Life is filled with opportunities to practice new techniques for resilience, and many in the medical field have had ample chances to refine their skills in this area from personal challenges. This lived experience with investigations into problem-focused solutions is then commonly shared through science-based pursuits and practices. These mixed techniques increase what we know as personal or societal health through medicine. We all benefit from a more mentally and physically flourishing self and society. Dr. Eva Selhub, M.D. has fostered this idea throughout her career, culminating in a resilience strategy for modern times.
Dr. Selhub is an internationally recognized resiliency expert who has worked as a physician, author, executive coach, keynote speaker, and spiritual advisor. She has written many books, including Burnout for Dummies, Resilience for Dummies, Your Health Destiny, The Stress Management Handbook, The Love Response, and co-authored Your Brain on Nature. She received her M.D. degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1994 and has a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Tufts University.
Personal Tragedy Leading to Resilience Focus
In this Influence Continuum episode, Dr. Selhub shared that her initial strategies in resilience occurred after a particularly traumatic period of her life when she experienced an accidental needle stick from a patient who was infected with AIDS at Boston Medical Center. Not an entirely uncommon experience for a medical professional, her year of waiting for results while going on medications to prevent transmission was also surrounded by an apartment fire where she lost everything. She found herself deep in financial debt and then experienced the sudden and additional need to cope with her father having a heart attack. Over time, she moved from a place of “Why me?” to “Why not me?” and realized that the events were not personal. How she handled these extreme stressors was within her control, she eventually discovered.
As Medical Director at the Benson Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, she began focusing more on self-care, self-love, and co-creation. She noted that patients would be more likely to get off their medicines and reverse disease states by adding specific relaxation and meditation practices. She found techniques that helped people be present in their bodies, maintain physical activity, focus on nutrient-rich foods, and get the proper sleep, which is also central to good health.
Medical Evidence for Focused Strategies and Time in Nature
We discussed technology and the overstimulation of neurotransmitters as a theme of modern times and how health appears to be intricately tied to people’s ability to disconnect from computers and experience more nature-based leisure times, such as forest bathing. Dr. Selhub discussed how technologies like computer participation in every interaction is a relatively new feature of society, and our nature-based brains are having trouble with the constant plugged-in state. Taking breaks to relieve the stimulation of the dopaminergic and stress hormone pathways is a commonly needed prescription for modern times.
I noted the work of people like Tristan Harris and the Center for Humane Technology as examples of organizations bringing our attention to the more significant problem. I have often noted that technology addictions mean that individuals have trouble giving up screens for days or even hours at a time. I asked whether we want to control technology or if it will be technology that controls us.
Specific Techniques for Staying or Returning to Embodied State
Dr. Selhub walked us through three techniques for quickly returning to a place within your body and in the present moment during times of significant stressors:
- The first exercise focuses on self-awareness. It involves noting contrasts between body states and observing what is felt during each. First, it promotes thinking about a stressful emotion, then one that results in a feeling of awe. She notes that when asked where the stress is felt in the body during a stressful event, people will often state contractions in the chest. She invites people to be mindful of thinking about a beautiful sunrise or another event where they find significant beauty or a sense of awe and how it often leads to a rapid loosening or opening in the chest or other places where tension is carried.
- In the second experiential section, Dr. Selhub walked us through a breathing exercise whereby we breathe in on a three-count and breathe out with a six-count. She uses this technique to ensure that all the alveolar sacs of the lungs are adequately emptied and engaged, encouraging deeper breathing. We also discussed many strategies used in relaxation breathing, including square breathing and alternate nasal techniques. We both agreed that relaxation-focused breathing is one of the excellent free strategies people can employ during significant stress.
- The last technique we reviewed is called ‘the shield,’ a mnemonic device. The ‘s’ is for slowing down. It involves pausing to take note of what is going on, ‘h’ is for honoring what one is feeling, ‘i’ and ‘e’ is for inhale/exhale, breathing with that feeling. ‘l’ is for listening to the feeling and ‘d’ is for deciding what to do with that feeling. Dr. Selhub often follows this with the suggestion of visualizing oneself shined down by beautiful rays of light from the sun or the heavens. I noted that I used a similar technique in a power force field, with my clients feeling anxious about exposure to undue influence from others. You can listen and be guided to do the SHIELD technique (trademark) on Dr. Selhub’s YouTube channel.
We closed out our conversation by discussing topics of language, the effect of being triggered by specific conversations or events, and how to maintain resilience despite discomfort or painful experiences. We talked about the need not to avoid the problems of life or the world, as some concerns will only become more problematic with avoidance, but how to approach these stressors with a resilience mindset, understanding that adversity is an opportunity to learn with new tools. Learning to handle adversity is a beautiful thing and a key to living in the 21st century!
Resources:
Eva Selhub, M.D. – Eva Selhub, MD (drselhub.com)
Resilience For Dummies: Selhub, Eva M.: 9781119773412: Amazon.com: Books
Burnout For Dummies: Selhub, Eva M.: 9781119894933: Amazon.com: Books
