Reducing Stress and Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

Intro: We're talking wellness at MemorialCare Health System. It's time for Weekly Dose of Wellness. Here's Deborah Howell.

Deborah Howell (Host): Welcome to the show. Today we'll be talking about reducing stress and understanding the mind-body connection. Our guest today is Erin Somerville; she's a certified hypnotherapist. Erin has been an international teacher, lecturer, consultant, and coach on mind-body medicine for more than 30 years. For the past eight years, she has developed and established one of the country's first mind-body cancer coaching programs at the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Medical Center. Welcome, Erin.

Erin Somerville: Well, thank you, Deborah.

Deborah Howell (Host): It's wonderful to have you on the show. Stress can have damaging effects on physical, mental, and emotional health, especially if it becomes chronic. So what is stress and why does it happen?

Erin Somerville: Yeah, well we're in our modern world, you know, we're dealing with stress almost constantly. You get on, you know, you drive to work and it can be stressful. And stress is really the body's way of responding to any kind of demand or perceived threat. So lots of things will happen automatically in your body when you're under stress. Cortisol levels go up, adrenaline goes up. All of these were intended way back in time to take care of a threat, sort of like, you know, the saber-toothed tiger is chasing you. And so this goes into effect; it's a fight or flight response that's going in. And it's meant to be a temporary thing, you know? And when I think about it, I often think about nature because we've been studying animals, and a gazelle that is being chased by a lion... after she sometimes outruns that lion, what she does is she simply shakes, shakes all over her body and then immediately begins to eat.

Deborah Howell (Host): Hmm.

Erin Somerville: So animals really have this innate ability to deal with stress in the moment and not allow that stress to keep going on and on in a debilitating fashion. But that's what happens to humans usually, is that we do stay so often in this stressful mindset. "You know, I have to get things done, what do I need to do? It's pressure, pressure, pressure." And so we can sometimes be in stressful states, um, sometimes 24/7 depending on what's going on in our lives. And that takes a serious demand on all of our organs, our mental attitude, our physical health. It can be the basis for some chronic illnesses. So stress is really something, especially in this modern day and age, that's important for us to be aware of and learn how to cope better with.

Deborah Howell (Host): Absolutely. Now you answered part of my next question, which was how does stress affect a person's health overall?

Erin Somerville: Yeah, it - you know, stress can be good in a sense, you know? If you have to get ready for a speech or you have to do a project, you know, it can help you to focus, it can help you to put things together. Um, so that's called eustress. That's stress that's, again, temporary, that's not long-term. So the kind of stress that becomes dangerous to our health and our mental health is stress that kind of creeps into our life too. Most people I don't think truly appreciate how stressed they are. But some of the signs that we are stressed could be, you know, "I'm not sleeping well, I'm snapping at people, I'm cranky, I'm just going into fast food places, that's all I want to eat." So it can, you know, can invade our diet, the way that we're taking care of ourselves. It can just really screw up everything. And that's for you to notice what's going on, when you see your behaviors take you in directions that you know - this you can often say, "This is not me. Why am I reacting like that, you know? I don't know why I said that, I don't know why I'm so angry." Those are all signs of being overstressed and overwhelmed.

Deborah Howell (Host): Or, "I have to have a Cinnabon right now and I don't know why."

Erin Somerville: (Laughs) Well, I sometimes feel that when I'm not stressed, but yes, because I had a Cinnabon five minutes ago and I still want one.

Deborah Howell (Host): Right. All right, that leads into: what are some of the things people can do to reduce stress and improve their overall well-being?

Erin Somerville: Yeah, well this to me there - there are the usual things that people can do: you know, eat healthier; look at your sleep, get to bed at a regular time, get up at a regular time; exercise. That's the one that is promoted and it's great - get out there and walk after work, get out there and walk on your lunch time. Because let it out, let it out. The body has a wonderful miraculous system that will start to rebalance, because when we're exercising, we release the good hormones, the endorphins. And they help our immune system; they help our body to, um, renew itself from - from stress and the damage of stress. In my job, however, and what I really believe is the foundational thing about stress is the way we're thinking about ourselves, our life, our situation, and how we're thinking about it. Because that - what you can't really be stressed without telling yourself a stressful story about an event or situation. Does that make sense to you?

Deborah Howell (Host): Absolutely. I was going to say that just leads into the mind-body connection.

Erin Somerville: Exactly, which is my specialty. And it goes way back to the Greeks, the philosophers that said, "It is not people or things or events that are upsetting you; it is the way you perceive them, the way you respond to that person, event, or situation." So when a person gets a diagnosis of cancer, that's huge. I'm also a cancer survivor. It's usually shocking. You feel like you've been hit by a truck and you didn't really see the truck coming for many of us. Um, you know, so when people come to me they are often in that state. And the very first thing that I like to introduce to them, a technique, is mindful breathing. And this is good for anyone out there. If you're in stress, everybody knows that, but mindful breathing - just breathing in and breathing out - is the oldest and the most powerful healing meditation to bring us back into balance that we can do. And if you just sit, close your eyes and really become very conscious and mindful of your breath going in and going out, and then putting your mind on gratitude or what you love or what is right in your life... that does just to do that for three to five minutes can really just - it can influence your day completely, can reset it, if you really do that with a, you know, a calm mindful attitude.

Deborah Howell (Host): And everybody can find three to five minutes, no matter who you are.

Erin Somerville: I think so. I sometimes, you know, sometimes people will say, "I don't know, I don't have time." So I use my - my phone, my smartphone.

Deborah Howell (Host): Right.

Erin Somerville: And I put on the timer, because it goes so fast. So I tell myself, "No, you do have three minutes, you do have five." And of course it goes by so fast that sometimes you'll find you extend it because you're beginning to feel so much better, you know? So with a cancer patient, first of all I want to bring down as much as I can their anxiety and fear. Because we never make great decisions from a place of fear, and there's lots of decisions to make when you have a diagnosis. "What do I do? What treatments do I take? How about my family? What about my job?" And if you're doing it all from that stress place with high cortisol and adrenaline... oh my god, I've never known anyone to make great decisions in that emotional state. So to talk to them about, "Okay, let's start thinking about the most desirable outcome that can come out of this. Let's just imagine that you're imagining - we're going to imagine you've got great doctors because here I work at Memorial. We've got amazing oncologists, all kinds of the - the top-of-the-line techniques and treatments for this illness and just breathe into that. You've got lots of support." And imagine it having the best outcome. That's what I'm going to be following and guiding you with. I'm here to help you imagine that and then deal with the things that come up along the way.

Deborah Howell (Host): It's just that we have about a minute left and I just wanted to get into your role as a mind-body oncology coach because I think that's really important.

Erin Somerville: Yeah, so I help people mind-body because I mentioned about how stress in the body reacts. That's the mind affecting the body. Your immune system is driven by your emotions. So healthy emotions - love, joy, passion - actually are like candy for your immune system. And this is science. There's lots they can go and check online. It is the science of that. It's your immune system - we are wired to be in thinking peaceful, grateful, loving thoughts and engaging more in that. That's what I was going to say - to engage in that more in the midst of this diagnosis is so important. So that's where the mind-body connection is so strong because your immune system kind of is depending on you to show up in a way that is helpful. And that is the story you are telling yourself about where you're at.

Deborah Howell (Host): That's a beautiful thing and I know there are so many benefits to this. And for more information, where can families go to find out about the supportive services offered at the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute?

Erin Somerville: Yeah, we have a line here called Cancer Answers, and that number is 562-933-0900. That is Cancer Answers, and they can direct people... we've got so many different services: we've got mentors for breast cancer patients, we've got support groups for cancer groups. And myself, if they want to reach me, I'm at 562-933-9520. That's my direct line here.

Deborah Howell (Host): Thank you so much, Erin, for being on our show. We could go for a whole week on this topic or more.

Erin Somerville: We could, Deborah. It's been so nice to meet you, and thank you for introducing me to your listeners. I hope it has been helpful.

Deborah Howell (Host): Absolutely. We could all use a little coach once in a while. And for more information or to listen to a podcast of this show, you can go to memorialcare.org. That's all for this time. I'm Deborah Howell. Thank you so much for listening and have yourself a fantastic, healthy day.