Dr. Deepak Chopra explains how to deal with stress amid COVID-19 crisis
Dr. Deepak Chopra on the need for spiritual well-being during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Holistic health expert and author Dr. Deepak Chopra joined “America’s Newsroom” Monday to discuss ways to handle stress amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chopra noted that there are currently three crises taking place.
“There’s the COVID virus crisis, which is hopefully being controlled through social physical distancing and better hygiene; there’s the economic crisis, which is also very real and could cause a lot of suffering; and then there’s the crisis of stress, which compromises the immune system,” he said.
Chopra explained that stress increases levels of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline in the body, which he said causes inflammation and “actually creates something in the body called cytokine storm, acute inflammation.”
A cytokine storm is a severe immune reaction in which the body releases too many cytokines -- small proteins which coordinate the body's response to infection -- into the blood too quickly, according to the National Cancer Institute.
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“So just like chronic disease is a risk factor, acute inflammation and stress is also a risk factor, if not more,” Chopra said.
“At this point it’s very important for people to face the fear, to embrace it in their bodies, but also to find techniques to quiet the mind, such as mindful awareness, meditation, prayer, breathing, deep breathing, anything that helps coordinate mind and body,” he added. “It will decrease inflammation and optimize immune function.”
Host Ed Henry read off some of Chopra’s tips to improving a person’s soul including, having a sense of meaning and purpose, loving and being loved, and self-esteem. Henry then asked how that concept can be explained to someone who just lost their job and might not be able to feed their family.
“Through friends and family and intimacy with love, compassion, joy, empathy, offer to help them,” Chopra said in response. “You don’t need to help them financially. Give them attention, appreciation, affection acceptance, ask them to help you.”
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“Right now, the only thing to remember is love and action,” he continued. “The love without action is meaningless, action without love is irrelevant, but when you put the two together, you have an ecosystem of relationships.”
“We can all hang in there, help each other and actually manage our stress,” Chopra added.