Stress-Free for Free: 3 Techniques That Cost Nothing

Free, accessible tools to manage your mind so that you can become the CEO of your dream practice. 

Resources (not sponsored):

• psychologytoday.com
• betterhelp.com
• positiveintelligence.com

Transcript

Dr. Tea Nguyen (00:00.0)

Practicing medicine without insurance is possible. Imagine a private practice where you get to see your best patients every day providing medical services you truly enjoy, all without the hassle of insurance. My name is Dr. Tea Nguyen, and I'm a recovering specialist who was completely burned out from insurance-based medicine. I pivoted into direct care, where patients pay me directly for my medical services and have never looked back. If you're a private practice owner or planning to become one, 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (00:30.648)

who's looking to be free of the grind of insurance and your craving simplicity, efficiency, and connection with patients, you are in the right place. This podcast will help you map out your exit plan and uncover the mindset needed to thrive in today's economy. Welcome to the Direct Care Podcast for Specialists. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (00:53.73)

No matter what kind of business owner you are, I'm going to give you three practically free ways to improve your mental health, which is all backed by science. Running a business is no joke. And I don't think we give ourselves enough credit for what we put ourselves through, but oftentimes we need to also refuel. Now, listen, free does not mean this is not valuable. So if you are a business owner or want to become one, I want you to take this episode seriously because your mental health is very serious. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (01:23.542)

and even revisit it a few times as you need, but please don't skip it. And here's why. It's one thing to run a medical practice with insurance, but another to do one without it. Both are hard, but there are different kinds of stressors involved. So I'm going to show you today how to melt away the tension to clear your mind and to reset your mood. So no fancy gadgets are needed, no subscriptions, you don't have to buy stuff. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (01:51.126)

It's not an expensive retreat I'm talking about and it's really not all that complicated. These are going to be simple techniques that teach you how to lower your stress hormones naturally so your body feels lighter and more energized. It's also going to help calm those racing thoughts in just a few minutes, something that can be done anywhere at any time. And lastly, what we like to hear is that it's going to boost focus and productivity by creating more mental space. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (02:20.78)

white space is rest space. So here are some practical ways to reencent yourself so that you can function optimally when it counts, be able to make smart decisions with a sound mind and have peace with your decisions and move with confidence. I have to preface this that this is not medical advice, obviously. So if you need professional help, please do reach out. I've used psychologytoday.com to find somebody locally. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (02:49.452)

I've also used an app that a friend referred to called BetterHelp. The information will be down in the show notes for you if you feel that you need these resources. All right, so what's been happening over here? If my voice gets a little bit raspy, I'm finding that I have a tipping point to how much I can physically talk. And what made it worse is that I went on a trip this past weekend with my daughter. We did a before school trip to San Diego and I came back with a scratchy sore throat. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (03:18.06)

And I kind of think that the hotel I stayed at had really bad air quality because this has never happened before. But when I laid down on the pillow, it released this fume of air that smelled like sulfur. It smelled like a fart. It was the weirdest thing. Yes, I said fart and I didn't think anything of it. I was just too tired when I went to lay in bed, but I only stayed there for two nights. And when I left, they asked how my stay was. And I said, frankly, you're 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (03:47.406)

pillow linens smell disgusting. And of course they said, well, did you bring it up? Did you request her changes? And at the time I was just too tired to even think about it, to be honest. And I said that to them and I said, I know it could have been corrected, but it also got me questioning like, what are your sanitation practices where pillows can actually smell like that, which is anyway a story for another day, I suppose. I'm back here recording this episode for you, giving you some practical advice on how to have 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (04:17.151)

a stress-free experience as you navigate life. So life already could be hard on its own, and then you add being a business owner on top of that. It's a whole whirlwind of things. And of course, if you're a parent, if you're taking care of others outside of the clinic, I know it can be a mess, but listen, you have tools right here. I'm going to tell you exactly what that is right now. So the first tool that you can use when you're feeling overwhelmed is taking deep breaths. Now you may not notice this, but 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (04:46.592)

In periods of stress, we tend to take more shallower breaths. I even noticed this in myself when I'm editing these podcast episodes. When I'm going through intense focus with my work, my breaths are a lot shallower. And if you stop and take inventory of what's going on in your body, you might realize it too, that when you're working on something so intense or you're in a situation that feels stressful, you may be taking more shallow breaths. And why is this damaging? 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (05:13.388)

Well, if you're not giving your body and brain the oxygen that it needs, or you hyperventilate, for example, you increase your stress hormones. And so to reverse that, you want to be able to control your breaths. And I want you to become the ambassador of wellness. The first time I learned about deep breaths or deep breathing was in podiatry school at Des Moines University. They gathered a couple of student volunteers who wanted to learn these wellness techniques. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (05:41.238)

And at the time I did the exercise, I felt pretty good. But when I left school, I completely left this behind. It never occurred to me that this needed to be a daily practice until more recently, which is kind of embarrassing to say. all that to say is build this into your habits so that you'll never forget that you have access to it. And the concept is very simple. You find a quiet place to sit at. I'm usually sitting at my desk in my 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (06:09.56)

Quote-unquote recording studio, which is not much of a studio. It's just an office with a treadmill with the windows like all the distractions are here but nonetheless I can at least close the door and sit in my chair and rest my feet on the ground. So I invite you to do the same with wherever you're at Of course, if you're driving come back to this but have a seat at your desk very simple place to do this is at your desk, remove your phone, remove distractions and do this for just one minute? 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (06:39.374)

close your eyes, rest them, your jaw and start breathing deeply through your nose. Hold your breath at the end of that intake and then breathe slowly out through your mouth and breathe out slower than you normally would. So do this for one minute or for 10 breaths. Do this before you take on a call that you're anxious about or if you're anxious about starting your day, do this before when you 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (07:08.878)

get to work, maybe a tester about to take a board certification, or anytime you just feel like you need to reclaim some calmness. This is something that I also had to teach students while I was volunteering as a yoga instructor in Detroit. It was a really awesome program where we taught school-age children nutrition, yoga, and breathing exercises. These were the core components. This allowed these children who were raised in rough circumstances to have autonomy in their body. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (07:38.87)

and to be less reactive, even though their environment encouraged them to live a certain way, they were still able to be empowered to use their breaths as something that is readily accessible and can carry throughout their adult life to realize that they can, number one, control their stress, even if they can't control the environment around them. So the breathing exercises are incredibly powerful. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (08:03.758)

and it allows them to manage their emotions before they react. And I know that a lot of us can use this in our adult lives as well. So that's the first tool you have access to is your breath. A lot of us take it for granted, but now I know that you won't. So practice those 10 deep breaths or breathe for one minute. And over time, when this starts to feel really good for you, add on more time until you eventually get to your 15 minute mark or a 30 minute mark. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (08:33.154)

depending on whatever time you have available. And the secret to this is if you feel like you don't have time for one minute of breathing, double it. Too often we are running around like a crazy person with all the things to do. And so if you think that's you, I advise you to double your time. All right, so what is the second tool? Tool number two, it's easy, it's free, and it's fun, which is to walk in nature. Our eyes are designed to receive natural light. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (09:03.29)

And if you're often staring at your computer, on your phone, on your iPad, on the television, this can all strain our eyes, which can lead to headaches. And that gets in the way of productivity, right? So take a walk outside, maybe your front door, maybe you have a backyard, or maybe your place of work has some greenery that you can enjoy and appreciate. I know we have a lot of that here in California. I'm not so sure what that looks like. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (09:31.446)

in more suburban areas like New York, big cities, Chicago, even Texas and so on, but find something that is nature-ish and walk around for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes. Plus when you do this, you'll be getting fresh air, which is always great for your circulation, for your lungs. And you'll also get some sunshine, which gives you that vitamin D that also boosts your mood. So all of this collectively will improve your immune system and improve 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (10:00.61)

the way you feel and so that you can move about your day with more focused attention. There's a litany of other benefits of course, but just to get you started, taking a walk in nature. is just something about the human reconnecting with our first home, which is outside in nature that allows us to recenter ourselves and de-stress. Of course, take a walk in a safe place. I know in some areas it's not very safe to walk outside. Nonetheless, 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (10:29.632)

outdoors is where you want to be when you start to feel really stressed out. All right, and the last tool at your disposal is an exercise that I learned through the Positive Intelligence Coaching Program. And this is similar to breathing exercises, but it's a variation. Oftentimes we are bombarded with information overload and consequently we are suffering from a short attention span. Everybody everywhere wants our attention. They are bidding for our attention on social media. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (10:58.37)

All of that has heightened our problems and anxieties. Our brains are not meant to be this overstimulated in this modern age, but it is. So that leads us to having these prolonged periods of constantly chasing that next dopamine hit. And then we deplete ourselves and that depletion makes us feel down and even more anxious. So it becomes a toxic loop of searching for the next thing that creates that excitement. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (11:26.614)

So in order to reclaim your peace, you have to fight to maintain your focus. You have to fight against those distractions. So tip number three is all about slowing down. Whatever it is that you're doing, just do that. Do one thing. So for example, if you're eating, use up all of your senses to just eat. That means putting away the phone, turning off music or other distractions. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (11:56.544)

Just focus on the sensations of eating. What does the temperature of the food feel like when it touches your lips? What is the texture of the food as you chew in your mouth? What tastes do you recognize? Is there a new taste that you're starting to sense? Are you chewing your food thoroughly before you swallow? So by slowing down, instead of multitasking, you are reteaching your body to focus. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (12:24.494)

so that you can learn to enjoy your moments much more naturally. This slowing down is intentional. You have to slow down to regenerate your natural dopamine and all of the happy hormones that your body needs. And so you're re-centering yourself physiologically and mentally. We gotta slow down and live in the moment. That's what it means by living in the moment. It's not just a nice thing to say that you find online, like, that's cute. You actually have to physically do it. If anxiety is the anticipation of the future, 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (12:53.666)

then live in the moment by paying attention to the small details of things that are already available to you. Maybe you find a new flower that you've not noticed before. Maybe you find a new creature or a new bug in the garden that you hadn't noticed in the past. Maybe you see some detail on somebody's shirt and you're like, wow, that's actually pretty cool. These are some of the things that you can do to slow down, to shift from the sympathetic nervous system into the parasympathetic nervous system. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (13:23.478)

or your body finally calms down and feels safe to rest. By doing these things, you might even find yourself with some added benefits like losing weight, getting more energy, having more clarity. And these are all positive things that a CEO of a successful business needs to continue to keep their business thriving rather than just surviving. If you've been listening for a while, you'll know that I've been focused on building a life of ease and flow. And these are my tricks. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (13:53.592)

to stay in the moment, to not worry about the past, because we can't change that, and to try not to worry about the future, because that's over there somewhere, we don't have to worry about that. What will come will come. This is how you stay focused on today. This is how you release the overwhelm, and you totally have these tools right now. It's breathing deeply, it's being intentional, it's taking a nature walk and enjoying what's right in front of you by indulging all of your senses. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (14:22.616)

what you see, what you taste, what you smell, what you hear, and what you feel. We have to fight to regain our focus so that we stay in control of our emotions and in our lives, inside and outside of the business. These resources will be down for you in the show notes. Part of my coaching includes access to the Positive Intelligence app, which is a seven week long daily habit building program that puts you in control of your thoughts. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (14:48.652)

If you'd like to stay updated on when the door is open to my intimate program, grab the guide down below and you'll get email updates when it becomes available. I'm hoping to start around the fall time. So we'll see what the interest is and we'll go from there. I'm so grateful that you've taken me along with you on your direct care journey. Please do tell me how things are going for you in our private Facebook group. So again, the links will be down below and I'll catch you next week. Take care. One last thing, if you took anything from this episode, 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (15:17.548)

Whether it's a small dose of inspiration or even an aha moment, could you please share it with a friend or post it on LinkedIn? The direct care community depends on doctors like you because no one is coming to save us. So it's up to each and every one of us to keep the conversation going to a point where direct care becomes a normalized path for private practice and not some secret that we have to mind for. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen (15:43.512)

Thank you if you've already done so or if you've given this podcast a review, really does mean a lot to me. Sending you peace and possibilities. I'll catch you next week. Take care.