I’m super excited to share with you an exclusive interview with Dr. Amit Sood of Mayo Clinic. In this conversation, we talk about stress reduction, living your best life, and how to make the world a better place.
Dr. Sood is one of the world’s great experts on stress reduction, life strategy, and happiness. He integrates cutting edge advances in science with timeless principles. Dr. Sood is the Chair of the Mayo Mind Body Initiative, Director of research and practice at Mayo Clinic Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, and a Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. This only represents a small fraction of Dr. Sood’s accomplishments.
Enough with the introduction, we get it, this guy is amazing! Let's get into the mind of Dr. Sood and help ourselves and the world!
If you are still reading, here is Dr. Amit Soods full Bio:
Amit Sood, M.D., M.Sc., F.A.C.P.
Dr. Sood holds the rank of professor of medicine in Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He is director of research for the Mayo Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM) Program and serves as chair of the Mind Body Medicine Initiative. He also provides integrative and mind-body medicine consults to patients at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Sood completed his residency in internal medicine at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, an integrative medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona and earned a master’s degree in clinical research from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He has received several National Institutes of Health grants and foundation awards to test and implement integrative and mind-body approaches within medicine.
Dr. Sood has developed an innovative approach toward mind-body medicine by incorporating concepts from neuroscience, evolutionary biology, psychology, philosophy and spirituality. His resulting program, Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART©) helps patients learn skills to decrease stress and enhance resiliency by improving self-awareness, engagement and emotional resilience. Interventions adapted from the program reach approximately 50,000 patients and learners each year. The program has been tested in 20 completed clinical trials.
Dr. Sood’s programs are offered for a wide variety of patients and learners including to improve resiliency; decrease stress and anxiety; enhance well-being and happiness; cancer symptom relief and prevention; and wellness solutions for caregivers, corporate executives, health care professionals, parents, and students. SMART© program is now part of the curriculum for Mayo Medical School, physician burnout initiative, leadership training, for enhancing resilience among nurses and is being offered to middle and high school students.
Dr. Sood has authored or co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed articles, editorials, book chapters, abstracts and letters. He has developed award-winning patient education DVDs on topics within integrative medicine ranging from paced breathing meditation and mindfulness to wellness solutions for obesity, insomnia and fibromyalgia. He is credited with developing several courses for incorporating concepts of integrative medicine within conventional medical curriculum and introduced the first Mayo Clinic iPhone app for meditation training. Dr. Sood is author of the books The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living, The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness, and Immerse: A 52-Week Course in Resilient Living.
As an international expert in his field, Dr. Sood’s work has been widely cited in the press including – The Atlantic Monthly, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, NPR, Reuters Health, Time Magazine (online), Good Housekeeping, Parenting, Real Simple, Shape, US News, Huffington Post, Mens Health Magazine, AARP, The Globe and Mail, CBS News, and Fox News. He served as the February 2015 Health care pioneer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
He is highly sought after as a speaker on mind-body medicine, presenting more than 100 workshops each year. He recently delivered the TEDx talk – Happy Brain: How to Overcome Our Neural Predispositions to Suffering. He has mentored several hundred fellows, medical students, instructors, consultants, and residents. Dr. Sood has received several awards for his work, including the Mayo’s 2010 Distinguished Service Award, Mayo’s 2010 Innovator of the Year Award, Mayo’s 2013 outstanding physician scientist award, and Mayo’s 2016 Faculty of the Year Award and selection as one among the top 20 intelligent optimists “helping the world be a better place” by Ode Magazine.