Brain Power with Dr. Eko

EP. 37 | The Power of Laughter and Breath for Health, with Dr. Chhaya Makhija.

• Dr. Hokehe Eko • Season 1 • Episode 37

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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

Find the full episode on your favorite podcast platform and check out the video version on our YouTube channel!

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Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Brain Power with Dr Eco. I have an amazing guest with us today, dr Makhija, and she's an endocrinologist. Welcome to the show, dr Makhija.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Thank you, Dr Eko. I'm so happy and delighted to be here. Brain power I love that.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Yes, because our brains run everything, doesn't it? So I'm really excited about this conversation we're about to have, so please stay tuned. So, dr Makhija, can you please introduce yourself more to our listeners?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Sure, absolutely so. As you know, my name is Chhaya Makhija. I'm a board-certified physician, specialist in internal medicine, diabetes, endocrine and metabolism, as well as lifestyle medicine. I'm also an educator, assistant professor at our local universities in California and the founder CEO of my practice. It's called Unified Endocrine and Diabetes Care and very proud to say that it's the first one as a direct specialty care in California which integrates endocrinology and lifestyle medicine for our patients.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Oh, that's wonderful. Please go check it out, Because of course, meds are not everything. Lifestyle chain is so key, Exactly yeah that was my mission.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

you know. It's like telling our patients, informing them right knowledge and prevention, and of course everything endocrine comes along with it. But that's been a great journey to spread the mission.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Yeah, that's so cool. I would come see if I was there if I needed it. So, thank you, stay healthy Both here. Yeah, I plan. So you told me about some community workshops that you do. I was so thrilled and I was like that's what we're going to talk about today. So would you like to tell us?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Absolutely yes. So you know, when I started my practice, it was just that intention of how do we integrate everything. I'm born and raised in India, so that's where you know there was a lot of exposure to breath work mindset. We used to have laughter sessions that's called laughter yoga in every park if you walk around like early mornings. So this is what I wanted to bring out to the patients, but also to the community.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

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're in a group setting, you know it's fun to be silly and that's the way to bring about happiness intentionally, rather than just thinking that you know an object or attaining something is going to give me happiness. The second thing that I engage our community members as well as our patients, on a very consistent daily basis is breath work. So just breathing, and especially for kids, adults, busy parents as well as our senior citizens, it's so important to just bring ourselves back to the present moment. You know we are always in this rushed sense of living and that's where I incorporate breath work meditation, which is more of a fun meditation rather than just sitting thinking about. I'm sitting at a place and, you know, trying to conquer my thoughts, so it's more of a fun environment that we practice in our local parks as well.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Wonderful. So tell us, for those wondering about laughter, really, in the Bible it says laughter is good medicine, right? So we already know that part. Well, tell us. I know there's science behind it. So can you just explain briefly what the science is behind laughter Sure?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

absolutely so. You know, just to have an understanding, many people don't know what endocrinology is. It's a very it's only specialty which has a study of hormones. And when we talk about hormones yes, we have a long set of these, but where laughter is focusing is a lot on our endorphins, our happy hormones, and that's where we have the capacity to increase them. It's not going to be the medications.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

The second thing is, you know, we all hear about the stress hormone, we all hear about adrenaline, and these are also essential hormones, and that's where the laughter is going to play a key role to use it as a tool, use it as our benefit, rather than worrying about stress. So what's happening is, you know, imagine when you're laughing, but if you're in a group setting, we are doing inhalation and we start laughing when we exhale. You know, I can always share more videos which are fun to watch as well, and even if you were in a bad mood, just because you're in that community surrounding you end up laughing, even if not loudly, you're laughing inside. What's that doing is, you know, your endorphins are happy hormones, which is just to give you an example morphine is derived from, you know, endorphins, the painkiller. So we have different scents of feelings, emotions which can trigger pain, and that's where, when you increase these endorphins, your natural morphine, it is going to help with how you face situations and challenges. The other aspect is you know, when you're laughing I call it as a belly laugh sometimes have them laugh you know more loudly, as well as using your belly, you are also exercising. You're also bringing in some extra oxygen supply and you're exhaling it even better. So now you're stimulating your sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system, both of them in great balance. Adrenaline and your fight and flight response is the extreme of cortisol and adrenaline, but bringing a balance where you're using your heart, you're using your lungs to bring the goodness of oxygen and the contraction, as well as you're using the calming nervous system, which is a parasympathetic nervous system, to raise your endorphins and happy hormones. The lacto is both physical benefit as well as emotionally, psychologically. It's bringing us to a different state of mind, which we are actually seeking all of us, be it any humans. So that's laughter Outdoors is amazing, it's contagious.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

So if you're in a family and you're thinking that the mood is offset, there are certain ways of bringing a laughter session and I can share if the audience wants to laugh together. So there are ways. So we stand in a circle and the common one that individuals like is the vowels A-E-I-O-U. So we stand in a circle, we inhale, and as you're exhaling, you all come towards the inner circles. You're all joining hands and coming inside, running towards the center point of the circle and laughing. So as you exhale, you literally go 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 around in each one heart.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Right, yeah, one of the examples of promocrocession okay, I make it, and so do you find that once they go through the vowels one time now people just start spontaneously laughing yes, so then that goes on, and then we have more, we have cup laughter.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Uh, this is, you know, you just become innovative, you just become creative. Uh, my patients and community will give us ideas. Um, they end up. They end up sharing some jokes which 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 sense of joy that it automatically creates and we repeat it. So our time is let's laugh for 10 minutes, so we may do this AEIOU session and then we may just clap and laugh. The the other is like a laughter glass. We might make a shake of laughter with different ingredients and it's all visualizing it, right, and then drinking that laughter as well. Yeah, okay.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

I like it. And so what do most of your patients say after they're done with the session?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

A sense of joy. And the impressive part is you know they're all coming in with different moods. You know different baggage that's coming along with life. They can call it a stressors. My medical students are just worried about exams or how they're going to perform and suddenly you get that 10 minute exposure where mind is not wandering, you're just in involved in an action which is bringing joy, which is not bringing stress, which is actually bringing you to a positive feeling rather than taking you down, which is giving you that social connection. You know. Very important is that we don't realize. If we're happy, it vibrates. And that's also a learning lesson that take this home, because if you have that sense of joy, or you're intentionally bringing that sense of joy, it is going to spread yes, you know, I just had an interesting thought that just popped into my head, which I'm going to implement.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

What goes big? I?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

should have the audience do a laughter session before. Yeah, absolutely. Like you know, if you're hearing a podcast or if you're watching a movie and they're laughing, some may think, oh, that's so silly, I don't want to laugh. But you know, it's at least bringing that sense of oh yeah, it was so light, right, so it does. It does vibrate with us if we actually practice it for ourselves. And you know, community, being in community, is always more support and it's encouraging, it's motivating, it's inspiring all of us together, right.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

That's so wonderful, and are there any studies that have been done on this?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

on laughter Sure, so you know you'll have. That's the interesting part. So you'll find neuroscientists working on these and it's, you know, more like laughter yoga and it depends on how long it's being done, but it definitely has effects on our, you know, on our waves, like brain waves. So there are the theta and the alpha waves, which are which are more, you know, in the going into that meditative state or more into the positive, the pleasure state. So it definitely stimulates those brain waves. The other is, you know, it's laughter as medicine.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Like you said, it's like an old saying, but we have a lot of psychology studies that help to show us that, how they're actually building up on our endorphins and this is very specific on, you know, the serotonin, the dopamine, the social connection which is tied to oxytocin. So that you will find these studies. Of course we don't have a clinical trial because it's difficult to stimulate or simulate laughter for 30 minutes and then do the research and draw blood or look at brainwaves. There is quite a lot in the neuroscientific world which shows how it's helping to address anxiety, depression, as well as bring about that increase in the levels of dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Yes, yes, yes. And all of that's because, like you said, endocrine is the study of hormones. Once your hormones are balanced, the way it was created to be, then you find that you're healthier right, Absolutely yeah. And that's a downstream effect for everything your work, your life, your sleep, everything.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Exactly yes, what we call as stress, we could de-stress for some time.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Yes, yes, definitely. Wow, this is so cool. I can see teachers teaching this to their kids Classrooms Amazing.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

It's a shift. You know. We have to make some intentional effort to bring that shift and then implement it, practice it, and especially on occasions where we feel like I can't laugh you know, this is not me I teach some of my patients, like you know, if they are not able to go out or be in a community setting, look in the mirror and start laughing, which is, you know, no one's watching, it's just you. It's just you. But it definitely is a prescription, rather than thinking that, oh yeah, this is just a suggestion or a recommendation, but take it as a prescription and it will bring about great side effects and positive effects, absolutely.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

So let's talk about the breath work that you had mentioned earlier. What's a way busy parents can teach their kids and teach themselves how to incorporate that into their lives, and what is breath work?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Correct. Yeah, that's where I was going to go too, Because we're all breathing and you know, I'm sure there's question raised that what's the big deal in breathing? Why do I have to learn how to breathe right? So you know breathwork. It's also called in ancient Indian scriptures as parama, which is breathing, your yoga. But breathwork has been studied so well and we have so much literature that there's a true science behind it and how it helps us.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

So that's the only fuel, our breath is our only fuel, which we have minute to minute in our control as much as possible, but we're not using it efficiently. So you inhale and you exhale, but if you just reflect back as you're listening to this podcast, how many times are we aware that we are breathing Early in the morning, Like even when you're sleeping? We don't realize or we're not grateful that we're breathing, we're living right. So breathwork is bringing our attention back to our breathing, which is our main source of fuel, which is our main source of oxygen, and being very mindful of it. So it doesn't have to be a major training session, but as I start teaching my patients this is more, you know, when I'm checking their vitals, blood pressure is usually high because they're stepping into the office or there's this white coat, hypertension, or some patients may feel that, oh my gosh, my doctor is going to be very mad at me because my blood sugars are high and I didn't eat well or I cheated. So that's all building up into negative emotions. Brett, work is helping you to know that you inhale and you exhale you to know that you inhale and you exhale. And there is a period where you inhale can you exhale longer. So, for example, there have been studies which will show a count of four inhale and count of four exhale. You prolong your exhalation from count of four to count of six, to count of eight. What is that doing? It's actually stimulating your longus nerve, which is the main nerve which is connecting from your brain all the way to your gut to all your important organs digestive system, your heart as well as your endocrine system. That's called vagus nerve. So it's stimulating the parasympathetic nerve. Every time you exhale mindfully, it's stimulating your vagus nerve, your calming nervous system, and that is going to help you to tackle anxiety, tackle depression, improve your digestive system as well as bring you back to the present moment. So that's breathwork. That's the science behind breathwork. It's practiced a lot in Harvard, in medical schools, where they've actually done studies to show how it's also helping with the alpha and the theta waves in our brain, which is then translating into more of a relaxed state. So you're aligning yourself in the present moment, right, Parents, families, adults are able to practice this by different forms.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

So my favorite for the families and for children, for teenagers, for my medical school students, is the buzzing bee or the humming bee meditation or breath work. You know some individuals don't like 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 on this on the video, or you can really search your internet, you'll find the buzzing bee or humming bee meditation on breathing. It's basically buzzing, so you inhale and you buzz, Okay, as much as you can. The other ways are humming. So you hum by closing your mouth and just get that sound out. You are exhaling and you're making that sound come or be manifested and that's stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system. It's releasing that emotional baggage. It's bringing you back to attention, it's bringing you back to a heightened sense of thought, awareness.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Very helpful for patients, for individuals, my adults with you know attention deficit hyperactive disorder, that, yes, you have medications, you have your psychiatry visits, you have your therapy visits, but when you're in the office with me and you're struggling with high blood sugars, high blood pressure, that's when I have them practice these simple exercises. It brings their systolic blood pressure by at least 20 millimeters of mercury down, and I wish I could actually conduct studies. But it does happen. Why? Because it's stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. Now one more science.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

I also wanted to explain that this is nothing you know. This is proven. We and you probably are aware of this, Dr Eko that you know when we were working in hospitals or when we get trained for arrhythmias, there is a specific type of tachycardia. If that's identified, the first step is to tell patients that can you bear down or can you start breathing? It's basically a vagal maneuver that's what it's called and that stimulates the vagus nerve to bring the heart rate down Right. We are also using this in hospital settings, in acute settings, for certain patients or individuals, and now applying it, our applicability in our daily life, is really going to help us with avoiding the fight and flight response at every second, every moment in our lives.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Find and flight response at every second, every moment in our lives, right? Yes, definitely, wow, it's so interesting how things that we don't really think about, like there's so much science, and how it reacts to our bodies and so, parents, I hope that's what you're taking away from this that when things are stressful at home, or even with you or with your kids, there are easy ways for you to help yourself and help your children get to a relaxed state and so you can solve the issue at hand right, and so things don't get out of hand, and so the family bond is strengthened, because that's really what it's all about and see how everything goes back to the brain, telling you Exactly yeah, our brain and heart.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

they're very very so.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

If we fall in love with the health of our brain, then we will fall in love literally 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 about my breath, I should slow myself down, I should count to 10, if I have to, before I sleep. You know all of those things work. So thank you so much, dr Chhaya, for sharing these tips. Do you have one last brain health tip that you'd like to share?

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

These two were great. But you know one thing is, when you wake up in the morning, gratitude, yes, okay, no screen, no worrying about what's going to happen in my life or, you know, worrying about A, b, c, d, but just get up and with a sense of gratitude and I feel like when you actually go to bed, shut your eyes. Shutting your eyes with the thought of gratefulness will help you to be to start your day the next day with with gratitude, and gratitude as simple as thank you for this breath, thank you for me living another day when I'm alive. So gratitude would be what I would pass on to your audience and the message is very much coming from heart.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Yes, gratitude is so key. I mean it literally will change your life and just thinking about what it is you have versus, you know we focus so much on what we don't have there that leads us down the rabbit hole into feeling bad and all of the other things. When we focus on we have this, even as simple as we have bread that's priceless Because lots of people didn't wake up right. So, going back to basics, we are thankful. We are thankful. It definitely changes lives.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

It's changed mine, so I know that, yes, yes, same here, the same here.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Thank you so much for that very important tip, and so can you please tell the listeners where they can find out more about your practice.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Absolutely yes, so you can find me on my website it's unifiedendocrinecarecom, and if you wanted to follow me on Instagram and Facebook, it's Chhaya Makhija MD. The handle and I have my YouTube channel where I add on to a plethora of my patient interviews, inspirations and everything endocrine that is also at Chhaya Makhija MD, and feel free to reach out. I see patients throughout California and, of course, integrating lifestyle medicine through it. I also have lifestyle medicine programs where I incorporate the nutrition, physical activity, but also these aspects that we just talked about, so happy to help. Yes, go check out.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

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 coming on again. Such a pleasure to talk with you today.

Dr. Chhaya Makhija:

Thank you, dr Eko, it was all my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

Dr. Hokehe Eko:

Yes, my pleasure. So until next time, have an amazing day, take care.