Mindfulness can help in the ongoing pandemic, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03 — 1.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The beat just seems to go on and on with Covid and the Omicron spike. Karen Swartz, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, says what we all need is a dose of resilience, and oh so fortunately, we can help ourselves develop this quality by practicing gratitude and other strategies.

Swartz: Another very effective practice for improving resilience is using a variety of relaxation techniques, including doing progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, meditation, mindfulness training, and exercise.  Mindfulness training is something that with practice we can all do effectively. There are also a number of apps or programs available online to help people develop their own mindfulness practice. All of these mindfulness relaxation techniques focus on positive activities and doing things that reduce our level of stress and distress.   :30

Swartz notes that the most recent CDC data indicate that many of us are experiencing mental health challenges in large part because of the pandemic, so cultivating resilience is especially important right now. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.