Breathe #9

Dr. Dora Mills:

Oh, there absolutely is some great news. When you think about 20 years ago and how much indoor air pollution we had due to cigarette smoke and the wood stove smoke, and yet most of that is really done away with.

Seth Rigoletti:

Most often there's a belief that when they stand up there, they can be right or wrong, that there's a right way or a wrong way to do this. And what I try to teach people is that if you're uncomfortable in your own skin, if you just be who you are, that it is really, really impactful, people will receive you really well and love you for it.

Tom Doherty:

You know, we don't think of kids having problems. We think of them as needing additional assets. And so we try to do that by getting caring adults outside the home to engage with them and great counselors and things like that that give them a really safe place to go and feel good about it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Hello, this is Dr. Lisa Belisle. Welcome to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast. This week our show is show number nine, which is airing on November 13, 2011. Our show this week focuses on the theme of breath and breathing. The importance of breath cannot be overemphasized. It's something that I deal with regularly in my practice when my patients come in to see me because all too often people are not taking the time to breathe deeply and be reflective in their own lives. Breath is both physical and emotional. We'll start our discussion today with Dr. Dora Mills, who is the former head of the Maine center for Disease Control and Prevention, who will talk about breath as it relates to our lungs and the importance of clean air. We'll go on and have a conversation with Seth Rigoletti, communication coach, who will speak about breath and authenticity. And we'll finish up with a conversation with representatives of Camp Quetcha who are allowing children to go out into the wilderness and learn how to breathe. Thank you for joining us on today's Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast. We hope you enjoy it. Each week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, my co host, Genevieve Morgan and I sit down and do what we call the deep dish. It's great to have you back here with me deep dishing, Jen.

Genevieve Morgan:

I always love the deep dish.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, we have fun with this. And I have fun every week going in before I start this process of thinking about the deep dish. Going over to Whole Foods, they're our sponsor for this program because we talk a lot about locally grown foods and the importance of eating locally. And again this time of year, we're getting out of the place where there is so many locally grown foods. So it's getting a little colder. Not as many things growing.

Genevieve Morgan:

I think the farmers markets are only around for another week or so.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, they're almost done, but there's still stuff being sold that's local. So Whole Foods is still providing us with this great array of food. I was able to find some locally prepared apple cider, some apples from Ricker Hill Farm. We've been eating these all fall. They do a great job for us. I also found these interesting sort of pale vegetables that they are.

Genevieve Morgan:

They look different and yet strangely alike.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, they are. They're interesting. And they're actually kind of. They actually have. Each of them has their own different taste. And not everybody knows how to use them, but I've done some playing with these because I used to get them as part of my farm share. So I've used them all before.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, you're holding one that's palm sized and looks like an acorn almost.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It does. This one happens to be a rutabaga. A rutabaga is related to the turnip family. These are root vegetables like the parsnip, which is also a root vegetable, which

Genevieve Morgan:

looks like a huge white carrot.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It looks like a huge white carrot. And the nice thing about parsnips is that they're very tender and sweet. Both the rutabagas and actually turnips and parsnips, they can all be cut up into, you know, maybe half inch or inch sizes, you know, mixed in with a little olive oil, a little salt and pepper. You throw them on a baking pan. Maybe you want to throw in some other root vegetables, some potatoes, some beets, and you can have some nice roasted autumn vegetables. You put them in there maybe, I don't know, 450, and just cook them till they're a little tender. With a nice little crust around them. So these are awesome. These are all interesting. This time of year is interesting. They come up with things that they're not just your standard apples and carrots anymore. You got rutabagas, you got turnips, you got parsnips. This little guy. Well, not even little. Look at this thing, Jen.

Genevieve Morgan:

Yeah, it looks like a planet.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It does. Or this a meteor or. Yeah. Or actually even like there's like something brain and alien looking. This is celery root or celeriac. And I had to spend quite a lot of time figuring out how to use this. And ultimately, I think last winter I went to a place called Barlola up on Munjoy Hill in Portland here, and they had this really lovely finely matchstick cut salad made out of celeriac or celery root. It was quite tasty. But what traditionally celery root is used for is if you peel it all down and you can make it, you can cook it like potatoes and you can have pureed celery root instead of mashed potatoes or pureed potatoes. And it is really quite tasty.

Genevieve Morgan:

And you can use it in soup that way too.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you can also use it in soup. So the interesting thing about this is that it's kind of a little bit of work to play with it, but it's still kind of fun. And you can bring your kids in and you can say, hey, look at this weird looking food. And yet it's still growing locally and it's still good for you. Lots of good fiber.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, I'm also interested too. We talk a lot about diet, but one of the things we're talking about is breathing. And I know that that's really important. If eating is basic, breathing is probably more basic. So how are we, you know, if we're adding these vegetables into our diet and then we're thinking about slowing down and breathing more like you said, what are the benefits of that?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I'm glad that you asked that question. We've talked in prior shows about sort of the mindfulness around that's required when one actually cooks. So mindfulness and breathing are very much tied in. And there are many studies that show that mindfulness and meditation and yoga and breath are all very good for our health and well being. I know that as part of the Core Balance Diet, the book that you wrote with Marcel Pick, who was one of our guests in the past that actually talked about something called Heartmath.

Genevieve Morgan:

Yes. Actually, we did reference heart math in the book, but we also Marcel in her practice uses heartmath. And it's a fairly well known form of. There are many, many different techniques to it, but it's sort of a mind body relaxation technique. And particularly they put forth the idea that paying attention to deep breathing, particularly when you're walking, can make your heart rhythm more coherent, which is better for your health and fitness. And by coherence, I mean that the, the spikes going up and down, if you look at an ekg, that the spikes on the up and down will be less spiky, there'll be more, less peaks and valleys and more calm. And that supposedly helps the whole machine not wear out as fast, which is sort of what we're talking about when we're talking about aging and health. We talk about it with how we can support the machine, feed it the right fuel, and then we talk about how we can make it last, which is maintain it well. And I think that heartmath uses breath as part of that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And we've known about this and I've used heartmath in my practice and people have done biofeedback before. This is sort of a related thing. We've known about this as part of what's called the relaxation response. And Dr. Herbert Benson out of Harvard actually did a lot of work with this several decades ago, and he's done a lot of work with meditation. Also the center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts and John Kabat Zin, he wrote a book called wherever you go, there you are. We know that taking the time to breathe and be mindful kind of gets you in sync with yourself. I mean, this is actually a tradition that's been well known in Eastern thought. I mean, Thich Nhat Hanh is a very famous spiritual leader who wrote a book called Peace is Every Step, in which he talks about breathing and walking and actually smiling. So breath and wellness, they're all tied in. They're all tied into sort of lung health and well, being.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, and you talk a lot about mindful eating. So how does that play in. I know we were saying that you have to be mindful when you're cooking, but when you actually sit down to eat, what are some tips?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, it's interesting because I'm always talking about, I always talk about sort of what's ideal and then what's real. I mean, I have three children of my own and I work and I have a busy medical practice and do a lot of different things. So I'm just as busy as your average individual. And at the same time, As a doctor, I know how important it is to sit down and be mindful while you're eating. So some of the things that I try to do, I try to, once I prepared my food, not sit down and eat it in front of a television. And actually, I don't really watch television that much. That's not that hard. But try to actually sit down as opposed to standing at the counter.

Genevieve Morgan:

Yep. Not over the sink.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Try not to eat over the sink. Yes. Try to actually taste the food. I mean, that's one of the benefits when you actually cook your own food is you kind of want to taste it because there's no point. You know, if you just pick up a box of Cheez, its. It doesn't really matter what it tastes like, but if you take the time to actually, you know, matchstick up some celeriac, you're going to want to taste it. You know, it's kind of a lot of work. So actually tasting and smelling and enjoying when I can. And this is not all the time because my children are just as busy as I am. I like to actually sit down with them and maybe have a hopefully not stressful conversation and actually ask them, you know, how was your day? And really try to connect. And this is one of the things that families can do on a regular basis, if at all possible, is to sit down and do and be together mindfully as a group.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, I think that's a great point, Lisa. And I think that if you aren't having time to breathe, you're probably not having time for some of these moments that you're talking about. So in a larger sense, it seems that what you're really talking about is just slowing down a little bit.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, I think that the just slowing down piece is important. And what we used to, when we sat down, talk about, remember, we used to do this traditional grace. We would sit down with our families and would be sort of, thank you for the food, or, you know, we made space. We made space and we thought about where the food came from, and we were grateful that we actually had food in front of us. And that's happening less and less in our lives. And I think if we do make the space for gratitude and understanding the work that went into the food that was prepared and the fact that we have food at all, I think that everybody in the family benefits from that.

Genevieve Morgan:

Beautifully said.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, Jen, it's been great talking with you on this broad variety of topics related to breath and breathing and food and locally grown food and mindfulness. And we'll talk to you again about this next week.

Genevieve Morgan:

I look forward to it. Thanks, Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This week we begin a segment which is sponsored by the University of New England, a very innovative school just down the street from us here in Portland, Maine. Our segment is called Wellness Innovations and we will be discussing events and things that are happening in the research and wellness world that we think will be of relevance and use to our listeners. Because this week is the week of the Great American Smoke out, we thought that this was an appropriate place to begin. We will be talking to Dr. Dora Mills coming up soon about smoking and lung cancer. And on November 17, 2011, right before Thanksgiving, people have a chance to actually stop smoking. We encourage people to take advantage of this Great American Smoke Out. There are many resources available to them on www.cancer.org and we also encourage people to go to their own physicians and find help when they need to take the time to bring the importance of breath back to your body in a very physical way and stop smoking. And we're sitting here today with Dr. Dora Ann Mills and Genevieve Morgan, our co host, as we come in every week and start with our main guest. We're pretty thrilled to have Dr. Mills in studio. She's been doing great things for the state of Maine for the last 15 years and now she's doing even more great things in a slightly different capacity. So I'm just going to I'm going to let people know who are listening a little bit about your background. You were recently named the Vice President for Clinical affairs at the University of New England, and prior to that, you were the director of the Maine cdc, which is the center for Disease Control and Prevention under Governors Angus King and John Baldacci. We know that you've done a lot with public health, including reducing Maine's rate of tobacco use, teen pregnancy and childhood obesity. And you've established numerous statewide partnerships with hospitals, agencies and schools, including Healthy Maine, partnerships which provide public health programs on a local level. You received your medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, which is my alma mater, so hooray. And your Master of Public Health from Harvard University. You're quite an esteemed individual, Dr. Mills.

Dr. Dora Mills:

I don't know about that, but thank you very much for the introduction.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And this month is American Lung Cancer Awareness Month, I believe. And we have the Great American Smoke out coming up on November 17th.

Dr. Dora Mills:

And.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And this is one of the reasons we thought it would be such a great idea to have you in to talk to us, because as the director of the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you know a lot about this.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Well, unfortunately, I do know a fair amount about lung cancer in terms of the statistics, and it's. It's pretty grim. You know, I actually think if you think for a minute, if you ask most women, which cancer do more women die from than any other cancer, most of them are going to answer breast cancer. Right. And yet the tragedy is that it's not. It's actually lung cancer. Real tragic diagnosis. I mean, occasionally people can live longer, but most people who are diagnosed with lung cancer very tragically actually end up dying from it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It is tragic. My grandfather actually died of lung cancer, and it came on, it seemed fairly suddenly, and it wasn't. Not that anybody wants to have a cancer, but if you're going to have a cancer, this is a hard one to die from. I mean, it really impacts you in a very negative way. And most people don't do well, and they die fairly quickly. So it's a hard thing to watch.

Dr. Dora Mills:

And especially when you think about 90% of all lung cancers are preventable.

Genevieve Morgan:

That's what I wanted to ask. Do you have the statistics of what percentage of lung cancer is directly associated with smoking and what is the statistic for secondhand smoke?

Dr. Dora Mills:

Yeah, it's about 85 to 90% of lung cancers are due to tobacco. There's a little bit of a leeway there because there is also a percentage of lung cancer that's secondary to radon exposure. We have a lot of radon in Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell us why we have a lot of radon in Maine.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Well, radon is a gas that's emitted primarily from. Is found in granite. And of course, you don't have to go too far in Maine to realize that Maine is on one big bed of granite. So we do end up having a lot of radon, especially in parts of Maine, like western Maine, where you see a lot more granite than in other parts of the Maine. And so when you come. But radon itself can cause lung cancer or is associated with it, but radon coupled with tobacco smoke ends up increasing your chances of lung cancer by quite a lot. So there is this overlap where, you know, you can't say that all lung cancer is just only caused by tobacco, but there is a certain percentage that's associated with Tobacco, but also associated with radon, and then some is just radon alone. But if you add radon to the formula, then you're up usually over about over 90% of lung cancers due to either one. And of course radon is preventable in that if you test your house for it, which is required in Maine at this time of a sale, but you could do it any other time as well, then you detect it and then there are ways to ventilate it, you know, to get rid of it so that, you know, not exposed to it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And there are a few other things that people can do if they know that there are radon. There's radon in their house as well. Like when they have their showers going. You're supposed to leave your door open a crack. You know, you're not supposed to sit in the steam, that sort of thing.

Dr. Dora Mills:

So yeah, it's kind of more around ventilation. But if you, you want to test your water and your air for it to see if you have it, because very often you don't. But if you do, it is something that you can mitigate.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you have. So we've talked about smoking and I pulled up a few statistics. So smoking is responsible for 21% of deaths worldwide in HYA. So that's interesting. And 52% of preventable deaths are from lung cancer. That's pretty astounding, isn't it? Yeah. So the smoking is, that's big, the radon we've talked about. What other things contribute to problems with lungs and lung cancer specifically?

Dr. Dora Mills:

Well, and of course secondhand smoke you mentioned a few minutes ago. And that absolutely is as well. We know that about, for every, about every seven deaths due to smoking, one of them is due to secondhand smoke. Now that is reducing as we speak because of course our indoor air is getting clearer and clearer of secondhand smoke. But still we know that a number of people who do smoke, who are addicted to tobacco do smoke in their homes. And that's why one of the efforts over the years by a lot of people in public health has been to at least, you know, if you can't quit, at least smoke outside. And getting our indoor public places smoke free, such as restaurants and, and all other workplaces. And we've been very successful in those endeavors here in Maine, very fortunately, but of course in other states, not so successfully. And if somebody's smoking at home, then their other family members and household members are exposed to the carcinogens that are in cancer causing chemicals in secondhand smoke. And a lot of people don't realize is that the secondhand smoke actually has higher concentrations of cancer causing chemicals than the primarily inhaled smoke. And the reason is because cigarettes have a filter. So some of those cancer causing chemicals are actually filtered out when you're inhaling a cigarette.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So that's so ironic that they're filtering it out. So the person who's smoking doesn't get the stuff, but everybody around them does.

Genevieve Morgan:

Yeah.

Dr. Dora Mills:

And you still get tremendous doses of it if you're smoking cigarettes yourself. But it's just, it is kind of ironic, as you say, that the people around you may actually get a higher level of it than you yourself if you're smoking.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And children, this is a big secondhand smoke problem for them. And it's not just. I mean, we're talking about lung. We've been talking about lung cancer because of Lung Cancer Awareness Month. But asthma and allergies and lung problems in children has been on the rise in Maine as well.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Oh, absolutely. And secondhand smoke is really deleterious to children's lungs. You think about just even what lung tissue looks like or what, you know, you can imagine what it looks like if you haven't seen it. It's, you know, it's a very lung tissue in anybody is this. It's a very sensitive tissue. It's not like your skin that's kind of thick and you know, a lot of things can bounce off from it. Lung tissue is very porous. It's like a very delicate sponge. And when you're young, when you're a child, it's even more so. And it's very susceptible to the effects of pollutants, especially when you're a baby or a child. So you can imagine if you throw cigarette smoke on top of that very delicate kind of sponge like tissue when you're a child, it has a very deleterious effect. And what we see, as you mentioned, Dr. Lisa, is the fact that these children do have very high rates of asthma or more severe asthma than they would have otherwise, as well as ear infections, pneumonia, lung infections, and many other infections and diseases that you wouldn't think they would necessarily have, like ear infections. But it turns out that the cigarettes thicken up all their secretions. So when they get a cold, then their secretions are kind of thick, they don't clear them as well. And then they're more likely to get things like ear infections, which happen when you have kind of. Sometimes when you have thick secretions kind of building up in your ear and then the bacteria take hold.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's an interesting point. I've had a number of patients, thank goodness, over the years, who have quit smoking. And what I've noticed in my practice is that patients, they'll quit smoking and then their lungs actually get worse for a time. It's almost as if there's some sort of purging that needs to take place. And you're talking about secretions. That's what reminded me of that, that, you know, patients, they'll come in there like, Dr. Lisa, you told me I should quit smoking, but I feel so much worse that I'm like, you know what, you just got to hang in there because your body's trying to get rid of something that it's been dealing with for a really long time. So it's this thick, hacking, disgusting something that eventually does go away. So people who are going to quit smoking on November 17, which is the great American smoke out or another day, just stick at it, stay with it, your lungs are going to get better.

Genevieve Morgan:

I'd love to hear you talk about that a little bit more. Dr. Lisa and Dr. Mills, I have a couple of friends who are still smoking and they have tried and tried and tried to quit and they've. It's just such an addiction. It's very difficult. Can you both speak to that? Because you've treated it through Chinese medicine and you've had, there are other policies and programs that you have. So it's an interesting two way approach.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Well, I think the main thing I would say is don't quit quitting. So the average successful quitter has tried quitting seven times before. They're successful. Doesn't mean a lot of them aren't successful on the first try or the second try or the tenth try. But don't quit quitting just because it doesn't work for you once, don't quit quitting. And there are medications that are very effective. And there are also some ways to increase your chances. I would recommend people calling the Maine Tobacco Quit line, which has free consultation by phone, it's anonymous. You can also get vouchers for free or low cost medications, including prescription medications. And they'll stay in touch with you and kind of help you through that. You know, I can't say it's easy. I mean, we know some of the neuroscience data shows that nicotine is as addictive to the brain as heroin. So, you know, I'm just, I kind of got protected because I have asthma. So when I was a kid, I just never, even a young adult, I never even thought about picking up a cigarette because I couldn't inhale secondhand smoke. So how could I inhale primary inhale smoke? So it just, you know, I feel very fortunate, but I know that I have a lot of, you know, friends and acquaintances over the years who did pick up a cigarette and got very highly, it's, you know, very highly addictive and they didn't want to keep smoking, but it was very tough. But many of them have successfully quit as well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So, okay, we've been talking about smoking, we've been talking about radon, lung cancer, a little bit about asthma. Let's talk about some of the other air quality issues maybe we have. What about outdoor air quality and indoor air quality in Maine? What can you say about that?

Dr. Dora Mills:

Well, unfortunately, Maine does have both issues, major indoor and outdoor quality issues. Outdoor air quality issues, you wouldn't think so. You look around our landscape and it's so beautiful and picturesque and pristine and yet we have major air pollution issues and outdoor air pollution issues. And one of the main reasons is that we are kind of on the tailpipe of the country. When you look at the, you know, picture a map of the United States and you look at those arrows of the jet stream, it generally comes across the United States, across the Midwest, and then it makes this left hand turn going up north, up right across the Northeast. And there are a fair amount of pollutants that get carried along, get picked up by the jet stream and then as a jet stream hits the cold air of the Northeast, that is Maine, right?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We are pretty cold up here actually end of November.

Dr. Dora Mills:

And those pollutants actually precipitate out and cause more air pollution here than you would see say in even Connecticut or in southern parts of the south and Midwest. And in particular, when you look at the pollutants from the coal mining states, not coal mining states, but the coal, the fact that the states in the Midwest have a lot of coal producing plants or use coal as a fuel and, and they emit a lot of pollutants that then get carried here. And that's also one reason why, you know, we have, of course, when you combine high heat in the summertime, we end up having, of course, a lot of high ozone days, more than you would think, you know, being in Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Can you talk about that? What does that, what does a high ozone day mean for people?

Dr. Dora Mills:

Well, what these high pollutants mean in our outdoor air is that we do have high asthma rates. We know Maine has the highest asthma rates in the country, and it's probably for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons is because we have high levels of air pollution. And so we end up having very high proportion of people in Maine. About 1 in 6 adults in Maine have asthma, for instance. And that's about the same with our children. Asthma is one of the few chronic diseases, actually is higher in children, higher rates in children than in adults. And so it's a chronic disease that we see in adults and children. So we have very high rates of asthma. And for people who are asthmatic, the air pollution, the outdoor air pollution makes their asthma much worse. So if you had asthma and you lived in a state with cleaner air, you would be less severely affected by it than the fact that you live.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So we would do well to have as clean an indoor air quality and outdoor air air quality as possible, whether it's from smoking or otherwise. This show is about breathing. And so far, I feel a little overwhelmed because of all this sort of bad news. But I know there's good news. So you're going to tell us a little bit about the positive health trends that are going on in the state

Dr. Dora Mills:

of Maine, There absolutely is great news. When you think about 20 years ago and how much indoor air pollution we had due to cigarette smoke and the wood stove smoke. And yet most of that is really done away with now in terms of our. All indoor public places in Maine are smoke free restaurants, even bars, and many in any workplace is smoke free. And then, you know, and there's wood stoves are mostly, most of them have been replaced in the last 23 years. So we've got great news and we're seeing the effects of it. You know, our lung cancer rates are actually starting to stabilize and even come down. So it's great news. And people are generally much more aware that if they are addicted to and they're unable to quit right now, then at least to keep it away from other people. And you do see that people are generally very cognizant of taking it outside or being careful.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And we even have people and we haven't talked about this that much as far as cars and car exhaust, but we now have no idling zones in front of schools and in front of public buildings. And so when it's cold, people are less likely to sort of sit in their car and just keep it running indefinitely.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Absolutely.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So there are good things happening.

Genevieve Morgan:

Absolutely.

Dr. Dora Mills:

We're much more aware of these things and that's good. And it's making us all shift gears kind of and change our behavior a bit and it's making all of us healthier.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Speaking of good, you are doing really good things over at the University of New England. I was over there visiting you the other day and you are telling me all these amazing things that are happening for a small university. You're a powerhouse over there.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Oh, you know, it's a really exciting place to be. University of New England is our largest educator of health providers in Maine. That is, if you ask health professionals in Maine where they got their education, more of them got their education at UNE or University of New England than any other university. So it's an exciting place to be. It's a university where the undergraduate campus and the medical school is located in Biddeford, Maine, on a spectacular oceanfront campus.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's beautiful. I can't believe it's a college campus.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Oh, it's absolutely beautiful. And then in Portland on Stevens Avenue on the old Westbrook College campus is also a beautiful campus where most of the other graduate schools, the health professions reside. Brand new pharmacy school. That's absolutely stunning there. That's right on Stevens Avenue. Opened up two and a half years ago. And we're just completing the dental school, which opens up in 21 months or so in 2013. We have a nursing school, nurse and that, Methodist school, physician assistant school, master's of social worker school, master's of public health program and a dental hygiene school. Now, I'm going to miss one, but occupational therapy, physical therapy, and that's just

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

in the medical school. We're within the health sciences, that's in

Dr. Dora Mills:

the graduate schools for health professions located in Portland. So we have 11 will be soon when the dental school opens up. 11 degrees, graduate degrees in health professions and 10 of those located in. In Portland on Stevens Avenue on this beautiful campus. And then the other with the medical school and the undergraduate schools and then other graduate schools and sciences like neuroscience are located in Biddeford. So it's a vibrant place to be. I'm very excited. And if you've got Know of any kids who are thinking about college or you yourself thinking about graduate school, look us up at UNE on the web. And it's a. It's a great place to be. Very innovative university.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, and we'll also provide a link to the University of New England, because I've been there, I visited there. It's an amazing place. We've actually done some work with them. So I'm 100% behind what you're doing now. Well, thank you very much.

Dr. Dora Mills:

And I should mention a lot of our courses, too, are offered online as well. So that's another thing to consider that you can be anywhere in Maine or anywhere else and obtain a Master's of Public health. Now we have an accredited Master's of Public health program that you can obtain entirely online.

Genevieve Morgan:

That's great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. This is exciting stuff. So I know we had to talk about the breathing and the smoking and the air and all of this. That is something we still need to think about. We don't want to scare people, but it is out there. So we needed to talk about all of that. But when's the smoke out date? Great American smoke out is November 17th, so we'll make sure people are aware of that.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Thursday before Thanksgiving.

Genevieve Morgan:

Thursday before Thanksgiving. OK. All you smokers out there, November

Dr. Dora Mills:

7th, smoke your turkey, not your lungs.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

There you go. So there are things that you can do about air quality, there are things you can do about health education. And Dr. Mills, you've been working on all of these things for a number of years, as you have, too. So thank you for coming in. We appreciate the time you spent with us and we will look forward to all the wonderful things you're going to do at the University of New England.

Genevieve Morgan:

Thanks.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Each week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast, we feature a segment we call Maine Magazine Minutes, which is hosted by our all the Time co host, Genevieve Markin.

Genevieve Morgan:

Thank you, Lisa. Today we're joined in the studio by Seth Rigoletti, who is a leadership and communications coach at Valico Group. And as part of Valico Group, he works with politicians, engineers, scientists, executives and authors to teach them how to have a greater presence, communicate in a clear fashion, and deliver a more impactful message. The focus of his work is on genuineness, resonance and helping clients to be more persuasive in their communication, which actually has a lot to do with our topic today, which is Breath. So I want to welcome Seth Rigoletti to the studio. Hi, Seth.

Seth Rigoletti:

Thank you, Jim. Hi.

Genevieve Morgan:

We have a lot of people come into the studio Obviously, and some are really nervous and some are not. And it seems to me that that is a common problem for anyone involved in public speaking, and that's exactly what you're trying to address.

Seth Rigoletti:

So there's a lot of things that are happening for me whenever I'm speaking in front of a group of people. In this particular case, it's. You know, there's all this stuff around, so I'm trying to. One of my goals is. One of the things that I try to work with people about is really staying present with the people that you're talking to. You know, if it's a room of 500 people or if it's a room of three people, the problems are still the same, which is, if I get too much in my head, if I start thinking too much about what I want to say or how am I being perceived, or what did I just say, then what happens is. And I notice this in my own body and in other people's body as well, I'll stop breathing. I'll hold my breath. And you can hear this in people's voices. It's not that they don't project or they don't. You can't hear them. Some people have wonderful, beautiful, deep voices, but they're still not breathing well.

Genevieve Morgan:

There's a tightness, constriction.

Seth Rigoletti:

Right, right. So an example. And I don't really know how well this will play out on radio, but an example would be if I were holding my breath and I was talking, my voice would kind of rise up a little bit, and my voice would start to speed up and. And some of my pronunciations would get a little slurred, and I would start to say things like this, where these question marks are at the end of my voice.

Genevieve Morgan:

I think I can recognize that.

Seth Rigoletti:

And that is a. That's really like a tightness in my diaphragm. But if I sink that down and I go down deeper and I just breathe through my voice, what happens? What happens is my vocals become more resonant. So rather than just sound coming through my mouth, there's actually more of a vibration that comes through me. And for a bigger audience, even though you're mic'd, it does actually have an effect on how people receive you and how they hear you.

Genevieve Morgan:

And you can train people to do this through your work?

Seth Rigoletti:

Yeah. You know, I mean, the funny part about all this work is that there is training to it. And I want to be specific that the work that I do is not to necessarily. It's not maestro work. I'M not trying to help people become master technicians. I'm trying to help people become more themselves. So our bodies are designed to be resonant. We're designed for voice. I mean, we. There's this thing on. Kristin Linkletter, who is a. She's a teacher at Columbia University. And she designed this whole type of vocal work. Called the Natural Voice. The Linkletter work, which she applies to Shakespeare and acting. And it's really about the idea that if we brought ourselves back to a more natural place with our brass. If we relaxed our vocal cords. If we didn't feel like we had to control our voice. That it would be beautiful and resonant. And we would be able to be clearly communicating. Not just the words that we want to say. But all the range of emotions that we want. What I focus on with people is to understand. Help them understand what interferes with their breath. So there's this part about exercises that help you open up. And help you practice how to breathe and how to be more resonant. And there's all these things that we can do to make that happen. But the number one thing is what hijacks you. What is it that brings you out of the moment.

Genevieve Morgan:

And that can be very individual. So your work is client by client. I imagine you don't have a set plan for every person you know.

Seth Rigoletti:

It is individual, absolutely. It is client by client. But it's also very much a. They're universal things that happen. So, for example, there are some people who are terrified of public speaking. Some people who, when they get up to the idea of speaking in front of a group of people. When, whether it be just a few handful of people. Or, As I said, 500 people. They are terrified. And for those people, it's really about identifying what it is that they're terrified of.

Genevieve Morgan:

well, so for those listeners out there that might be facing a big presentation at work this week. Or, my personal favorite, a toast at a wedding or a family gathering. Regular public speaking that you might not think of as public speaking. But can still be terrifying in its own way. Do you have any general tips or ideas for how to do what you're saying? Be yourself.

Seth Rigoletti:

So one of the biggest mistakes that people make is they think the content is the presentation. We Think that we've got this content that I have to give you. You see this with PowerPoint all the time, that people just load all their content on their PowerPoints and they really just kind of read through them and click through them and it's just death. I mean, it can be 35 minutes of absolute hell for people in that meeting. So there's this. Dr. Mehrabian did this study back in 1950 something.

Genevieve Morgan:

And who's that doctor?

Seth Rigoletti:

He started doing some studies about

Genevieve Morgan:

what

Seth Rigoletti:

is it, what is likability, what is this? I think he was a psychologist and he started doing, he did this study which was like, basically what makes us like somebody. And this is an often quoted statistic because he made this discovery and then everybody, people like me were like, oh, this is great, this is great news for us. But basically what it came down to is that people only pay attention or only like other people. How do I put this? Only 7% of the reason why they like other people is because of the content of what they say. So, hey, I like your dress is not. The content of I like your dress is not the likability piece. 55% of it is non verbal. So 55% of it is how you physically said that, how you physically were when you were saying that. And I think 38% of it is oral. So it's how I hear you say that for actors, this is obvious. I mean, actors know that you can have the same line, you can have the same line and you can say it 10 different ways and mean 10 different things.

Genevieve Morgan:

Right? So it's not the message, it's the messenger.

Seth Rigoletti:

Right? So in acting, they would call it the intention. You know, what are you trying to accomplish in this moment? And so coming back to the presentation piece, what I tell people is you have to know what effect you want to have on your audience. And the effect needs to be something you want to think about it. Like I try to say to people, what do you want people to leave with? Because if all you have is I want them to leave with the content and I say do them all a favor, print out the content, give it to them and tell them the meeting's over, because they'll leave with the content. They don't necessarily digest it on their own time. Well, they may or may not, but they'll thank you for not holding them hostage for half an hour. But, but let's say in my presentation, I want you, I want this team to take a leap of faith and we're going to increase our budget. We're going to go a little extra mile and I want, I'm asking them to work a little harder to make, you know, even though we're increasing our budget, work a little harder to give more effort towards this goal. And it's going to be a short term goal and it's going to be a lot of work in a short term period of time. In order to make that convey, in order to have that effect on them, I have to share something. I have to share something transcendent with them. Like, I really believe that this will change the way that we do business. I really believe that this will make our business better or, or make our company better or make our lives better in some way. And I have to be clear about why I believe that and what it is about me that is excited about this opportunity. Why do I want to work harder?

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, that's what I hear overall about Valico is that not only is it about coaching people in public speaking, but it's actually about coaching people to understand who they really are so that when they stand up in front of, of a bunch of people, it can be genuine. Let's bring it back to breath, though. How does breath connect with all of this? Because I know it's important, right?

Seth Rigoletti:

So there's a, and I heard this in a yoga class one day and it really resonated with me, which is that, you know, breath can only happen in the present. And when you think about that, you know, it's pretty helpful. As long as I'm in my head, I'm not in my heart. If I'm not in my heart, then I'm not being present for everybody here. And what breath does, it's a mechanical process that if I breathe and I tell people, politicians, business people, whatever I say, breathe through your mouth. Just, and just that act, just that act of doing that brings, I don't mean I'll be all mystical, but brings the energy down into your midsection. And then once you've done that, it's really hard to stay up in your head. Now you can go back to your head, right? But the breath makes it so, you know, reminds you, oh, right, I have to be present.

Genevieve Morgan:

Those very simple maneuvers are, are the very basic things that you teach. If there are people out there listening today who want to get in touch with you in terms of more individual or sophisticated techniques, how do they get in contact with you?

Seth Rigoletti:

Well, I have a website.

Genevieve Morgan:

And what's the address?

Seth Rigoletti:

Www.valicogroup.com and Valico is spelled V A L. I C L Valico is an Italian word that means the crossing points between mountain peaks. So it's all about connecting. It's all about connecting who you are to what it is that you want to, who you want to connect to and what you want to say.

Genevieve Morgan:

Seth, thanks so much for coming in today. It's been really interesting and I have learned so much already.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Thanks for coming in. Seth.

Seth Rigoletti:

Thanks Lisa. Thanks Jen.

Genevieve Morgan:

Seth Rigoletti is one example of people doing inspiring work in our community. At Maine Magazine, we like to turn the lens on these individuals and give you the opportunity to learn more about them. So please visit us online@themainmag.com or pick up an issue at your local newsstand or bookstore.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Each week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we read from the book Our Daily Tread. Our Daily Tread was written in honor of our late friend Hanley Denning and all proceeds go to benefit her organization, Safe Passage. Learn more about Our Daily tread on islandportpress.com or visit safepassage.org this week's quote is from Howard Cutler. Once that we conclude that the basic nature of humanity is compassionate rather than aggressive, our relation to the world around us changes immediately. Seeing others as basically compassionate instead of hostile and selfish helps us relax, trust, live at ease. It makes us happier.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

each week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast we feature a segment we call Give Back in recognition of the fact that health and wellness go beyond the individual and the family and reach out into the community. This week on our Give Back segment we have two people joining us. We always like having more than one on the other side of the microphone because it just kind of brings the energy up. We have Tom Daugherty, who's the executive director, and Heather Petrolik, a board member for Camp Quetcha. And we're talking about breath or breathe and breathing. So it's an appropriate day to have you here. Thanks for coming in.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Thank you.

Tom Doherty:

Thank you very much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Camp Ketcha is a year round nonprofit organization serving the Southern Maine community with programs in youth development, family enrichment and summer day campus. Their 107 acres of meadows, forests, streams and wetlands are essential to their mission, which is to get youth, children and families outdoors to appreciate what nature has to offer. We're especially excited to have both Tom and Heather here today because their annual fall fundraiser, the fifth annual the Martini Madness and Auction, is coming up on Saturday, November 19th. Thank you for coming in.

Tom Doherty:

Thank you, Doctor. This is a wonderful opportunity to talk about this event and what Camp Quecha is.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm fascinated by this because I thought Camp Quecha was a camp. You know, I love day camps. I love camps in general. But when you and I were talking, and I know Genevieve is pretty interested in this as well, you're doing things like a Montessori preschool. You have nature based after school care. Where did the camp catch a campus come from? Did somebody. Was this land that was purchased? Did somebody.

Tom Doherty:

It was purchased back in 1964 to use as a day camp for children. And actually Quetcha is a Native American word for little camp. The organization had a larger camp up in Litchfield, but this camp was a small one. It was meant for younger kids. And so we serve kids from 3 to 14 with primarily day camping programs. And we do a lot of the character building kind of outdoor activities. Things are done in small groups. Children learn to work together. They learn about how to develop friendships. And we do a lot around developing these essential assets, these 40 developmental assets that kids need to thrive so they, you know, we don't think of kids having problems. We think of them as needing additional assets. And so we try to do that by getting caring adults outside the home to engage with them and great counselors and things like that that give them a really safe place to go and feel good about it.

Genevieve Morgan:

Heather, I'm wondering as a board member, because I'm on a board of a local youth group as well, and we are always struggling with fundraising. How you as a board came up with Martini Madness, what an exciting idea.

Heather Petrlik:

It's really exciting. It's a lot of fun too. And, and it's a nice way to bring those into camp who can see it in a different way than most people think of. Was introduced about five years ago by is it Jennifer that started it? Jen Van Dyne is still currently a board member and this is sort of her baby. And Martinis are a fun, fun way to get people excited about auction items and about dancing. And there aren't a lot of places in Maine that you can get all dressed up and, you know, go out and have a good time. And it's just for a really good cause as well.

Tom Doherty:

A lot of our parents come and so it's, it's an exciting event for them because they're, you know, young parents of kids in their 8, 9, 10 year old range. And it's a great night for them to get out and just cut loose a little bit without the kids. I mean, obviously, obviously with martinis there, there's no children. But it's a way for us to say thank you to them, give them a great night out and for them to say thank you to camp.

Genevieve Morgan:

Do you have any transportation available for people?

Tom Doherty:

We don't, but we encourage folks to set up some good designated drivers and stuff and we check that a lot. Obviously, the last thing we'd ever want to have is a problem with that. We love our parents and our kids and that would be a tough situation.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's true that your camp is not very far away from Portland. It's not very far away from really Route 1 or I95, having been out there myself. So it is a bit of an oasis.

Tom Doherty:

It is. It's a wonderful place. I mean, from my office you can hear the surf on a nice day. But I mean, I also can just ride my bike down from my house in Portland, so it's a pretty easy ride.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I know. I will also be at your fifth annual fall fundraiser, the Martini Madness in Auction, which is going to take place Saturday, November 19th from 7 to 11pm I don't know how much martinis or madness I'm going to get into, but I'm excited to be there and support you. I thank you so much for coming in and Genevieve and I are happy to have you here today.

Heather Petrlik:

Thank you so much for having us.

Tom Doherty:

Thank you very much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Each week we read from my Bountiful blog. The Bountiful blog is available@bountifulpath.com this week's post is called Just Breathe from July 27, 2011, and it references a time in my life that was full of transitions. Transitions that I know are not an uncommon thing to those of you out there who are listening. Starting where we are, though logical in its premise, can be an interesting challenge. Many of us, when we are in a state of transition, are hard pressed to know exactly where that place of starting may be. This place is officially the liminal space which is everywhere and nowhere simultaneously, physically, emotionally and psychologically. We may be truly all over the map. At that point it helps to remember that within each of us exists a still small voice available for our guidance. Liken it to a metaphysical GPS and accessing our GPS is as easy as breathing, really. Our bodies are built to survive. As the medical school saying goes, blood goes round and round, air goes in and out. It's that simple. We are homeostatic organisms meant to be in balance. We are perfectly designed for life on this planet. When we forget this, it is good to return to body basics. Circulate blood breathe. The former doesn't require much. In healthy, intact humans, blood circulates no matter what. If we want to encourage this movement further, we can engage in what I call body play, also known as exercise. The latter, I.e. breathing, doesn't require much either, although sometimes we forget this. Most of us get so caught up in our doings that we fail to breathe deeply or enough. We hold our breath, often without even realizing it. Perhaps we are waiting for the next bad thing to happen, or anticipating something better than what we are currently experiencing. Breath holding takes us out of the present. It decreases our body's oxygen supply, making it harder to stay in balance. It also limits our access to that all important still small voice. There's nothing better than breathing to help us through a transitional time, there's nothing better than breathing. Period. Just try going without it. To read this blog post and others like it, visit bountifulpath.com this week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we focused on the theme of breath and breathing. We spoke about the importance of breathing from a physical standpoint, but also from an emotional standpoint. We spoke with Dr. Dora Mills, former head of the Maine center for Disease Control, about the importance of air quality inside our houses, outside our houses, and everything involved in what we bring into our lungs. We talked with segment Seth Rigoletti, communication Coach, about the importance of breath when it comes to how we present ourselves to the world. And we also spoke with representatives from Camp Quecha who talked about the importance of breathing and taking the time to be mindful in our lives. We hope you've had a chance to breathe as you've listened to our Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast this week. And more importantly, we hope that you will be reminded to take a Take the time to breathe regularly in your lives. Make a space for it. It's a lot easier than you think this is Dr. Lisa Belisle. Thank you for listening this week and thank you for being part of our world. We hope you have a bountiful life.

Dr. Dora Mills:

Sam. Sa.