‘Healthy Brain, Healthy Mind’ podcast promotes mental health awareness

Jay Kumar, director of Contemplative Practice and Wellbeing, created a new installment of his podcast series that addresses health and wellness for May’s Mental Health Awareness Month. Photos courtesy of Kumar

Jay Kumar, director of Contemplative Practice and Wellbeing

Jay Kumar became an advocate for mental health awareness after struggling with his own anxiety and depression in the wake of his mother’s suicide. Now, he shares his story and what he has learned about mental health with others through a public platform. 

Kumar, Chapman University’s director of Contemplative Practices and Wellbeing, has resurrected his “Healthy Brain, Healthy Mind” podcast, a series he began last year. From April to November 2020, Kumar released weekly episodes about health and wellness. This newest four-part addition to the series has returned for the month of May, just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month. It will differ from previous episodes in that it features interviews with health and wellness experts at Chapman.

In addition to his roles at Chapman, Kumar is an author of a book titled, “Brain, Body & Being: Five Secrets for Achieving Authentic Health and Happiness.” He conducts research in numerous fields: neurotheology, social health and medicine, religion, politics and culture, as well as mindfulness and yoga studies. 

Kumar’s goals in reviving this podcast series are to remove stigma surrounding mental health while providing strategies and solutions for individuals, as society begins to reenter a sense of normalcy with lessening COVID-19 restrictions.

For each week of May, Kumar plans to uniquely structure the episodes around the different categories through which he views health and wellness: psychological, biological, social and spiritual. 

“I wanted to have different voices that represent the (four) dimensions of health and wellness that have unique perspectives, but all centered around the common theme of mental health and resilience,” Kumar said. 

The four-part series began May 3 with an episode titled “Learning to Rehumanize,” featuring Andrew Kami, Chapman’s director of Student Psychological Counseling Services (SPCS). Kami is one of two guests from SPCS to speak on the podcast this month, where Kumar dove into the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological health and wellness.

Over the course of the episode, Kumar and Kami shared intimate moments of trauma, vulnerability and resilience in their own lives. They also discussed the looming anxiety many individuals will face as interpersonal relationships will contain more in-person interactions in the coming year. 

“Now, there’s some interesting anxieties around, ‘Do I even know how to conversate in person anymore, what do I do with my hands, how do I engage with someone?’” Kami said in the podcast. 

After their conversation, Kumar noted various resources accessible to students and faculty on campus, such as those available to support individuals at the Fish Interfaith Center and drop-in hours at SPCS. Kami also said SPCS will continue working around the clock for those who may be struggling during this time, as he mentioned Chapman’s therapists work from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. almost every day. In addition to one-on-one conversations, SPCS offers art and music therapy.

To discuss the biological elements of health and wellness, Kumar interviewed Manjari Murali, a professor at Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences who studies Alzheimer’s disease and the health benefits of mindfulness meditation. The two discuss Murali’s research and the connection between meditation and the prevention of chronic disease in their upcoming episode titled, “Meditation Builds a Better Brain.” 

In her Alzheimer’s research, Murali examines the way stress affects organ systems in our bodies. Part of her research into the disease looks at the way chronic stress could possibly be a trigger for Alzheimer’s. 

“I want to look at lifestyle changes that we can make to help us mitigate or reduce chronic stress in our life during our adulthood,” Murali told The Panther. “In doing that, we can then reduce our risk of developing Alzheimer’s.”

Next week, in a May 17 episode called “Healing from the Trauma of Hate and Injustice,” Kumar will sit down with Veronica Clanton-Higgins, a mental health therapist in SPCS and the CEO of VCH Prosperity Consulting, to examine different social issues that have become prevalent during the pandemic. 

Finally, Kumar will wrap up his podcast’s reflection on Mental Health Awareness Month May 24 with Gail Stearns, the dean of the Wallace All Faiths Chapel. The two will touch on spirituality in the fourth installment of the series called, “Ready, Resilient & Reflective.”

“I want our Chapman community to recognize that we hear you, we support you, and most of all, we are here for you,” Kumar said.