Healthy YOU Podcast Embracing the Present

Frankye Myers: From Riverside Health System, this is the Healthy You podcast, where we talk about a range of health-related topics focused on improving your physical and mental health. We chat with our providers, team members, patients, and caregivers to learn more about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And improve overall physical and mental health.

So, let's dive in to learn more about becoming a healthier you. All right. I have with me today in the Healthy Your studio, Theresa Adams, and Theresa's a therapist with Riverside Mental Health and Recovery Center. Hi, Theresa.

Teresa Adams: Hello.

Frankye Myers: Glad to have you. We're going to be talking a little bit today about embracing the present.

A journey through mindfulness. That's a lot. All right, mindfulness has emerged as a powerful tool to address mental health concerns, offering various benefits and approaches to improve psychological well-being. In this episode, we're diving into the practice of mindfulness, right, with you. I'm really excited about that.

And so, as we explore the power of mindfulness. We will explore the powerful mindfulness in the daily life discussed in practices and strategies for cultivating this in your everyday walk.

So first tell me a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in this specialty.

Teresa Adams: Well, I have been a therapist for a very long time. And I think when I really started thinking about the answer to this question, it was, it came down to hope. Okay. I believe that no one is trapped in their diagnosis or their experience.

That a person who's depressed isn't, to a life of that. There's many changes we can do that if we can change the thought process, if we can change how people think or perceive the world, or, you know, look at the world, can they start to make changes in themselves to help themselves feel better and healthier and find their way forward.

So, it really just, it keeps coming back to hope that there is, everyone has, you know, their value. Everyone is an important person. Sometimes we just need a little bit of extra help finding that. And that's where therapy can be so helpful as a way to help people find the strengths in them. As a therapist, I would say that I embrace more of a strength-based approach.

It's not about coming in and saying what's, let's fix what's wrong, but it's more about let's identify what's right, what's working, what you do well, and build those strengths up to become the best version of you.

Frankye Myers: Wow, that's powerful. Tell me a little bit about how you incorporate that at Riverside Mental Health and Recovery Center.

Teresa Adams: Okay, well, Riverside Mental Health and Recovery Center. Big mouthful. Yes. We just recently changed our name too. So, if people are not familiar. I finally got it right. Yep, yep. So, but we are an acute care hospital. I work primarily with the adults at this point in time. We have a children's unit, an adolescent unit as well.

But incorporating this in is just kind of like I said, bringing that whole attitude of hope that the positives, what can we get right? Where can we build on this? When people come to us are usually at their most broken, most desperate moment and doing things, the therapy, taking a positive approach, let's build some skills.

Let's focus in on what you're already doing because you've made it this far. You can, you know, let's put the pieces back together and help you start on your path to recovery going down the road.

Frankye Myers: Let me ask you, is it incorporated into their treatment plan? Is it structured within the program?

Teresa Adams: The mindfulness?

Frankye Myers: The mindfulness.

Teresa Adams: Absolutely. I, I'm primarily a group therapist at this point in time. I do group work with them, and we have established we've gone from doing mindfulness like two days a week to we do it now every day. There's a mindfulness activity included in, as part of their daily structure.

Okay. And what would that look like? We do it, we do it midday. Okay. Because what we find is that it's kind of, you know, you've had a busy morning. Doing it midday is a chance to rest, reset a little bit. Get yourself back together. Right. Until we start the afternoon therapy type interventions that we do with that.

The way we do it is we typically use a lot of calming music. I use a lot of sensory items, things to touch, taste. Five senses, sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, there you go. We do a lot of aromatherapies, which we have found to be really incredibly powerful because they can use the aromatherapy while we're doing the actual group, but then it lasts through the day.

We give them each a little wipe that has a smell on it. And it lasts throughout the day, and what they can use as their day progresses, they can use that sense, the mindfulness.

Frankye Myers: Okay. When I think about mindfulness, I've, I've heard about it outside of mental health as well. Huh. Just being present in any situation so that you're not distracted it's also something that can be used in high reliability organizations, so you don't make an error.

Talk a little bit about the benefits that you've seen from the use of mindfulness specifically in the mental health. population.

Teresa Adams: So yeah, if I were to give you the definition I wrote it down. Yes. Mindfulness is a skill of focusing on your present experience physically and emotionally, noticing what's happening with no judgment, no expectation.

And what this does is, for anyone who's in kind of a high-test stress situation, which if you think about it, it's kind of everybody right now. Absolutely, absolutely. Mindfulness is just a way to kind of, like you said, we refocus to bring it back to what am I experiencing? If I can find my calm, if I can settle my body, calm my heart rate.

Slow my breathing, slow my breathing then I can clear my mind to allow new thoughts to come in. Okay. And so, it's kind of an interesting thing to do. We talk about it in mental health, in my context we do, and certainly we know it's very effective with our patients. But we also know that there's a lot in the medical world, people are using mindfulness to lower blood pressure, to improve heart health, to pain management. Mindfulness can be a huge part of that if you're experiencing a difficult situation. I recently had some dental work done, and they were like, you know, they kept checking on me. Are you anxious?

Are you anxious? And I realized I was just practicing my mindfulness. I was breathing very slowly, and while it was an uncomfortable thing to go through, I didn't feel the physical distress that I would have if I Hadn't been able to apply my mindfulness.

Frankye Myers: It's funny you say that. I was just at the dentist. And while I'm not thinking it's mindfulness, it's mindfulness. And every time I go to the dentist, and they check my blood pressure, I'm hypertensive. Because you know, two things are going to happen. Either you're going to have an issue and then any type of intervention just causes me angst. They kept calling me Frankie, Frankie.

I took myself to another place. So, so I wouldn't focus on that at the time. So, you're, you're right. It is helpful when you make a conscious effort to calm yourself down.

Teresa Adams: Yeah. And a lot of times when, when people hear the word mindfulness, they think that, you know, sit in the Lotus position, Oh type meditation.

And that's actually not what we're talking about at all. It's about bringing yourself fully into this moment. And like you said, doing the things that noticing which parts of your body need to relax, you know, again, keeping that metaphor of the dentist chair. The only part that they're really working on is your mouth.

The rest of your body, if you can calm that, it has a side effect of. Helping you get through it and so we can apply this in a lot of things that We deal with so much stress in our lives now that and it's all the little things It's not always the big, you know losing your job losing your house We think of those as the right but really what wears us down faster than anything is the little things, you know the person cuts you off in traffic Your boss is fussing at you. Your kid is on your last nerve. You know, all those things can kind of build up on us. And this is where mindfulness can be really helpful as we start to feel our anxiety level rise. That's a way to bring it back down quickly and effectively.

Frankye Myers: So, give me an example. If I'm starting to rise a little bit, you would say take a few deep breaths, maybe?

Teresa Adams: Mm hmm. And absolutely, as we when we practice the, the act of mindfulness. And people often, they start that way, they're like, show me how to do it. And I'm like, take a couple deep breaths, and they go, and I'm like, no, that's not. But it is, it's, it's about holding your body still. About slowly just noticing your breath, not trying to force it in any other way.

Just taking a breath in, a breath out. notice as it's coming in that where it's going in your body. And you just keep breathing in and out. And then you start to notice in your body where are the spots that are feeling kind of tense now. And I can, I can focus on that for a minute and calm that part of it.

And as I call my body, what I find is that through breathing it brings in the healthy air, helps my heart, helps my lungs. And as my mind starts to clear. I get rid of the clutter and start to bring in the fresh ideas.

Frankye Myers: Wow, your voice is so soothing. I feel like I'm falling off to sleep right now.

Teresa Adams: But really, I mean, it doesn't, I often tell people, they're like, well, I just don't have time for this.

I mean, there's so many, I've got 800 things on my list to do. I can't, I don't have time. And the answer to that is, you know, And you're no good to anybody else if you're not good for yourself. And mindfulness you can do in five minutes enough to kind of get yourself re centered and set to go again. Yes.

Frankye Myers: And not get overwhelmed, just take one thing and stay present in that one thing. Because when you look at all the things you have to do, it can be extremely overwhelming.

Teresa Adams: Yeah, and building off that, I mean, the breathing, like I said, you took to that right away. Yes, yes. But if you're somebody, they call it the squirrel brain, you know, that, just kind of keeps going off in all the directions when you're trying to focus on your breath.

And so, this is where we bring in a sensory component. We use our five senses as a way, because the more senses that you engage simultaneously, the more able you are to focus on what you're experiencing. So, say for example, if somebody was having a hard time just finding their breath, you know, I might say something like just breathe.

Take your hands and press them together. Notice what it feels like when your two hands are touching each other or how they feel. It stimulates your sense of touch. You become aware of that part of you. Some people you know, we've all seen the fidget spinners and things like that. Something to touch. We use a furry piece of cloth that's very soft.

And then a lot of times listening to music. of music. It's not all just the meditation music. What works for you? We use, in our groups we use a lot of classical music, a lot of world type music that, and I always encourage people as you're doing this, find what works for you and use that. Some people like to have just music where the mind can wander where it wants to go.

Some people like to have an inspirational song with words in it because that guides your thought. It takes you on a path. Let me find the positive expectations. So, choose what works for you in that process.

Frankye Myers: Sometimes rain, I've noticed that to go to sleep there's certain sounds that they say help you relax more. So that's really great information, great tips.

Teresa Adams: So yeah, find the one that works for you. Having something to touch. Like I said before, we use a lot of aromatherapies, which is the use of scent or smell. And we encourage people, if you're going to try that at home, a good thing to do. A lot of times people use scent in their house.

And what happens is when it's always there, you kind of go nose blind to it, that you cease to notice it. But if you're doing it as part of your mindfulness, what you'd want to do is deliberately, like, get a small diffuser, and as you sit down to do your mindfulness, use the scent now, calming scents like chamomile or lavender, or we use rosemary is another popular one we use.

Just something that during the time you're doing the mindfulness and the relaxation, right. And it's a great tool to help take you away. And like I said, we use it throughout the day as a way to regain that calm. So again, it's finding the things that work for you. Okay.

Frankye Myers: Alright. Wow, that's very, very helpful.

And some tips that we all can take away and use, because we're all dealing with You know, whether it's a fast-paced environment, or a list of things that need to be done and how do you do that and keep yourself calm. Alright, great. That's great information. Can you talk about other areas or specific disorders that you have seen the benefit of mindfulness?

Teresa Adams: Sure. So, in the mental health world that it turns out the more I've researched this and gone into it, mindfulness can be an integral part of any treatment process. Certainly we hear a lot about it with depression and anxiety that As a way to kind of manage that emotion, because there is a strong physical component to those emotions as well, but some of the research that's being done in using it, like with even with things like schizophrenia or psychosis as a means to help calm the voices, we're finding some.

A little more limited, but success with helping people who are at our most extreme mental health conditions. That, what they describe to me when they experience it, it's just nice for that ten minutes to have everything settle down. I mean, we can't always stop the voices, but what we can do is calm them so that the person gets a little bit of a break.

Which has been marvelous.

Frankye Myers: I could imagine that in conjunction with medication. Can be very powerful.

Teresa Adams: Oh yeah, certainly. I am not discounting medication at all. Yes, yes, yes. I'm just saying, you're right though.

Frankye Myers: But not everything is medication. But if you can use it with other tools, to your point, it can really help you.

Teresa Adams: And that's how I often describe it to people.   Medication is the start point. It's what's going to get you back to that balance. Now you still have to do the work to keep that balance. Yes. And so, mindfulness becomes one tool in that as a way to say okay, I'm doing alright. Let me keep it that way. And that's why we suggest that you practice mindfulness every day.

It's not something you just say for when you're feeling stressed, because what we find is if you attempt to say, okay, I'm going to do my deep breathing next time I'm stressed out. When you get to that stressed out point, it's very hard to make yourself do it. But if you do it a little bit every day, it becomes a habit, like brushing your teeth.

You know, we don't think a lot about brushing our teeth. If we, if we If we practice our mindfulness every day. Then it becomes second nature for us just to slow our breath automatically, to touch something, to, to ground ourselves back to this present moment. And so that can make a huge difference when it comes to the tougher times.

Frankye Myers: Well, that's, that's really good. So, talk a little bit about if, if you want to incorporate for our viewers, if I want to incorporate mindfulness in my daily practice, what would that look like?

Teresa Adams: I would suggest, again, it has to become something you do daily.

Frankye Myers: Okay. Same time?

Teresa Adams: I suggest, yes, structure a time into your day.

Okay. Again, people often tell me I don't have time. There's no, there's not enough minutes in the day. You can find five minutes. It's my challenge to patients all the time. Find that five minutes. I suggest doing it kind of regularly at a set time as you're building the practice. Okay. And like I said, the best thing to do is if you're doing it, start with breath.

It's just about breath.

Frankye Myers: You can't do it with other things. Oh. So, you have to take that dedicated ten minutes. Be in a quiet space or can you do it while you're walking and doing other things?

Teresa Adams: There is such thing as mindful walking. It's a marvelous thing to do. Okay. Because what you do is you're, while you're walking do you, you’re just kind of noticing what goes on.

You're not, you know, we're often going through the to do list of things I got to do. And if you just set all those aside while you're walking, and really notice, what sounds do I hear? What things do I see? When I do my mindfulness walking, I   don't use headphones or anything. I notice so many people walk with headphones now.

Right. Or cell phones. Or cell phones. Put all, try putting all that aside as you take your walk. And just See what you notice while you're walking. No judgment, no thought about it. Just notice while you're walking. Feel the sun on your, on your back. Like I said, listen to the birds or some cases the traffic as you're going by.

But whatever, you know, just be really mindful of what is going on around you is a way to do it. Some people like to just sit under a tree. Some people like to curl up in a warm blanket. Again, it's about finding the things that help nurture you. And have you, help you feel attentive in that moment and not distracted.

Frankye Myers: By just appreciating those little things, right? That sometimes when we are so busy, and our lives are so chaotic that we take for granted. That's really powerful. That is really powerful.

Teresa Adams: One of the things I often do is I did it today. In fact, I parked far away You know,   I parked in one of the garages over on the other side of the fountain and just to have the time to walk Through before I came here was a chance to transition from all that I've been doing at work all morning to prepare myself for this So just kind of let everything empty out for a few minutes Just on the walk from the parking garage to this building, right?

Frankye Myers: I'm going to have to incorporate that. I like that.

Teresa Adams: It's just a nice way. Like I said just to let it be

Frankye Myers: so, if somebody wants to start Mindfulness practice. Mm-Hmm. Are there some things you would recommend? Is there a book? Are there resources that you can connect them with there? There are often them to learn a little bit more.

Teresa Adams: Yeah. There are some apps out there. Cause we all have an app for everything right now. Yes. Yes. So, some of the ones we suggest are calm or Insight timer, or one called Mood Tools. Okay. These are all apps that they have.

Frankye Myers: And you don't get any benefit from those apps.

Teresa Adams: There is another way, but no, no, but, but those are, you mean, do I get,

Frankye Myers: Yeah, I'm just   saying you don't get any personal benefit from those apps at all.

Teresa Adams: But these are all free or low cost is what we look for a lot of times with our pay, you know, because we don't want to give you something that's going to cost you a million dollars. But they have some guided meditations. A lot of them have a mood tracker. included in them. And so, you can kind of check where you are.

Maybe there is a time of day that's best for your mindfulness. Or there may be that we've noticed certain things. If there's a certain peak time, maybe we can prepare by doing some mindfulness ahead of time. And so all those, those can kind of help you track in a lot of different ways. One of the simplest things I tell people is to just Google five-minute meditation.

There are Thousands of YouTube videos out there that are free if you have internet access. And again, you look for what works for you. Maybe it is listening to the waterfall as you do your calming. Maybe it is having a voice walking you through how to breathe calmly. Maybe it's just having some music that you wander with, you know.

It's not all the dun, dun, dun, you know.   Some people prefer a little more energy. bringing in there. So, a lot of times we will also use pieces of music that are a little more energized while people do their mindfulness because maybe I need to pick up. Yes. As opposed to just settling down. So again, find what works for you, experiment, play with it, try different things.

Just explore a little bit and see what makes you, helps you find your calm in the middle of it all.

Frankye Myers: Good. So, Teresa, if somebody want, wanted to connect with our mental health and recovery center, could you tell them how to? make contact with the contact information.

Teresa Adams: Absolutely. We are an acute care facility primarily, but we have the, we have just recently opened an emergency department, a mental health emergency department.

If someone has experienced a mental health crisis, then they can come to us. But certainly the, First and foremost, if you're in a mental health crisis, and you feel like you might imminently cause harm to yourself or someone else, call 9 1 1. Yes. We can get police, firefighters to you very quickly, and they can get you safely   to our emergency department.

You can also call 9 8 8, which is the National Suicide Hotline. Yes. Very important. They are, they are staffing that so there's always a person answering. On the other end when you call and not on while they may be located in another state 988. They tap back into our emergency services here as well so they can connect you to what you need here.

But if you have more questions like I said at Riverside, we do have the acute stay hospital. We have now opened an intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs where patients can come every day, but they go home at night. And so, it's kind of an in between hospitalization and being in the community.

In the very near future, we're going to open outpatient services. They're where people can come for, you know, just their weekly check in with a therapist, practice their mindfulness or whatever skills they need to build. And so certainly you can always call us at the hospital. And we'll, we'll get that.

You don't want the phone number? No, we'll get that. Okay. Yeah, yeah. We definitely,

Frankye Myers: so, you've provided the   information for the contact.

Teresa Adams: But yeah, definitely that.

Frankye Myers: And it's located in Hampton, Virginia.

Teresa Adams: In Hampton. Yeah, we are not at the main hospital. Yes. A lot of people get confused on that. We're out on Executive Drive.

Great. And so, like I said we're here for you in times of crisis, but we're also, we can help you with the long-term recovery as well.

Frankye Myers: Thank you so much, Teresa, for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me. I have learned so much. I know our viewers have learned so much. Thank you for what you do.

Thank you for your team and your commitment to serving our community.

Teresa Adams: We are glad to be here. Thank you.

Thank you.