On May 30th, it was an honor and pleasure to return on air with Dr. L. Ronald Durham and his wife, Maureen "Mo" Durham, as I represented my workplace again on Radio! This time, he interviewed me about my chosen topic of mindfulness and mental health awareness, especially in senior care. As a PA in Geriatrics, I have always valued my time conversing with my patients and their families about the importance of living with vitality and independence. This goes beyond the activities of daily living (ADLs) like walking, eating, dressing, etc. Living without “chronic diseases” or the worries of getting them can be quite freeing. When we cultivate our mental and emotional wellbeing, we are mindfully carrying out tasks beyond our ADLs in order to keep us well. As a clinician trained in Functional Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine, I learned that healing takes place from the inside out and it takes effort to heal with a root-cause approach.

If you haven’t had a chance to read my previous post from 10/2023 after I had my first Radio interview with Dr. Durham, here is the link to it: https://nhimado.org/my-first-radio-interview/

It has been a great honor to serve my local community over the years through my educational lectures and seminars on the different pillars of health while trying to influence a health-promoting culture at work. The different pillars of lifestyle medicine that can contribute to improved mental well-being include Plant-predominant NUTRITION, Fitness through MOVEMENT, Better SLEEP quality and quantity, DE-STRESS strategies, Positive SOCIAL CONNECTIONS, Avoidance of risky substances, Daily dose of NATURE, Self-care, and more… (just to name a few). Do these sound familiar? *START HERE* tab

As I shared on the Radio, our geriatric population and caregivers could start a mindfulness practice to promote mental wellbeing. Being mindful simply means paying pure awareness to whatever is happening, without judgment and right in the present moment. This, of course, takes practice—like any skill. One of the many forms of mindfulness practices is known as “meditation.” As we carry the theme from my past 2 posts, we know that meditation, too, takes practice. Throughout my current meditation journey, I learned to recognize thoughts without getting caught up in their storylines. Yet, there is no need to clear these thoughts as I meditate. The more I invited them in and acknowledged them for exactly as they were, the more I learned to accept them with open awareness and loving-kindness.

We can take a mindfulness practice in many directions, similar to the pillars of health mentioned earlier:

Mindful eating
Mindful exercising
Mindfully falling and staying asleep
Mindfully de-stressing and relaxing, especially in nature
Mindful connecting with others
Mindful avoiding risky substances

As we go on each day of our lives, I believe that we can catch ourselves if we call out our mindful selves more often. One of my favorite ways to catch myself is during my yoga practice. I focus on my breaths as I flow into each pose, consciously aware of where all parts of my body are at all times; or else, I would fall! Simply said, yoga has taught me to be in the present moment with my body and my mind. I am grateful for my practice and for the mat that keeps me grounded, quite literally, every time. Let’s keep staying mindful, shall we?

Video of FB LIVE available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ogq7q3IeDQ8?si=g11txYakYd7JTIkr&t=650 (Interview starts a little after 10min mark)