Meditation for Veterinary Skeptics | Episode 16 | Reviving Vet Med

Mindfulness, or focusing attention on the present moment, has dramatic beneficial effects on physical and mental wellbeing. Which is why celebrities like Katy Perry, Jerry Seinfeld, and Oprah admit to meditating regularly. Professional sports teams and millions of other people are also adopting daily meditation and mindfulness practices. And with fMRI capabilities, we are able to track the effects of these practices on the structure and function of the brain.
During this month’s episode, the research-backed benefits of meditation are shared, including studies investigating the impact of mindfulness practices on human and veterinary healthcare providers. We also discuss some ways for you to jump-start your own meditation practice, which you’ll definitely want to do once you are convinced of all the benefits.

Research Studies
Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Doctors' Mindfulness, Patient Safety Culture, Patient Safety Competency and Adverse Event: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35328968/
Association of an educational program in mindful communication with burnout, empathy, and attitudes among primary care physicians: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19773563/
Hospice and Palliative Care Provider Experiences With Meditation Using Mobile Applications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29683121/
The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Stress and Burnout in Nurses: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33998935/
Mind-body therapies: an intervention to reduce work-related stress in veterinary academia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30282662/
The impact of a brief embedded mindfulness-based program for veterinary students: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28206840/
Effect of a mindfulness exercise on stress in veterinary students performing surgery: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30693966/

Book Recommendations
Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Mindful Brain by Dan Siegel

Blog Post
10 Tips for Starting a Meditation Practice: https://marieholowaychuk.com/2022/05/04/10-tips-for-starting-a-meditation-practice/
30-Day Mindfulness Challenge (ends May 30, 2022)
www.facebook.com/groups/30daymindfulnesschallenge

Link to Video Version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaYp47YC1Cs&t=2s

Online Programs
To learn more about our 4- and 8-week online programs approved for CE credit in jurisdictions that recognize RACE, please visit:
https://revivingvetmed.com/programs/

Newsletter
For more practical pointers and tangible tips related to veterinary mental health and wellbeing, subscribe to our e-newsletter:
https://revivingvetmed.kartra.com/page/newsletter

Questions or Suggestions
Email podcast@revivingvetmed.com

Transcript

 Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of Reviving Vet Med. In today's episode, we're gonna be talking about all the benefits of meditation. And you know, this is something that I have really found benefit in over the last few years with my mental health. It's something that I started in and around 2014, I actually started by attending an eight week mindfulness based stress reduction program.

It was recommended to me by my physician who knew that I was having some struggles with my depression and anxiety, and the eight week program was amazing. It was eight weeks of daily practice. And then meeting once a week as a group to discuss how the practices were going and have our questions answered, and to learn about the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.

And it was just simply wonderful and it really convinced me of the benefits of the practice. So I hope that the information that I share in today's episode will also convince you. And with that said, let's go ahead and get into the episode. 

This is the Reviving Vet Med podcast, and I'm your host, Dr. Marie Holowaychuk, and my mission is to improve the mental health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals around the world.

All right, so as we get started today, our objectives for today are to understand the emotional and mental consequences of an inability to stay present. We are also going to discuss the foundational concepts of meditation and the general mental and physical health benefits. I also want you to come away having learned the research, personal and professional benefits of meditation among both human and veterinary care providers.

And I hope that you will use 10 strategies that I share in today's session to help you create and sustain a daily meditation habit. So lots of great stuff to dig into today. So, so many of us on a daily basis are stuck in a state of doing. We are just going through the motions. It's like we're on autopilot.

We've got the end goal in mind, and that's it. It's just go, go, go on the next thing, onto the next thing without actually being present for that which we are experiencing. And you know, there's certainly some benefit to this in veterinary practice. It helps us to get through our very busy days doing things without having to really think about every single little thing that we're doing.

But it can also have some consequences for us in terms of not really processing everything that we're experiencing or missing some things that might be important for us. So being in a state of being is being fully present, being aware of our sensations, our thoughts, and our feelings as they arise. And focusing on the task itself as we're doing it rather than the end point and just getting to the end and moving on to the next thing.

So lots of benefits, as you can imagine, for a being state of mind in comparison to a doing state of mind. Again, they both have their benefits and we'd like to at least strive for a little bit of time in a state of being at some points in our day. 

And it's really funny when you think about it because so often when we are at work our mind is elsewhere. We're thinking about being at home, being with our kids, being in bed, you know, whatever it might be. And then we get home and we get into bed, and then where does our mind go? It goes back to work. It goes back to other things that we did during the day. 

So there's just this fascinating human experience that we have whereby our mind is very often not in the same place as our body. Our thoughts are elsewhere, whether it be projecting into the future or dwelling on the past. And, you know, this is what creates a lot of anxiety and depression for many of us. 

So, thinking about the future, all the what ifs, all the, when this happens, All the to-dos and so on, or focusing on the past, you know, why did that happen? If only this had gone this way, I should have done that often creating, you know, depressive experiences for us. 

If we can be fully present to our experiences here in the moment. All of those thoughts go away. A lot of those feelings, those depressive and anxious inducing feelings go away as well. So again, this is where a lot of the mental health benefits of mindfulness come in.

So I really do believe that that dogs and other animals in our lives are really, the poster children, so to speak, are great examples of practicing mindfulness. You know, dogs are very much able to see what is right in front of them rather than, you know, dwelling  on other things that have happened before or that are going to happen.

And you know when, when it comes down to it, there's a lot of really famous and successful people who really value this idea of mindfulness and meditation. So Jerry Seinfeld, Steph Curry, Oprah Winfrey, Hugh Jackman, katie Perry, Google Executives. What do all these people have in common? Well, they all consistently practice meditation, which might be surprising to you. It might not be, but, but these are all very different people with very different successful career paths, and yet they all have this commonality in person, that brings them together. 

So, When someone says meditation, you know, what does that make you think? Certainly for me, when I was just diving into mindfulness and meditation, I mean, I personally thought of, oh yeah, that's that thing they make us do at the end of yoga class or I imagined a Buddhist monk, you know, meditating by a waterfall. 

Even sometimes I would think, you know, gosh, is this, when you have those, you know, levitation or, you know, transcendental experiences and, you know, I wanna make sure that all of you recognize that meditation. It's, it's, some of you might be thinking like, yeah, that's where you sit there and you try and just clear everything out of your mind and that is not what it is.

Meditation is not any of the things I've mentioned, nor is it about clearing the mind. In fact, it's very different. Meditation is practicing focusing our attention. On whatever is coming up in our mind. So whatever is coming up in your immediate experience, whether it is all of those thoughts, whether it is shifting uncomfortably in your seat, whether it is, you know, thinking about what you're making for dinner later today.

Those are all part of your immediate experience, and you are noticing all of that as you sit in meditation and all that you are doing is taking your mind from whatever it has been drawn to and bringing it back to some sort of anchor. So, again, this is all in an effort to really be present for what we are experiencing.

When you think about dogs, you know, you take your dog out for a walk and they literally see the bird, they smell the grass, they hear the cars going by, whatever it is, versus our minds are just full of. What, what, what am I gonna make this weekend  for meals and what do I need to do on my to-do list and what am I gonna pick up my child from their activity and, and onto the next thing?

So we really do wanna practice  this presence this present mindedness, this awareness of our immediate experience. So when it comes down to it, meditation is simply exercise for the brain. We are working that part of our brain, that higher functioning prefrontal cortex, part of our brain that is responsible for executive decision making and problem solving and focused attention.

And we are building that up by redirecting our attention during meditation. And I love this quote that says, "thoughts come and go. Like clouds in an empty sky." And when you're in meditation, that's all that you're doing is you're noticing your thoughts and then you're letting them go as quickly as you notice them, you're letting them go.

There will be thoughts. It is not about getting rid of the thoughts. You can't get rid of the thoughts, right? The thoughts are going to come and the work, the practice. Is letting them go. Okay. So what are the benefits of meditation?  Why have I wanted to share this with you? You know the title again, Meditation for Veterinary Skeptics.

I want to convince you of the benefits. I want to convince you of why this is so important. Well, the benefits are that it reduces the pain experience, our attachment to pain, our experience of pain, it boosts the body's immune system. There's research to demonstrate that, you know, those who practice meditation recover faster from colds and viruses and flu compared to those who don't.

It reduces feelings associated with mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, really, really important. It slows our heart rate. It reduces blood pressure, it reduces the risk of cardiovascular events. It increases our energy, it improves our focus, and it reduces stress. There are so, so many benefits.

Now let's talk about it amidst some groups that we can actually relate to. So meditation among physicians. So an eight week, these are all research studies that I was able to find, an eight week mindfulness meditation, reduced adverse events among physicians. So you might be thinking, well, what does meditation have to do with making mistakes?

Well, if you are not fully present to that which is going on in front of you, you might not notice that you make a mistake or you might not notice that you're doing something and it is going to lead to a mistake. Okay, so this present mindedness, right? This being fully present to that which is happening, even if it is being fully present to the fact that you haven't taken a break, you need to refuel, you need to hydrate.

Those are going to also prevent you from making mistakes. There was another really interesting study that demonstrated that an eight week loving kindness meditation, which is a different form of meditation, improved empathy and communication skills among physicians. Okay, so fascinating research to demonstrate that something like communication can be improved with an eight week meditation program.

Okay, think about how important it is to have good communication skills in practice. So again, this is just music to my ears when I see these research studies now, there's  other studies that have looked at other healthcare workers. There was a 10 minute meditation,  a study looking at hospice and palliative care providers who, twice a week, did a 10 minute meditation using an app, and they had lower compassion fatigue and burnout compared to those who did not practice the  10 minute meditations. Then a systematic review has demonstrated that mindfulness meditation reduces stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue among human nurses.

Again, amazing evidence to demonstrate that so many things that we're experiencing right now in the veterinary profession, burnout, stress, compassion fatigue, can be helped by a mindful meditation practice. Just this practice of being present, of redirecting our attention and of being fully aware to our immediate experience.

Now you might be wondering about what the research is in veterinary medicine, and I'm excited to say that there's a lot more research being done in this area. So,  a few years ago there was a study out of Ross University, where 30 faculty and staff completed a two-day mind body therapy training that included training in mindfulness and afterwards they had reduced stress and even reduced saliva cortisol concentrations compared to those who didn't do the two day mind body therapy training program. 

There was also another study out of Australia, Murdoch University, that demonstrated that a five session program held every two weeks covering mindfulness topics related to stress, overcoming procrastination, focusing attention and concentration, breathing exercises and self-care. These sessions were delivered by a psychologist who had training and experience in mindfulness-based interventions, and there was 70 students who participated and then completed surveys afterwards. And what was really interesting in this study is that those students, who were above the normal range for depression or anxiety scores had significantly lower depression and anxiety symptoms when they practice mindfulness at least once a week compared to those who didn't practice mindfulness. 

Now interestingly, in the studies they did, they did not see those same benefits in students without depression or anxiety symptoms. So for me, what that says is that for those of us who do experience depression and anxiety, which is quite a lot of us in this profession, that we have even more hope of having benefit from a meditation and a mindfulness practice.

Then finally there was a really interesting study out of North Carolina a few years ago among fourth year DVM students where they took a group of students and had them do a five minute breathing exercise right before they went into a surgery that they were performing. And they compared those students to students who didn't do a breathing exercise.

And what they found is that just before going into surgery, their stress saliva concentrations of alpha amylase stress hormone went down, and that the students who did the breathing exercise reported that they were more calm, more relaxed, compared to students who did not do the breathing exercise.

So, even just a five minute breathing exercise before you call a difficult client or before you go into a difficult. Surgical procedure yourself or maybe have a difficult conversation with someone that that could help to lower your stress levels. This is just fantastic information for us to know.

Okay, so now that I've convinced you, you're probably wondering, well, how do I get started? How do I get started and how do I stick with the meditation practice? Maybe some of you in the past have tried meditation and you decided that wasn't for you. I urge you to try it again. There have been periods in my life where I have gone in and out of using a, a mindfulness or a meditation practice, but I, whenever I have done it, I have always found it to be helpful. 

So if this is resonating with you, if you feel up to trying it again, I really urge you to do so. So number one, tip, start today. You don't need,  you know, fancy meditation pillow, and to dedicate a room in your house to meditation, all you need is a quiet space. Where you can sit or lie down and not be interrupted. 

Now, as a single mom, I know that is very hard to find when your children are home. So maybe you do it when the kids are asleep. Maybe it's first thing in the morning before you wake up or before bed. A quiet space where you will sit, lie down comfortably, not be interrupted.

Tip number two, you wanna be comfortable, okay? Whether you sit on the floor. If you do sit on the floor, I would sit on a pillow or a cushion or a folded up blanket, even just sitting in a chair. You can sit in bed, you will just rest your hands in your lap. You don't have to hold any fancy hand position. You don't have to crisscross your legs. Be comfortable. 

You can even lie down. But I will say if you do lie down, you are more likely to fall asleep. Now, if you're doing a meditation before you go to bed and you're totally okay drifting off, that's fine. But if you really wanna reap those benefits that we talked about, you do wanna be awake for the duration of your meditation practice.

Tip number three is to just notice your breath. You don't even need a recording. You can just sit comfortably uninterrupted and observe how it feels to breathe. If that's, you know, too ambiguous for you, count your breaths, close your eyes, and just count. I'm breathing in once. I'm breathing out once. I'm breathing in twice. I'm breathing out twice. 

Inevitably, your mind is gonna wander to something else. As soon as you notice your mind is wandered, you bring it back to the breath, and you start from one and you start counting again. 

Tip number four is to schedule it in. One of the, my favorite quotes is from Gretchen Rubin who says "Something that can happen at any time, happens at no time." if you just say, I'm gonna meditate sometime tomorrow, you're probably not gonna meditate. 

Try to plan this into your schedule first thing in the morning, maybe right when you get to work. You can do it in the car before you go into the practice. Maybe on your lunch break, right after you get to your car after work, or maybe right before bedtime. Do it at the same time every day, and preferably having decided that ahead of time. 

Tip number five is to start small. Just like regular exercise, meditation as exercise for your brain, has more benefits the longer you practice. So most of the studies demonstrate that a 10 to 20 minute practice or longer will have the most benefit. But if that doesn't feel doable for you, start with five minutes. Heck start with five breaths. Start with what you know that you can comfortably do, and then you increase from there. 

Tip number six is to join a group. So for many of us that that outer accountability, that knowing that someone is depending on us or that we've signed up to show up for something that is going to make it more likely to happen.

So you can go to meetup.com. You can find a meditation group there, Eventbrite. There's tons of free meditation events on Eventbrite, and the website mindfulleader.org has a 24 7 Monday to Friday meditate together website. Basically what you do is you sign up and you commit to showing up at that same time Monday to Friday to meditate with this group. They have instructors that are there 24 7 during the week leading these meditations. It's a really fantastic way to feel truly like you are meditating in a group, even though you're doing it virtually. 

Tip number seven is to download an app. So my favorite app for people who are just getting started into meditation is Headspace. For those of you who are employees of VCA Canada, or for those of you who are veterinary emergency and Critical Care society members, you have free access to Headspace and I urge you to take advantage of it. So Headspace has an introductory series.  It's about 10 days long where they have videos and meditations that really explain in wonderful detail what mindfulness is and how meditation is beneficial, and they lead you through some really easy beginner meditations. The voice is wonderful. It's this, you know, UK. Male voice that's just very as soothing and easy to listen to. So highly recommend that.

I also really like 10% happier as well as an introductory app. Again, lots of great content there. Both of these are subscription, subscription based apps, but you can try them out for free if you do not have a membership through your workplace or other membership that you have.

And then tip number eight is to use guided meditation. So that's the beauty of these apps is that you can listen to meditations at any time, but there's also non application based meditations. If you prefer iTunes, you can find the Daily Meditation Podcast on there. Or meditation minis is on there. And then Spotify has a guided meditation playlist.

So you could sign up for the playlist and then, you know, scroll through the playlist and, and find what you like there if you prefer to listen on Spotify. 

And then tip number nine is to pair it with something. So Arianna Huffington has talked about this a lot. So has Gretchen Rubin this, this idea that if you're trying to start a new habit, that if you can stack it onto a preexisting habit or pair it with a preexisting habit that it's more likely to have happen. 

So for the longest time before Bethany was born I would do a meditation as my tea kettle was boiling on the, on the stove, and it was just the perfect amount of time that I could sit on the couch and just, you know, quietly observe my breath and notice any thoughts that were coming up, et cetera, et cetera. And the minute that my tea kettle boiled, then I knew that my meditation was over. And that happened consistently. Now, there's no such wonderful moments anymore in my life, of course, as a new mom.

But,  you know, if you can find something else to pair it with in your life, that is definitely a benefit to establishing this as a new habit. 

And then last but not least, tip number 10. Just try it. Try it for a month. Do a challenge, challenge yourself to, you know, for the month of June, or, you know, I, I love Mindful May, Mindful March, you know, the M's they kind, they kind of go together.

We've sort of passed our window for that at this point, but, you know, give it a try. Just do a little experiment for yourself where you say, I'm gonna do this for 30 days and I'm gonna see how I feel, and I guarantee you are going to feel different in some way. And hopefully that will convince you that this is something that you wanna continue indefinitely.

And if you are looking for a 30 day challenge, we have one going on for the month of May. I know we are getting towards the, well, we are in the latter half of May, but it's not too late to sign up. If you do want to participate, you can go to facebook.com/groups/30daymindfulnesschallenge

Please sign up there's tons of prizes every week, those who comment in the group get entered in a draw to win a book related to mindfulness and meditation, and everybody who joins the challenge gets entered in a draw for a 60 minute wellness coaching session with me, so there's incentive to join. You can look at all of the previous daily challenge posts and you can catch 

 

up to where we are now, and then continue to enjoy the benefits of that challenge.

And for some recommended readings, if you're just like me and you really enjoy, you know, diving into a topic a little bit more. If you are going to convince yourself to commit, 10% Happier by Dan Harris is one of my favorite books related to meditation. John Cabot Zen wrote Wherever you go, there you are. It's a fantastic book as well related to mindfulness and meditation. And then Dan Siegel, if you're wanting something that's a little bit more neuroscience related, the Mindful Brain is also an excellent book to talk about the benefits from a neuroscience perspective when it comes to mindfulness. So some really great resources there.

So I'll leave you with my key takeaways for this session. Mental and emotional distress we know is often coming from our inability to be present to be in the moment. And there's research studies to demonstrate that physical and mental health benefits are there for those who regularly meditate. 

So is this something that would be a benefit to you? I would say yes. And we know specifically when it comes to human healthcare and veterinary care providers, that there are many benefits of a regular meditation practice for lowering burnout, stress, compassion, fatigue, and so on. And meditation really is a simple practice. Don't overthink it. Don't force yourself to be clearing your mind or doing things like that.

This is something that, that you can do  at any time for as little as 5 or 10 minutes a day, I urge you to start now with the tips and tools that I shared. 

So that's it for this episode of Reviving Vet Med, I hope that you found the tips and tools for starting and sustaining a meditation practice helpful, and I urge you to think about one thing that you're gonna do right away after listening to this episode. Maybe you're gonna download an app. Check out our recording or sign up for our 30 day challenge. 

I would also love it if you could take some time to subscribe to the Reviving Vet Med podcast. Maybe leave a rating or review, or if you really like the podcast, share it with someone who you think will also appreciate it.

I know I certainly appreciate when people share new podcasts with me. And if you're interested in the resources from today's episode, please check out the show notes. You can find them on my website at marieholowaychuk.com/podcast. 

And I would like to thank my podcasting superhero, Jamie, for producing this episode.

And of course, I'd like to thank you for listening. I hope you'll tune in next time. And in the meantime, take care of yourself. Bye now.