because chanting offers psychological benefits and is something everyone can do.

Reviewers

Prior to posting on the blog, everything I publish is reviewed by colleagues in mental health and public health. This is to ensure quality and readability. I also have non-psychologists read as much as possible, to ensure clarity for general audiences. 

If you are a mental health professional and would like to volunteer as a reviewer, I would welcome that. 

Helping Medical Personnel Procure Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

You might have heard about the shortage of protective gear among frontline medical personnel in the United States. Doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and others are forced to work with highly infectious patients and are not provided adequate PPE such as masks that protect against COVID-19. 

Already, this has resulted in deaths of medical personnel. There have also been instances, where they requested proper equipment, and the workers were either terminated from their jobs or reprimanded. This situation makes the pandemic even more challenging when our medical professionals are unnecessarily risking their health and lives while helping the public. 

Upon discovering by chance that medical clinics near me were lacking masks, protective gowns and sanitizer, I got involved in helping them procure supplies. In the course of my advocacy endeavors, I happened to learn about severe shortages not only in the greater Phoenix area, but also in the northern part of Arizona.

After a lot of intensive outreach and search for resources, I’m pleased to share with you that in addition to local clinics, I was able to help a large rural hospital as well as its related satellite clinics that serve some of the hardest hit areas of the state. 

As a result of my helping with PPE procurement, my videos and other Prescriptions for Hope were slowed down. However, in the next days, I will be releasing more prescriptions. 

Book on Emotional Wellbeing

Currently I am preparing PDF files of some of the chapters from my book, The Time-Starved Woman’s Guide to Emotional Wellbeing: tools and strategies for balance. My goal is to make these available to you here at no cost. These chapters contain research-based tools to promote emotional health and the content is relevant for men and women.

While revisions were underway, the original publisher was bought by another company thereby delaying everything and hampering access to online orders. The planned revisions don’t affect the usefulness of the content.

If you are interested, I have a limited number of copies that I had purchased from the publisher and can sell to you. All proceeds would go toward the operating costs of this website and blog. 

Upcoming Webinars 

Please let me know if you would like me to present a webinar for a group or organization that you are a member of. 

Later this month, I will be doing a webinar, Mindfulness Meditation: a multi-faceted tool for turbulent times, for the Columbia University Alumni Association, Northern California Chapter. 

In May, I will be doing a webinar,  Access Your Inner Calm – mindfulness made accessible to all, via Changing Hands Bookstore in the Phoenix area. This webinar is open to the public and as soon as I have the sign up information, I will share it with you. 

An Uplifting Way to Start Off Your Pandemic Mornings 

Morning Dance by Spyrogyra is energizing and uplifting. You may like to start your day with it. You can indeed dance to it, solo or with a loved one…or just tap your toes to the music while heating your water for coffee or tea. 

Rx Listen as often as needed. No side effects.

We are all in this pandemic together, and you can be sure, where ever you are in the world, that as you listen and/or dance to this, I am with you in spirit and am doing the same. I use this music like a tea bag to infuse myself with positive feelings to help me face challenges. I’m sharing this with you in the hopes that it will add an uplifting moment to your day.

Along those lines, if you have a favorite piece of music that you start your day with, I’d love to hear it! And if enough of you share your personal favorites of uplifting music, we could even have a dedicated page on this site with our collective playlist. 

With many good wishes, 

Dr. S.D. Shanti

Rx 14 Mindfulness Meditation: no cushion or monastery needed

~ SD Shanti ~ 1 Comment

Dr. S.D. Shanti, April 17, 2020

Mindfulness helps you to manage stress and increase your awareness of joy and gratitude in your life. It can also help to enrich your relationships with loved ones.

You don’t have to sit on a cushion for hours. Instead, you can simply turn everyday activities such as walking, eating, washing dishes, chopping vegetables and singing into mindfulness meditation.

Below is an excerpt from my book, The Time-Starved Woman’s Guide to Emotional Wellbeing: tools and strategies for balance, which offers you a brief overview of mindfulness. Of course this information is not for women only. I’ve been teaching mindfulness since 1996 to women, men and children in a variety of settings, including at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

You might consider chocolate mediation. It’s something everyone tells me they like and I will be sharing more on chocolate meditation in forthcoming posts.

Mindfulness—Going from Automatic to Aware

Mindfulness is a non-religious activity that promotes health and is supported by modern-day brain and physiology research. It is a widely-used tool in health psychology.

Mindfulness is about going from automatic to aware and being focused on the here and now. It is one of the simplest and most effective ways to appreciate what is good in your life. You can also use it to become aware, in a non-judgmental way, of negative thoughts that automatically pop up in your mind.

Picture your mind as the pendulum of a clock, moving back and forth, from the past into the future. The mid-point of the pendulum swing is the here and now. When your thoughts are on autopilot and drift off into worries about the future or criticism about your past actions—or any negative thoughts, for that matter—bring yourself from automatic to aware.

Notice where your thoughts are straying. Are your automatic thoughts steering you toward feeling bad? Take note of what registers for you and steer yourself toward neutral or positive thoughts.

To get started with Mindfulness, breathe slowly and focus on your breath. Use your awareness of your breath as an anchor to keep your thoughts from drifting in unwanted directions. In moments when you catch your thoughts going in directions you don’t want or don’t like, gently bring your attention back to your breath. You can look at your belly rising and falling as you breathe.  Or you can notice the air going in and out of your nose as you inhale and exhale.

Your breath is your doorway to “stillness on demand.” It is available to you any time and any place, no matter the circumstances, whether it is during a medical procedure, at a performance review, or if you are about to erupt in frustration at your spouse or child.

Cultivating Mindfulness is easy and within everyone’s reach. It is not necessary to sit on a cushion or go on a retreat. If you’re too wound up—or just don’t have time—to sit quietly and focus on your breathing, you can focus on whatever you are doing, whether it is walking, eating, drinking, or working in the kitchen. You can even use everyday sounds in your environment, like the chirping of a bird or the ticking of clock, to keep you “aware” and keep your mind from drifting to automatic or negative thoughts.

If all of this seems like a lot of work, just take a piece of chocolate, put it in your mouth, and savor it with your full attention. Close your eyes. Let the chocolate melt and enjoy the richness. Breathing is a good anchor for calm, but as you know, sometimes chocolate can come in a close second. And when you eat chocolate mindfully, you are more likely to be satisfied with less (so you can enjoy your chocolate and not feel guilty about eating it).
© 2020, Dr. S.D. Shanti

Image by Jacqueline Macou from Pixabay

Rx 12 A Science-Based Cartoon to Help You Search for Solutions

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by Dr. SD Shanti, April 5, 2020. For translation and further details on how to use this tool, please scroll below.

  • What is Inside of You: Your thoughts, emotions, feelings, and motivations.
  • What You Do: Your actions and behaviors, including your interactions with other people.
  • The World Around You: Your environment, which includes the people around you, the culture in which you live, the physical structures of your home, aspects of your neighborhood, and the political and economic climate in which you live and work. The elements of your environment surround you in an array of concentric circles.

Use this three-part tool whenever you feel overloaded or stuck. You can also use it if you simply want to find a new way of looking at an old problem.

How to Use this Three-Part Tool

Whenever you are stuck or stressed, ask yourself these questions:

  • How can I think differently?
  • Can I view this situation from a different perspective?
  • What can I do differently?
  • Who can help me?
  • What can I change in my environment?

It might take some effort on your part to answer these questions. Allow yourself to be creative and go beyond conventional limits when seeking answers. Even if you cannot answer all of these questions, try answering one or two. The answers will give you clues for solving your problem.

Do not feel that you must use all three corners of the cartoon at once. Just begin with one corner, even if you cannot address all of them. Because the three corners are inter-connected in a two-way manner, any change you take in place can potentially have a positive impact on another corner.Remember – you always have options—and the questions above will help you find clues to solutions.

In forthcoming posts, I will share with you how people use this guide to solve situations and address challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the way, this is my translation of science into practice, such that large numbers of people can use it in their daily lives. It is based on a landmark paper, The Self-System in Reciprocal Determinism (1978), by Professor Albert Bandura at Stanford University. And just in case you are wondering, yes he has seen it and approved it.

© Dr. SD Shanti, 2020

Rx 11 Self Efficacy: the Antidote to Hopelessness

~ SD Shanti ~ 1 Comment

Please scroll below for translation of this prescription and for more information about self-efficacy and the children’s story.

Even if you’re not familiar with the classic American children’s story The Little Engine That Could, which illustrates the concept of self-efficacy, the message of the book is universally relevant. Research from around the world proves the importance of self-efficacy in helping people effectively manage their lives and overcome obstacles.
If you’re interested in seeing the book and hearing the original story, here is a link on YouTube.

Translation of Prescription
Rx When you feel hopeless, say to yourself what the little engine in the children’s story said to itself over and over again, as it worked hard to reach its goal: “I think I can…I think I can…”

This illustrates a concept called self-efficacy. It is the belief that you have in your ability to do something, even when it is difficult. Repeat this to yourself and defeat hopelessness. Research shows this is the most important predictor of success. It is your antidote to hopelessness. If you think you can, it is very like that you will!