>> All right, everyone.
I wanted to welcome you all to our workshop today.
Today we're very fortunate to have Todd Denny.
And he is going to help us with managing stress,
especially in the current climate.
Todd Denny is a university professor, author,
national speaker, and music producer.
His work has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, PBS, NPR,
and supported by the National Science Foundation,
the National Geographic Society,
and the US Department of Education.
So, Todd, on behalf of everyone here and Cerritos College,
I want to welcome you today, and thank you
for coming on and helping us.
Also, I just wanted to say special thank you to Renee
and Maurine who are our interpreters today.
So, thank you, you too, as well.
One more piece of business.
Our presentation today will be recorded.
So, we're glad that you could make it today.
And for those who can't, they'll be able to tune in afterward.
So, thank you again.
And Todd, thank you.
>> Welcome webinar participants.
This is a tremendous opportunity
to strengthen your mental health foundation.
I have a very positive perspective on life
and this is not going to be the last challenge
or adverse situation that we experience in our lives.
And I want you to take the time right now to work with us,
we're going to do something very fun.
We're going to be interactive, a little bit of movement here.
This is not going to be a typical PowerPoint
lecture webinar.
But this is an opportunity for you
to strengthen your foundation, to learn mental health skills,
to have a toolbox of skills because we're all going
to face challenges in the future.
That's just life whether it's disappointments,
loss of loved ones, divorces, illnesses, or sicknesses.
So, let's take this opportunity which is tremendous right now
to strengthen you, your mental health, your mind,
and your body for the future.
One housekeeping point right now,
please turn off your phone just for the next hour.
I'll give you a moment to do that.
Dr. Hernandez, maybe you can put
up that poll question if that's available.
And I'm going to talk a little bit about cell phones and how,
not only connecting us, they actually can disconnect us
and they can increase stress in our lives.
So, I'm going to ask you, participants,
to please power off your phone just for the next 50 minutes.
Okay. I'll wait a moment for that.
And kind of moving forward.
And that's okay if we don't have that poll question.
And it's not a biggy.
>> Yeah, I have.
I'm going to do it through the chat box right now.
It goes to everyone.
Is your phone powered off?
Give a thumbs up in the reaction section.
>> Okay.
>> And I think most people know how
to use Zoom by now hopefully.
I'm still learning.
>> Okay. Here we've got 24 participants.
Well, thank you, folks.
I'm coming from New Mexico.
And I'm going to teach you a variety of mental health skills
to not only get you through the challenges now, anxiety, fear,
grief, worries, but to support you in the future.
We're getting some thumbs up there.
Thank you.
Mindfulness is mental mastery.
Okay. These are skills that will change your life
and change the lives of the loved ones around you.
What I often share with participants
when I do this interactive workshop is don't wait
until the critical moment to have these skills.
Too often we do that but this is your opportunity
to prepare yourself for the future.
This workshop is based on a very successful university course
that I teach as a professor here and it's kind
of been condensed into one hour.
So, what are we going to learn in this workshop?
There are four key areas we're going to address.
The first one is having a daily mindfulness practice.
Number one.
Number two, and these are images of students just like you.
You're going to learn self-advocacy skills
for difficult thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
Number three, we're going to learn about the power
of having a positive perspective.
Now, I just reinforce that regarding a lot
of people would start a workshop like this focusing
on the challenges, doom and gloom.
I think it's a tremendous opportunity,
a tremendous opportunity for us to learn skills
that will support us for the rest of our lives.
We are also going to --
the final kind of key tenet of the four tenets
of the program are to give, to connect, to share,
to be a part of others.
Now that not only makes for a better campus, community,
world but it also releases a good feel chemical
within our brains.
And it makes for a better world.
It also gets us out of our kind of tape loop
in our heads regarding me, I, mine.
And allows us to focus more on we, us, together.
That is actually associated with much greater mental health
to focus on we, us, together.
It gets us out of our minds.
So, everybody, put your hand on your head.
Dr. Hernandez, what we want to do here is to get
out of our heads and get into our bodies and into our hearts.
Okay. We have about 30,000 to 40,000 thoughts a day.
Most of those thoughts are repetitive,
not empowering, not useful.
And so, a part of the workshop is just to get out of our heads
and to get more into our bodies.
Our minds and bodies are very much connected
and through mental mastery, we can slow down the tape loop.
And we can also learn how to reduce, dissipate,
and transform difficult thoughts,
feelings, and emotions.
Dr. Hernandez, I'm going to start engaging everybody.
I want to ask you a question.
So, the first point of the workshop was
if people had a daily mindfulness practice.
Speak to that briefly, do you have a practice and if so,
is it serving you now?
>> I do generally.
You know, I would say that, first off,
it's hard to have one consistently.
But I would say I do more often than not.
And then sometimes I've got
to remind myself to come back to it.
So, one of the ways
that I maintain a mindfulness practice would be at night
when I am actually doing this with my nine-year-old son.
And we spend time practicing our breathing, we spend time,
you know, listening to a certain kind of music or sounds
and trying to engage our senses to be present, right.
One of my -- and I know you're going to go
into the breathing soon but one of my favorite things that I
like to do with my son is, you know, use our hands, right.
So, going up on the inhale and then pausing,
coming down on the exhale.
And then pausing a little bit more again before we go back
to the inhale.
And that reminds us to kind of pay attention to the rhythm
of our breathing and I noticed when I do that,
I feel a little more focused, I feel a little bit more
like I'm able to put the bookend at the end of my day and step
into a new kind of emotion or relaxation, get ready for sleep.
And that really helps.
>> Great. So, we're going to go right into breathing exercise.
This is going to be very interactive.
A couple of notes about breathing.
We breathe about 30,000 to 40,000 times a day
but we never think about it.
When I was in college, I was a captain
of my tracking cross-country teams
and I didn't know how to breathe.
Most people shallow breathe.
They breathe from your chest.
That's associated with anxiety, fight, flight, or freeze.
And what's interesting in the context
of the COVID virus is it's a virus that attacks the lungs.
So, we're going to learn how to breathe properly now,
not only to oxygenate yourself because viruses live best
in low-oxygen environments but also
for the next million breaths
that you'll have during your lifetime
so you're breathing deeper, you are oxygenating your blood more,
you are staying healthier,
you are staying more grounded, and more present.
So, Dr. Hernandez, let's stand up and do this.
We've got our balloons.
Everyone who is with us at home to please stand up.
Okay. Here's the analogy, you want to imagine
that your breath is going
from your chest all the way down into your belly.
Okay. We usually chest breathe,
we want to do diaphragm breathing.
Interesting distinction, in our upper lungs
where most people breathe, we have about a teacup of blood.
In our lower lungs, we have a liter of blood.
So, the analogy is we want to imagine that you're filling
up a balloon at the base of your stomach.
And by the way, this breathing technique is based
on so many other powerful protocols like yoga, tai chi,
a lot of martial arts.
So, we are imagining we're breathing in with a balloon.
And we are moving beyond our chest,
all the way down into our stomach.
This is your visual metaphor
if we were doing this workshop live,
everybody would have a balloon in your hand.
Okay. So, everybody please stand up for a moment.
Put one hand on your chest, one hand on your stomach,
and take in a deep breath all the way to your belly.
And as you exhale, release stress.
One more time, deep breath in your belly, inhale.
And as you exhale, release stress.
Breathe in calm and exhale stress.
And one more time.
Breathe in calm and exhale stress.
See how you feel right now in your body.
Do you feel a little more relaxed, a little more calm?
Okay. I'm going to come back to my seat here.
Hey, Valerie, I see you've joined us.
Welcome. When we do conscious breathing,
it is a part of mindfulness.
Mindfulness is mental mastery.
Okay. It allows us to come back to the present moment.
We spend most of our lives with regrets about the past
or worries about the future.
But the only moment that is real and the moment
of power is the present moment.
So, this breathing exercise is going to be one
of the key features in this workshop.
Okay. The analogy is when you know how to breathe properly,
it's like being on an airline flight
where they give you introductory instructions and they say,
"In the event of an emergency, an oxygen mask will come down.
Use it on yourself first before you help children
or other people."
Okay. This is not being selfish.
By understanding your mind, learning how
to breathe properly, and practicing mindfulness,
you are not only taking care of yourself but the people
around you because you can be the person who's calm,
who's confident, and who's collected in particular
in adverse situations.
It's also interesting in the context of this breathing
in the COVID virus is that the virus
as I mentioned does attack the lungs.
Okay. The lungs emotionally are related to grief.
There's a lot of grief, a lot of sadness and fear in our culture.
So, this will allow you to move out of feeling as much anxiety,
sadness, worry, or grief by coming back
into the present moment.
Our mind is like a swarm of bees.
It never ends.
It's a tape loop.
We have 30,000 to 40,000 thoughts a day.
And unfortunately, the thoughts we had yesterday are the
thoughts that we have today and the thoughts
that we'll have tomorrow.
Our mind is like a swarm of bees.
By practicing conscious breathing,
coming back to the present moment, and breathing
from our diaphragm, it's like a queen bee as opposed
to all the other honey bees that are swarming around.
The queen bee is the spotlight, it's calm,
it's the collectedness.
I'd like to ask a question for everyone right now,
coming back to the present moment.
Look at your life right now,
right here in this present moment, how are you doing?
Just take a moment and think about that.
Now, not only in the context of mental health
but how you're doing physically.
How are you doing right now in this moment?
The reality is 99.9% of you are doing fine in terms of health,
in terms of the COVID-19 virus.
How do I know that?
Because, you know, the rate of deaths from the virus is .1%.
And so, 99.9% of us are doing well.
Also, other distinctions and the media is not sharing this
as much as they should, the people that are
at greatest risk are not most of you that are watching.
Okay. It is older people in their 70s, 80s,
and 90s with compromised immune systems,
with preexisting situations and health maladies.
Okay. So, let's come back to this moment and acknowledge
with an attitude of gratitude that most of you are fine
in terms of health, you're here in the present moment
and you will persevere and get through this time.
Dr. Hernandez, I want to interact as much as possible.
>> Yeah.
>> How are you doing right now?
How is your mental health?
>> You know, I would say overall, it's doing all right.
I mean, there are challenges as I'm sure many
of our participants today are experiencing.
And just trying my best to problem-solve them right now.
And so, that's not my phone, by the way.
I turned mine off.
>> Mine's off too.
>> Okay. Good.
Yeah, I would say that overall it's good.
And, you know, I don't have -- how can you say?
>> Excuse me.
This is the interpreter.
Is there any way to mute that phone?
>> Yeah, my son just grabbed it and ran it upstairs.
Yes, thank you.
My commute is shorter because I don't have one.
So, I'm trying to find the spaces where I can, you know,
take care of myself as best I can.
And using that commute time for me has been helpful.
>> Thank you.
Just a visual to reinforce what we've just learned.
We learned about diaphragm breathing.
Okay. Once again, we want to breathe from our bellies
and not from our chest.
Chest breathing is associated with anxiety,
fight, flight, or freeze.
Our brains are not wired for happiness.
We are wired for survival.
Now, yes, we are always seeking pleasure
but we will do more to avoid pain.
So, a part of this workshop is focusing
on ways we can be healthier, happier,
both mentally and physically.
Okay. A couple of just distinctions
within the workshop here.
I talked about turning off your cell phones
and thank you those of you who did that.
Why did I ask you to do that?
Well, I not only wanted your attention in this workshop.
And hopefully, you've been getting up and moving with us.
But your cell phone along with connecting you
with people is actually in some ways detrimental to your health.
How can that be?
Okay. Well, there's kind of a critical constellation
of three things in terms
of how your cell phone can actually decrease your health
to make it a little bit more adverse.
And they are these.
Number one, I'm on social media too, you know, Facebook, TikTok,
etc. But the social media on your cell phone,
if you look at it, it scrolls down and it never ends.
Twitter, for example.
Okay. That is designed to keep you locked in to your cell phone
and you will notice after a while, it's like, hey,
I've been on this for 90 minutes.
I need to get off but I can't get off.
Okay. The analogy is it's like the slot machine
and it's designed that way in terms of psychology
to keep you hooked on.
Okay. The concept is intermittent rewards.
Occasionally on your phone, you're going to get a like,
a yes, a friend, a connection but not all the time.
And so, we're always looking at intermittent rewards.
The other part of that critical constellation trio is along
with the intermittent rewards,
you also have something called loss aversion
where they don't want you to miss anything.
Okay. It's our fear we're going to miss
out on something big or something bad.
Okay. That psychology keeps us hooked into our phones.
And then the third part is your cell phone
and the intermittent rewards and the loss aversion,
the worry we're missing
out on something releases something called cortisol.
Okay. Cortisol is this stress hormone, the stress chemical
within your brain that's released within your body.
Okay. So, I'd like you just to think about that.
It's your choice.
Anything in this workshop I ask you not to trust me but to see
if it applies to your life and if it makes a difference.
Okay. So, I ask you to turn off your smartphones as a part
of this workshop but I'm also going to ask you to see
if you can take back control of your life
if you can regain sovereignty
and if you can turn your smartphone off
for one hour a day.
Dr. Hernandez, is that something you're able to do ever?
Are you ever able to take a break?
>> Well, I try to.
I mean, there are times when I'm kind of on-call
but I think that's something I can try to commit to.
>> Okay. It's just one of the tools
that I'm sharing with you folks.
Another tool in this workshop
and this is a lifelong tool is to find wise friends.
Okay. Who are you around, what are you feeding into your mind,
who are you connecting with?
Now, because I always do an interactive workshop,
let me throw that to you, Dr. Hernandez.
What does the concept of finding wise friends,
what does that mean to you?
In the context of this workshop.
>> Yeah, yeah, when I think of wise friends, it makes me think
of like, you know, sometimes in my therapy practice, I talk to,
you know, students, clients I'm working with and we talk about,
you know, "good for you" people and "not so good
for you" people, right.
And a lot of times we talk about energy, right, and what kind
of energy is being exchanged in that relationship, right.
And sometimes the "not so good for you" people, there's a lot
of draining and there's not a lot of good energy coming back.
And so, for me, that's what I think of when you say that.
And it makes a difference, you know,
when we're around people that, you know, we value
and they also value us and that value is communicated
in the actions too, not just the words.
>> Yeah. You know, just personally,
I've had to lose some friends, lifelong friends
because they really suck the energy out of me.
And so, that's another critical takeaway in this workshop
for the rest of your life,
not for right now is to find wise friends.
I'm just really connecting with the group
of a few close friends during this, you know,
this crisis that we're having nationally and they are people
that are supportive, that are positive.
We're looking at solutions,
we focus on authentic optimism, positive perspective.
Okay. That's going to strengthen your immune system
and it's also going to strengthen you for the future.
So, if you folks just think about it,
you know there are certain people
that you probably shouldn't spend too much time with,
not only now but the rest of your life.
So, another key takeaway is to find friends.
Dr. Hernandez, I see a chat thing there,
do we have a question?
>> Yeah, I was just -- yeah, you know,
it sounds like Adriana has something to share as well.
>> Great.
>> Adriana if you would like, please?
>> Yes, of course.
So, like I was saying in the chat,
I feel that having good friends or just like you said, Dr. Todd,
wise friends, change even your perspective and the situations
that you might be going through.
So, even if you're going through hard moments,
even if you're having a tough time,
the fact that you have wise friends that inspire you
and motivate you to be the best you can be,
it just changes your entire perspective.
And it pushes you to do much better.
So, it's a really, really good tactic to make sure you have
that group of supportive friends.
And also, like you said, also be able to discern
between wise friends and not so wise friends and be able to make
that decision and pinpoint and see, okay,
this friendship instead of bringing me
up it's bringing me down.
So, maybe it's a friendship that I need to take a second look at
and perhaps start -- how can I say --
like start separating myself from that negativity
and just focus more on my wise friends.
So, I feel like I'm very fortunate
that I have a really good set of friends
that every single day they motivate me
to just be much better.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you so much.
And, Valerie, I want you to be engaged too.
So, one of the key components of the workshop is
to have a daily mindfulness practice.
Valerie, I want to ask you, I'd like you
to engage in the workshop here.
Do you have any kind of daily mindfulness practice?
>> Yes. So, I use Headspace.
It's an app that was advertised on YouTube.
And it was kind of in my thoughts of trying to meditate
after seeing a couple of the Active Minds things.
So, going through that, I decided to start on 15 minutes
in the morning and I kind of have to split them
because the free trial only lasts up to 10 minutes.
So, I have to split it into one and a half.
And then the same at night.
So, it's a very useful app when you want
to just stay out of your thoughts.
>> Okay. Can you bring your camera or your phone
down a little bit so we can see -- there you go.
>> I don't think I can.
>> It's okay.
That's fine.
So, some of the takeaways so far
in the workshop are we're strengthening our foundation,
not only for now but for the future.
We know now how to consciously breathe more diaphragm.
We're going to breathe millions of times in our life,
we're going to oxygenate ourselves more.
We're going to learn how to come back
to the present moment to be called.
We talked about finding wise friends.
We talked about turning off your smartphone for an hour.
And another distinction right now and I'm going to share it
and I'd like feedback from our participants, please,
this is your campus, your community to take a media break.
Not only now, especially now, but not only now but always
to not consistently be checking on media
to see what's happening every hour, every 15 minutes.
I'm kind of unusual but I don't check the media
in the morning any time.
I wait until later in the day.
But open it up for our participants, are you able
to take a media break and if not, are you open to the concept
of bringing more balance into your life by not checking
on the media every hour, every 15 minutes.
Let's open it up for a dialogue.
>> I could definitely go about maybe a couple of hours
without social media but I probably cannot go for a couple
of hours without my email.
So, I think that's just one or the other.
>> I myself, I have practiced getting off from social media
at least for a weekend or a few days out of the week especially
when I know I have a lot of work to get done.
It's better for me to completely disconnect myself
and just focus on my tasks.
And I feel like that brings me a lot of peace
and concentration every time I disconnect.
And although I love connecting
because that's how I communicate right now with my friends.
But I feel it's very important, and it's very healthy
for your wellbeing to take some time for yourself to just forget
about everything else that's going on and just be mindful
of your feelings, of how you're feeling of what you need.
And just kind of like what you have in front of you
that could bring you joy just like social media.
So, I do practice that every here and there.
>> Great. Okay.
In the context of the breathing that we've been discussing,
we are going to practice a one-minute meditation.
Okay. And the mantra is going to be --
and I'll have a visual for you in a moment.
Well, let's go ahead and do it, let's do it right now.
I'll just walk you through it.
Breathing in, calm your body.
Breathing out, smile.
I want a little smile from everybody.
Smiling is face yoga, it changes your physiology.
Breathing in to the present moment.
Breathing out, wonderful moment.
Okay. Now I'll give you a visual on that for a moment.
It's the mantra that I've used for years and years.
Breathing in, calm your body.
Breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, present moment.
Breathing out, wonderful moment.
You folks can close your eyes or however you want to do it.
I'll talk you through one more time.
Remember we're going from our chests, down into our diaphragm
where there is much more blood.
We can oxygenate ourselves much more.
Viruses live best in low oxygen environments.
We can strengthen ourselves and our immunity.
So, breathing in to our diaphragm, calm; breathing out,
a little smile from everybody.
Face yoga.
Breathing in to the present moment;
breathing out, wonderful moment.
And I hope everyone that's viewing this online will
practice this with us.
We're going to do it one more time.
Breathing in, calm body.
Breathing out, everybody, smile a little bit.
Breathing in, present moment.
Breathing out, wonderful moment.
Thank you.
You can open your eyes.
For those of you that have never done this before,
congratulations, you've just meditated.
Meditation is associated with greater health,
greater resiliency, greater mental health,
the ability to cope with difficult thoughts, feelings,
and emotions and bringing us back into the present moment.
The third line on that was breathing
in to the present moment
and then the final line was breathing out,
it's a wonderful moment.
The moment of power is right here, right now.
But the way we live our lives, we're always chasing
after something in the future.
I'll be happy when, I'll be happy if I get this,
when I get my degree, when I get more money, when I get,
you know, a promotion.
We're really good at planning for our lives.
But we're not very good at living our lives.
So, part of the takeaway from this, from the meditation
that you've just practiced and those that were engaged in this,
you've all just meditated is to recognize the moment
of power is the present moment.
It's right here, right now.
And when you're able to be in that moment,
it changes everything.
It gets us out of our tape loops,
it makes us more grounded, more calm, and more centered.
For our participants that are on-screen and live here,
a little feedback about that practice,
is that something you're aware of,
is that something you're already doing, is that something
that will support you?
Let me have an interaction here.
>> Hi, this is Manny.
I was kind of in the background here.
>> Welcome, Manny.
>> Hi. I just wanted to say, this is a practice.
You know, I think I'm wondering how people are old here.
I'm 37. And this is a practice that I noticed that I kind
of fell into it a while back in a stressful moment.
And it's really good.
Sometimes I don't remember
to do this practice in stressful moments.
But when I do, it's great.
Like just right now while we were doing this,
I'm sitting here in this dining room,
I have windows open all around me.
The wind is great.
I mean, for that moment that I was breathing in and breathing
out calmly, let me just take everything
in like the birds, the wind.
And it made me self-aware of what's happening now
in this moment and it just totally made me appreciate this
stuff much more.
And that's the benefit that I get from it and I hope --
I'd like to keep this in mind all the time
so I could practice it more often.
But I'm so glad when I do remember it
because it is very centering.
>> Thank you.
Stay engaged with us.
This whole video is being recorded.
It will be shared so if you want to go back through.
But here is the visuals.
Breathing in, breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, present moment.
And breathing out, a wonderful moment.
It's a very simple but incredibly powerful practice
that I've been using for over 20 years now.
And it brings me back to the present moment and it helps me
in adverse situations.
I'll break a little story about how it helped me.
So, I lived in Washington state most of my life kind of near UCL
where there's a lot of fear.
And about 10 years ago, I bought a new car.
I wanted to go up to Canada, cross the border.
I went through a remote border crossing.
I thought this would be great, casual to wade me through.
Well, I had an unlucky day and I had the good border guard,
bad border guard; good cop, bad cop.
And the border guard that wasn't having a good day decided
to really rip into me.
And he was kind of alluding that, you know,
he can detain me, you know, lock me up or whatever.
He was having a bad day, there was no merit.
So, he said, "Go sit down over there on that curb."
And he started tearing apart my car.
Now, many, many years ago, I would have been looking
at him the whole time in fear, looping, thousands of thoughts,
what's going to happen blah, blah, blah.
But on that curb for 90 minutes, I did nothing
but the conscious breathing.
I calmed myself, I became centered.
And I also didn't trigger him to get a reaction from him.
After 90 minutes, the border guard looks over me
and he goes, "You can go."
You know, in those moments, it's really important to be calm,
grounded, and centered and not feed into that energy
from that kind of adverse
or negative energy from other people.
Well, I've got a myriad of examples that I could share
with you on how this practice has supported my immune system,
my health, and my mental health.
Here's another analogy how that works.
Okay. So, right now, there's a lot
of anxiety or fear in the world.
Also, a lot of grief.
And I mentioned before, grief is associated with the lungs.
This is the virus of the lungs.
Just like the heart is associated
with being heartbroken.
There are these emotional qualities that are associated
with parts of our bodies.
Okay. Well, when we have the mindful breathing practice
and we are also living in anxiety or fear,
grief, here's how it works.
A lot of us are going to be just trapped
in this, caught up in this.
But we have this powerful tool now
and we can practice mindful breathing.
Now, it may take 15 minutes, maybe it'll take 90 minutes.
We want to acknowledge our feelings to recognize it,
to accept it, and then to breathe through it.
So, the practice is, "Anxiety, you're back with me again."
You don't want to fight it.
Oh, anxiety, you're here again.
I don't want to deal with you.
Recognize it and accept it.
But then to also say, "Anxiety, you're back again, I know you.
I'm going to spend some time doing some mindful breathing
with you."
And as we slowly breathe in and out,
eventually our mindful breathing practice will touch it
and we'll slowly begin to transform it.
Now, it may take 15 minutes.
Maybe it'll take a couple of hours.
But eventually, we can transform those difficult thoughts
and feelings by having the power of mindfulness along
with the difficult thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
It's a very, very powerful tool.
The worst place to be when we are stressed, worried, anxious,
freaked out is to be up into our head.
Unless it's obviously a life-threatening situation.
But 99% of threats that we have are really more cognitive
than truly being physical.
Okay. So, by learning these skills,
you're enhancing your immune system.
We know that stress, anxiety, fear,
and worry lower your immune system drastically.
Okay. It's the fight, flight, or freeze syndrome.
And what happens in terms of the physiology is all the blood
that is circulating in your body, it ends up moving
from your core into your arms and legs.
Why does it do that?
It does that so for fight, flight, or freeze.
So, you have the opportunity to, you know, run or fight back
against the situation.
But it also shuts down our immune system.
It weakens our internal organs, our heart, our lungs.
It takes all vital energy out of them for that moment and puts it
into our extremity, arms and legs.
And it's just an ancient survival tactic.
Okay. So, now you understand the power of mindfulness practice
in the context of so many different areas.
In terms of the COVID virus, in terms of being grounded,
in terms of more blood in your system,
being in the present moment, not being lost in the past
with regrets or with worries of the future.
Open it up, I want to keep engaging you, folks.
Any comments, questions, or insights that you have
with what we've discussed so far?
Anyone?
>> You know, if I could say something I would say, you know,
a lot of this takes time, right.
And to, you know, give yourself the chance
to practice these things more than once.
Give it a shot, give yourself a shot at this.
And you'll notice some of the benefits.
I think sometimes too, it's like when I try
to do the mindful practice, when I practice my deep breathing,
practicing that even in times when I'm not super stressed,
even, you know, when I'm just minimally stressed
because the more I practice it the stronger it gets the better
it is for me and it'll be there for me when the stress is high.
So, just some thoughts that I wanted to share.
>> Yeah. And so, what this is doing, Dr. Hernandez,
you know it's strengthening the neural net in our system.
The more we enforce it the more it grows.
I just want to put this out to all the other participants.
If there's anyone else that's watching this right now,
you want to come on to us live and to offer a comment,
an insight, or ask a question, right now is your moment.
I know there are about 27 other people here.
Manny, it's wonderful you joined us.
You're welcome back.
Anyone else wants to get involved with conversation here?
And if not, that's fine.
I just kind of want to put that out there.
Oh, boy. I cannot answer the leaky gut.
I'm not a doctor, Dr. Hernandez.
But this is more -- we appreciate the question.
This is more a mental health but, of course --
here's one thing I will share.
I don't even know what leaky gut is.
But I do know that many of our physical maladies, particularly
if we're under the age of 60 have to do
with the mind-body connection.
And it's something that's very,
very missing in the medical model.
But, you know, heartbreak can then impact the heart,
grief can impact lungs because there's a very strong
physiological connection.
So, in terms of leaky gut and I don't really know what that is,
I always come back to if you practice mindfulness
and the things that we're sharing in this workshop,
it is going to increase your immune system, your resiliency,
and your overall health.
But I don't know what leaky gut is.
>> Yeah, I want to -- go ahead.
>> Oh, I'm sorry.
I was actually going to ask a question.
>> Okay.
>> Dr. Todd, just like, I mean, I am familiar with what it is
but just in case someone might not be familiar.
If you can explain what does it mean to have your toolbox?
>> I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.
>> I said, what does it mean for someone who might have anxiety
and stuff, what does it mean to create your toolbox?
>> Oh, well -- thank you.
That's a good question.
To reinforce it, we shared a variety of tools here.
For example, turning off your smartphone is going
to make you healthier.
And taking a break.
And by the way, the research shows now that we're going to --
you particularly, younger people are going to be on the screen
for 11 years of your life.
Now, do you want to spend more than 1/10
of your entire life on a screen?
Okay. So, the mental health toolbox includes,
not only cognitive but physical distinctions and applications.
One of the most important ones is the conscious breathing
and moving from the chest down into the diaphragm.
Okay. Taking a media break is another important distinction.
I'll share another one with you right now.
Very simple but powerful cognitive prompt.
When you're stuck up in your head,
everybody put your hand on your head.
Let's get out of our heads, bring it down into your body
or your heart, wherever you want it to be.
The big part of this workshop is just getting
out of our heads and moving.
But being stuck up in your head is one of the worst places to be
when we're really anxious, nervous, worried, or fearful.
And so, part of the toolbox is recognizing
that that tape loop is not serving us.
A simple cognitive prompt.
Next thought.
I've already thought about fear and worry today 30 times.
I thought about it 800,000 times in my life.
Next thought, what else can I think, what else is possible,
what other positive aspects can I focus
on in my life or my family?
Next thought.
Here's another one, a very simple one.
That's my ego.
What is ego?
Edging God out.
That's a small part in me.
Okay. It's a part of our brains but often it doesn't support us.
So, when I talk about the mental health toolbox,
it's these different skills, distinctions,
and strategies that you have.
Learning how to conscious breathe, next thought,
find wise friends, take a media break, turn off your smartphone.
Thank you.
Dr. Hernandez, is there anything else in the chat that you see
that we might be able to address because I want
to really personalize this to your campus?
I see a lot of things over there.
If you see anything that kind of comes
to mind, we can chat about it.
>> I think what I see here --
again, just people noticing
that the GI tract can be really affected by stress and anxiety.
So, yeah, the GI tract can be affected by stress or anxiety.
The other thing too is I'm seeing from Mike
that Mike uses mindfulness but in conjunction
with the nightly reading of psalms.
>> Can I talk about that for a moment?
>> Yeah, yeah, please.
>> And then you go ahead and look for some more questions.
Mike, that's a great comment.
And so, what does the Bible really say
and all great religions?
When they talk about the Kingdom,
I feel like they're talking about the kingdom within us.
Okay. If we are created in the image of God,
one way to strengthen our connection with the kingdom
within us is to come back to the present moment.
To realize we are in the creation of God
or something greater, whatever you believe in,
whatever religion.
But I don't believe that the Kingdom of God is out there
as much as it is within us.
It is a part of us.
And the mindfulness practice allows you to come back
into the Kingdom of God into being in the present moment
and to realize your potential greatness.
Any other questions?
We want to engage in this with your campus community.
Anything else that comes to mind, Dr. Hernandez?
>> Yeah, you know, I think for a lot of us right now it's a time
of adjustment, right, doing things very differently and,
you know, for some of us
that means being indoors more than usual.
You know, trying to maintain a physical distancing.
And so, that's the part of I think I wanted
to just observe right now is that, you know, we're trying
to talk about physical distancing,
not necessarily social distancing.
That we maintain connections with others even
if we're practicing physical distancing.
>> That's a good distinction
because the reality is we've been practicing social
distancing for about 10 or 15 years.
And it's not -- and actually for the one in three students
and adults with the mental health issue whether it's
anxiety, sadness, depression,
that social distancing actually exacerbates those conditions.
The research has clearly shown it makes people feel more
isolated, more alone.
People are more vulnerable to other people's comments.
So, that's a really good distinction.
We are practicing physical distancing now
and not social distancing.
That's something we've been doing for a long, long time.
Any other -- in the chat, any other comments we can address?
I really want to make this audience-centered
to your campus community.
And feel free to ask anything if you're watching right now,
you can be anonymous if you want, any questions or comments.
And if you want to join this chat, you're welcome.
>> I had a quick question in regards
to I guess not only just being at home but also more on campus,
where can we go to just be with ourselves?
Because there are always people going everywhere or at home,
we have our family here.
What can we do to just be alone
and practice our own breathing techniques?
>> Okay. Are you able to go outside where you live,
Valerie, out in the yard?
>> No, not really.
>> Okay. This is a really good question too.
Are you kind of in a situation where it's hard for you
to have your own space right now?
>> Yes.
>> Ooh, this is a tough one.
Dr. Hernandez, I'm going to need your help on this one.
Do you have any -- I mean, yeah.
Well, just kind of a pragmatic approach, do you have headphones
that you can put on with kind of relaxing music
as you do part of your meditation?
>> Yes.
>> You know.
Any thoughts, Dr. Hernandez
on a student that's trying to have a practice.
And sometimes we're quarantined in groups
and we don't even have our own really kind of space
and privacy during this period.
>> Yeah, well, you know, and this is something I come
across with many of our students
in our therapy sessions even before the stay at home order is
that sometimes people -- there are multiple people in the house
and it's hard to have their own space, right.
They're living with siblings and parents, other guardians.
And so, and Dr. Manila actually made a great point, you know,
there are places to go like, for instance,
like during your shower, using that time to decompress.
You know, sometimes if you can, trying to negotiate
with other people too, right, within the household.
You know, sometimes other people
in the household want their own space too.
So, trying to find ways that each person can have that space
in whatever area they're at right now.
I had a session right now where --
well, earlier today where the individual was saying like,
you know, we during this quarantine,
we have special access to one of our bedrooms and we know
that that's our time in there in that moment.
And using that time to breathe.
And using earplugs, right, so that you can kind
of reduce some of the noise.
Some of us live in noisy households.
So, any way we can kind of bring a little bit
of calm can be really helpful.
And another great point Dr. Manila just mentioned for those
who have any kind of like nice like aromas
such as essential oils, anything you can do to stay
in the present moment can be helpful.
The breathing is one way we use our breathing as an anchor
but it can also be our other senses too.
That could be a sense of sight, smell, sense of touch.
Finding ways to be kind of creative and be really present
with that thing that we're doing.
>> And just to follow up on that, I love your metaphor
of the breathing being an anchor and making us grounded,
making us more centered, coming back to the present moment.
But in terms of essential oils too right now,
one a really good relaxing one is lavender which I like to use.
Actually, when I'm traveling if I see like a big lavender bush
or plant, you know, really profusely growing,
I will always grab a few of those breaks
and crush them and just smell them.
And it always -- I just love that smell.
I'm also using as more kind of an energizer now
if I feel a little low or a little down, peppermint oil.
I used to drink a lot of peppermint tea
but peppermint oil in a diffused state is very powerful.
The metaphor, you know, I used to play sports and everything.
On TV you see people, the athletes are sniffing
like chlorax or something but I'm
like they should be sniffing peppermint oil and it would be
like great for you, it gets you very energized.
We've got a comment from a person that --
what was that, I just missed it?
Was it orange oil?
Keep the comments coming in, folks.
Oh, orange oil is calming, you can scrape it from the peel
of an orange or a lemon.
Thank you.
A lot of questions or a lot of comments from Hilary, thank you.
Anyone else who wants to chime in and be a part
of this community dialogue, this community round table?
This is how I typically do my workshops too.
I struggle with severe anxiety, do you believe
in medications or therapy or both?
Okay. That's to you, Dr. Hernandez.
I've got my thoughts, I'll let you take the lead.
>> Sure. Yeah, you know, I think that depends on one, the person
and two, the level of anxiety.
In working with clients, you know, each have their own kind
of attitude about that.
And I try to work with them to see what works for them as well.
And a lot of times, you know, if it's in the mild
to moderate range, a lot of times therapy
and being physically active can be really good.
You know, physical activity and exercise can be just
as helpful as medication.
Now, when we get more to the moderate and then higher ranges,
sometimes medication can be good.
Sometimes it can be kind of that jump-start
and it accentuates the therapy.
So, in those cases, I would say it doesn't have
to be either/or, sometimes it's and.
So, sometimes it's, you know, therapy
and being physically active,
sometimes it can be therapy and medication.
But consulting with a healthcare provider can be really helpful
and coming up with some solution that works for you.
>> Okay. The only thing I'd like to add,
and I think you'll probably concur with me on this,
Dr. Hernandez, the critical -- if we look at it,
I look at it once again
as a critical constellation in the trio.
And the critical component that's missing is we have talk
therapy which is good, we have medication,
pharmaceutical medication.
But the missing component is what this is all about,
it's learning self-advocacy skills, learning mental mastery,
learning how to calm down difficult thoughts
and feelings and emotions.
Understanding how your brain works, understanding how
to anchor yourself and come back to the present moment.
This is really good, the missing component I feel like in my work
with hundreds of colleges and universities around the nation.
And I think we can do a better job
by including mindfulness-based stress reduction as an adjunct
to the other two commonly used approaches
which are talk therapy and prescription drugs.
Dr. Hernandez, your thoughts on that.
>> Sounds good.
Absolutely.
>> How about Adriana or Valerie or anyone else, your thoughts
on that on incorporating this along
with the other traditional forms of approaches
that we have now for mental health?
>> Well, from my experience, I am a person who suffers
from a lot of anxiety and mild depression.
So, before I went to a psychiatrist,
I was going to my psychologist.
And I was very skeptical in taking medication.
You hear these taboos that you get addicted
and it's not good for your body.
So, I tried to stay away from it.
So, although my sessions with my psychologist were helping,
I was not getting to the point where I was able
to feel like myself again.
So, I decided to go to the route to go to
and see a psychiatrist and try it out.
I've been on medication now for I want to say maybe
like a year, year and a half.
And after taking medication, I feel like I'm myself again.
Actually, after taking the medication that's when I decided
to come back to school, that's when I was able to get involved
in school and have motivation.
So, I feel knowing your body and really coming into peace and to,
okay, what do I need to be me.
What are my resources?
What can I look for?
So, I will say definitely first try meditation,
first try to figure out different ways
but if you still feel like that's not enough,
it's okay to take something else.
It's okay to go to see a psychiatrist and see
if there's something else that can help you.
But although I take medication, there are some times
that I still feel a little bit of anxiety.
And just like Dr. Todd was saying,
it's a lot about recognizing and saying you're here
but you're not going to take over my day.
I'm going to have a thought
and now once I have a thought can I resolve it, can I fix it,
is it in my will, and if it's not then I need to let it go.
So, it's also a lot about self-motivation and self-control
and be able to tell yourself, okay, this is something
that is just going to cause more anxiety so I need to let it go.
And it takes time.
It didn't come, one day I woke up and I was like, oh,
I made will to take my thoughts.
But I feel the more you practice you start constructing a
different route in your brain.
So, instead of going to the same path, it's like, okay,
now we need to go to the left.
Now, we need to go to the right.
So, it doesn't become something uniformed every single time.
So, yeah.
>> Thank you for those comments.
Just to reinforce that.
By practicing mindfulness as an adjunct
to the other two approaches,
you are strengthening neuropathways in your brain.
But I would also encourage you to remember
that when you have these difficult thoughts and feelings,
the acronym is RAIN, recognize the feeling,
acknowledge it, don't fight it.
Whatever you fight, grows stronger.
Recognize it, acknowledge it, investigate it
and the investigation can be doing the deep breathing
and to calm it.
And then don't have the judgment, don't have a judgment
about yourself that you're having
that thought or feeling again.
But RAIN is the acronym.
And once again, remember let's put our hands
on our heads for a second.
Everybody, please hands on your head.
Let's get out of our heads and bring it into our heart or body,
wherever you want to go.
Okay. We need skills to get out of our head.
Often, we don't need to add anything, we just need
to remove the ongoing dialogue we have.
So, remember that acronym.
To recognize a thought or feeling, to acknowledge it,
don't fight it; to investigate it
and that can include the mindful breathing;
and then to not be judgmental, don't be hard on yourself.
You know, thoughts and feelings come and go.
We have 20,000 to 30,000 them a day.
Okay. I'm not saying that they are real but they come and go
and they're incredibly fleeting.
And we don't need to be controlled for the rest
of the day, a week, a month, a year or a life
by one difficult thought and feeling.
Any other comments or feedback?
Oh, a question I'd like to ask for you Dr. Hernandez,
it was one of the comments from our folks on board
and we're looking at your comments.
Someone had mentioned that it's important
to find the right person to work with.
And if the first person isn't a good fit
that doesn't mean you failed, it means you can keep searching
until you find a good fit.
>> Yeah, I think that's a really good point.
Again, thank you, Dr. Manila, for that.
Yeah, you know, you've got to try and try again.
And unfortunately, sometimes it's not the right fit.
You know, just like, you know, we interview for jobs or,
you know, we in a way kind of interview
for potential dating partners, you know,
it's not always the right fit.
And the same thing with psychologists or psychiatrists.
If you seek out therapy for the first time and it's not working
for you, first off, I would recommend talking
to that therapist about how it's not working for you.
Because maybe it can be worked through.
And if not, you know, there are other people out there,
you know, there are a lot of different kind of styles
and approaches to therapy.
And then you add that to the, you know,
different personalities that are out there.
You know, because us therapists, us psychologists,
we're all people and so, you know,
we all have our unique kind of aspects about us.
So, if it's not a good fit with you and that therapist,
talk it out or try it out with someone else.
And you might be pleasantly surprised.
>> Just to reinforce a couple more comments.
One person mentioned that having a hobby really helped them.
And then the last one that I saw was
that the Cerritos Community Center,
I believe has free yoga twice a week.
Yoga is a very powerful practice.
It enhanced my mindfulness, my breathing,
connecting with my body, our minds
and bodies are not disconnected.
Everything is interconnected.
So, that's a wonderful opportunity,
free yoga within the community there.
I've got a lot of stuff coming up here.
Okay. We've got a couple of apps there.
One more thing I'd like to talk
about within the workshop is it's a really important
distinction that we have here is in two areas.
Okay. Too often in our culture,
we are chasing sensory pleasures, not for happiness
but just to feel good.
Here's the visual for that.
Okay. What we're really looking
at in this workshop is happiness on a mental level.
Okay. So, we've got the two distinctions there.
Okay. Now, when we're chasing sensory pleasures
and that's what capitalism is based on.
They know psychology.
Those pleasures whether it's eating, drinking, shopping,
using drugs or alcohol, they're all short, fleeting
and they don't really stick to us.
Okay. Now, I'm not saying do not, you know,
have a beer occasionally or have a good meal,
but for many people, that is their main source of --
and it's not happiness, it's their main source
of finding some pleasure within their life.
But the sensory pleasures are never-ending.
They continue, for example, with alcohol or drugs we need more
and more just to kind of be on a maintenance level.
So, the sensory pleasures are fleeting, they're short
and they're never long-lasting.
Okay. What we're focusing on in this workshop is really the key
to happiness in your life and within our lives
and our families and that is happiness on a mental level.
Okay. Happiness on a mental level when we feel good
about ourselves and our own life is stronger,
it's more long-lasting, it's something we create from within
and it's something that sticks to us a lot longer.
And it really strengthens us emotionally,
physically, psychologically.
So, that's one of the important distinctions
in this program is most people are chasing sensory pleasures.
And I used to do that a lot more when I was younger, you know,
as opposed to finding happiness on a mental level.
Just an important distinction within the program.
Comments, feedback from anyone in the webinar here?
Once again, I want to keep engaging everybody.
Is that a new concept, is anybody practicing that?
Does anyone see the difference between sensory pleasures
versus happiness on the mental level?
How about you, Valerie?
So, Valerie, you have a practice, right?
>> I just do the breathing with my app
but there's not really much that I do besides working out.
I don't know if that's...
>> Well, let's talk about breathing.
So, how often do you do that a day?
>> I do it, it depends.
So, whenever I do have a lot of tightness in my chest
and my asthma starts acting
up then I do my breathing exercises.
And sometimes it is to relax myself.
So, it just depends.
>> Okay. And don't say I just do my breathing.
Most students don't do that.
You're doing a very powerful practice.
I just want to reinforce that.
You're doing some amazing work.
It's strengthening your neuropathways,
it's strengthening you physiologically.
Are you able to sometimes do that twice a day?
>> Yes.
>> Okay. And how does that change your day?
What's the difference between doing a practice daily
and when you miss it, is there any difference?
>> I could be -- I guess, when bad things happen,
I just shake it off when I do my breathing.
But when I don't, I just seem
to get a little more irritated on the inside.
So, I just carry that thought or those problems or small things
like someone cutting me off in traffic.
It just stays in my head for like a couple of hours rather
than just blowing it off.
>> Okay. Thank you.
I just want to engage you, Valerie.
Hey, we had a good question there, would you give an example
of what happiness on a mental level is?
This is how and anyone else can share it if they like to.
But this is how I kind of share it in terms
of when I do a workshop with students.
Okay. If we're really looking at feeling good and feeling great,
it really has to do with energy psychology.
Okay. If I was to tell you right now, Valerie,
that you have just got a scholarship
to attend graduate school that will pay
for all your tuition, how would you feel?
>> I would feel really excited.
>> Yeah, you would feel really good in terms
of happiness on a mental level.
Now, I didn't give you a drink or buy you new clothes,
you're not eating a chocolate bar but it's in terms
of happiness on a mental level and energy psychology.
When you feel really good about yourself and, you know,
what if you do get a scholarship for graduate school?
Okay. What if questions are very powerful and very positive.
But that's kind of the distinction of happiness
on a mental level versus sensory perceptions.
Think about time right now, everybody in this workshop,
where you really reach out and really help someone.
Okay. Or you really made a difference in someone's life.
Maybe they're having a tough day, maybe you helped them
to do something they couldn't do or learn something.
If you think about that right now,
that makes you feel really good.
It makes you feel happiness on a mental level.
So, that's the distinction I'm talking about.
Happiness on a mental level as opposed
to chasing sensory pleasures which again never end,
they're fleeting, they're short-term.
But it's being comfortable with who we are,
being calm in our own bodies.
Realize we're created in the image of God
or whatever you believe in and realizing
about our unlimited potential.
To me, that is what happiness on the mental level is.
Anyone else wants to chime in?
>> Yeah, kind of going back to the mindfulness practice,
I think that's where they intersect also, you know,
when we're practicing the mindfulness practice, you know,
we're trying to practice one, the acceptance
of the present moment.
We're trying to practice patience toward ourselves
in the moment.
And when we can let go and experience that patience
and that acceptance, that's not just during that moment
that we're breathing but the work is on transferring it
in our moment to moment living.
And when we can live with that, that's longer-lasting
than the fleeting moments
of the physical sensations you're describing, right,
and when you're kind of needing to have that one more --
I don't know, piece of candy or one more drink
or one more whatever it is
because you're constantly needing to refuel that.
But when you practice that moment to moment breathing
and the acceptance and patience toward yourself,
that's something that you take with you.
That well doesn't have to run dry.
>> Yeah. Thank you.
I'm thinking -- I'm willing to keep going but I think
that we should probably wrap up in a little bit just
so we keep people's attention.
Does that make sense?
So, just in summary, you have learned a variety of skills
to enhance your mental health.
Now, I've talked about a lot of things.
For our participants right here or anyone else in the workshop
that wants to join, what is one takeaway
from this webinar workshop that you will make a commitment
to apply to in your life?
Something new, maybe it reinforced the concept.
What is one thing that you are willing to utilize,
one of the distinctions out of the webinar and to apply
in your life to enhance your strength, your mental health,
your immunity, your overall chi, and robustness for the future?
Anyone who wants to share?
>> I will definitely take the next thought as well.
I practiced that yesterday as we talked on Monday.
But I have been practicing it and I will continue to practice
over the next thought, just pushing my thoughts aside
when I think too much.
>> Will you demonstrate that to us?
Just put your hand to your head and go next thought.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. Someone else just mentioned the deep breathing
with a smile.
Remember when you smile, it's face yoga
and it changes your physiology.
We also use about 30 more muscles in our face.
Too many of us walk around with, you know,
impartial or kind of a grim.
But smiling is mental mastery.
It's face yoga.
And also just, you've always got to smile, Valerie.
Always just a little smile even in adverse situations.
Reinforce this to yourself that I can handle this.
That it'll be okay.
Let's see, we've got, I'm just looking
at practice the deep breathing and repeat the mantra.
Acknowledge my mental state and happiness,
smiling, and deep breathing.
Remember the acronym once again, RAIN.
Recognize the feeling, acknowledge it, investigate it.
And in terms of investigating, that's something you're doing
with Dr. Hernandez but you can investigate it in terms
of breathing with it, calming it,
and then being non-judgmental.
Okay. So, takeaways from the workshop.
You've developed skills for mental mastery,
you know about the power of breathing from the diaphragm
as opposed to the chests.
You know that we have a tape loop in our mind.
And the worst place to be
when we're overwhelmed is up in our mind.
So, we can move out of our mind into our heart, into our body.
We've got the cognitive prompt Valerie likes next thought.
We know that if we take a media break,
it's going to enhance our immune systems.
We know if you turn off your cell phone for one hour a day,
you're going to regain your sovereignty.
It's going to be there for the rest of the 23 hours of the day.
See if you can do it.
And if it's difficult, stay with it.
See if you can turn off for half an hour.
See if you can when you're outside really be outside
in the present moment.
If you can see the sun, the birds.
Look at other people.
If you can be aware of the present moment.
Why waste your life, 11 years of your life looking at a screen?
Okay. I think it's a real tragedy.
Those are some of the most important takeaways
from the program.
But you have a mental health toolbox now.
Don't wait until the critical moment to have these skills.
You've developed and increased your foundation of skills
for yourself, for the future, for your family,
for your community, and for the world.
So, I thank you so much for being involved with the webinar.
Thank you so much all our participants.
Dr. Hernandez, thank you so much for working
with us, facilitating this.
It is recorded, it will be shared I believe probably
on your website at some point.
Any closing thoughts from you, Dr. Hernandez?
>> Yes, I just want to echo what you said.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Renee, Maurine, our interpreters.
Thank you, Valerie, Adriana, our student reps who helped.
And everyone else who commented in the chatbox and had a lot
of great things to say, a lot of great questions.
This will be recorded.
And we'll be posting it as soon as we can.
And it looks like we have one more question, I think.
Can we squeeze in one more?
>> Sure.
>> Yeah. Okay.
>> Well, I'm actually here from the Cerritos College Talon Marks
and I'm covering this story.
I also wanted to ask -- I'm also someone
that had suffered from depression.
In 2017, I was really bad, I've got diagnosed
with an autoimmune illness which I had to go
through chemo and all of that.
So, like during those times, I was kind of practicing
like the next thought like see
that I was strong for going through it.
But also, kind of focus more on the positive
like take the positive more out of it.
Like I'll kind of acknowledge that there are people
that have bigger struggles or like have worse conditions
than what I went through.
But now, with the home isolation and everything,
it's kind of reminded me of like when I was going through it,
I had to isolate myself because of the chemotherapy
and all of that.
Just kind of bringing like back those memories.
>> Let me ask you a question.
What is one takeaway from this workshop that you can use
to strengthen your mental health?
>> Yeah, I think the breathing.
I know that's important to do.
And I don't usually practice it.
But just with the exercises that we did today,
the body feels like more relaxed.
>> Well, I would just encourage you to just practice that even
for three to five minutes a day.
Practice some conscious breathing, not only is it good
for your mental health but it will be good
for your medical conditions.
It'll strengthen your immunity,
it'll bring more oxygen to your system.
Once again, the distinction,
one of the physiological distinctions is --
and women actually chest breathe more than men.
Chest breathing is related to anxiety, worry,
fight, flight, or freeze.
When we diaphragm breathe, we give ourselves a real break.
Okay. And we also reach a lot more blood in our lower lungs
where there's about a liter of blood.
For in the upper lungs, there's just a teacup of blood.
So, it really enhances our immune system,
strengthens us both physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
So, I would really encourage you to spend three
to five minutes a day doing some conscious breathing,
maybe twice a day.
And here's the interesting thing,
if you start practicing it
and you learn the diaphragm breathing,
you're creating new neuropathways in your brain
and it's going into your subconscious mind.
And you will start doing it automatically
for the rest of your life.
For the next millions and millions of breaths you have.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you Rosia for your question
and for sharing with us.
And this goes out for many out there.
You know, with the stay at home order, it can bring
up different, you know, reactions
or experiences or histories.
And again, as Todd was mentioning,
if we practice our breathing, it has a way
of bringing us back to the present.
And kind of detangling from those past experiences.
Because you're here right now in this moment.
You're not back in 2017 or for whoever else,
it might be 2018 might be that year.
You're here right now and the breath reminds us of that.
So, you know, for everyone again, thanks for everything
and then also, you know, check out, you know,
the Cerritos College webpages for there is lots of, you know,
helpful, you know, information out there, especially, you know,
Dr. Manila mentioned like the Daily Falcon,
you know, for the yoga.
Check that out for a lot of other events
such as this one that took place.
You know, we're trying our best to offer a lot of resources
for our students at this time.
>> Thank you.
My closing thought is continue
to strengthen your mental health foundation.
This is not the last adverse or difficult situation we have.
Don't wait until the critical moment.
These skills will change your life even if you apply one
or two of them for the rest of your life.
Strengthen your mental health foundation
and strengthen your life.
Thank you.
>> All right.
Thank you, everyone.
Take care.