Episode 31: Befriending the Bear, with Dr. Kara Strauss

 

Danielle and Kristy talk to Dr. Kara Strauss, a doctor of physical therapy who takes a holistic approach to patient care that empowers people with the knowledge and understanding of their own bodies so they can live to their maximum potential. We cover how accumulated stress presents as all kinds of pain in the body, why breathing is so special, and you can befriend your bear with acknowledgement, movement, bonding and more.

Notable Moments:

7:45 Tension in your trapezius muscle comes from accumulated stress response over years.

9:15 Emotional responses become real physical responses.

16:45 We are so lucky that we get control over our breath. It is this access point that we have into the autonomic nervous system. It’s the only part of the autonomic nervous system that we get to pick how it’s going to work.

18:30 If you are doing the practice, then you are being successful. 

 20:30 Kara provides a detailed description of breath work.

 33:30 We cannot get past a thing we don't acknowledge is there.

36:00 Kara shares a technique for when you have fear of people who think radically differently from you and behaving in extreme ways.

Stress Management - Top Tips

  • Acknowledge it

  • Diaphragmatic breathing as a daily meditation

  • Movement, exercise - good hormones, movement improves circulation and removes pain

  • Bonding with people we trust and love or even a stranger

  • Physical touch

  • Aiding healthy digestion by eating well

 


Resources:

Follow Kara on Instagram

Ted Talk: The Upside of Stress, Kelly McGonigal

 
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Episode 32: Be Bold; How to Move through Transition Without Losing Yourself, with Stacey Shipman

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Episode 30: Year in Review