Amanda Wilde (Host): The stress and uncertainty of the pandemic certainly seem to raise awareness of how important self-care and wellness are in so many aspects of life. However, it's easy to succumb to stress and worry, forgetting to take care of yourself. So, we're talking about wellness and well being with Rachelle Lando, Healing Arts Program Coordinator and Wellness Committee Lead at St. Joseph's Health. This is St. Joseph's Health MedCast, a podcast from St. Joseph's Health. I'm Amanda Wilde. And Rachelle, great to have you here to talk about what wellness is and how we can get there.

Rachelle Lando: Yes, thank you for inviting me. It's definitely an important topic.

Host: Well, you know, I'm sure wellness is little bit different for everyone, but how do we know it when we see it? What does wellness look like?

Rachelle Lando: As you said, I think it's different for different people and that's sort of the challenge or the journey to find that within ourselves. We have the basics of, you know, eating right and moving or exercise and getting our six to nine hours of sleep. And that's one level. But then, on another level, it is becoming aware of our thoughts and emotions and our body and our spiritual faith and where we are. It is that holistic perspective.

Really, Dr. Herbert Benson, he basically talks about the society being in a chronic phase of stress. And we want to strive to get into that relaxation response. And it's finding those things for ourselves as individuals and what works.

Host: So, it's finding well being. So, in a stressful world, we can't really make the world less stressful. It's something about our perspective.

Rachelle Lando: Exactly. Yeah, that would be great if we could, but really the key is going within and finding that within ourselves.

Host: We'll talk about that a little more. How does self-awareness play a role in well being?

Rachelle Lando: I think it's huge because, we see things externally. We see this fad or this new program to try or we sort of go hop from thing to thing, but really self-awareness. Do we really know ourselves well enough to pick something that we find that relief and relaxation in? So, really, slowing down is the key to self-awareness and being gentle with ourselves, to sort of see, feel, and sense what's really going on and wanting to be grounded and centered also in the self-awareness because slowing down is really hard or challenging for all of us.

Host: Yeah, very challenging. So, how do we keep that all in mind as we go through our daily lives?

Rachelle Lando: I think using different tips and tools. But mindfulness is a huge part because it's really our mind sometimes, especially working in healthcare. Our colleagues, we're mentally thinking about things all day and really a lot of us are. But it's, again, slowing down and becoming aware of our thoughts and noticing them. And in questioning, really, we're brought up and we're taught from our families sort of a certain way to think. But then, we get older and we're like, "Wait a minute, is that really how I'm feeling? Or is that really what I'm thinking?" So, it's being able to choose once we're older of like, "Is that how I want to think? Or is there another perspective that we can look at something?" So again, mindfulness is really slowing down and not comparing ourselves to someone or judging. We can be really critical of ourselves. We're probably hardest on ourselves more than other people. So, it's things like that that can help.

Host: You've mentioned slowing down, and we live in such a fast-paced world. What are your suggestions to slow down?

Rachelle Lando: Stop. Put a sticky note with stop. There actually is a STOP technique. It's an acronym. literally stopping, taking a step back, examining sort of, again, that mindfulness, what's really going on, grounding ourselves, like feeling our feet on the ground, taking that breath and then, feeling a little bit more stable and able to proceed. Slowing down, I think, is such a challenge because everybody, I think, wants to catch up or get ahead and they're thinking that's how we live and that's what you're supposed to do. But really, with that wellness, self-care, slowing down is the key, which can be the challenge.

Because self-care is so important. It's not selfish. It's more of that, you need to put on the mask before, in the airplane, because if you're not replenished and you don't have the energy for yourself, you're not going to have it for somebody else.

Host: And that really underscores how important self-care is for quality of life. And do you see that also resonating with physical health?

Rachelle Lando: Oh, totally. Our mental, emotional state. I talked about being in that chronic state of stress. People talk a lot about anxiety, depression, different emotional. aspects where we do feel tired or we do feel drained. But it's like, "So, what do you do? What are the choices you do to help yourself feel better?" Somebody asks you to go somewhere, do you go or do you check in with yourself and say, "Is this correct for me to do for myself right now?" Or is it to thank them and say, "I'm going to take a rain check" and stay at home or go outside in nature? It's always a choice. I say, even with your phone calls or your texts. It's always feeling that control that you can have over your life of when to choose to answer a phone call or when to answer a text. You don't need to answer it right away. You might think so.

Host: Yeah. Well, it's a great reminder that you do have a choice because we get so busy with work and family life and social activities, our children's schedules. When we're swept up in all of that, what can we do to focus on self-care? Is there a simple thing we can do to remind ourselves? Well, there is the STOP technique.

Rachelle Lando: Yes. And sticky notes are great for either reminders like that or affirmations or any of those self-care tips that you need. Also with activities, it's always like checking in and it's that stop and slowing down. Is this something that's going to benefit your child or your family or your loved one? Is this something that's going to enrich them and build them up and uplift them? And if it is in the moment, that's great, and do that. But then also, check in at a later time and say, "Is this continuing to do that?" It's the check in, and that's also good for a sticky note. Just to check in with yourself of how you're feeling and thinking at the moment.

Host: Yeah, because a lot of times all we need are those reminders to take us out of that circular thinking we may be in.

Rachelle Lando: Yes, totally. And it's noticing our mental tape, anything that needs to be put in check, if it's true or not. Sometimes we need to tell our mind to back off and this is, you know, something I need to do right now or it's a discussion, an internal discussion of questioning, questioning what your mental tape is saying. You mentioned breathing, which I think sometimes with people, they think, "Oh, self-care and wellness is just so complicated and there's so much to it, and it's like, "No, that's not true. It can be as simple as breathing," which breathing, if you notice, the more stressed you are, the less you breathe. So, it's a quick, it's an easy check-in of "How am I doing? " It's a body sense where it will show you how your stress level is and elongate your breathing. So, try to slow your breathing down and exhale and elongate your exhale, because that will actually put a break pedal on your nervous system. It will slow and sort of a nice calming technique for yourself.

Host: Well, thank you for these great reminders and techniques for slowing down, getting grounded, self-awareness, noticing our thoughts and questioning what we need and checking in with ourselves. I just have a last question for you. Your title is Healing Arts Program Coordinator and Wellness Committee Lead at St. Joseph's Health. Are there many other counterparts around the country that have that title at hospitals?

Rachelle Lando: No, there actually aren't. There was sort of a vision from our leadership here because of the holistic nature to include this title. So basically, I built a program of, we have our therapy path program, which we all know, If you're an animal lover, you know that's a stress reliever, so we work with Pet Partners of CNY for our therapy pets staff. Our colleagues love them. It's very pet-friendly here. We have aromatherapy patches for our patients, so we use essential oils in a controlled way. For patients for nausea or relaxation, we use lavender. And then, we have Healing Touch, which is a biofield energy therapy, and then we also have a music and memory program. And that's for either agitated or dementia, Alzheimer's patients, where you put on a personalized playlist in an iPod. And it's amazing. There's all the neuroscience in it, but how they become more present and engaged and relaxed. It's just an amazing thing to add to to that heart to heart connection with people.

Host: Well, thank you so much for your work in Healing Arts and, again, for the great reminders and enlightening conversation about self and wellness.

Rachelle Lando: Thank you.

Host: That was Rachelle Lando, Healing Arts Program Coordinator and Wellness Committee Lead at St. Joseph's Health. If you're feeling stressed and your wellbeing is negatively affecting your everyday life, talk to your healthcare provider. If you found this podcast to be helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks for listening to this episode of St. Joseph's Health MedCast from St. Joseph's Health.