The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast Episode #11: Step 5: In-Depth with Jason Handler, L.Ac

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Welcome to The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast Season 1! We’ve created this podcast as a free resource to accompany our upcoming book, The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook: A DIY Guide to Living Well with Chronic Illness.

Episode #11: Step 5: In-Depth with Jason Handler, L.Ac is an episode about managing stress with a board-certified Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicinal Herbalist. Jason discusses his approach to managing stress with a very unique approach of seeing it as simply the raw material for a journey towards reaching our greatest potential. Jason chats with us about his philosophy of “cultivating a daily practice,” approaching wellness as an investigation, and how mindset affects biology. We also get into a surprising discussion about where Jason starts when teaching his patients to manage stress, as well as his tips for managing the stress of chronic illness itself. This is a deep episode with a deep guy!

If you want to go deeper, take a look at the “What Can You Do to Manage Your Stress” section in Chapter 5. This section touches on many of the approaches raised by Jason during our discussion, specifically the steps of “practice” and “reframe.”

How to listen:

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Show Notes:

• 0:00 Intro


• 1:59 Introducing Jason
  
  
  
  • Jason’s Bio 
  
  
  • Jason’s website
  
  
  
  
  


• 2:54 Jason’s experience with chronic illness
  
  
  
  • Collapse of his health first year after college
  
  
  • Eventually met a healer, who became his teacher, and told him, “Patients transform into students. Students transform into teachers,” which lead to his career.
  
  
  
  
  


• 6:40 The unique perspective illness at a young age imparts
  
  
  
  • Jason sees it as humbling and an opportunity to understand your relationship to suffering.
  
  
  
  
  


• 8:26 Jason explains his philosophy of “cultivating a daily practice”
  
  
  
  • Qigong
  
  
  • Importance of repetition
  
  
  
  
  


• 12:10 Jason discusses keeping things simple and focusing on just starting


• 12:42 Jason’s definition of self-care and why it’s important
  
  
  
  • He approaches it as an investigation
  
  
  
  
  


• 14:16 Approaching wellness without a sense of desperation


• 15:30 How our mindsets affect our biology


• 16:53 Jason talks about the Nanjing (a classical Chinese medical text) and it’s steps toward treating illness
  
  
  
  • Intention
  
  
  • Cultivation
  
  
  • Technique
  
  
  • Diagnosis
  
  
  
  
  


• 17:40 Jason’s unique approach to teaching beginner’s to manage stress
  
  
  
  • Define the stress
  
  
  • “Mindcare” (Jason’s term for focusing on the ideal frame of mind and physical feelings)
  
  
  • Awareness of breath
  
  
  
  
  


• 20:38 Importance of placing parameters on our mind
  
  
  
  • Talking back to our thoughts with “yes” or “no”
  
  
  • Thought training
  
  
  
  
  


• 24:02 Mickey shares the tips Jason gave to her at her sickest point
  
  
  
  • Concentrate on lymph flow
  
  
  • Qigong standing meditation
  
  
  
  
  


• 24:48 Jason shares his transformative experience with “stance training”
  
  
  
  • Stillness in the body helps create stillness in the mind.
  
  
  
  
  


• 26:47 Tips for managing the stress of chronic illness itself
  
  
  
  • Seek support from inspiring people
  
  
  • Eat nutrient-dense foods
  
  
  • Focus on gratitude
  
  
  • Frame the experience as an opportunity for growth
  
  
  
  
  


• 30:00 Angie shares how the depths of illness turned out to be one of the most incredible periods of personal growth she’s experienced


• 31:00 Jason discusses commitment to small steps


• 32:15 Staying in touch with Jason


• 33:08 Outro

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Check out the previous episode, Episode #10: Step 5: Breathe – Our Stories, and the next episode, Episode #12: Step 6: Move – Our Stories. For the full podcast archive, click here.

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