Author Dr. Anna Cabeca: Five Things We Can Do To Develop Serenity And Support Each Other During These Anxious Times
…First is, asking myself “what do I know to be true at this moment?” We have to stop ourselves in fear driven situations and reflect on what is the best and worst possible outcomes. How am I healthy right now in mind, body and spirit? This helps put into perspective what is true verses fear-based thinking.
As a part of my series about the things we can do to develop serenity and support each other during anxious times, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Anna Cabeca.
Dr. Anna Cabeca is an internationally-acclaimed menopause and sexual health expert, global speaker and pioneering promoter of women’s health. She is Emory University-trained and triple board-certified in gynecology and obstetrics, integrative medicine and anti-aging and regenerative medicine, and an USA Today and Amazon #1 Best Selling Author of “The Hormone Fix” and “Keto-Green 16.”
Also noteworthy, is her Keto-Green™ diet and lifestyle that focuses on ketogenic eating paired with an alkaline diet and intermittent fasting. Her Keto-Green way naturally manages your body’s most important hormones, and if followed properly, will help address and correct the symptoms and side effects that come along with imbalanced hormones.
A new-found entrepreneur, she used her expertise and life experiences to create a brand and company that helps women combat negative hormone-related symptoms and implement natural and easy-to-follow solutions that will have them feeling happier, healthier and confident. Dr. Cabeca created the successful and popular alkaline superfoods drink Mighty Maca® PLUS, and a top-selling, rejuvenating feminine cream for women, Julva®. In her spare time, Dr. Cabeca hosts the highly-regarded series “Couch Talk,” featuring compelling podcasts focused on a wide variety of important health and wellness topics.
Dr. Anna’s compelling story is inspired by her own life experiences; she went through menopause twice — the first time at 39 after suffering a tragedy of losing a toddler, and then again at 50 years old. She was actually able to reverse her own early menopause at 39 (and the probability of doing this is about 1%!), and went on to conceive a beautiful daughter.
She was named “2018 Innovator of the Year” by Mindshare, the #1 conference for health and wellness influencers, and was also honored with the prestigious 2017 Alan P. Mintz award, presented annually by the Age Management Medicine Group to the most outstanding physician who displays clinical excellence and entrepreneurship. Her blog was named one of the Top 50 Menopause Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2019 by Feedspot.
Dr. Cabeca has reached hundreds of thousands of women around the globe, inspiring them to reclaim their optimal health and realize they can journey through menopause and find more purpose and pleasure than they ever dreamed possible. Follow her journey on her blog at DrAnnaCabeca.com and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
My backstory begins with me as a young woman. At 16, my 52-year-old mother needed coronary bypass surgery and died at an early age. From there, I was very interested in women’s health and wanted to understand the underlying causes of diseases and the detrimental effect polypharma has on the health of individuals. I recognized at a young age that much of the recommendations for clinical care for women were only done on men as well.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
The most interesting story that has happened to me in my career was when I recognized my doctor’s bag was empty and at 39 I was diagnosed with infertility and early menopause. This sent me on a journey around the world to find answers to help myself, heal myself and my family. That really changed my practice of medicine and outlook on life.
What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?
The advice I would suggest to my colleagues is to avoid burnout. I wholeheartedly recommend pacing our self and practicing self-care — using food as medicine, getting a great night sleep, laughter and time off from the business.
What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?
Connecting is so simple, yet so important. Connection among different divisions within an organization leads to comradery. I recommend doing group meetings as a team and at least one annual, fun event to get people across all areas to work and play together. In the current state of the world, holding these “work culture” and team building events might look like a virtual leadership class or book study. This is a fun and effective way to help create more connection.
Is there a particular book or influence in your life that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
I recommend the “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. This book made me realize that many steps in my life have led me to where I am now. Every piece of the journey, almost, has contributed to my knowledge base, skillset, attitude and approach to all things that I do. The book really resonated with me because it made me realize you can go all around the world just to find yourself back where you started. That is where the treasure was all the time that you went searching for.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Many people have become anxious just from the dramatic jolts of the news cycle. The fears related to the coronavirus pandemic have only heightened a sense of uncertainty, fear, and loneliness. From your experience or research what are five steps that each of us can take to develop serenity during such uncertain times? Can you please share a story or example for each.
First is, asking myself “what do I know to be true at this moment?” We have to stop ourselves in fear driven situations and reflect on what is the best and worst possible outcomes. How am I healthy right now in mind, body and spirit? This helps put into perspective what is true verses fear-based thinking.
Number two, “where I direct my thoughts is the direction I will go.” I can act based on fear or love. With love and knowledge and faith and goodness, we can make the right next step. So, facing our reality with a positive attitude and love and caring and kindness, we increase our own sense of ease and serenity.
Number three, “my habits create or break me.” We all know when we are stressed that we can reach for the bag of chips or bucket of ice cream. We decide to stay under the covers all day. These are some things that might break us. We need to recognize what will give us health in the long run verses in the moment? What is something we can do now and be thankful we did in one hour, day or week? The habits we create right now, the healthy ones, will help us in the future.
Number four, “I will awaken inspired feelings in someone else.” This one always makes me smile. What can I do or say that will make someone else feel important and seen? We should do this on a regular basis, thinking about someone other than ourselves. This gives to us in so many more ways. Taking our world outside of our singular universe, and spreading joy into others, really does improve our own sense of wellbeing. You can do this virtually by a virtual hangout, phone call, social distance group, etc. That will really inspire you. I have a client that is 63 years old and she was stressed that she could not be with her grandchild on his second birthday because she was in quarantine, so her daughter got them on a Skype call and she was able to see him open the present she had sent him and eat his cake. She cherished this time together. I have my clients take urine tests to check their pH levels, as it provides nutritional status, in times of stress and she had been acidic up to that call. After that call, her levels were much more normal. Her simple experience with him helped balance her out and created an actual physiological effect.
Number five, “I will feel prepared to deal with anything that comes my way.” Get stuff prepared. Is there debt you need to pay off? Do you need to clean out a closet? Take this moment to tie up loose threads in your life. Connect and talk with people that you haven’t reached out to in a while. Do the things you’ll regret not doing. It’s incredible the serenity you’ll gain from doing the things you know you needed to be done.
From your experience or research what are five steps that each of us can take to effectively offer support to those around us who are feeling anxious? Can you explain?
Five steps that we can take to helps others is one, ask someone “what can I do to help you in this present moment?” Two, suggest a book or movie that brings joy, laughter or encouragement. Three, identify a need that someone has and fulfill it to the best of your ability, without even asking if possible. Four, take them on a coffee or tea break. Make something together at your home and have quiet time together that allows them to express their fears and help them find solutions. Five, always try and see the positive. What is the silver lining of this situation?
What are the best resources you would suggest to a person who is feeling anxious?
Number one, doing deep breathing. Deep belly breathing helps to stimulate the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic nervous system; it gets us out of fight or flight. Do regular exercise like walking, weightlifting, yoga, etc. Maybe even try a meditative practice or something that helps you reset. I love to take weekend camping trips. Getting out in nature and resetting my physiology is a fabulous way to decrease anxiety and increase serenity.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
One of my favorites quotes is “everywhere you go, there you are.” This is a Buddha saying. I always joke, that I’ve travelled all around the world to be where you are. To me this means, being present and giving someone your presence is truly a gift.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would start a movement that requires on a daily basis for us to identify something we love about ourselves and share it with someone, while also identifying what we love about them as well. Finding one good thing is possible and easy to do.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
Please visit DrAnna.com. I have great resources, free books, recipes, etc. And I love connecting with people there, as well as social media on Instagram and Facebook at @drannacabeca.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
