Reflections - Deepak Chopra in Bermuda
​'Six Pillars of Wellbeing'

On April 6th, 2019 the Colonial Group International hosted a free event with guest presenter, world-renowned, Deepak Chopra, as part of their Zest Wellness program.

Amidst a year that has brought a lot of change and challenge to our lives, Bermuda yogi, Sarah Cook, shares her memories of the talk and reflects on the relevance of Deepak's message to focus on our health and wellbeing - a helpful reminder for our community as we find our way through the 2020 pandemic.

"Deepak Chopra, the founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Clinical Professor at UCSD Medical School, Researcher, Neurology and Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists."

'What a pleasure it was to see Deepak Chopra in person on the stage at The Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda on April 6th, 2019, and here we are only a year later, currently under a Shelter in Place order in Bermuda. A time when we need to stay home and stay well, a time to be with loved ones, and hopefully with time to focus on our health and strengthening our immune systems.'

In his talk he walked us through the Six Pillars of Wellbeing. He introduced this topic with the importance of reducing and removing inflammation in the body, as it is known that inflammation is an indicator of future disease, such as heart disease risk and cardiac problems, of blood triglycerides and blood pressure levels, and tender and stiff arthritic joints, to name a few. Low-grade inflammation can be measured using C-reactive proteins and homocysteine levels. Do you discuss these levels with your Doctor at your annual physical?

The following represents a summary of my notes from that talk, coupled with my own research as an IIN trained Holistic Coach:

Six Pillars of Wellbeing

1. SLEEP has a cycle of 90 minute segments of each of deep, light & dream sleep. This is the time when amyloids and toxins are flushed from the brain, when emotions are reviewed and processed. Sleep deprivation can cause the reduction of infection fighting antibodies and cells, and can weaken the immune system. Good quality sleep is essential to our physical and mental health, and quality of life, especially a regular cycle of sleep, such as going to bed at the same time each day. There is also evidence of benefits of 20-30 minute naps. What’s your sleep routine?

2. Stress management can be done using AWARENESS techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, and body awareness, learning to be present with your emotions before reacting. At the end of his talk he guided us through a short meditation. However simply sitting in silence 5 minutes a day and/ or setting positive intentions for your day can positively impact your stress levels.

3. MOVEMENT benefits come from walking 10,000 steps a day with the impact of the body striking the ground, strengthening bones, improving circulation & metabolism. We are built to move, but when only being able to walk an hour a day within 1km radius of our homes, this is no mean feat. Taking 5 minute breaks every hour to walk around your home, or marching on the spot outside, getting up from the couch when the commercials are on, participating in home chores, these steps all add up in a day. Which brought us to the best part for me, he extolled the many benefits of yoga, which I’m sure we are all familiar with as teachers, such as flexibility, muscle strength, body tone, but he also referenced research around reducing inflammation starting with the parasympathetic nerve (the vagus nerve) – the relaxation response from doing yoga. 

For more details try this article on the Chopra Centre website :
https://chopra.com/articles/reducing-inflammation-starts-with-the-vagus-
nerve

4. EMOTIONS impact our levels of adrenaline and cortisol, with negative emotions, if not checked, eventually weakening our immune system. We need to create more love, compassion, joy and equanimity; and he specifically recommended the use of a gratitude journal, or recording/ writing down what we are feeling, letting go of those negative feelings. Taking time to find something funny and laughing helps us heal. Whilst we Shelter in Place, as we journal, remember to record who we come in contact with each day, in case contact tracing needs to be done if we were to test positive in the future.

5. NUTRITION which is plant based with 7 colours and 6 tastes (sweet, sour, salt, bitter, pungent & astringent), provides natural nutrients and fibre essential to keeping your body performing optimally, and helps reduce inflammation. Coupled with natural probiotics in your diet such as kimchi, celery, broccoli, kombucha, or other naturally fermented drinks, to aid digestion. Plan your meals for a week at a time and shop accordingly to reduce your visits to the store.

6. GROUNDING meaning connecting with the earth, walking barefoot, touching a tree. Being at one in nature affects our overall wellbeing, takes us away from living outside of ourselves, attached to media stories across the oceans, worried and fearful for others, remember, FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Live in your own reality in the here and now, being at one with yourself and your loved ones. Enjoy nature on this beautiful island we are so blessed to call home.

He then concluded his presentation by guiding us through a self reflection meditation where he gave us time to sit with soft eyes, and become aware of the space you are in;

Become aware of your breath and how it slows down.

Even as we sit, our mind will wander, or a noise in the room may distract us, so gently bring the awareness back to the breath.

Then repeat the following questions to yourself and allow the thoughts & feelings to come to you:

• Who am I?
• What do I want?
• What is my purpose?
• What am I grateful for?

I was able to find this mediation on you tube in Deepak’s words, in the first 8 minutes of this link below.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=918qBMuQqyE

Wishing you all the very best on your wellness journey!

Sarah Cook
Holistic Health
& Financial Wellness Coach