Amit Sood

Amit Sood is a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, and serving as chair of the Mayo Mind Body Initiative.[1] He completed degrees in medicine from Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.[2] Sood was a first-hand witness to the chemical spill in Bhopal as a medical student.

Amit Sood
The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living
Born
Bhopal, India
Alma materGandhi Medical College, Bhopal, AIIMS, New Delhi
OccupationIntegrative medicine practitioner, researcher, physician and writer
TitleProfessor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Spouse(s)Richa Sood
Websitewww.stressfree.org

Sood held various positions at Mayo Clinic (research fellow, Consultant, Instructor of Medicine) and fellow of the American College of Physicians. Best known among his works are Attention and Interpretation Therapy (AIT)[3] and Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART)[4] which integrates elements from neurosciences, psychology, philosophy and spirituality to offer a scientific approach for stress management.

As per Sood, studies show that people who are more optimistic tend to have better physical health, lower risks of strokes and heart disease, and higher overall survival rates. They also have better emotional health, lower stress, lower percentages of depression, better relationships, and are better equipped to solve life's problems.[5] Sood claims that human mind wanders for half to two-thirds of the day[6] and we can measure happiness through validated happiness scales, assessment is subjective[7] Sood states that the classic fight-or-flight reaction is mostly due to the three major stress hormones, adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine[8]

Basic Tenets

Sood's life work is committed to decreasing suffering and increasing happiness.[9] As per Sood, pain is unavoidable, but a large proportion of suffering is optional. Suffering is unrelenting pain for which one cannot find meaning. Suffering can be decreased by greater self-awareness, developing intentional attention, and emotional resilience.

Sood claims self-awareness is becoming aware of who we are as a species and how our brain operates. Sood notes that when we are awake, our brain seesaws between two functional modes - focused mode of intentional presence or default mode of mind wandering.[10] An average person spends half to two-thirds of the day with a wandering attention.[11] Bulk of this time is spent with neutral or negative thoughts. We also have a tendency to discount the good, inflate the bad, and make unhappy comparisons. All this leads to excessive stress.

Sood emphasizes more on developing intentionality in choosing the direction and depth of attention, then in remaining in the present moment. Any species that has imagination, preferences and cares about the future, will struggle with being in the present. Further, instead of suggesting longer meditative practices, Sood teaches brief sprinkles of intentional attention, such as five thoughts of gratitude in the morning, choosing not to improve anyone in the family for first three minutes at the end of the day, noticing novelty in the ordinary, and sending silent 'I wish you wells' (kind attention).[12][13]

Emotional resilience is experiencing positive emotions and recovering relatively quickly from negative emotions. Sood prescribes five principles to develop emotional resilience - gratitude, compassion, acceptance, meaning, and forgiveness.

Gratitude is recognizing and being thankful for all your blessings, little or large. Sood states that "I try my best to focus on what went right within what went wrong. There are so many things that I am grateful for. And when I focus on them I feel full and when I am full I am ready to give and I am also better able to withstand adversity."

Compassion is noticing and feeling others' suffering and doing something to alleviate it. That something could be tangible action, kind words or just a good wish or silent prayer. Being happy in others' success is also compassion. Compassion to self is as important as compassion for others. We don't recognize that we are humans and as capable of committing mistakes and being imperfect. Look at yourself with the eyes of the person who loves you the most. Love yourself, like your pet does.

Acceptance is about flowing with adversity, creatively working with what is, being open to possibilities. For small things, focus on will it matter in five years; for bigger things, try to find meaning in it, some positive meaning. Acceptance isn't apathy, it is empowered engagement, acceptance is wisely letting go of the uncontrollable to save energy for the controllable.

Meaning focuses on who you are, why you are here and what this world means. At the core, no matter what you do, you're an agent of service and love. You touch a part of the world, however small, and leave it a little better than you found it. The world itself is a giant school of learning.

Forgiveness respects each person's humanness, recognizing we all are fallible and vulnerable to ignorant thoughts and actions. Forgiveness is your gift to yourself and others—a gift that provides peace and freedom to all.[14][15]

See also

Further reading
  • Sood, Amit (2015). The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness. Da Capo Lifelong Books. ISBN 978-0738217857.
  • Sood, Amit (2013). The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living. Da Capo Lifelong Books. ISBN 978-0738217123.
  • Sood, Amit (2010). Train Your Brain....Engage Your Heart....Transform Your Life: A Course in Attention & Interpretation Therapy (AIT). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1452898056.
  • Sood, Amit (2015). Immerse: A 52-Week Course in Resilient Living: A Commitment to Live With Intentionality, Deeper Presence, Contentment, and Kindness. (Volume 1). Da Capo Lifelong Books. ISBN 978-0692615416.

References
  1. sood, amit. "His Holiness shares views on mindfulness at Mayo Clinic discussion".
  2. sood, amit. "Mayo Clinic".
  3. Sood, Amit. Train Your Brain, Engage Your Heart, Transform Your Life. Morning Dew Publications, 2010
  4. Sood Amit; et al. (2011). "Stress management and resilience training among Department of Medicine faculty: a pilot randomized clinical trial". Journal of General Internal Medicine. 26 (8): 858–861. doi:10.1007/s11606-011-1640-x. PMC 3138987. PMID 21279454.
  5. "Attitude-Gratitude". webmd.com. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  6. "Mindfulness arrives in the workplace". Star Tribune. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  7. "How Happiness Affects Your Health". ABC News. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  8. "Adrenaline, Cortisol, Norepinephrine: The Three Major Stress Hormones, Explained". Hufflingtonpost. 19 April 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  9. "Amit Sood, M.D. Named an "Intelligent Optimist" by ODE Magazine". ODE Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  10. Sood A, Jones DT (2013). "On mind wandering, attention, brain networks, and meditation". Explore (NY). 9 (3): 136–41. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2013.02.005. PMID 23643368.
  11. "A wandering mind is an unhappy mind". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  12. "The 5-3-2 Plan". Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  13. "How To Train Your Brain For Happiness". HuffPost. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  14. "Worried your brain doesn't know how to be happy? Maybe it's overloaded". 2 February 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  15. "A Very Happy Brain". stressfree.org/. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
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