Dr. Vora speaking to Honors students

On December 13, 2022, students from the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at Stern College for Women participated in a unique event with Dr. Ellen Vora, a holistic psychiatrist. Dr. Vora, who is also an acupuncturist and yoga instructor, introduced them to new approaches to managing anxiety. Anxiety is higher among young women, Dr. Vora told the students, and encouraged them to find ways to lower their stress levels. Suggestions she gave included self-care, finding the pockets where one has agency and thinking differently about mental health. She expanded on the latter by telling the students that “we’re often taught that it’s our genes and brain chemistry,” but stressed that it’s about getting enough sleep, keeping blood sugar at safe levels, movement, lowering inflammation, trauma and ongoing stressors. She also recommended that performing community service can help in lowering anxiety. During her talk, Dr. Vera explored some of the physiological reactions that occur within the body from stress and emphasized the importance of movement and creative pursuits to lessen them. In addition, she explained that eating well and good nutrition are significant factors in lowering stress levels and encouraged the students to increase their consumption of protein and healthy fats. She made excellent recommendations such as eating a spoonful of almond butter 1 1/2 hours before eating snacks to avoid eating too much sugar. Having reasonable expectations for outcomes is also helpful, she told the students, as they “are not under our control or our responsibility. Rather, the process is.” She encouraged the students not to put too much pressure on themselves, emphasizing the importance of showing up, doing their best and being proud of the effort that was made. “Honors students, in particular, put a lot of pressure on themselves,” commented Dr. Cynthia Wachtell, director of the Honors Program. “I am so glad that Dr. Vora was able to introduce the students to a wide range of strategies for alleviating anxiety, and more broadly, thinking about the interconnection between anxiety and anatomy. The end of the semester can be a time of heightened anxiety, and I hope this helped lower that stress quotient.”   Many thanks to Avery Allen for her help with the writing of this article.