How Habits and Self-care Influence our Overall Wellbeing

Today on The Work Well Podcast, our host, Brian Crooke interviews Dr. Mark Rowe, a practising GP for over 20 years, whose area of expertise is lifestyle medicine. Dr Rowe advocates lifestyle change as the best medicine for burnout prevention and real vitality by incorporating his principles of self-care with his extensive medical experience, he enables lasting positive change in people and their organisations. His work with organisations started unexpectedly when a patient asked him to talk at their company’s annual wellness day. Since then he has gone on to complete a one-man show called “A prescription for Happiness”, written a book with the same title, and is constantly doing workshops with leadership teams in different organisations. 

Dr Rowe serves as a frontline medical doctor in his practice at Waterford Health Park and his first words about the current situation were full of positivity: “I always say, it's a great privilege to be able to serve and it's a great privilege to be able to look after our patients and you know, it's so rewarding, it's so fulfilling to be of service.”

These are difficult times we are going through, but we can’t neglect our wellbeing

Being on the frontline and dealing with patients on a daily basis, Dr Rowe talks about the importance of taking care of our health. The pandemic shouldn’t hold people back from going to their GP when they have an underlying condition they have been dealing with for years or simply when they feel something is not right. The medical system has managed to adapt to the current situation and doctors are now offering patients consultations via phone or zoom. They are encouraging people to reach out. 

Self-care is a big part of keeping ourselves mentally and physically healthy during the isolation period and Dr Rowe tries to lead by example. Meditation and spending time in nature are activities that Dr Rowe says help him restore his mental clarity. He also recommends focusing on getting a good night’s sleep as a way to build resilience and dampen down the anxiety. We can’t neglect what we eat: eating simple and healthy foods, is the best way to support our immune system, he finds. 

A great number of positives can result from this situation if we just shift our mindset

“We need to change the questions we are asking at the moment; “What have I lost? What am I losing? What can I not do?” Flip those questions on their head and adopt a growth or resilient mindset: “What can I learn through this crisis? How can I grow? How can I grow in terms of my self-development, self-care and my learning? How can I grow in terms of building and developing and nurturing my relationships? How can I grow my own inner sense of meaning, and purpose and fulfillment in terms of what I believe my life is all about?” “I think there are tremendous opportunities for growth” Dr Rowe says. 

The kindness, compassion and generosity people are sharing between each other during this pandemic is something we all should acknowledge much more than negative news. Of course, we are also seeing the negative impact of isolation on our daily lives. The pandemic has put a hold on our day to day activities, on the little things that are part of our routines and that most of us were taking for granted. Dr Rowe thinks people will have a “newfound appreciation for life's little gems”, for the freedom we had and took for granted. “It doesn't take much, we don't need much to feel fulfilled and to feel purposeful and to feel happy and content if we have the basics:  to feel loved and valued and appreciated and have a roof over our heads.”

Lifestyle medicine and the benefits of building healthy habits

“The natural forces within us are the secret healers of disease,” Hippocrates says, and that is the very simple idea on which lifestyle medicine is based upon. We need to look at lifestyle medicine as a way of taking responsibility for our own health instead of being passive consumers of healthcare. Of course, modern medicine will always be part of our lives. But our lifestyle, the food we choose to eat, the amount of exercise we do, the sleep we give ourselves, all of these elements have a huge impact on preventing and treating disease. 

“We used to believe that your DNA was set in stone and simply that your genes determine your destiny. Now we know that maybe 75% to 80% of how your genes express themselves is called your genetic expression, it's down to the lifestyle choices you choose each and every day. In other words, your diet, your exercise and movement, your sleep, and your ability to recharge from stress all impact how your epigenome influences your genetic expression.” That is a huge percentage that we can influence through our choices. 

A mindful approach can help us cope with the uncertainty of the future 

We live in times of high uncertainty and there is so much we can’t control. It can be very easy to lose ourselves in the uncontrollable but we can also choose to focus on positive aspects, Dr Rowe says. “The one thing we can control is our attitude at any given moment, we can choose how we respond. So we can choose how we take care of ourselves each and every day we can choose to commit to learning something new every day, we can choose to look at the future opportunities that life will bring.”

Dr Rowe also adopts concepts from Eastern philosophy which roots itself in mindful presence, attentive awareness and building the habits that can help us appreciate the present.  “If we can choose to live our days, fully in the moment, one day at a time, I think it's a great way to lower feelings of anxiety and negative stress, particularly at this moment.”

Our brains are malleable structures that can be influenced in a good but also in a bad way. The process is called neuroplasticity and it is the reason why we are constantly evolving and changing based on the environments we find ourselves in. 

“Be mindful of the amount of negative news you're listening to, watch how much social media you've allowed to feed into your head and into your space.[...] I think it's important to make sure you spend enough time in good environments” 

Communication is the main weapon organisations have against employment uncertainty

Emotional intelligence and willingness to communicate openly are the two best assets leaders should practice with their employees during the isolation period. People respect leaders that choose to open up, to share about themselves and help them feel understood during this time. 

“I think just really saying to people, look, we understand what a difficult time this is for all of us. But we're all in this together and let's support each other. And let's figure out how we can find a way through. Because we are all better together at the end of the day.” Dr Rowe says.

Of course, technology can help teams stay connected daily but an open approach from the management of the company can make a huge difference overall. “I believe the greatest resource any company has is people. And if people are supported, people will find a way.”

Dr Mark Rowe’s passion and positive outlook are contagious. Looking towards the future he states “For me, it's about always wanting to improve. [...] I'm bringing the science to the art of lifestyle, I suppose really. And, at the end of the day, it's all about people. And it's about empowering people to become active participants in their own well being rather than simply passive consumers of healthcare, and supporting people to be the best version of themselves now and into the future.”

Listen to the entire podcast here or watch the full video of our conversation here. Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Mark Rowe.

Want to connect with Dr Mark Rowe? Reach out to him on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter