S6E17 Webinar Highlights: Resilience following Overcoming MS with Dr Rachael Hunter

Overcoming MS  00:00 

Welcome to Living Well with MS. This show comes to you from Overcoming MS. The world’s leading multiple sclerosis healthy lifestyle charity, which helps people live a full and healthy life through the Overcoming MS program. We interview a range of experts and people with multiple sclerosis. Please remember all opinions expressed are their own. Help others discover living well with MS. If you enjoy the show, please rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts. And now let’s meet our guest. Today’s episode features highlights from the Resilience Following Overcoming MS webinar presented by Dr. Rachel Hunter, recorded live in front of our global audience as part of the Refresh with OMS webinar series. To join us live for the next webinar, or to watch the original presentation had to our website overcoming ms.org. 

Rachael Hunter  00:59 

But those of you who don’t know me, I’ll just do a little bit of an introduction. My name is Dr. Rachael Hunter. And I’m a clinical psychologist, I spent a long time working in the National Health Service here with the UK, where I worked in mental health services working with both adults and children in Community Services and in medical settings. And I now work as a lecturer at Swansea University here on the beautiful South Wales coast. I’m really excited to be talking to you today about resilience and the importance of our emotional well being. But before we go any further, it’s probably helpful to just do a really, really brief recap of the OMS program. As many of you know, the diet component, the nutrition component of OMS is very much the cornerstone of the program. So that is a whole-food plant-based diet that’s rich in Omega three, either through fish and seafood, but also through supplementing with flaxseed oil. Secondly, exercise, regular exercise, preferably every day, but at least you know, three to five times a week exercising for about half an hour, it’s really, really essential. The other steps of the program include stress management, or as described here, mindfulness and meditation. We also include in the other steps, looking after, so protecting, and preventing MS in other family members. So what you can see here are the key steps. And overall, we know that each of these steps works really, really effectively. But you can maximize the effect by using all of these steps together. So the OMS program really is a lifestyle change, a lifestyle approach to managing MS. And certainly the hour, the MS community we know about the challenges of living with uncertainty. But it’s really, really important that we acknowledge these, these, these difficult feelings that the situation is creating us creating for us. And we know we trust those feelings and we allow ourselves to feel them, they are valid, they are valid emotions that we’re feeling. But importantly, the situation may trigger some really overwhelming feelings for us. And I think a lot of people I’ve been talking to over the last few weeks, are kind of curious about that. And, you know, wondering, you know, what is it about this situation that is making me respond in the way that I might be or find things so very difficult. I know a lot of people have been talking about the the sort of emotional the grief that they’re feeling. And I think it’s important that we just take a moment to think about that. And I guess one of the ways I understand it is that, you know, this situation has forced us to re-experience some really difficult emotions, it may be triggering for many of us, really difficult memories, okay. Other times in our life, when we may have felt really out of control, we may have felt very hemmed in, and that we’ve had that feeling of being stuck or out of control. We just might be experiencing that again, it might reminding us in a kind of very emotional memory kind of way. And what can happen when we have these difficult memories triggered is that they can come over as they can overwhelm us. So why is this important? Well, let’s remember what’s happening at a physiological level. Okay, so those of you who I’m sure or, like me, there’s so much digging deep into the our understanding of what’s happening at a physiological level in MS. So, you know, our understanding is that, you know, fundamentally MS is a very inflammatory condition. And what happens when we’re under stress, as you know, you’ve heard about this, so many times, we hear about it on the media a lot. Because when we’re prone to stress, our body activates its fight or flight system, when we’re under threat, the fight or flight system, the sympathetic nervous system gets activated, it’s flooding our body with these kind of quite toxic stress hormones and chemicals, like cortisol, for example. And that’s okay, in short measure. But if that becomes a chronic and ongoing thing that can be really dangerous, it’s like, it’s like pouring petrol on a fire, it can really add to the inflammatory process. And so we need to really think about how we can activate the other side of that system, the parasympathetic nervous system, the system that allows that repair, that rest and digest, it’s sometimes called the opposite process, to the stress response. Now, that’s really important for us, all all the time. But even more so at the moment, because we’re getting bombarded really by messages of fear. We’re getting bombarded by information that can be frightening or worrying for us and our families. So what can we do? Well, I’m all about trying to keep things simple. And I think what is really important that we do do, and we cannot underestimate, the importance of it, is that we focus on the basics. Let’s try and keep the basics going. Let’s keep it really, really simple there triangle here, this is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If you look at the bottom, there are the really blue building blocks along the bottom, what you can see are their very fundamental basic needs that we need to get right. And what I find really interesting is often when I talk to people who are struggling, what we instinctively want to talk about is the stuff at the top of the pyramid. And actually, what’s most important and fundamental, really to wellbeing are the things you see along the bottom of the triangle there. What we eat, how we sleep, being hydrated, using our breath. And actually at the moment, what I found is those basic building blocks are more important than ever, not just for keeping us physically and emotionally well, but also for giving us a real sense of control in the situation. So the good news is that the OMS program is really working hard to do this for you and to help with these building blocks. So you know, the OMS program and all of the steps within it really work hard to reduce the risk of viral infection, to enhance your immune function. So eating a healthy diet, exercising, for example, all of these are fundamental parts of the OMS program. And they’re associated with protecting us from viral risk and improving our immune function. 

Overcoming MS  08:36 

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Rachael Hunter  08:54 

We also need to think really carefully about our emotional well being, as we’ve been talking about already today. And I think sometimes we can describe the OMS program as you know, simply a diet, which it is not. And I think a really great thing about that is it reminds us that we really need to pay as much attention to what’s going on up here as we do to the food that we put on our plate. And that’s really important because there’s a natural tendency that’s, you know, an evolutionary response. And that tendency is for the human brain to really focus on the negatives. So we’ll always look for the risks and the threats. Instinctively we do that, we have a negative bias. And that’s helpful. You know, there’s it’s evolved for a reason. It’s kept us safe for a long long time. But when this is constant, and this is a chronic state, that’s when the vast amount of problems can come. And I think we have begun to understand the value of finding time to look for the positives. We don’t want to be overwhelmed by anxiety, that’s going to add fuel at that petrol to the fire of inflammation. So during this really challenging time, we might just need to work that a little bit harder at focusing on our thoughts, and the, you know, the role that how we think is playing in how we feel. So, some ideas about how we can manage this, you know, this is a worrying time. And for many of us who are prone to worry, including myself, it can feel really challenging to avoid the fear messages. Or try not to worry, it’s not really that simple. So some little tips that we can cover today include allocating yourself some worry time. So if you really feel like you need to think through all the what ifs, the what ifs, and all of the eventualities, allocate yourself a period of time in the day, use that time to worry, run through all the possible scenarios, allocate yourself half an hour, and get that worrying out of the way. And that means other parts of the day, if you start to worry, you can start to think well, actually, I’m not going to worry about that now, because I’m going to worry about it in my worry time. If there’s a particular thing bothering you that you want to make a plan about, you don’t know what to do, then sit down, make a plan, write it down, and put it to one side. Again, using writing, journaling, sharing is a really fantastic way of letting go of those anxieties. I think also, it’s really important that we show compassion and kindness to ourselves. We don’t need to minimize our worries, we shouldn’t bat be embarrassed about the fact that we’re worrying about these things, you know, this situation is very real, and it is very worrying. Think if we think about how you might speak to a child who tells you that they’re worried, you know, they might come to you and say, you know, Mom, I’m really concerned, I’m really, really frightened about the situation, you wouldn’t dismiss them, or tell them that they were being silly, you would talk to them with kindness and compassion. And I think what we need to try and do is extend that same kindness and compassion to ourselves, and to talk kindly when we find ourselves in that situation. Interestingly, I think for a lot of people this time has really forced them to think about what their true values are. It’s spending time if my loved ones, it’s eating nice food, it’s been outside, going for a walk. And it’s really making people get much more in touch with their values. And that’s really important, because if we think about what our true values are, then we can start to act on a day to day basis, much more in line with our meaning, and our purpose. And actually, we think a lot  about happiness, and sort of, it’s quite a western idea of striving for happiness. And, you know, maybe when I achieve that, or I get that, then I will be happy. But in actual fact, what we know is that it’s people who are have lives that are authentic, who live a life that is connected to their meaning and purpose, that show the greatest contentment, and levels of happiness. So what are the ways we can start to manage things on a day to day basis? You know, how can we integrate more of this into our lives? Well, we can practice gratitude. Those of you who’ve heard me talk in the past, know how much I value, the role of just simple daily practices. And that good mental well being isn’t a kind of magical. There is no magic secret. There is no magic pill, a lot of the time, it comes down to very simple daily practices, and sometimes they’re practices of gratitude. So keeping a gratitude journal, making a gratitude list, in your head, on paper, whatever works for you. But one of the you know, one really, really great way of engaging in daily gratitude, a daily practice that we know is really, really helpful and also has that fantastic anti inflammatory that rest and digest response that is going to keep us healthy to look after our physical and emotional well being, and that’s mindfulness and meditation, I’ve had a lot of people talk to me over the last couple of months and say, you know, this is really challenging, I don’t really have any, I don’t really have any quiet time, quiet space in the house, I can’t sit and do my meditation practices. But again, I would I would urges you to be kind and compassionate to yourself. So just finding a way to make it work for you. So one little idea that I use is, when I boil a kettle, you know that for my cup of tea, or my coffee, or hot chocolate, whatever you’re going to make, in the time that it takes for the kettle to boil, I’ll just check in with myself. And just notice, you know, I’ll notice where I’m breathing. So if I noticed that my chest is tight, for example, I might notice that I’m breathing up here, around the top of my chest rather than deep into my tummy onto my diaphragm. And if that’s the case, I might take that time when the kettle is boiling, to just focus on my breath. So inhaling deeply, exhaling for longer. So maybe inhaling for four, and exhaling for six. And it sounds really simple. That simple act of making your exhale longer than your inhale, kind of tricks your sympathetic nervous system, and it tips it into a parasympathetic response. So it’s a really nice little reminder to our body. And to us, that we really do have this kind of superpower at our fingertips. The breath is free, there’s no side effects, and you can enjoy the time of quiet, just having that inhale, that longer exhale, of the challenge increases, what we might need to do is just increase our compassion for ourself. But also, for other people. We know there’s a really, really neuro protective, physiological response that happens when we’re in relationships, when we’re in a supporting reciprocal relationship with other people. Our body, when we’re in those kinds of connections, our body is flooded by oxytocin. So this is that lovely love hormone or the cuddle hormone, sometimes called, it’s certainly my favorite hormone, that’s for sure. And what we know is that that cascade effect, floods our body. And it brings with it not just really positive physiological responses, but it’s also really good at an emotional level, it helps us feel good. But it’s also very protective for our brain. It’s associated with good brain health. And what’s amazing about it, I mean, I just think it’s a phenomenal hormone. Because what we know is that when we do engage in positive relationships, and we might show kindness to another person, it’s actually, you, the person doing the giving, or the act of kindness, who experiences you know, the best outcome from that experience that in a bigger, bigger wave. So it’s really, really quite incredible. I want you to think about all of the times in your life, that you have overcome all those curveballs, or those life changing phone calls where we thought, I’m just not going to, you know, what can I do? How am I going to get over this? You know, most notably, the day we received our diagnosis, for example. And I want you to remember how you survived every single one of those moments. And how many of you actually thrived in that situation? 

Overcoming MS  19:03 

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