Dr. Radhika Kakarala is a primary care physician in Flint,
MI. She shares her experience of integrating Isha yoga practices into her own daily life
and her patient care
I have been an outpatient primary care
physician for 18 years. While a lot of that time has been joyful, I have had my
share of patients who continued to have uncontrolled medical problems
despite my best efforts. A few years ago, I was looking for more comprehensive
ways of improving my health as well as that of my patients. The answer came to
me in the form of Isha Yoga
and meditation. Since trying this, the beneficial effects on my overall
well-being and that of several of my patients, are astounding and worth
sharing.
Like most physicians, I never really
scheduled any time to take care of myself and I paid the price. I am a
recovering stressaholic and
a victim of “burnout syndrome.” About 9 years ago, I had the insight that I
didn’t want to ride my life like a high speed roller coaster. Until then, I
wasn’t smart enough to pay attention to the 100% diagnostic
accuracy of the finger pointing test of blaming everyone and
everything for my problems. While vacationing in Hawaii shortly thereafter I
remember watching a man who was standing up and paddle boarding for hours
with minimal effort. No matter how the ocean waves crashed around him, he
maintained his balance. It was at that time my quest to find a tool
that would enable me to keep my balance while riding the
highs and lows of life began.
When I came back to work, a friend told
me about a talk on wellness that Sadhguru, who is the founder of the Isha
Foundation, was giving in March of 2004. I was inspired by his talk and
practiced the yoga and meditation regularly for 10 months. My severe seasonal
allergies completely aborted and I became very good at stand up paddle
boarding.
I then got slowly sucked into the daily
grind and found reasons why I didn’t have time to do it. BIG MISTAKE! Before I
knew it, eight years went by, and I was carrying my baggage on my back again
and letting it weigh me down. A friend
suggested doing a free online guided meditation called Isha
Kriya. I started doing that regularly, and then took the next level course
called Inner Engineering which incorporates yoga and meditation. I practice
these everyday. I now pull my baggage whether it’s a carry-on or a suitcase
much more effortlessly with wheels rather than carry it on my back. There is a
little bit of distance between me and my baggage and that helps me remember
that I am not my baggage. I have a better understanding of the concept of
“loving detachment” and this is enabling me to care more deeply about my
patients than before. I have a better awareness of my own implicit biases and
have greater empathy for people. I am also able to find effective solutions to
decrease my moral distress that comes from situations in which I felt powerless.
I love the time that I spend with my patients and coworkers. I
can sense their unmet and unasked needs better and work with them to find solutions not only to heal their body and
mind but more importantly their soul.
If you invest 15-30 minutes a day in
improving your wellness, and your whole day goes better, what would you call
that intervention in QI terms? It’s a low effort/high yield intervention. How
do I know that the results of my n of 1 trial are accurate you ask?
The comments from my family members such
as “you don’t get bent out of shape over little things”, “you are more laid
back”, “you are serene” “I am glad that we had this important conversation,
without getting upset with each other” validate the results.
But the astute researchers among you
might question whether my results are due to some confounding factors in my
life that lead to the results. Besides n of 1 trial also limits
generalisability.
I would now like to tell you some of the sharings from
my patients, so that you can decide whether there is generalisability to this
experiment.
“There may be pain but there need
not be suffering”, how is that possible?
Chronic
Pain
“Pain won the battle. Let me try to
explain how the Isha
Kriya has helped in the aspect of pain. First, I had to realize that this was
something that truly existed in my body. I had to get in harmony with the pain
and stop fighting against it. I’m learning that I have to think happiness and
wellness to be well. I can truly say that after 15 days of using this method, I
can feel a difference in my overall well-being. The biggest difference is the
joy and happiness that I feel.”
Panic
Attacks
“The daily Isha Kriya with Sadhguru has helped me focus
and relieve stress. I find it is very easy to make the time to do this daily.
Throughout my day any time I get stressed out, or feeling overwhelmed, I simply
state that I am not this body, I am not this mind silently and almost instantly
I feel an improvement in my mood.”
Weight
Gain
“I am doing the Isha
Kriya meditation every day. Ironically, it has been motivational which
seems counter- intuitive. I seem to be taking more control over how I
organize my day and a better sense of how much I can accomplish- reducing
stress. It has helped with my resolve to stick to a diet and exercise
plan that will get me the results I want.”
Depression
and
Family
Stressors
“It has changed my perspective for sure.
I only have control of ME!”
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