September 30, 2024 • 22 mins
Unlock the secrets to a healthier life as we sit down with the pioneering Dr. Chhaya Makhija, founder of Unified Endocrine and Diabetes Care. Dr. Makhija reveals her groundbreaking methods that merge traditional medicine with lifestyle enhancements, such as laughter yoga, and breathwork. Learn how a good laugh and focused breathing can transform your health by boosting endorphins, balancing stress hormones, and grounding you in the present moment. This episode promises to deliver actionable insights into holistic well-being, anchored in both ancient practices and modern science.
Join Dr. Eko and Dr. Makhija as they explore the profound impacts of laughter and breathwork on physical and mental health. Discover how laughter can elevate your brain waves, enhance social connections, and release feel-good hormones like serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. Dive into the science behind breathwork, specifically its role in stimulating the vagus nerve to manage stress and anxiety. Dr. Makhija provides practical tips to seamlessly integrate these powerful practices into your daily routine, offering a fresh perspective on achieving optimal health. Don't miss this enlightening conversation packed with wisdom and practical advice for a happier, healthier you.
Connect with Dr. Makhija:
IG: chhayamakhijamd
FB: unifiedendocrine
Linktree: chhayamakhijamd
Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform and check out the video version on our YouTube channel!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode
of Brain Power with Dr Eco.
I have an amazing guest with ustoday, dr Makhija, and she's an
endocrinologist.
Welcome to the show, dr Makhija.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (00:12):
Thank you, Dr Eko.
I'm so happy and delighted tobe here.
Brain power I love that.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:18):
Yes, because our brains run everything, doesn't
it?
So I'm really excited aboutthis conversation we're about to
have, so please stay tuned.
So, dr Makhija, can you pleaseintroduce yourself more to our
listeners?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (00:30):
Sure, absolutely so.
As you know, my name is ChhayaMakhija.
I'm a board-certified physician, specialist in internal
medicine, diabetes, endocrineand metabolism, as well as
lifestyle medicine.
I'm also an educator, assistantprofessor at our local
universities in California andthe founder CEO of my practice.
It's called Unified Endocrineand Diabetes Care and very proud
(00:53):
to say that it's the first oneas a direct specialty care in
California which integratesendocrinology and lifestyle
medicine for our patients.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (01:03):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Please go check it out, Becauseof course, meds are not
everything.
Lifestyle chain is so key,Exactly yeah that was my mission
.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (01:15):
you know.
It's like telling our patients,informing them right knowledge
and prevention, and of courseeverything endocrine comes along
with it.
But that's been a great journeyto spread the mission.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (01:27):
Yeah, that's so cool.
I would come see if I was thereif I needed it.
So, thank you, stay healthyBoth here.
Yeah, I plan.
So you told me about somecommunity workshops that you do.
I was so thrilled and I waslike that's what we're going to
talk about today.
So would you like to tell us?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (01:49):
Absolutely yes.
So you know, when I started mypractice, it was just that
intention of how do we integrateeverything.
I'm born and raised in India,so that's where you know there
was a lot of exposure to breathwork mindset.
We used to have laughtersessions that's called laughter
yoga in every park if you walkaround like early mornings.
So this is what I wanted tobring out to the patients, but
also to the community.
(02:10):
So what we do in our practice,as well as these spontaneous
events, is learn how to laugh,and it doesn't have to be a
rhyme or reason, but when you'rein a group setting, you know
it's fun to be silly and that'sthe way to bring about happiness
intentionally, rather than justthinking that you know an
object or attaining something isgoing to give me happiness.
(02:32):
The second thing that I engageour community members as well as
our patients, on a veryconsistent daily basis is breath
work.
So just breathing, andespecially for kids, adults,
busy parents as well as oursenior citizens, it's so
important to just bringourselves back to the present
moment.
(02:52):
You know we are always in thisrushed sense of living and
that's where I incorporatebreath work meditation, which is
more of a fun meditation ratherthan just sitting thinking
about.
I'm sitting at a place and, youknow, trying to conquer my
thoughts, so it's more of a funenvironment that we practice in
our local parks as well.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (03:13):
Wonderful.
So tell us, for those wonderingabout laughter, really, in the
Bible it says laughter is goodmedicine, right?
So we already know that part.
Well, tell us.
I know there's science behindit.
So can you just explain brieflywhat the science is behind
laughter Sure?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (03:32):
absolutely so.
You know, just to have anunderstanding, many people don't
know what endocrinology is.
It's a very it's only specialtywhich has a study of hormones.
And when we talk about hormonesyes, we have a long set of
these, but where laughter isfocusing is a lot on our
endorphins, our happy hormones,and that's where we have the
(03:55):
capacity to increase them.
It's not going to be themedications.
The second thing is, you know,we all hear about the stress
hormone, we all hear aboutadrenaline, and these are also
essential hormones, and that'swhere the laughter is going to
play a key role to use it as atool, use it as our benefit,
(04:16):
rather than worrying aboutstress.
So what's happening is, youknow, imagine when you're
laughing, but if you're in agroup setting, we are doing
inhalation and we start laughingwhen we exhale.
You know, I can always sharemore videos which are fun to
watch as well, and even if youwere in a bad mood, just because
you're in that communitysurrounding you end up laughing,
(04:37):
even if not loudly, you'relaughing inside.
What's that doing is, you know,your endorphins are happy
hormones, which is just to giveyou an example morphine is
derived from, you know,endorphins, the painkiller.
So we have different scents offeelings, emotions which can
trigger pain, and that's where,when you increase these
(04:59):
endorphins, your naturalmorphine, it is going to help
with how you face situations andchallenges.
The other aspect is you know,when you're laughing I call it
as a belly laugh sometimes havethem laugh you know more loudly,
as well as using your belly,you are also exercising.
You're also bringing in someextra oxygen supply and you're
(05:21):
exhaling it even better.
So now you're stimulating yoursympathetic nervous system,
parasympathetic nervous system,both of them in great balance.
Adrenaline and your fight andflight response is the extreme
of cortisol and adrenaline, butbringing a balance where you're
using your heart, you're usingyour lungs to bring the goodness
(05:45):
of oxygen and the contraction,as well as you're using the
calming nervous system, which isa parasympathetic nervous
system, to raise your endorphinsand happy hormones.
The lacto is both physicalbenefit as well as emotionally,
psychologically.
It's bringing us to a differentstate of mind, which we are
(06:06):
actually seeking all of us, beit any humans.
So that's laughter Outdoors isamazing, it's contagious.
So if you're in a family andyou're thinking that the mood is
offset, there are certain waysof bringing a laughter session
and I can share if the audiencewants to laugh together.
(06:27):
So there are ways.
So we stand in a circle and thecommon one that individuals
like is the vowels A-E-I-O-U.
So we stand in a circle, weinhale, and as you're exhaling,
you all come towards the innercircles.
You're all joining hands andcoming inside, running towards
the center point of the circleand laughing.
(06:49):
So as you exhale, you literallygo ha ha ha ha.
So a ha ha, ha, ha ha.
Then we go e ha, ha, ha, ha ha,and that's how you end up a e,
u, uh, u is the is the loudest,and that itself is vibrating
(07:11):
around in each one heart.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (07:13):
Right, yeah, one of the examples of
promocrocession okay, I make it,and so do you find that once
they go through the vowels onetime now people just start
spontaneously laughing yes, sothen that goes on, and then we
have more, we have cup laughter.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (07:31):
Uh, this is, you know, you just become
innovative, you just becomecreative.
Uh, my patients and communitywill give us ideas.
Um, they end up.
They end up sharing some jokeswhich are you know, which are
maybe funny, which are not funny, but we have to laugh and and
you know it's, it's also a senseof joy that it automatically
creates and we repeat it.
(07:53):
So our time is let's laugh for10 minutes, so we may do this
AEIOU session and then we mayjust clap and laugh.
The the other is like alaughter glass.
We might make a shake oflaughter with different
ingredients and it's allvisualizing it, right, and then
drinking that laughter as well.
Yeah, okay.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (08:15):
I like it.
And so what do most of yourpatients say after they're done
with the session?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (08:21):
A sense of joy.
And the impressive part is youknow they're all coming in with
different moods.
You know different baggagethat's coming along with life.
They can call it a stressors.
My medical students are justworried about exams or how
they're going to perform andsuddenly you get that 10 minute
exposure where mind is notwandering, you're just in
(08:42):
involved in an action which isbringing joy, which is not
bringing stress, which isactually bringing you to a
positive feeling rather thantaking you down, which is giving
you that social connection.
You know.
Very important is that we don'trealize.
If we're happy, it vibrates.
And that's also a learninglesson that take this home,
(09:04):
because if you have that senseof joy, or you're intentionally
bringing that sense of joy, itis going to spread yes, you know
, I just had an interestingthought that just popped into my
head, which I'm going toimplement.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (09:16):
What goes big?
I?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (09:22):
should have the audience do a laughter
session before.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like you know, if you'rehearing a podcast or if you're
watching a movie and they'relaughing, some may think, oh,
that's so silly, I don't want tolaugh.
But you know, it's at leastbringing that sense of oh yeah,
it was so light, right, so itdoes.
It does vibrate with us if weactually practice it for
ourselves.
And you know, community, beingin community, is always more
(09:44):
support and it's encouraging,it's motivating, it's inspiring
all of us together, right.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (09:50):
That's so wonderful, and are there any
studies that have been done onthis?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (09:55):
on laughter Sure, so you know you'll have.
That's the interesting part.
So you'll find neuroscientistsworking on these and it's, you
know, more like laughter yogaand it depends on how long it's
being done, but it definitelyhas effects on our, you know, on
our waves, like brain waves.
So there are the theta and thealpha waves, which are which are
(10:19):
more, you know, in the goinginto that meditative state or
more into the positive, thepleasure state.
So it definitely stimulatesthose brain waves.
The other is, you know, it'slaughter as medicine.
Like you said, it's like an oldsaying, but we have a lot of
psychology studies that help toshow us that, how they're
actually building up on ourendorphins and this is very
(10:42):
specific on, you know, theserotonin, the dopamine, the
social connection which is tiedto oxytocin.
So that you will find thesestudies.
Of course we don't have aclinical trial because it's
difficult to stimulate orsimulate laughter for 30 minutes
and then do the research anddraw blood or look at brainwaves
.
There is quite a lot in theneuroscientific world which
(11:04):
shows how it's helping toaddress anxiety, depression, as
well as bring about thatincrease in the levels of
dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (11:13):
Yes, yes, yes.
And all of that's because, likeyou said, endocrine is the
study of hormones.
Once your hormones are balanced, the way it was created to be,
then you find that you'rehealthier right, Absolutely yeah
.
And that's a downstream effectfor everything your work, your
life, your sleep, everything.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (11:34):
Exactly yes, what we call as stress, we
could de-stress for some time.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (11:37):
Yes, yes, definitely.
Wow, this is so cool.
I can see teachers teachingthis to their kids Classrooms
Amazing.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (11:47):
It's a shift .
You know.
We have to make someintentional effort to bring that
shift and then implement it,practice it, and especially on
occasions where we feel like Ican't laugh you know, this is
not me I teach some of mypatients, like you know, if they
are not able to go out or be ina community setting, look in
the mirror and start laughing,which is, you know, no one's
(12:08):
watching, it's just you.
It's just you.
But it definitely is aprescription, rather than
thinking that, oh yeah, this isjust a suggestion or a
recommendation, but take it as aprescription and it will bring
about great side effects andpositive effects, absolutely.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (12:24):
So let's talk about the breath work that you
had mentioned earlier.
What's a way busy parents canteach their kids and teach
themselves how to incorporatethat into their lives, and what
is breath work?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (12:36):
Correct.
Yeah, that's where I was goingto go too, Because we're all
breathing and you know, I'm surethere's question raised that
what's the big deal in breathing?
Why do I have to learn how tobreathe right?
So you know breathwork.
It's also called in ancientIndian scriptures as parama,
which is breathing, your yoga.
But breathwork has been studiedso well and we have so much
(13:01):
literature that there's a truescience behind it and how it
helps us.
So that's the only fuel, ourbreath is our only fuel, which
we have minute to minute in ourcontrol as much as possible, but
we're not using it efficiently.
So you inhale and you exhale,but if you just reflect back as
(13:21):
you're listening to this podcast, how many times are we aware
that we are breathing Early inthe morning, Like even when
you're sleeping?
We don't realize or we're notgrateful that we're breathing,
we're living right.
So breathwork is bringing ourattention back to our breathing,
which is our main source offuel, which is our main source
of oxygen, and being verymindful of it.
(13:44):
So it doesn't have to be amajor training session, but as I
start teaching my patients thisis more, you know, when I'm
checking their vitals, bloodpressure is usually high because
they're stepping into theoffice or there's this white
coat, hypertension, or somepatients may feel that, oh my
gosh, my doctor is going to bevery mad at me because my blood
sugars are high and I didn't eatwell or I cheated.
(14:05):
So that's all building up intonegative emotions.
Brett, work is helping you toknow that you inhale and you
exhale you to know that youinhale and you exhale.
And there is a period where youinhale can you exhale longer.
So, for example, there havebeen studies which will show a
count of four inhale and countof four exhale.
(14:28):
You prolong your exhalationfrom count of four to count of
six, to count of eight.
What is that doing?
It's actually stimulating yourlongus nerve, which is the main
nerve which is connecting fromyour brain all the way to your
gut to all your important organsdigestive system, your heart as
(14:50):
well as your endocrine system.
That's called vagus nerve.
So it's stimulating theparasympathetic nerve.
Every time you exhale mindfully, it's stimulating your vagus
nerve, your calming nervoussystem, and that is going to
help you to tackle anxiety,tackle depression, improve your
digestive system as well asbring you back to the present
(15:12):
moment.
So that's breathwork.
That's the science behindbreathwork.
It's practiced a lot in Harvard, in medical schools, where
they've actually done studies toshow how it's also helping with
the alpha and the theta wavesin our brain, which is then
translating into more of arelaxed state.
(15:34):
So you're aligning yourself inthe present moment, right,
Parents, families, adults areable to practice this by
different forms.
So my favorite for the familiesand for children, for teenagers,
for my medical school students,is the buzzing bee or the
humming bee meditation or breathwork.
(15:54):
You know some individuals don'tlike the word meditation.
Fine, let's just keep it aside,let's just have some fun when
breathing, Right?
So it's buzzing.
And if you were watching onthis on the video, or you can
really search your internet,you'll find the buzzing bee or
humming bee meditation onbreathing.
It's basically buzzing, so youinhale and you buzz, Okay, as
(16:18):
much as you can.
The other ways are humming.
So you hum by closing yourmouth and just get that sound
out.
You are exhaling and you'remaking that sound come or be
manifested and that'sstimulating your parasympathetic
nervous system.
It's releasing that emotionalbaggage.
It's bringing you back toattention, it's bringing you
(16:41):
back to a heightened sense ofthought, awareness.
Very helpful for patients, forindividuals, my adults with you
know attention deficithyperactive disorder, that, yes,
you have medications, you haveyour psychiatry visits, you have
your therapy visits, but whenyou're in the office with me and
you're struggling with highblood sugars, high blood
(17:03):
pressure, that's when I havethem practice these simple
exercises.
It brings their systolic bloodpressure by at least 20
millimeters of mercury down, andI wish I could actually conduct
studies.
But it does happen.
Why?
Because it's stimulating theparasympathetic nervous system.
Now one more science.
I also wanted to explain thatthis is nothing you know.
(17:26):
This is proven.
We and you probably are awareof this, Dr Eko that you know
when we were working inhospitals or when we get trained
for arrhythmias, there is aspecific type of tachycardia.
If that's identified, the firststep is to tell patients that
can you bear down or can youstart breathing?
It's basically a vagal maneuverthat's what it's called and
(17:47):
that stimulates the vagus nerveto bring the heart rate down
Right.
We are also using this inhospital settings, in acute
settings, for certain patientsor individuals, and now applying
it, our applicability in ourdaily life, is really going to
help us with avoiding the fightand flight response at every
second, every moment in ourlives.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (18:08):
Find and flight response at every second, every
moment in our lives, right?
Yes, definitely, wow, it's sointeresting how things that we
don't really think about, likethere's so much science, and how
it reacts to our bodies and so,parents, I hope that's what
you're taking away from thisthat when things are stressful
at home, or even with you orwith your kids, there are easy
ways for you to help yourselfand help your children get to a
(18:31):
relaxed state and so you cansolve the issue at hand right,
and so things don't get out ofhand, and so the family bond is
strengthened, because that'sreally what it's all about and
see how everything goes back tothe brain, telling you Exactly
yeah, our brain and heart.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (18:50):
they're very very so.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (18:52):
If we fall in love with the health of our
brain, then we will fall in loveliterally with our lives.
Because if we think, okay,what's this doing to my actual
brain, then you're going to like, okay, maybe I should just
practice, I should think aboutmy breath, I should slow myself
down, I should count to 10, if Ihave to, before I sleep.
You know all of those thingswork.
(19:13):
So thank you so much, dr Chhaya, for sharing these tips.
Do you have one last brainhealth tip that you'd like to
share?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (19:22):
These two were great.
But you know one thing is, whenyou wake up in the morning,
gratitude, yes, okay, no screen,no worrying about what's going
to happen in my life or, youknow, worrying about A, b, c, d,
but just get up and with asense of gratitude and I feel
like when you actually go to bed, shut your eyes.
Shutting your eyes with thethought of gratefulness will
(19:44):
help you to be to start your daythe next day with with
gratitude, and gratitude assimple as thank you for this
breath, thank you for me livinganother day when I'm alive.
So gratitude would be what Iwould pass on to your audience
and the message is very muchcoming from heart.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (20:04):
Yes, gratitude is so key.
I mean it literally will changeyour life and just thinking
about what it is you have versus, you know we focus so much on
what we don't have there thatleads us down the rabbit hole
into feeling bad and all of theother things.
When we focus on we have this,even as simple as we have bread
(20:24):
that's priceless Because lots ofpeople didn't wake up right.
So, going back to basics, weare thankful.
We are thankful.
It definitely changes lives.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (20:33):
It's changed mine, so I know that, yes, yes,
same here, the same here.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (20:38):
Thank you so much for that very important tip
, and so can you please tell thelisteners where they can find
out more about your practice.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (20:45):
Absolutely yes, so you can find me on my
website it'sunifiedendocrinecarecom, and if
you wanted to follow me onInstagram and Facebook, it's
Chhaya Makhija MD.
The handle and I have myYouTube channel where I add on
to a plethora of my patientinterviews, inspirations and
everything endocrine that isalso at Chhaya Makhija MD, and
(21:08):
feel free to reach out.
I see patients throughoutCalifornia and, of course,
integrating lifestyle medicinethrough it.
I also have lifestyle medicineprograms where I incorporate the
nutrition, physical activity,but also these aspects that we
just talked about, so happy tohelp.
Yes, go check out.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (21:25):
A health teacher in California.
I would Thank you a lot.
Sleep on the lifestyle medicine, but of course, if you need the
endocrinology care as well,that's definitely important to
integrate those two together.
So thank you so much for comingon again.
Such a pleasure to talk withyou today.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (21:43):
Thank you, dr Eko, it was all my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (21:48):
Yes, my pleasure .
So until next time, have anamazing day, take care.
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode
of Brain Power with Dr Eco.
I have an amazing guest with ustoday, dr Makhija, and she's an
endocrinologist.
Welcome to the show, dr Makhija.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (00:12):
Thank you, Dr Eko.
I'm so happy and delighted tobe here.
Brain power I love that.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:18):
Yes, because our brains run everything, doesn't
it?
So I'm really excited aboutthis conversation we're about to
have, so please stay tuned.
So, dr Makhija, can you pleaseintroduce yourself more to our
listeners?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (00:30):
Sure, absolutely so.
As you know, my name is ChhayaMakhija.
I'm a board-certified physician, specialist in internal
medicine, diabetes, endocrineand metabolism, as well as
lifestyle medicine.
I'm also an educator, assistantprofessor at our local
universities in California andthe founder CEO of my practice.
It's called Unified Endocrineand Diabetes Care and very proud
(00:53):
to say that it's the first oneas a direct specialty care in
California which integratesendocrinology and lifestyle
medicine for our patients.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (01:03):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Please go check it out, Becauseof course, meds are not
everything.
Lifestyle chain is so key,Exactly yeah that was my mission
.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (01:15):
you know.
It's like telling our patients,informing them right knowledge
and prevention, and of courseeverything endocrine comes along
with it.
But that's been a great journeyto spread the mission.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (01:27):
Yeah, that's so cool.
I would come see if I was thereif I needed it.
So, thank you, stay healthyBoth here.
Yeah, I plan.
So you told me about somecommunity workshops that you do.
I was so thrilled and I waslike that's what we're going to
talk about today.
So would you like to tell us?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (01:49):
Absolutely yes.
So you know, when I started mypractice, it was just that
intention of how do we integrateeverything.
I'm born and raised in India,so that's where you know there
was a lot of exposure to breathwork mindset.
We used to have laughtersessions that's called laughter
yoga in every park if you walkaround like early mornings.
So this is what I wanted tobring out to the patients, but
also to the community.
(02:10):
So what we do in our practice,as well as these spontaneous
events, is learn how to laugh,and it doesn't have to be a
rhyme or reason, but when you'rein a group setting, you know
it's fun to be silly and that'sthe way to bring about happiness
intentionally, rather than justthinking that you know an
object or attaining something isgoing to give me happiness.
(02:32):
The second thing that I engageour community members as well as
our patients, on a veryconsistent daily basis is breath
work.
So just breathing, andespecially for kids, adults,
busy parents as well as oursenior citizens, it's so
important to just bringourselves back to the present
moment.
(02:52):
You know we are always in thisrushed sense of living and
that's where I incorporatebreath work meditation, which is
more of a fun meditation ratherthan just sitting thinking
about.
I'm sitting at a place and, youknow, trying to conquer my
thoughts, so it's more of a funenvironment that we practice in
our local parks as well.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (03:13):
Wonderful.
So tell us, for those wonderingabout laughter, really, in the
Bible it says laughter is goodmedicine, right?
So we already know that part.
Well, tell us.
I know there's science behindit.
So can you just explain brieflywhat the science is behind
laughter Sure?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (03:32):
absolutely so.
You know, just to have anunderstanding, many people don't
know what endocrinology is.
It's a very it's only specialtywhich has a study of hormones.
And when we talk about hormonesyes, we have a long set of
these, but where laughter isfocusing is a lot on our
endorphins, our happy hormones,and that's where we have the
(03:55):
capacity to increase them.
It's not going to be themedications.
The second thing is, you know,we all hear about the stress
hormone, we all hear aboutadrenaline, and these are also
essential hormones, and that'swhere the laughter is going to
play a key role to use it as atool, use it as our benefit,
(04:16):
rather than worrying aboutstress.
So what's happening is, youknow, imagine when you're
laughing, but if you're in agroup setting, we are doing
inhalation and we start laughingwhen we exhale.
You know, I can always sharemore videos which are fun to
watch as well, and even if youwere in a bad mood, just because
you're in that communitysurrounding you end up laughing,
(04:37):
even if not loudly, you'relaughing inside.
What's that doing is, you know,your endorphins are happy
hormones, which is just to giveyou an example morphine is
derived from, you know,endorphins, the painkiller.
So we have different scents offeelings, emotions which can
trigger pain, and that's where,when you increase these
(04:59):
endorphins, your naturalmorphine, it is going to help
with how you face situations andchallenges.
The other aspect is you know,when you're laughing I call it
as a belly laugh sometimes havethem laugh you know more loudly,
as well as using your belly,you are also exercising.
You're also bringing in someextra oxygen supply and you're
(05:21):
exhaling it even better.
So now you're stimulating yoursympathetic nervous system,
parasympathetic nervous system,both of them in great balance.
Adrenaline and your fight andflight response is the extreme
of cortisol and adrenaline, butbringing a balance where you're
using your heart, you're usingyour lungs to bring the goodness
(05:45):
of oxygen and the contraction,as well as you're using the
calming nervous system, which isa parasympathetic nervous
system, to raise your endorphinsand happy hormones.
The lacto is both physicalbenefit as well as emotionally,
psychologically.
It's bringing us to a differentstate of mind, which we are
(06:06):
actually seeking all of us, beit any humans.
So that's laughter Outdoors isamazing, it's contagious.
So if you're in a family andyou're thinking that the mood is
offset, there are certain waysof bringing a laughter session
and I can share if the audiencewants to laugh together.
(06:27):
So there are ways.
So we stand in a circle and thecommon one that individuals
like is the vowels A-E-I-O-U.
So we stand in a circle, weinhale, and as you're exhaling,
you all come towards the innercircles.
You're all joining hands andcoming inside, running towards
the center point of the circleand laughing.
(06:49):
So as you exhale, you literallygo ha ha ha ha.
So a ha ha, ha, ha ha.
Then we go e ha, ha, ha, ha ha,and that's how you end up a e,
u, uh, u is the is the loudest,and that itself is vibrating
(07:11):
around in each one heart.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (07:13):
Right, yeah, one of the examples of
promocrocession okay, I make it,and so do you find that once
they go through the vowels onetime now people just start
spontaneously laughing yes, sothen that goes on, and then we
have more, we have cup laughter.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (07:31):
Uh, this is, you know, you just become
innovative, you just becomecreative.
Uh, my patients and communitywill give us ideas.
Um, they end up.
They end up sharing some jokeswhich are you know, which are
maybe funny, which are not funny, but we have to laugh and and
you know it's, it's also a senseof joy that it automatically
creates and we repeat it.
(07:53):
So our time is let's laugh for10 minutes, so we may do this
AEIOU session and then we mayjust clap and laugh.
The the other is like alaughter glass.
We might make a shake oflaughter with different
ingredients and it's allvisualizing it, right, and then
drinking that laughter as well.
Yeah, okay.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (08:15):
I like it.
And so what do most of yourpatients say after they're done
with the session?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (08:21):
A sense of joy.
And the impressive part is youknow they're all coming in with
different moods.
You know different baggagethat's coming along with life.
They can call it a stressors.
My medical students are justworried about exams or how
they're going to perform andsuddenly you get that 10 minute
exposure where mind is notwandering, you're just in
(08:42):
involved in an action which isbringing joy, which is not
bringing stress, which isactually bringing you to a
positive feeling rather thantaking you down, which is giving
you that social connection.
You know.
Very important is that we don'trealize.
If we're happy, it vibrates.
And that's also a learninglesson that take this home,
(09:04):
because if you have that senseof joy, or you're intentionally
bringing that sense of joy, itis going to spread yes, you know
, I just had an interestingthought that just popped into my
head, which I'm going toimplement.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (09:16):
What goes big?
I?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (09:22):
should have the audience do a laughter
session before.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like you know, if you'rehearing a podcast or if you're
watching a movie and they'relaughing, some may think, oh,
that's so silly, I don't want tolaugh.
But you know, it's at leastbringing that sense of oh yeah,
it was so light, right, so itdoes.
It does vibrate with us if weactually practice it for
ourselves.
And you know, community, beingin community, is always more
(09:44):
support and it's encouraging,it's motivating, it's inspiring
all of us together, right.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (09:50):
That's so wonderful, and are there any
studies that have been done onthis?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (09:55):
on laughter Sure, so you know you'll have.
That's the interesting part.
So you'll find neuroscientistsworking on these and it's, you
know, more like laughter yogaand it depends on how long it's
being done, but it definitelyhas effects on our, you know, on
our waves, like brain waves.
So there are the theta and thealpha waves, which are which are
(10:19):
more, you know, in the goinginto that meditative state or
more into the positive, thepleasure state.
So it definitely stimulatesthose brain waves.
The other is, you know, it'slaughter as medicine.
Like you said, it's like an oldsaying, but we have a lot of
psychology studies that help toshow us that, how they're
actually building up on ourendorphins and this is very
(10:42):
specific on, you know, theserotonin, the dopamine, the
social connection which is tiedto oxytocin.
So that you will find thesestudies.
Of course we don't have aclinical trial because it's
difficult to stimulate orsimulate laughter for 30 minutes
and then do the research anddraw blood or look at brainwaves
.
There is quite a lot in theneuroscientific world which
(11:04):
shows how it's helping toaddress anxiety, depression, as
well as bring about thatincrease in the levels of
dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (11:13):
Yes, yes, yes.
And all of that's because, likeyou said, endocrine is the
study of hormones.
Once your hormones are balanced, the way it was created to be,
then you find that you'rehealthier right, Absolutely yeah
.
And that's a downstream effectfor everything your work, your
life, your sleep, everything.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (11:34):
Exactly yes, what we call as stress, we
could de-stress for some time.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (11:37):
Yes, yes, definitely.
Wow, this is so cool.
I can see teachers teachingthis to their kids Classrooms
Amazing.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (11:47):
It's a shift .
You know.
We have to make someintentional effort to bring that
shift and then implement it,practice it, and especially on
occasions where we feel like Ican't laugh you know, this is
not me I teach some of mypatients, like you know, if they
are not able to go out or be ina community setting, look in
the mirror and start laughing,which is, you know, no one's
(12:08):
watching, it's just you.
It's just you.
But it definitely is aprescription, rather than
thinking that, oh yeah, this isjust a suggestion or a
recommendation, but take it as aprescription and it will bring
about great side effects andpositive effects, absolutely.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (12:24):
So let's talk about the breath work that you
had mentioned earlier.
What's a way busy parents canteach their kids and teach
themselves how to incorporatethat into their lives, and what
is breath work?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (12:36):
Correct.
Yeah, that's where I was goingto go too, Because we're all
breathing and you know, I'm surethere's question raised that
what's the big deal in breathing?
Why do I have to learn how tobreathe right?
So you know breathwork.
It's also called in ancientIndian scriptures as parama,
which is breathing, your yoga.
But breathwork has been studiedso well and we have so much
(13:01):
literature that there's a truescience behind it and how it
helps us.
So that's the only fuel, ourbreath is our only fuel, which
we have minute to minute in ourcontrol as much as possible, but
we're not using it efficiently.
So you inhale and you exhale,but if you just reflect back as
(13:21):
you're listening to this podcast, how many times are we aware
that we are breathing Early inthe morning, Like even when
you're sleeping?
We don't realize or we're notgrateful that we're breathing,
we're living right.
So breathwork is bringing ourattention back to our breathing,
which is our main source offuel, which is our main source
of oxygen, and being verymindful of it.
(13:44):
So it doesn't have to be amajor training session, but as I
start teaching my patients thisis more, you know, when I'm
checking their vitals, bloodpressure is usually high because
they're stepping into theoffice or there's this white
coat, hypertension, or somepatients may feel that, oh my
gosh, my doctor is going to bevery mad at me because my blood
sugars are high and I didn't eatwell or I cheated.
(14:05):
So that's all building up intonegative emotions.
Brett, work is helping you toknow that you inhale and you
exhale you to know that youinhale and you exhale.
And there is a period where youinhale can you exhale longer.
So, for example, there havebeen studies which will show a
count of four inhale and countof four exhale.
(14:28):
You prolong your exhalationfrom count of four to count of
six, to count of eight.
What is that doing?
It's actually stimulating yourlongus nerve, which is the main
nerve which is connecting fromyour brain all the way to your
gut to all your important organsdigestive system, your heart as
(14:50):
well as your endocrine system.
That's called vagus nerve.
So it's stimulating theparasympathetic nerve.
Every time you exhale mindfully, it's stimulating your vagus
nerve, your calming nervoussystem, and that is going to
help you to tackle anxiety,tackle depression, improve your
digestive system as well asbring you back to the present
(15:12):
moment.
So that's breathwork.
That's the science behindbreathwork.
It's practiced a lot in Harvard, in medical schools, where
they've actually done studies toshow how it's also helping with
the alpha and the theta wavesin our brain, which is then
translating into more of arelaxed state.
(15:34):
So you're aligning yourself inthe present moment, right,
Parents, families, adults areable to practice this by
different forms.
So my favorite for the familiesand for children, for teenagers,
for my medical school students,is the buzzing bee or the
humming bee meditation or breathwork.
(15:54):
You know some individuals don'tlike the word meditation.
Fine, let's just keep it aside,let's just have some fun when
breathing, Right?
So it's buzzing.
And if you were watching onthis on the video, or you can
really search your internet,you'll find the buzzing bee or
humming bee meditation onbreathing.
It's basically buzzing, so youinhale and you buzz, Okay, as
(16:18):
much as you can.
The other ways are humming.
So you hum by closing yourmouth and just get that sound
out.
You are exhaling and you'remaking that sound come or be
manifested and that'sstimulating your parasympathetic
nervous system.
It's releasing that emotionalbaggage.
It's bringing you back toattention, it's bringing you
(16:41):
back to a heightened sense ofthought, awareness.
Very helpful for patients, forindividuals, my adults with you
know attention deficithyperactive disorder, that, yes,
you have medications, you haveyour psychiatry visits, you have
your therapy visits, but whenyou're in the office with me and
you're struggling with highblood sugars, high blood
(17:03):
pressure, that's when I havethem practice these simple
exercises.
It brings their systolic bloodpressure by at least 20
millimeters of mercury down, andI wish I could actually conduct
studies.
But it does happen.
Why?
Because it's stimulating theparasympathetic nervous system.
Now one more science.
I also wanted to explain thatthis is nothing you know.
(17:26):
This is proven.
We and you probably are awareof this, Dr Eko that you know
when we were working inhospitals or when we get trained
for arrhythmias, there is aspecific type of tachycardia.
If that's identified, the firststep is to tell patients that
can you bear down or can youstart breathing?
It's basically a vagal maneuverthat's what it's called and
(17:47):
that stimulates the vagus nerveto bring the heart rate down
Right.
We are also using this inhospital settings, in acute
settings, for certain patientsor individuals, and now applying
it, our applicability in ourdaily life, is really going to
help us with avoiding the fightand flight response at every
second, every moment in ourlives.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (18:08):
Find and flight response at every second, every
moment in our lives, right?
Yes, definitely, wow, it's sointeresting how things that we
don't really think about, likethere's so much science, and how
it reacts to our bodies and so,parents, I hope that's what
you're taking away from thisthat when things are stressful
at home, or even with you orwith your kids, there are easy
ways for you to help yourselfand help your children get to a
(18:31):
relaxed state and so you cansolve the issue at hand right,
and so things don't get out ofhand, and so the family bond is
strengthened, because that'sreally what it's all about and
see how everything goes back tothe brain, telling you Exactly
yeah, our brain and heart.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (18:50):
they're very very so.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (18:52):
If we fall in love with the health of our
brain, then we will fall in loveliterally with our lives.
Because if we think, okay,what's this doing to my actual
brain, then you're going to like, okay, maybe I should just
practice, I should think aboutmy breath, I should slow myself
down, I should count to 10, if Ihave to, before I sleep.
You know all of those thingswork.
(19:13):
So thank you so much, dr Chhaya, for sharing these tips.
Do you have one last brainhealth tip that you'd like to
share?
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (19:22):
These two were great.
But you know one thing is, whenyou wake up in the morning,
gratitude, yes, okay, no screen,no worrying about what's going
to happen in my life or, youknow, worrying about A, b, c, d,
but just get up and with asense of gratitude and I feel
like when you actually go to bed, shut your eyes.
Shutting your eyes with thethought of gratefulness will
(19:44):
help you to be to start your daythe next day with with
gratitude, and gratitude assimple as thank you for this
breath, thank you for me livinganother day when I'm alive.
So gratitude would be what Iwould pass on to your audience
and the message is very muchcoming from heart.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (20:04):
Yes, gratitude is so key.
I mean it literally will changeyour life and just thinking
about what it is you have versus, you know we focus so much on
what we don't have there thatleads us down the rabbit hole
into feeling bad and all of theother things.
When we focus on we have this,even as simple as we have bread
(20:24):
that's priceless Because lots ofpeople didn't wake up right.
So, going back to basics, weare thankful.
We are thankful.
It definitely changes lives.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (20:33):
It's changed mine, so I know that, yes, yes,
same here, the same here.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (20:38):
Thank you so much for that very important tip
, and so can you please tell thelisteners where they can find
out more about your practice.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (20:45):
Absolutely yes, so you can find me on my
website it'sunifiedendocrinecarecom, and if
you wanted to follow me onInstagram and Facebook, it's
Chhaya Makhija MD.
The handle and I have myYouTube channel where I add on
to a plethora of my patientinterviews, inspirations and
everything endocrine that isalso at Chhaya Makhija MD, and
(21:08):
feel free to reach out.
I see patients throughoutCalifornia and, of course,
integrating lifestyle medicinethrough it.
I also have lifestyle medicineprograms where I incorporate the
nutrition, physical activity,but also these aspects that we
just talked about, so happy tohelp.
Yes, go check out.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (21:25):
A health teacher in California.
I would Thank you a lot.
Sleep on the lifestyle medicine, but of course, if you need the
endocrinology care as well,that's definitely important to
integrate those two together.
So thank you so much for comingon again.
Such a pleasure to talk withyou today.
Dr. Chhaya Makhija (21:43):
Thank you, dr Eko, it was all my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (21:48):
Yes, my pleasure .
So until next time, have anamazing day, take care.
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