Meditation Studio

Episode 246

Dr. Mark Bertin - Coronavirus: Staying Mindful and Resilient

Dr. Mark Bertin is a Developmental Pediatrician and Assistant Professor at New York Medical College. In this episode, he shares some practical advice on how we can be more mindful and resilient when faced with health scares. He offers ideas on how we might change the way we relate to the uncertainty of this particular experience and to the stress and anxiety it can trigger. We take a look at how one can find the balance — and notice our tipping point — between problem-solving and panic.

In this episode:

“The first step in dealing with a health scare of this proportion is to simply acknowledge that we are feeling some fear.”

“Our mindfulness practice helps us to better relate to the uncertainty that this situation presents and it helps us to be more skillful and resilient in the process. And, since we can’t stamp out uncertainty in our lives, this can be very helpful.”

“In times like this, we can get caught up in the negativity that is repeated over and over in the news cycle. It’s helpful to counter this by remembering the many positive things you can do with your family and friends each day.”

“It’s helpful to notice where your tipping point is, that point where you go from problem-solving to panic.”

Takeaways:

We can begin to notice when we are ruminating about what we’re seeing on the news and when we are triggered to feel anxious and afraid. Our mindfulness practice invites us to take this opportunity to pause and change the course of our thoughts so we don’t go down a ‘ruminating rabbit hole,’ but rather use the information to make more informed choices for ourselves and our families.
Much of life can be uncertain and difficult, whether it be a health scare, political turmoil, climate challenges and much more. Our ability to change what we can change (what we have control over) and to know what we can’t change can help us to be more calm, grounded and resilient.
To be mindful is to be able to look at a situation and see clearly when there’s something we can be doing to impact it -- to take better care of our family and our community.
It’s helpful to be aware of habits that we can change to lower any health risk. Many of the habits that we’re hearing about now, such as washing our hands more often or not touching our faces, start with noticing our actions and placing our attention on exactly what it is we want to change. This is true with any habit change.