- With Mayo Clinic oncologist
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
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Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Edward Creagan, M.D.
"The magic of the electronic village is transforming health information. The mouse and keyboard have extended the stethoscope to the 500 million people now online." — Dr. Edward Creagan
The power of the medium inspires Dr. Edward Creagan as he searches for ways to share Mayo Clinic's vast resources with the general public.
Dr. Creagan, a Newark, N.J., native, is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hospice medicine and palliative care. He has been with Mayo Clinic since 1973 and in 1999 was president of the staff of Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Creagan, a professor of medical oncology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, was honored in 1995 with the John and Roma Rouse Professor of Humanism in Medicine Award and in 1992 with the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award, Mayo's highest recognition. He has been recognized with the American Cancer Society Professorship of Clinical Oncology.
He describes his areas of special interest as "wellness as a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-financial model" and fitness, mind-body connection, aging and burnout.
Dr. Creagan has been an associate medical editor with Mayo Clinic's health information websites and has edited publications and CD-ROMs and reviewed articles.
"We the team of (the website) provide reliable, easy-to-understand health and wellness information so that each of us can have productive, meaningful lives," he says.
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Stress blog
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Jan. 30, 2013
Yoga, mindfulness and other tools can aid recovery
By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
A wise person once said that life is a series of losses. Some losses can be devastating, such as the loss of a child, but devastation can also come from the loss of a dream or the loss of health.
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I've also been told that the only way to get over something is to go through it. As much as we try — and I've been guilty of this myself — there are no shortcuts. There are no detours if we hope to heal.
However, there are tools can help us cope better with loss and stress. One such technique is mindfulness. This means total absorption in in the moment, eliminating distractions. Think of it like driving. You must keep your focus on the road in front of you, with an occasional glance in the rearview mirror.
Yoga is another helpful practice. It is relatively low-impact and accessible to most people. (Of course, if you are new to yoga it's important to seek the guidance of a certified teacher.) And numerous books and CDs are available about coping with adversity and managing stress. At the end of the day, it comes down to learning to cultivate focus and tune out distractions.
Follow me on Twitter at @EdwardCreagan. Join the discussion at #Stress.
3 comments posted
April 17, 2013 10:10 a.m.
Dear Mr. Creagan, I believe a pedometer is a great tool to relieve stress. When I walk, I can really clear my head. This of course helps me cope with the stressors in my life. Thanks for your articles.
- James
February 8, 2013 9:31 p.m.
I tried yoga after overhearing conversations about yoga. So, I was curious and thought I'd give it a try. My massage therapist's "hobby" was all types of yoga, so I asked her for a recommendation. Bikram Yoga is what she recommended - and I decided to try it once, just for the 1st hand experience. Even though I do not enjoy the heat, and prefer to be in short sleeves & shorts year round, I tried it and loved the way I felt afterwards. And, the challenge of strength, flexibility, and balance was a great combination too. So, this is still my favorite, and I can say I push myself, and never had any issues with a pull or any kind of injury. When stressed from work and not able to sleep well, the Bikram classes cured that too. My friend Patty who also doesn't care for the heat joined me for many Sat / Sun sessions, and commented that if she'd known that the "Yoga, Massage, Swimming" combination could have helped her avoid back surgery - that would have been her choice. Mindfulness is a great technique to focus on the present vs worrying about the past or future. It is very grounding as I learned in a demo at our local library from a panel of U of M specialists. It is a great tool, and to my surprise the evidence based on data showed that mindfulness can be as effective as medications! It can be applied to many areas stress, depression. It is certainly worth learning about or giving it a go if for nothing else, the experience. Breathing learne
- Csilla
February 1, 2013 8:02 p.m.
Mindfulness, yoga, etc.all help us. Also, some people's loss may lead them to discover a creative ability they never realized they had before they were forced by a disease, death, job loss, etc. Last night I met a young woman in her twenties who developed severe scoliosis where she no longer could breathe and had to have rods placed in her trunk on both sides to go on living. As she was looking at the ceiling in the hospital for 6 weeks, her brain imagined a line of women's shoes she wanted to design. She now has a patent on the line, and is getting ready in the next year to bring these shoes into the retail market. Physically she does have limitations of her scoliosis and rods, but they are not creative area of her brain! Her mind is centered in her shoe designs not her dis Likewise, I have been a caregiver for the last 10 years, and have had to quit 2 jobs because the stress of 2 jobs at once. Now, I am using my creative side of my brain to start a small business made by me in my home combining the caregiving with producing individual creative pieces of art for individuals. I have given many of these creations away but why not develop a business around the combination of the caregiving and art pieces? It certainly would help the stress of the caregiving and allow me to express myself creatively. My MINDFULNESS WOULD FLIP FROM THE LOSS, DISEASE, CAREGIVING TO CREATIVITY in my brain. Many great artists have done their best work in the process of their disease.
- Kristina
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