Ep 28: Creating Space with Dr. Rashmi Schramm

This is part 2 of a 2 part conversation with Dr. Rashmi Schramm, MD who is a board-certified family physician, integrative health coach, and meditation teacher. She is also the founder of Optimal Wellness.

Dr. Schramm shares:

• What are the physiological effects of meditation?
  
  
• How long do physicians need to meditate before experiencing physiologic changes?
  
  
• What is spirituality and how is it relevant to physicians?
  
  
• What is the space that opens up after physicians engage in meditation?

So much to unpack, don’t miss a minute!


Dare to Dream Physician Resources:

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Meditation Apps: Insight Timer, Soulspace
 

Resources for Dr. Rashmi Schramm, MD:

Fall Meditation Series with Dr. Rashmi Schramm

https://OptimalWellnessMD.org/meditation

(Live weekly meditations every Tuesday evening until 2022. Use the code PEACE50 to get $50 off the $249)

Dr. Rashmi Schramm Youtube Channel with many free meditations

https://www.youtube.com/c/DrRashmiSchrammOptimalWellness

 
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Dr.RashmiSchramm

On Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/dr.rashmischramm/

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Transcript

Note: This document may have human or computer-generated errors in transcription. Refer to the audio file for the actual conversation.

Dr. Weili Gray, Host 00:00

This is the Dare to Dream Physician Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Weili Gray. Many physicians today are feeling overwhelmed and unfulfilled living a busy life based on someone else's terms and expectations. My mission is to help physicians figure out what they really want out of life, and how to make their dream life come true sooner than they ever imagined. My fellow physicians, your time to live your only life now. Become a dare to dream physician. Great things are going to happen. Make sure you hit subscribe and share this podcast with another physician you care about. 

[00:00:48] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Welcome back to another episode of the Dare To Dream Physician Podcast. I'm so excited for, interviewing with our guest today. Her name is Dr. Rashmi Schram and she is a board certified family physician, a board certified integrative health coach and a certified meditation teacher. And she is the founder of Optimal Wellness. We're continuing today on the second part of a two-part conversation I had with Dr. Rashmi. In the last episode, Dr. Rashmi shares her own journey into meditation and the basics of what is meditation, how to let go of stress and make room for what physician's value in their lives, what is mindfulness and how physicians can incorporate that in their everyday life and how meditation can cultivate joy. And this is even for the physicians who are so stressed out, that they find that word joy really annoying when they hear it. There's so much to unpack in that episode. If you haven't listened to that episode I highly recommend you go back to the episode and listen, after you finished listening to this one. And so, we're picking up from where Dr. Rashmi shares the history and the physiologic benefits of meditation. Enjoy.

[00:02:11] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Okay. So you mentioned 10,000 hours and I was trying to figure out how many days that would be for those of us who are, maybe have only dabbled in meditation or who barely even know what it means. And you describe all these really cool physiologic changes that they've observed an association with meditation.

I mean, how, and especially with this idea of like rewiring the brain and affecting our epigenetics, which by the way, can you explain what that is? I'm not sure if everyone knows what that, that is. 

[00:02:40] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: I absolutely will, so epigenetics is this up and coming field of study where we're beginning to understand what the impact of the environment on our genes.

And so meaning that, our genetics and our DNA, doesn't dictate what's happening to us. And so there are lots and lots of different genes that can be turned on and turned off. And that's what we're studying. That's really what epigenetics is. And one of the hallmarks of some of the meditation studies that we've seen a few different times, and it's still being studied is there's a significant increase in an enzyme called telomerase.

And telomerase is, it's like the end caps of chromosomes. And when, like you can imagine the, the telomeres when they start to fray. So these, the telomerase actually keeps the telomeres really strong. And so when your telomerase is high, you have longer end caps, but when it telomerase is low, then these end caps begin to fray.

And at the end of that end cap, there's apoptosis, there's cell death. And so there's the idea of almost reversed aging with meditation. So we've seen people who look 10 years younger, and the only difference is they've been meditating and they've been making choices in their lives that support that mindful lifestyle.

And that's just one of the epigenetic changes. We see, we also see healthy genes being turned on and harmful genes being turned off. And again, we're at the tip of the iceberg. I think the, the idea that something would have evolved and stayed from teacher to student for 5,000 years, just for kicks and giggles is a little bit silly, right?

So we can trace meditation back to at least 5,000 years ago. And there has to be a reason that it survived all of those years and there has to be a reason. And we're, we're, we're learning. Tiny amounts of what I think the yogis and the sages knew thousands and thousands of years ago, but it's fascinating 

[00:04:32] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Yeah, it certainly is. So, okay.  When you explained epigenetics, I think they're two big ideas that I drew out of that, which is one, our DNA is not set in stone, because I think when the human genome project first came out, people were really scared of it.

Cause they're like, oh, is this my destiny? if I map my DNA, does that, am I going to see everything that's going to happen to me? And with the field of epigenetics now we're learning that you can change your destiny. The DNA is still the programming yourself, but you can actually change the program itself by affecting the DNA through epigenetics. So I think that's so cool. And that's amazing that that meditate. It makes a lot of sense that meditation would be one of the factors in affecting epigenetic. 

[00:05:19] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Yeah, and lots of other healthy lifestyles are affected too. We know that how much we exercise, what we eat, all of those things, how much stress we experience in our lives, how we deal with that stress, all of that makes a difference, but it is neat that you can sit down and do nothing and be in stillness and actually turn off some bad, uh, potential bad genes would be pretty cool 

[00:05:42] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: So,that brings me back to the question that I have, so how often, and how long do we have to do this? To start, maybe expecting a change in our epigenetics or a change in our wiring of our brain. 

[00:05:54] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: I love that. So I can tell you from experience as well as scientifically, it doesn't take that long at all.

And so for example, the weekly meditations that I do, the yoga nidra , they're about 30 minutes long and they're completely, fully guided and they've been studied for several years. And so what we see are all of those significant changes within the brain. Not necessarily physical changes, but certainly blood flow wise, we start to see increased blood flow within the prefrontal cortex, literally within the first couple of hours of practice.

So on at the end of your week of practice, you'll see a difference. And within 11 hours of practice, so about three weeks or so we see some really significant measurable changes within the near, just literally in our, in our blood system. So what we've seen is endogenous increases in serotonin. That's one of our feel good hormones, 35 to 40% and that's within 11 hours. Same thing we see with DHA, which is again, a very rejuvenative hormone. But one thing that we see that has been shown over and over again is dopamine. And endogenous dopamine is predictably increased within those three weeks by about 60%, which is huge, right? Cause a lot of our actions, a lot of our subconscious actions or habits are driven by those, the dopamine hits that we're looking for.

And so we notice that we can have more space between a particular stimulus and our response, the more that I meditate, I certainly find that to be the case. Cause I used to love eating a piece of chocolate after dinner. It was just like this thing that I had developed and it's not like I don't, I don't have a reason not to eat it, except I was just curious, do I have to eat it?

And so I started to just have a little bit more space and that's just one silly example, but there are lots of triggers for me, whether it is, with my patients or driving or anything like that, that could not that I would say something, but I would even just thinking it is a vibration change, right?

I'm like, oh. I've noticed for myself in lots of people tell me this as well. Once they start meditating with me, as they notice a space, it's a little bit, it, a little, it's a little bit more spacious. And when we have that space, we can choose to respond rather than react. And that you can start to see within the first week.

I can tell you that right now. And what's important. The other thing that you asked me too was, how long do I have to meditate? And so, and this is the case for meditation, as it is for exercise as is for, so much other stuff is the number of times that you do it is more important than the amount of time that you spent doing it.

And so let's say you decide, you have five minutes and I get you started. And there is an easier, effortless way that I get people started with five minutes a day. And so within a couple of weeks, they're like, I didn't feel like I was done when my timer went off. And that just happens naturally.

And we allow that process to unfold naturally and we'll move it to wherever they feel like they want to move it to. But ultimately my goal is for them to meditate at least 20 minutes and hopefully. Every day, if they skip a day, it's okay. Just go back to it. And then ultimately like, if you ask like my teachers, they'll say it's 30 minutes twice a day. And they'll say if they're honest, if they're working out in the world. Right? So it could, because like right now my life looks way more like yours or anybody else that might be listening than like the Dalai Lamas. And so life just happens. And so it's that self-compassion non-judgment, you have to bring that back in.

It doesn't mean you let yourself off the hook and you just go off the rails. You just gently return back to it. But really every day would be the best and you would, and it would be an experiential thing. Right? So you don't have to be, well, this is what the book says. So I have to do it like this. I invite every single one of my students or clients that I work with, keep an idea, keep a curious, open mind, like what is showing up for you? How are you showing up for your family? How are you showing up at work? How are you showing up for your business? And they start to notice a difference there, which is what actually fuels them to come back and sit back again and again and again, with their meditation practice, versus it being a forceful, disciplined thing.

Of course, there's a little bit of discipline involved, but there's no force involved. There's no judgment. There's really no analyzing. Like why did I not sit down? Why did I not do this? It's okay. We're just going to come right back to it. 

[00:10:07] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Oh, wow. I love that. So. There's several things. One of the things that you said about the changes in neuro-transmitters in association with meditation, I thought it was really interesting.

I mean, I wasn't too surprised when you said serotonin, because that sort of made sense to me because it seems like there's a correlation between happiness and anxiety or feeling peaceful with meditation. But I was really surprised when you said dopamine, especially, the, the percentage, because I, at least the way that I've always think about dopamine is that it's like, it's like the sin hormone.

It's like, I really shouldn't be looking on my phone at social media, at 10 o'clock at night, but oh, I want that dopamine hit, I mean, I don't think about it as I do it, but afterwards I'm like, oh, I shouldn't have gone for that dopamine hit. And I associated with other things that sort of are impulsive in nature. I like, to me, that was an impulse thing that I went and looked for or an impulse thing that I grabbed an extra chocolate when I didn't really need it. And so it's so interesting how meditation, it also brings up dopamine. 

[00:11:11] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Absolutely. And in fact, I've got a funny story. One of my clients she's been meditating with me for about a year and she lives in New York. And just a couple of weeks ago, she went to go meet up with some friends that she hadn't seen at all since before the pandemic, they were at Central Park and she said over and over and over again, two or three or four different people were like, Are you high? Are you high right now? What did you take? Are you taking gummies now? It was like multiple people said that to her. And she was like, no, I meditate. And they were like, what?! And so she was literally showing me their texts because they were still confounded by the way that she was and how she was acting.

Well afterwards, I had a session with her the next day. And so she was like, look at this text, this is so crazy. And she was laughing and they were all like, okay, well I sat down to try to meditate. I didn't feel anything. So yeah, dopamine, right. We have those centers. They're very highly capable of, uh, producing more and more dopamine, whether it's in the gut or in the brain.

And it really does. It really does show up in different ways. And some of those ways is, uh, is literally decreased impulsivity. And we see that and we see that meditation practices can help folks who study or who, who really worry and, or have trouble or suffer with impulsivity and or ADHD. There are actually significant improvements that they see within their own symptoms.

[00:12:28] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Hmm. Wow. And when you mentioned what you mentioned about reactivity, I think I can really relate to that because, I think when we're in the middle of experiencing maybe a stressful period or just, when we're having some difficulty in our life, we don't necessarily have insight into that we may not be aware, oh, I'm actually, a bear to deal with right now. And so, that word reactivity is not something I think about all the time. But if I applied, That and then evaluate, my actions yesterday or I'm actions last week, I would think, oh, I was really reactive that day.

 And why is that? Right? I mean, my parents just came to visit me and I was not always on my best behavior with them. And, I don't remember the exact reason, but I remember there was a time w w when I, when they were visiting, when I yelled at them for something, I don't even remember what it is. Cause it was obviously not that important. always, it's always the people that I'm closest to, cause I don't have to have a filter or wear any mask in front of them. And then afterwards I'm like, well, why, why did I do that? 

[00:13:32] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: I said, so relate to that. Absolutely. Yes. I love those stories and the same here, right? Like we'll, we'll be irritable with somebody that we really love and choose to cherish and our actions are completely not in line with how we actually feel and it can be frustrating and it can be just a reaction. I, I, it's not that I'm not reactive by the way I still am, but I am much, much, much less reactive, but I'm also still human.

I still have all of those same. I still might be able to notice it and allow it to go because it's not like those thoughts don't show up. Like if my dad is doing something really irritating to me, I just notice it. And I'm able to now let it go versus say something about it, which is definitely what I used to do before.

[00:14:14] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: So,is that the space that you're talking about? Cause when you say meditation opens up space.

[00:14:19] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: It's that space. Yes. And so, meditation, just the way that we learn meditation and teach it too, is we also come back to a variety of other practices that are outside of meditation. So just literally coming back to our breath and giving ourselves that deep belly breath before we either make a big decision, or we send that email, having that awareness, I am irritated right now can be one of the best gifts that you can give yourself and give those around you.

So that is that space. Just that a little bit of space is all we need. We don't need an expansive vista. We just need a tiny bit more space to be able to step out of that feeling or thought or emotion and notice it, not suppress it, but notice it, and then we're able to let it go. 

[00:15:04] Dr. Weili Gray, Host:  Mmm. Yeah, that's really good. Okay. I have a few more questions. One is that you had mentioned that. When you were growing up, you grew up, in a tradition where people meditate and that was your exposure to spirituality. I'd like to learn a little bit more about what is spirituality, I think, depending on  who the listener is, they may not, uh, I mean, I think a lot of people poo poo spirituality, because as physicians, we're left brain type of people. And, we don't always, sometimes we see pretty crazy, amazing things . When we interact with our patients, you don't believe in miracles, but then you saw something pretty miraculous happening with a patient. But for the most part, I think as a culture, we poo-poo spirituality. We just were like, what is that? Like, there's no explanation for that. So can you maybe help our listeners look at, think about what, what is, what is spirituality. 

[00:15:58] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Yeah, and I want to define spirituality versus religiosity.

And so spirituality to me really encompasses a connection to others and a connection to a higher purpose and a connection to something higher than myself. And so it really does have to do with my purpose, for example. And so religiosity is different in that there might be some spiritual practices within religions and there certainly are, but they are more prescribed and they are more sort of dogmatic in most religions, maybe not, but most of the time there's dogma, but there's no dogma within spirituality itself.

And you're right. I noticed I have the same feeling as well, which is why I told you I was a closet meditator for many years. Right. Even my husband literally did not know that I was like had my little headphones on and I'm like, I'm coming, my saying the closet. And it was because of those conditioned ideas and those conditioned beliefs.

Although I do believe just like, we're having this conversation. I'm starting to notice the shift of us recognizing, okay, well, we're, 40, 50% of physicians are burned out and actually the same for many other areas. And so we start to change the conversation and spirituality might come into play there.

It is not something that I lead with, certainly, but most people that show up, whether it's for mindfulness or coaching are curious about spirituality and what, how that might show up for them. And for most people, it really shows up as their purpose in life. Right? And so you're right. We might equate that with a miracle and I've definitely seen my share of miracles in medicine, for sure that cannot be explained in a scientific manner and cannot be replicated in a scientific manner.

And I think you and I share that experience and I think most physicians do too. It doesn't mean that you have to believe in a god. It doesn't really mean whatever the higher sense means to you. It's that sense of wonder and awe that you really talked about? If you see a sunset wow. And it just takes your breath away, that's spirituality, right?

 You can't. Explain that you can't be, like, well, there were shades of pink and orange and therefore my brain said, right now it's a feeling. It's a feeling or you're hiking. You're in nature. Most people experience spirituality when they're outdoors, when they're in nature and it might be a tree, it might be a sapling. It might be flowers. It might be the wind. It might be the ocean waves. It doesn't matter if you notice a connection, that's something bigger than just your physical body. That's how I define spirituality.

[00:18:24] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Mmm, I love that. Yeah. Yeah. And I think when you define it that way, it makes sense for physicians to be more in touch with our spirituality, because that's what rejuvenates our soul 

[00:18:36] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: That's right. That's right. 

[00:18:38] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Yeah. So, okay. And that actually is a great segue to another question that I have, which is, do you have to be of a certain religion or the other way to think about is if you are a certain religion, does that mean you can't meditate, is, is this, is meditation specific to certain religious traditions?

[00:18:57] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: So, if you look back and you study all of the ancient wisdom traditions, they all have some amount of self-reflection. They have some amount of meditation and mindfulness already built into those. And so if there is a particular practice within, if you have a religion, for example, and there's a meditation practice there, then that's a great place to get started.

But the way that I teach meditation and mindfulness and coaching has really no religiosity to it whatsoever. And I make that really, really clear right. At the very, very beginning of that is that this is, we do use some Sanskrit words because it really comes from we're taking from a tradition that was born in the Himalayan mountains.

And we do keep to some of that authenticity as far as vibrational quality goes. But if somebody's not comfortable with that, that's okay. We don't have to do that. You can just work on your breath for example. And so there's definitely no religiosity. There's no religion that's associated with meditation and you certainly don't have to belong to any particular, either belief, system or religion in order to practice meditation. Certainly not the way that I teach it. And I think most meditation teachers are also the same way, right? Because it's a mindful practice. It's a practice of non-judgment, curiosity, of love, of compassion. 

[00:20:12] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Yeah. Now after our conversation, as you're saying this, I'm picturing myself becoming a five-year-old again, that's my goal. That's what I, when I start my meditation and we'd be, oh, I'm, getting in touch with my five-year-old self.

[00:20:23] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest:  Right. Right. We are in many, many ways because that little five-year-old is still in there. That joyful, happy, curious, skip down the street five-year-old is definitely still there.

She's capable of handling a lot more than we give her credit for. And yes, of course we have to have, we have a lot more wisdom now than we did when we were five. We have to use, we have to use that wisdom for good, but we can also learn how to shed some of those conditions, whether their limiting beliefs or the ideas of stress that we hang on to, or the way that we start to perceive our stress, that we hang on to it, then it becomes easier for us to let go of some of that stuff, that's just not serving us.

[00:21:01] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: I love that. That's so great. Yeah. It brings me back to, I, I started this podcast because I started life planning and I started that life planning on myself. And then I want to bring that to other physicians and benefit other people. But one of the things, when I got my first life planning experience was that I just wanted to be able to enjoy my time with my kids. And I find myself, I still do. I think I'm getting better at it, but I find myself, when you're describing the five-year-old, I have a five-year-old daughter at home and she's exactly everything you described. She's happy. She's skipping. She's just, she has these pure emotions, whether she's happy or sad, she's and like you said, it's not always about being joyful, but there is that pureness and feeling. And, and, and so sometimes I see her and she's so innocent. And I got a million things in my head and I just want to be able to connect with her, but I have a really hard time because I have all these other things in my head that I can't get rid of.

And so I feel a little guilty, but it's more like, maybe even a little bit of envy, why can't I feel like her, but she's a great reminder of where, yeah. That there is an aspect there that I really want to obtain. 

[00:22:16] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Yeah. And that's a really big gift, right? For you. Number one, to have the awareness that there is an entire city of thoughts going on, 80,000 thoughts showing up for you all at once, and you actually want to be able to leave those thoughts for a time that's appropriate for them and just be with your five-year-old daughter. That awareness is a gift. I mean, that is a huge gift because most of us are trudging through life. Never having even noticed that moment. And so you're noticing, oh my gosh, the biggest gift I can give her is the gift of me being fully present. And that's actually, the only thing that you need to do is just try to be fully present.

You don't have to be fully present. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to have the awareness that you're trying and you're already doing the thing. And that's what's so beautiful about what you just described. 

[00:23:04] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Hm. And I would add that, that's actually a gift that I would give myself is to be able to be fully present, with my five-year-old or with my other family members.

Because it's just because, when I think of, I turned 40 this year and, it's all, it's, it's either a midlife crisis or personal development on steroids. And so when I think about, what do I really want out of life? One of the things is, is just to, to really enjoy life, to, to be in touch with the fact that I'm alive.

And I think, being able to, purely enjoy time with my kids without thinking about these million thoughts that are stressful or distracting I think is one way of enjoying life. Because the obvious thing would be, here are my kids, they're here, I'm in the same room with them. I might as well make that magical in my mind. 

[00:23:54] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Absolutely. And what a gift to give yourself, what a gift to give them.

And what I noticed for myself was that I was always, always, always mindful with my patients. I was never, I , I never looked at my phone. I never, yes, it's true. I was sending them a script or talking to them or writing in their notes or coding something, but it was only always about them.

I wasn't dealing with somebody else's problems when I was in there with them. And at one point I thought, well, how come I can do this for my patients, but I can't even do it for myself or for my family. There's something tilted here. And so, we already know how to do it and it's not, it's not hard, it's easy, but it just takes practice, what, what it is we just, it's hard for us to remember to do it. That's really what it is. And so when we start to remember, that's where the magic sauce is. And when we start to let go of that guilt, because guess what, you're here now, just like you said, and what a gift to give yourself a gift to give your family, let that guilt go.

[00:24:48] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: That's really lovely.  So as you know,this podcast is for physicians, for them to really have the courage to dream.

What is it that I really want out of life? And also at the, as they're doing that, holding on to the knowledge that life is not forever, even though it feels like we're going to live forever, life is not forever. And so it really cherish each moment that we have living. And what you shared today, I think, is so relevant to that. Any last parting wisdom that you have?

[00:25:33] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: I mentioned this to you earlier, but honestly, if somebody is listening to this and they didn't listen to your first three podcasts, I think that is the best thing that they can do for themselves, because I did that and it was a really big gift and it's literally, almost like a whole workshop that you give Dr. Weilli. And it was so, so, so good. And it gives us a little tiny snippet of what life planning is actually like. And so it's, it's, it's a gift of literally just pausing and noticing. And almost envisioning, right? So that I thought was a really great way to do whatever the next step might be is a good place to start from.

And other than that, then just really just there's no, you don't have to have a meditation teacher. If you'd like to have a meditation teacher I'm there. Of course there's lots of other apps and things like that. It's just taking that first step. Or if you just unplug for even just an hour or two and begin to notice what shows up for you.

And that's hard to do too. I'm not saying any of these things are easy. It's really, really hard. And if an hour or two is too long, then try 10 minutes, try 15 minutes and see how things go, begin to just notice how things are showing up for you, whether it's when you're eating or when you're walking or when you're driving. And that can be a big gift. That's a great place to start from. 

[00:26:33] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Hmm, I love that. And what you just said brings up a memory for me, which is, well, thank you, to Dr. Michelle Quirk for coming on the Dare To Dream Physician Podcast and Episode 12 Life Transformation Through Running. Shortly after interviewing her, I started running. You know, I'll take a five minute break in the middle of my run and I'm like, what could I meditate?

So I, I bring out my phone and I just, get the, there was a five minute meditation and the insight timer that I resonated with. So I would just sit outside and use the meditation app and I never want to do it when I do it. Oh my mind's everywhere. I should just keep running. I need to exercise. It's five minutes. It's really not that hard, but I'm fighting it as I'm doing this. And then at the end of the five minutes, I guess I must be starting to get the dopamine hit. Cause I'm like, well, maybe I could have done a little bit more. And it's the same spot that I'm sitting at, it's, it's usually out in nature by, on the field and, you have these bugs. Fortunately for me, those bugs weren't biting me. But so these bugs were flying around and everything turned from almost a dreary black and white and the weather didn't change. It was actually a sunny day, too, everything being a vivid colors. All of a sudden, I just had this heightened sensation of the world around me. I was like, wow. I can see how that’s addictive.

[00:27:50] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Yeah. Look at that. I mean, what an, what an impression, right? It went from being dreary to just being vivid and it just took you five minutes and you did not need a gummy for that or a hit of something.  You're high on your own supply, and imagine going deeper and deeper into those kinds of experiences and being able to bring that back with you, whether it's, while you're making dinner or serving dinner, or, whether it's seeing patients or, or having a conversation with your partner, I mean, imagine how you would show up.

It's just showing up differently and showing up closer to who you actually see yourself being, which is almost for all of us, a more loving, a more kind and more compassionate human being. 

[00:28:35] Dr. Weili Gray, Host:  Hmm. I love that. And actually also backtracking to what you said about how  it comes very naturally, I think, to most of us to be fully present with our patients.

And you're right. There are some times when I'm typing a script, I may be distracted a little bit for the most part, especially if they start to share something important. I stopped everything, I dropped everything and my attention is completely on them. And then I contrast that with what I do at home. For some reason, it brings back a memory of, remember when you first met your life partner and you went on your first date and how you just, the focus was completely on them. Well actually back then we didn't have cell phones, but even if there were, maybe I wouldn't have wanted to look at it. It was so natural and yet I fell out of the habit of doing that. So that's a great reminder that I should pay attention to my husband as much as I pay attention to my patients. 

[00:29:27] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: No same. I could, I could tell you, I need you to do the very same thing. And so I think most of us could just take some of those things for granted sometimes.  

[00:29:37] Dr. Weili Gray, Host:  Yeah.Well, thank you so much for coming on. It's just been a pure joy and I knew it was going to be because I, we, we know each other from before this interview, but I would love for you to share, for, for our listeners who, and I think most of our listeners are either maybe have dabbled in meditation or haven't really been familiar with meditation and are now a little bit more interested in learning more. So please tell us how they can find you.

[00:30:05] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Yeah, absolutely. So I teach a couple of different kinds of meditation. I teach a fully guided kind and then I teach one that's completely mantra based that you can do totally on your own. And I teach both of those one-on-one within a meditation package that people do incredibly well with.

And I teach that over a course of about four months or so. I also do weekly group meditations that anybody can come into at any point. And you can find all of that information on my website, which is OptimalWellnessMD.org. I'm also an integrative health coach and I use a lot of Aryvedic and meditative principles. 

So it's a lot more like mindset coaching. And I have that information as well on my website. And I'd love to talk to anybody a little bit more in depth with that if somebody is interested and I really appreciate being here with you. 

[00:30:49] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Oh, thank you so much. Well, we'll make sure to put those in the show notes and it's my understanding that if they go to your website, then they can schedule a one-on-one discovery call with you.

[00:30:59] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: That's right. Yes, absolutely. 

[00:31:02] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Wonderful. And you have a YouTube channel? Are you? 

[00:31:04] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Thank you. I do. I have a YouTube channel. It's literally just my name and Optimal Wellness. If you just go in, you would find me pretty quickly and I actually have a dozen or so meditation videos.

If anybody wanted to try, there's some that are Meta, there's some for focus and there's just some, body scanning and they're all really easy and they're free. They're totally ready to go. I have, on Instagram I'm doctor, it's Dr. and then my name, which is Rashmi Schram. It's also the same on Facebook. I'm on LinkedIn as well as on Clubhouse. So I would love to connect with anybody and everybody. 

[00:31:37] Dr. Weili Gray, Host: Excellent. Thank you so much for coming. And we'll again, we'll put all that in the show notes and I hope we can have you back more in the future. I'd just love to know that you love talking about meditation and I love to hear more.

[00:31:50] Dr. Rashmi Schramm, Guest: Yes, I would be thrilled to be back. Thank you so much for having me.

Wow. That was such an amazing conversation. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. I wanted to also give an update. I did that interview about four weeks before the episode was dropping on my podcasts and it was actually really interesting to hear where I was with meditation on the day that I talked to Dr. Rush cause I'm now up to 10 minutes a day of meditation. I usually split that into two, five minute sessions. I can notice a shift in my brain and that I no longer struggle as much in getting into the meditation. My mind definitely still wanders, but it doesn't seem to wander as much. Before I get into the meditation, I'm not kicking and screaming in my mind as much about getting into. And when the timer rings, I actually wondered to myself, wow, it's over already. And that is definitely a new development from just consistently practicing meditation in the last three, four weeks. So I started with five minutes a day, almost every day. Not quite, I would miss a few. That was soon after I did the interview and then maybe a couple of weeks ago, I worked up to 10 minutes a day and it's actually quite amazing how now doing 10 minutes of meditation a day, doesn't even seem that long ago. And I highly recommend you use the resources that Dr. Rashmi shared with us. It's in the show notes. As you've heard her clients have amazing results, what's even more amazing is that she dropped so many gems in the last two episodes that listening to them is enough to get started. If you like to try and apps, there are a lot of different apps out there. The one that I first started using is the insight timer. There's lots of different meditations on there. And then recently I also started using an app called soul space, which is a Christian meditation app. So however you meditate, whatever you do, uh, I hope you'll consider just trying it. Do an experiment on yourself. Try it consistently for a week, two weeks and see what happens

Dr. Weili Gray, Host 

Thanks for listening. Make sure you hit subscribe so you don't miss another episode. If you liked this episode, please share it with a friend and give us a five star review so we can help more physicians dare to dream and create their most abundant lives. There's also exciting news at the Dare to Dream Physician. For those of you who wish to get clarity on your own why and get energized as you explore, envision and create your dream life. I'm so excited to announce that I'm taking on a limited number of one on one clients for life planning. To get the complete details and sign up for an exploration meeting. Go to my website, daretodreamphysician.com. I really look forward to working with you. And it would be such an honor and privilege for me to be able to help you create your life plan. I truly believe that life planning will transform your life and will give you that energy to pursue your dream life sooner than you ever imagine. See you next week

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