Midmorning With Aundrea - November 5, 2020 (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 4) With a highly contentious election year and a pandemic that has spiraled out of control, many people are turning to meditation to reduce stress.

Meantime, please, staya a new study finds mo more than half of americans reported election day as the most tense day of their lives...with younger people experiencing the most stress.

Whether it's the election or the ongoing pandemic, meditation apps are seeing a spike in usage as more americans look for ways to cope.

Doctors say the health benefits of a little quiet time are enormous.

Nancy chen spoke with one new user who says the proof - is in the practice.

"everybody talk about meditating and i was like, no, that sounds like hocus pocus.

How is that going to help.?!"

For 31 -year-old katie richmond, sitting in silence seemed like the worst thing ever for her anxiety.

But since june , she's been meditating every day for 10 minutes&and says it's changed her life.

"i've been able t sleep better.

I feel like i'm able to handle the daily stressors better."

"just begin b taking a big, deep, breath.."

Meditation app "headspace" sa its downloads are up about 20% since mid-march.

And "calm" repor its daily downloads have doubled.

Experts say meditation can introduce mindfulness: "it's payin attention on purpose in the present moment."

Psychiatrist dr. seema desai says it can help counter the negative effects of stress: "it can have a effect on our immune system, our blood pressure, heart rate."

Meditation can look like many different things - from a seated practice&to mindfulness that's incorporated into daily activities - even household chores.

"so for washin the dishes -what is the water temperature feel like right now//can you smell the soap//can you actually pay attention to these things?"

"and when we'r doing that, it's often helping us stay centered, stay focused."

That kind of focus brings calm - which richmond says benefits everyone.

"me being my best i going to make sure that i can give my best to everybody else."

And experts say don't get discouraged.

Meditation is like any exercise - stick with it and you'll see the benefits.

Nancy chen, cbs news.

Experts say meditation is part of an overall strategy for healthy living - along with exercise, getting good sleep, eating a balanced diet, and having social and spiritual connections.

Meditation may be a good outlet for those of us who are foot tappers and loud sighers.

Impatience has been around long before covid.

That's the story barry petersen began to cover in the before days.

áá1- you've see the pictures& wherever you vote this year& there's a good chance you need to be ready to wait& and wait& and wait& áá2- at the polls &.

At the grocery store& in traffic& we americans are weary of waitng& áá3- but consider this: even before the pandemic, we spent an estimated two years of our lives waiting in lines.

áá4- so with covid cases on the rise again... it's fair to say many of us just can't wait for things to get back to 'normal'.... áá5- but, it turns out, impatience may be almost as dangerous as the virus itself& but that's only the half of it&the other half is our genes.

Dr. amit sood founded a department that researches impatience at the mayclinic in rochester, minnesota.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, he told us why& we are designed to be impatient.

So when little babies are born-- they don't just wait for you to clean their diapers, you know?

They cry.

// i mean, when was the last time you really preferred a slow elevator, or you loved, you know, slow internet connection barry petersen: áá7 it turns out how we handle ourselves in these uncertain times comes at a price& sitdown/dr. sood: 16:10:55 edit to // the opposite of patience is not impatience.

16:11:11 the opposite of patience is anxious, ill, injured, addicted, lonely, and-- anddead.

Barry petersen: it literally can kill you dr. sood: 16:15:23 it can// an episode of explosive anger, stress or impatience can increase your risk of heart attack and s-- sudden death by two to eightfold for the next few hours.

Barry petersen: wow 8 if that's not alarming enough, dr sood says impatience can even have a long term effect on your dna sitdown/dr. sood: 16:36:52 /if we were to take your blood sample and-- measure your-- what we call telomeres, which are at the end of chromosomes, the shorter they are, the smaller they are, the older you are.

And people who are impatient have shorter telomeres.

Barry petersen: 16:37:07 so they're actually making themselves older by being impatient.

Dr. sood: 16:37:11 yeah.

Some people say the only thing that gets faster with impatience is aging.

// 9 and impatience has an evil twin brother&stress.

10 i took the mayo clinic stress test designed to simulate the stress of everyday life.

11 you must do things like keep squeezing a grip& 12 or endure three minutes keeping a hand in ice-cubed freezing water.

Barry petersen/doing ice stress test: 11:40:24 okay.

Really and truly, it already hurts.

Seconds left 13 the results&dramatica lly higher blood pressure and changes to the heartbeat.

12:01:36 so what was the reaction to the ice water test?

14 the test was overseen by dr. michael joyner& michael joyner: 12:01:38 // you get this big rise in blood pressure, little more familiar with this and like you had a bit of control.

Where these were sort of imposed situations, where you weren't in control barry petersen: what i'm reminded of is being on the phone trying to get customer service trying to deal with a company where you feel like your endlessly waiting.

Can that have the same effect on the body dr. joyner: absolutely.

Absolutely// people have a very-- hard time or difficult time understanding what they do and don't have control over.

15 it can feel like the world is out of control these days&but we do have control over ourselves.

Dr. sood: 16:42:36//if you choose to be patient, you are helping yourself.

You're living longer and happier.

And you're helping your loved ones.

That's a choice.

Being patient is a choice.

16 dr. sood says the other word that will help us though the pandemic&.

Is resilience.

And that will fire up your body.

Zoom/00:26:25 this is the path to survival because at the end of the day you do not have any bullets, you do not have any swords.

You can't fist-fight with this virus.

You can empower your billions of immune cells to fight with this v-- virus.

And when you are resilient, your immune cells are stronger in waging that war.

17 and boosting your resilience can be a walk in the park&literally.

Florence williams: 10:51:50 there's so many elements of nature that we respond to as humans.

// 18 florence williams traveled the world writing about how nature can help us master impatience and make us healthier.

Sitdown/ florence williams: 12:01:19 // the science is pretty clear on this.

Even after just 15 minutes of walking in a green space or a park, ourblood pressure drops a little bit, our heart rate slows down, and even our stress hormones like cortisol lower.

Barry petersen: 12:01:34 // it's gotta be all good, right?

Florence williams: 12:01:37 it boosts our moods very dramatically.

19 no surprise the frustration of lockdowns quickly gave way to people flooding the outdoors when they could&and feeling better for it.

19a and some take it to a new level of calm &doing something the japanese invented called forest bathing - basically, hiking in slow motion.

Jane west: the benefit of slowing down is that life isn't passing you by 20 jane west is a psychologist who leadsforest bathing sessions in the colorado rockies& jane west: 11:00:21 forest surrounded by green and wonderful smells allows us to be lost in this moment as if nothing else exists.

And i know that's so hard to find these days.

But it is doable, it's reachable, it's attainable.

And i do this because it gives me those moments.

áá21 the pandemic won't end anytime soon&but dr. sood insists we can turn our impatience to good use&if we just want to.

Zoom: barry petersen: 00:22:37 is there an opportunity // to make ourselves better by training ourselves about patience?

Dr. amit sood: 00:22:49 absolutely.

There is tremendous opportunity-- during this pandemic to-- rise-- because of it.

//- áá22 that ability to rise above& may be sorely tested when ballot counting starts on november third.

As we've heard, it might go on for days: for americans& for america& what could be the ultimate test& a campaign to help mothers know health warning signs of pregnancy.

Mid