My name is Dr Mark Davis. I work as a specialist psychiatrist in Wellington, New Zealand.

For over twenty years, my work had been rich and varied, particularly including the treatment of stress-related disorders, anxiety and depression. Through that time, I have been an active contributor to the management of Doctors’ health issues, with an emphasis on improving their self-care and emotional well-being.

I contributed to the New Zealand DHAS booklet on Doctors’ health, and I have facilitated a number of general practitioner Balint groups.

For many years, it has been apparent to me that the more self-awareness doctors develop, the better they understand and care for themselves and their patients.

Clearly, many practices can enhance our self-awareness; and I have found the most valuable to be those that use the physical senses to promote here-and-now awareness of the body and the physical world. These practices, now well known in the wider community, go by many names, including sensing, focusing, body scan, mindfulness, and grounding.

In particular, I find the Grounding Meditation (developed by Ken Mellor) to be an effective, direct and simple method. This meditation or technique is available in CD and MP3 format from the Biame Network website. Its value is a lot to do with the way grounding can be used quickly and effectively by anyone, throughout the day, and for Doctors, even in the midst of busy clinical work.

Overall, grounding promotes emotional clearing, and a sense of personal presence. It is also a powerful way of enhancing cognitive, emotional and physical health, well being and balance. It is also central in other well-being practices for the promotion of creativity, manifestation, relaxation, conflict resolution, and complete health. (All also developed by Ken Mellor.)

My professional experience is that any doctor or trainee doctor who wishes to learn about and promote their own health and wellbeing can gain deep insights and benefits from the regular practising of these techniques and meditational methods—grounding in particular.

Two excellent booklets are available that illustrate in more detail the methods mentioned above. They are Personal Well-Being and Meditation for Beginners by Ken and Elizabeth Mellor. These books and the recordings mentioned are all available on Biame Network’s Website.