0:03 / 35:16
Yoga As a Vehicle for Mental Health Care, With Chinmay Surpur
Saybrook University
3.81K subscribers
Share
10 views Oct 17, 2023 Unbound: Saybrook Insights Podcast
Chinmay Surpur was one of the first guests to appear on “UNBOUND: Saybrook Insights.” Surpur returns to the podcast to catch up with Dr. Long,
- discuss his experience at Saybrook as he enters the final stage of his doctoral program, and
- explain how yoga can support treatment for a variety of physical and mental ailments.
Surpur is a student in Saybrook University’s Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology program. He is also the director of research at Yoga Bharati, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing health, happiness, knowledge, and peace through a holistic approach to yoga.
Visit yogabharati.org to learn more.
===
Transcript
Search in video
0:00
[Music]
0:11
hey everyone Nathan long here president of sa Brook University here in beautiful passadena we're actually in Oldtown
0:18
Pasadena it's so beautiful right now this time of year we're in Fall of 2023
0:23
the leaves are sort of changing color you know it's California you you get sort of the mix and match of that sun's
0:30
out beautiful weather it's that time of year where new students are coming into the university and continuing students
0:37
are coming back um and today's guest is one of our continuing students I can't tell you how excited I am to reconnect
0:44
with him nearly three years ago uh Chim my sorour was one of my first guests on
0:50
this podcast and it was at the peak of the pandemic really and I was inspired at the time by his passion and his Focus
0:56
around yoga uh especially his nonprofit yoga baroi um and we're going to check
1:02
in with him see how things have been going where he's at but also uh dig in a little bit deeper on the yoga side of
1:09
the equation um so that should be fun uh along with being very educational I
1:15
think you'll agree with me on that uh a brief bio in chimi uh chimi suore uh has
1:21
his master's degree and Bs in Neuroscience got his Masters at UC Santa
1:27
Barbara he's also the director of research at yoga barati he's a PhD
1:32
candidate in Clinical Psychology right here at sa Brook University doing fabulous work uh with his colleagues he
1:39
has worked on initiating completing and Publishing research studies at his Alma moer UC see Santa Barbara as well as at
1:47
yoga Bara and now at sa Brook University all right so let's get to it
1:53
with Mr chinmai soror Mr chinmai soror it is a pleasure to have you back here
2:00
on sa Brook insights after several years how are you today I'm doing wonderfully today Dr long and it's a as usual a
2:07
pleasure to talk to you as well likewise it was so good to see you live in person
2:12
a couple weeks ago and uh you you were bright shining excited which was
2:19
fabulous so two reasons for that one you've been in a doctoral program for a few years so you're like still happy
2:25
that's good number two you were like turning me on to all these really cool
2:30
uh things you were doing and a couple you know a new student that you were really impressed by I just really love
2:35
your energy so so good to have you back and see you back well there's a third there's a third you forgot about I I got
2:42
to see you well that Lit me up thank you that I appreciate that very much that's that's
2:49
awesome so um I want to hear about um a few things about what you've been doing
2:54
since then but I think to sort of rewind for our guests you know you were one of our highest downloaded episodes of all
3:02
time for the record really yeah I think people really enjoyed hearing you so maybe for our audience tell us a little
3:08
bit about you before sa Brook so how did you find your way uh through life before
3:13
you came to grad school uh at sa Brook University I think for a long very long
3:19
time I was looking for my place I was always looking for uh since I was a kid
3:24
I mean since I was quite young I remember my mom telling me you seem to never really fit F in with the group
3:30
that you're supposed to fit in with like you know your age group your grade your um your community like the this the
3:37
social group that you're in like why is that right and then we'd kind of like you know talk a lot about that and I was
3:42
always kind of into things like language literature philosophy a lot more at a at a younger age um and as I was getting
3:50
older I mean a big part of my life was service it was uh being a part being a
3:56
part of community and serving community so a lot of that I mean in in my circles in my age group it just wasn't really
4:03
there it wasn't really that present um and I always found myself kind of looking up to older folks uh a lot more
4:10
um and the kind of work that they were doing so uh when I finished my undergraduate education at the
4:15
University of California Santa Barbara um in in biopsychology I think they changed it to Neuroscience now um I
4:23
started to get more into the nonprofit world uh especially within the field of yoga uh which is again another unique
4:30
sort of thing uh to get into professionally primarily into like research uh into public Outreach so I
4:37
was traveling to different countries um and the plan was really to be um
4:42
traveling across the globe uh meeting with various populations various individuals um leaders of various
4:49
communities to sort of uh educate them and engage in a sort of cultural
4:55
exchange about how yoga and uh indigenous forms of healing can be
5:00
beneficial towards uh just maintaining and promoting Health whether that's
5:05
preventative health or uh I mean what what we have a lot of in this country is reactionary Health Care um how it can
5:12
kind of fit in there right um and then as the pandemic sort of started uh it
5:18
just shut down my whole travel thing um and I I was just kind of forced to do a lot of what I was doing remotely and it
5:25
was around the same time that I was coming into you know I always knew I wanted to get into research always knew
5:30
I wanted to do a PhD and always had a sense that it was going to be in within the field of psychology so um just the
5:36
sort of like combination of my public facing sort of work that I was always into um the sense that I had with people
5:44
just communicating with people um you know eliciting change in a positive way
5:49
of course um that that just kind of brought me into looking at a PhD in Clinical Psychology and then
5:57
specifically sa Brook I found the uh the values of sa Brook I mean I'd heard about you guys from a couple of other
6:03
individuals um another faculty I think an adjunct faculty that you guys had a while ago Dr Prasad gipa and he uh
6:11
recommended that uh I should join saber because of the work that I was doing um and I was looking into sa Brook and I
6:16
found just the vision the mission it was just so beautiful and uh very much in alignment with how I was seeing the
6:22
world so um kind of coming into entering the uh the environment the ethos of sa
6:28
Brook I felt very much like I found that community that I was that I was always looking for uh granted you know we are
6:36
all we're we're not in person we're remote um you know we don't get to necessarily see each other as often as
6:42
uh other maybe brick and mortar universities do uh but but I really valued the the the global sort of um
6:49
perspective that was coming in uh with within sa Brook right it's people from across the country uh from various
6:55
backgrounds like the the the the diversity is just phenomenal in the University which just brings a a
7:01
richness in these perspectives right and I really really appreciated that um the number of different perspectives from
7:08
various age groups from different populations uh from all sorts of lived experiences and I knew that there's
7:15
nowhere else I could actually find that that same environment and that's where SA Brook really um like was shining for
7:22
me that is awesome I mean you you I think you expressed a very similar sentiment I was listening to the episode
7:28
on a commu home late last night from uh the university and um it's amazing to me
7:34
how that has held true for you and so many other students frankly I mean I think for so many of us who've been at
7:40
se Brook for a while that is the um the one thing that kind of anchors us to the
7:46
institution is the well the multiple things you identify but those are the things that anchor us it's really quite
7:52
beautiful you mentioned your work in
7:58
yoga and it feels like there's a a missing component here chimi like what how did
8:06
you get into yoga I mean did you just fall into it was there a um a catalyst a
8:12
person in your life was there did you see something happen because this is the reason I bring this up is this is
8:18
Central to a lot of your work that you're doing like with research within the community uh and it's quite
8:23
beautiful work so how did you find yourself going into yoga and I want to come back to the Sab connection here in
8:29
a bit yeah no absolutely I think that's a phenomenal question it's um it's always been just a part of my life from
8:35
when I was a kid so a lot of people in within my community a lot of other Indians that I know or indian-american
8:41
individuals that I know they kind of grew up as yoga being a part of their lives like they parents saying hey do
8:47
this like and it's just really starting off as just a physical practice promoting flexibility um and my parents
8:53
were always uh very very deeply into this world so they took yoga as more of a uh philosophical
9:00
practice and taking all components of yoga outside of just the physical practice but really the different
9:06
streams of yoga the different perspectives that there are within yoga I mean yoga itself is a is a whole school of thought of its own so um
9:13
that's where sort of like with my parents being very very involved in yoga and having me sort of involved in yoga
9:20
from a very young age I just felt that it became it was always a part of my life for as long as I can remember so
9:27
from there around I'd say like my so around the age of 13 was when I got my yoga teacher training
9:33
certification um and then uh I was always practicing it uh you know as a
9:40
kid you end up like you know you you rebel against the things that your parents say or tell you to do but you
9:46
know the value of yoga was just undeniably true right like I can just experience it for myself I can feel that
9:51
for myself and I can't deny that like that I can't deny that I feel great not
9:56
just in the practice of it but when I put myself s in like that yogic mindset and framework of thinking right and it's
10:03
a lot deeper than just the physical practic is it's a way of being and that's really the thing that kind of got
10:09
me realizing the impact of it no matter what changed in throughout the course of my life that was the one thing that was
10:15
always consistent and that something that I could always come back to as a source of comfort a source of strength a
10:21
source of coping if I need it so kind of whatever I need at the time I'm able to
10:27
find within yoga so having that as sort of a constant stream within my life and bringing it to where I'm at today it's
10:34
still I find it still highly relevant and the and what I do on a day-to-day basis in the clinical work that I do as
10:41
well as the professional my the professional work that I do and um I'm not sure if you know but my even my
10:46
Master's thesis was focused within uh primarily within Ashtanga yoga and existential humanistic Psychotherapy so
10:53
um you know that is going to be continuing into my dissertation as well so just always has been a part of the
10:59
fabric of My Life um from a very very young age and that's just continued throughout that's really great I you
11:06
know there's so much um mythology about what yoga is and what it isn't right and
11:13
you you hit on this really important concept I think or notion I guess that
11:20
um it's a way of being can you can you talk a bit more about that I think that ties so much
11:26
into what what we are trying to unpack here especially with the work that you're doing with yoga Bara so I'd love
11:33
to hear more about that most definitely um I think you know there's this common misconception that yoga is the is like
11:41
an activity meant for those that are have high Fitness levels that you know they're supposed to you're supposed to
11:47
be able to bend over backwards and touch your head to the ground so in some way like I'll let you know right now uh Dr
11:53
Long like I can barely touch my toes all right and I've been practicing yoga for most of my life
11:59
so I mean you know there's this this idea that yoga is about flexibility yoga is about um about the physical component
12:07
like a physical practice about putting your body in these crazy shapes you know there's something very simple that I I
12:13
like to mention when it comes to yoga I I always say if you can breathe you can
12:18
practice yoga that it's it's really that simple like uh I was in uh Trinidad and Tobago um on on air on the guardian of
12:26
Trinidad and Tobago and we were uh promoting uh Stop Diabetes movement yoga intervention that we've been doing for
12:32
the last 20 30 years in combination with uh or in in collaboration with uh svasa
12:38
University uh which is uh Premier yoga University in India uh that's been doing
12:43
research in yoga for the last 40 to 50 years now so they've established this very strong protocol and to stop
12:49
diabetes movement and um I was on air uh in in Trinidad and Tobago and just
12:55
providing like I was in a suit and they asked me like the anchors asked me me can you provide 10 minutes of yoga and
13:01
I'm sitting behind like a desk this minute there this high right here um and I'm like how am I supposed to all right
13:06
well that's okay I need to understand what yoga is for myself right like it's not just a matter of a physical practice
13:12
it's not just getting up and doing these crazy movements let me see what I can do sitting right here at this desk wearing
13:18
a suit being miked up for 10 minutes right and all I did was just a few breathing practices just to promote uh
13:25
peace of mind some uh parasympathetic nervous activity so just to get you to calm down feel relaxed feel in touch
13:31
with yourself um and we got a we got a couple several calls after that uh you know High viewership in the in the area
13:39
and uh one person it really stood out to me uh she called and she was in her 70s
13:46
or so and she said um you know I've had diabetes for the last 40 years and this is the first time I've experienced
13:53
relief from my symptoms at all and that's with 10 minutes on air of practice of just just a simple breathing
13:59
practice right and that kind of goes to show right it's it's a lot more than what we think it is or what popular
14:06
media makes it to be and then when I bring it to like way of life or way of being right it's it's really just a it's
14:12
a way of thinking of the world around us it's it's it's understanding certain basic values like contentment like
14:19
finding contentment in anything that we do being mindful in in any practice that
14:25
I'm doing like Dr long I'm talking to you right here like it's important that my mind is here and it's not anywhere
14:31
else right and that's really what yoga is it's when I'm eating my food I'm tasting every every taste of it it's
14:37
it's that embodiment of mindfulness right um and it's it's these kind of values that that really go a long way of
14:44
of having um having contentment having satisfaction seeking not not seeking uh
14:52
material pleasure rather seeking a larger grander contentment and and a way
14:58
of just EX exting within contentment um and and it's really that right it's it's
15:03
really that sort of frame of reference of not being not seeking attachment or avoiding having material attachment and
15:10
all these things are if you look deeper into it are sources of our of our discomfort of our of our disarray of our
15:18
dissatisfaction and when we address that at its root that's really all yoga is so
15:24
building onto that onto the philosophy it is a mind body
15:29
Soul and Spirit connection that's being promoted and not just the body which is often what's perceived in Western
15:35
cultures or within popular media yeah I mean I I think in our in our previous
15:41
conversations I've mentioned to you I I think the biggest turnoff for me when I was when I first moved out you so I'm
15:48
this Midwestern Guy moving out to the West Coast and I was in a I was invited to
15:56
attend a a colleague of mine yoga session it was an iar yoga experience I
16:02
won't spend too much time on this but I I think it it felt all about the
16:08
physical and not that I'm opposed to that but it was almost like folks were
16:14
in competition with one another what I had read about was you know this should be something that is very internally
16:21
focused certainly there's an external again I may be wrong in my representation of this but that emphasis
16:27
on mindfulness about the experience of really being connected all the way through um and it really felt more and
16:35
and I'm sure there's value in this right so I don't want to you I'm sure there are folks who say Hey listen this is
16:40
this brings value to me as an exercise regimen but to me I think part of that
16:46
has been the co-optation of yoga in a you know especially in Western Society is sort of missing the point which is
16:52
what you're driving at it it seems like to me the the full embodiment of the experience of who you are how you show
17:00
up how mindful you are about those experiences I I really appreciate how
17:05
you frame that because I think it's it's important for folks out there to understand that yoga is so much more
17:12
than how it is both practice and represented especially here in the states I mean and that's not to knock
17:18
anyone doing it but take heed of uh soon to be Dr Sour's uh comments so I mean
17:25
that's exactly right Dr Lon like it is and that's that kind of brings me to what yoga bti does right like the the
17:31
purpose of what our institution is and currently organization and uh I can kind
17:36
of speak towards like my goals with my doctorate what I want to do with that organization kind of turning it more into an institution but kind of starting
17:43
as the the the basis of it we're hoping to break those those preconceived ideas
17:48
uh that yoga is an external like it's just for your body it's just to augment
17:55
other practices like it's so you don't pull a muscle when you're exercising or when you're running like you know it's
18:01
it's a lot more than that right and that's the whole like embodiment of our organization is to take this uh these
18:07
ideas that I'm kind of obviously you know very briefly very vaguely discussing with you because we also do
18:13
have those time constraints but um you know looking at that this this this perspective of yoga and really uplifting
18:20
this perspective to make this more of what the generally understood idea of what yoga is to be so I mean if you take
18:28
yoga you can make yoga an adjunct treatment to pretty much anything like you can utilize yoga to treat a variety
18:35
of disorders you can use it to promote positive Health you can use it to promote mental stability and it has so
18:41
many benefits to it and these benefits can only really be brought out when you're looking at it from this
18:47
perspective and you're taking it away from the Western sort of we're just using this as a physical practice
18:52
perspective got it so the purpose of yoga Bari is really to promote that mission and if you look into some of our
18:58
offerings like some of the classes we give the training programs we provide so we provide a yoga teacher training program we provide a diploma and yoga
19:05
Therapy Program as well and what's interesting about those programs and I've spent a decent bit of time studying
19:11
different yoga teacher training programs from various institutions and what's unique about our program is the amount
19:16
of time we spend not practicing something physical I was about to say not practicing yoga but that's not what
19:22
it is it's not practicing something physical in in you know we're spending like 30 to 50% of the time with our uh
19:30
students with our clients with our uh participants just talking like we're
19:35
talking about philosophy we're talking about these principles of yoga that you know people are desperately looking for
19:41
in a world where they're trying to make sense of things they're trying to I mean and this is consist this is always going
19:47
to be the case right there's always going to be um people looking to understand what their purpose is and
19:52
what the meaning of this whole thing is right and like what we do is help provide some of that insight and you
19:58
know it's not like we're giving you an answer this is what the the meaning of the world is but rather this is a path that you can you can look for that
20:04
meaning right you can find that meaning you can make that meaning for yourself you can find that purpose for yourself
20:09
you can understand the world in the ways that you seek to understand it through this pathway and that's really all it is
20:17
so that's what we're hoping to promote within yoga parari and of course you know the outside of the uh the community
20:23
work that we do and all that just the solely the philosophical mission of it are uh the underpinnings of yoga Bari
20:30
really just come down to this which is promoting the the true meaning of what yoga is from its uh from its authentic
20:36
roots from its um prehistoric Roots almost right like it's it's been around for ages so from from those sort of
20:43
perspectives really bringing the authentic uh version of yoga to the people you you brought up something near
20:49
and dear to my heart especially and and and chimi I think one of the exciting pieces around our conversation is
20:57
the many opportunities here especially over the next two years I'm I'm really hoping to call attention to the
21:03
importance around integrative mental health right and and the the facets that go into this and what you're talking
21:09
about really speaks both to my mind and my heart I think around you you
21:15
mentioned that yoga can be a tool to improve mental health you offered up a
21:22
few sort of uh well a few good examples I think kind of in a variety of domains
21:28
can you speak though more about the yoga experience you know the embodiment
21:35
of yoga as a vehicle for mental health um Improvement or enhancement uh a
21:42
little bit more absolutely and I think there's a a couple of ways that that can that can happen right um one is
21:48
definitely just a component of mindfulness right like uh I tell my clients this often um yoga is like you
21:55
know when when I mentioned I recommend that you do yoga right and then they're like but you know I've had I've done
22:00
yoga before as an exercise like you know and I'm like yeah but have you you thought of it as or have you done it to
22:06
exercise your mindfulness like your ability to be aware of yourself to be aware of your thoughts feelings emotions
22:12
to have a sort of monitor of of of where you are and what you're doing and this is valuable for anyone right like always
22:19
being sort of aware of what you're feeling what you're thinking what you're acting like and and having some sort of understanding of that right so that's
22:26
like one component of it just the mind fulness and promoting that mindful awareness of yourself of your
22:31
surroundings of the people around you and being present and that goes along way and just providing a strong
22:39
framework for stability and whether that's cognitive stability whether that's emotional stability you know
22:45
you're when you're able to to understand why you feel how you feel or how you actually do feel when you have that
22:51
control over your mind then and and you're not letting your mind just kind of take you on a spin right like that's
22:58
going to naturally sort of put you in a state where you're in a you you have
23:03
that increased stability that mental stability that you can then build more onto right just if you look at it
23:09
preventatively practicing yoga can just help you maintain that mental stability to allow you to or or give you the
23:16
strength to not actually be pulled away from that now kind of looking at it from a perspective of all right now I'm in
23:23
this state how can I fix this right I'm in a state of some some sort of function
23:28
or dysregulation how can I fix this bring in yoga is both a a a technique
23:33
for calming and relaxation as well as increasing the mindfulness can help as
23:38
bringing forth some of those uh things that are necessary to uh promote uh
23:44
healing psychological healing yes and then we take that that's just the the the physical practice and some of the uh
23:51
some of the breathing practices associated with that then if you take the philosophy right I can connect the
23:57
Phil philosophy to things like existentialism and Logo theapy right like you look at work of Frankle haiger
24:04
um at uh Rogers for that matter right like there are a lot of existential themes that pop up that are relevant
24:13
across the world right like the global population everyone in the world is a human being right we're looking at the
24:20
human population and whether you're here in America you're across the continent in India there's certain existential giv
24:27
that we all experience right so whether that's a western humanistic existential
24:33
approach to addressing these givenin or an Eastern Ashtanga Yoga ad vant
24:38
approach to dealing with these givenin it's the same it's just a different sort of uh a different frame of reference
24:45
that you're looking at it from so you know providing that whole side of that you know I I take some pride in engaging
24:53
in like in using logotherapy and existential uh literature and practices within my within my therapeutic practice
25:01
and I find that bringing a lot of the Eastern philosophy too just helps fill a lot of the gaps in the western side and
25:07
the Western philosophy as well as within what my clients are looking for right A lot of people are just looking for like
25:13
where do I fit in here like what am I looking for here what am I doing here and there are a lot of those answers
25:19
already there within yogic literature and philosophy so that other that's the other side of it so bringing in the
25:25
whole the theoretical backgr of it the philosophical background of it and helping people understand that to help
25:32
them make sense of themselves their purpose their meaning and the world around them I could talk to you all day
25:38
me too Dr long we we're just barely I mean like we're just scratching the surface I know I'm like uh I'm absorbing
25:46
so much real quick um unfortunately we're coming close to the end of our time together but could you offer up is
25:52
there a a would you recommend folks go to yoga barati or to uh do you have a
25:58
book or two that you would recommend folks to pick up about yoga that that kind of expounds on what you're talking
26:04
about I think there are a handful of books uh one is definitely um and this one's maybe a little more heavier on the
26:11
literature but Edwin Bryant's interpretation of panel's yoga sutas which are essentially the basis of
26:17
asanga yoga that's a book that really goes deep into the the philosophical background of asanga yoga uh personally
26:24
uh I mean for therapists I would recommend a book called yoga and Psychotherapy by Swami Rama and Dr
26:30
Ballentine Rudolph Valentine that's a great uh practical guide for therapists to incorporate yoga into
26:36
Psychotherapy um and seeing the sort of uh the parallels between the two paths
26:41
the two modalities of healing as well and then as for you know my own book Dr long I'm working on it so I'll let you
26:47
know when I'm ready and and so that takes me to kind of the final point we only have just a couple minutes so
26:53
you're working on uh you you've made it this far in grab school and for everyone
26:58
out there just so you know when I say that it it really is uh for so many people who are going through grad school
27:04
it can be a very joyful process so um you've you've come this far um and
27:11
you're close to uh really diving into your research on the dissertation tell us just in in a nutshell what is the
27:18
dissertation really homing in on and what do you hope to show uh with the research and that's a great question I I
27:24
would like to so I did my Master's thes is kind of building the foundation a lot of what I just mentioned here which is
27:31
uh demonstrating the parallels between existential literature and the west and in the East right um and showing a sort
27:39
of like a synthesis of the two with a proposed model uh now what I want to do
27:44
is evaluate whether or how yoga specifically how yoga would be perceived
27:50
um as a modality of healing within uh psychother within the framework of psychotherapy so how really the question
27:57
is how can I integrate principles and practices of yoga into Psychotherapy to
28:04
essentially create or synthesize um or formulate a new uh modality of therapy
28:11
that focuses on integrative and holistic healing and that's by through the through the means of yoga and
28:17
Psychotherapy so that's really like in in a very vague nutshell that's kind of
28:22
what it is but you did all right see like I think in fact I think he did very well it's it's sometimes for for
28:30
students who are listening to this it's hard to put everything in a that you're working on that your kind of your life
28:35
work up to the state right like you're really hoping to get that to show and you did a fabulous job I mean that's
28:41
your core message so well done than on the abstract thank you Dr I appreciate
28:46
that and you're living proof that grad school is doable it can be fun it can be
28:52
applicable to the work you're doing out there in the world today so timai it you
28:58
know I know our time is too brief on on something like this but we're excited for our community we're we're bringing
29:05
in chimi and several of his colleagues to speak with our board in a another
29:10
week or so uh you'll hear this way after the fact but I know our trustees are super excited about this um and before
29:18
you go today we have two questions we ask of all of our guests um and it's
29:25
it's really fun um and also really enlightening to hear what individuals
29:30
say about uh each of these two topics so this is quick take so what are the first
29:35
things that come to mind you have to give the star answer right the book textbook answer it's the Chim my suor
29:42
answer so the first one is what does the term humanistic mean to you that which makes us human the uh I think when I
29:50
think of the word humanistic I think of Joy I think of contentment I think of love I think of uh connection I think of
29:58
uh of collectivism I think of multiculturalism I think of diversity
30:04
and I think of the the vastness that is The Human Experience within the global
30:09
population fabulous we'll give you an A+ on that one I wish I could have
30:14
influence on your uh comprehensive exams but you know unfortunately this is what
30:20
we'll see if they'll take the answer offline there so right and then lastly
30:25
um for all of our audience out there uh we found this to be tremendously
30:31
insightful for a lot of folks what are three things an individual a group an organization but really focusing on the
30:38
individual in this case that they can do to help improve or enhance uh their
30:43
mental or emotional well-being from your perspective absolutely that that's a wonderful question um I think one
30:50
definitely right off the bat that comes to my mind is try to find happiness in everything that you do like if you can
30:57
enjoy washing the dishes which I genuinely do I do enjoy washing the dishes you'll never get tired of it
31:03
you'll never get bored of anything you know if you can find the joy find the pleasure find even just some sense of
31:08
satisfaction in everything that you do then you know you're going to love your days um I think the other component is
31:15
you know just having some mindful awareness like I I would recommend mindfulness for everyone you know like and again mindfulness is one of those
31:21
buzzword that I can talk another hour with you about Dr long but um you know just like promoting that awareness of
31:28
what am I thinking what am I doing what am I acting right like what am I feeling just just having that at the top of your
31:34
mind and being reflective about that I think it can go a really long way in just having and maintaining a sense of
31:40
emotional well-being and finally I would probably say just get outside like use
31:46
less technology and take advantage of nature while we have it like I I'm in California right now and in uh Northern
31:52
California there's some fires raging up north and you know the air is getting Smoky and you you know like really like
31:58
get out when you can uh and you know we have we'll have these screens forever so try to get off these screens um get
32:05
outside you are part of a cohort of people I think almost 90% of our guests
32:13
have said to get outside and I think that's it's an important reminder
32:18
because that getting out into the world into nature into the into that which we're a part of and so often we detach
32:26
from that and so I I I want to applaud you and and all of our previous guests for bringing that to the four and listen
32:33
if you're in the audience you've heard it now several times get outside yep yep it helps it helps a lot more than you
32:40
think that's right and maybe do some yoga while you're at it so you know yeah yeah hey get outside and do some yoga
32:46
even better Jimi swport a pleasure to have you here today thank you so so so
32:52
much oh it's it's my pleasure Dr long as usual and I'm looking forward to seeing you again very soon likewise likewise
32:58
thank you chimi I hope you enjoyed chimi as much as I did remember his three major takeaways try to find happiness in
33:06
everything you do I like this example of you know doing the dishes right so um
33:12
you know who likes to do dishes chimi does I actually like doing the dishes I enjoy cleaning um but beyond those
33:19
things right in everything you do there find that little piece of joy that comes
33:25
with it have some mind awareness what am I thinking what am I acting how am I
33:30
acting what am I feeling in this moment and try to get present and lastly and
33:36
and I I really commend chimi and all of our previous guests here this is a common refrain get outside use less
33:43
technology detach a bit from what is anchoring you within your home or within
33:49
your office and get out there uh and it's a good reminder for everam for me
33:55
uh to to really enjoy this planet uh that we call Earth if you want to see
34:00
the YouTube version please visit our sa Brook YouTube page and if you like to support the podcast which I hope you
34:07
will go to Apple iTunes and leave that festar rating and review And subscribe so you can get episodes as they come out
34:13
if you're on Spotify leave that festar rating and make sure to follow us you can of course subscribe to us on most
34:19
major podcast platforms including Google Stitcher Pandora pocketcast Amazon and
34:25
many others remember to check our show notes for information on today's guests including links to chimi's website books
34:32
and the like and for more information about our University go to www.ab brook.edu click on areas of study
34:40
at the top of the page and locate the program of your choice to learn more in this case Clinical Psychology and you'll
34:47
find that easily or simply Google sa Brook University that's all for today
34:53
folks thanks so much take care and be well
35:07
on [Music]
35:15
now