Q & A with Jeffrey Brantley, MD

Q & A with Jeffrey Brantley, MD ~ Author of Five Good Minutes




Q. Let’s start with the question everyone asks when they hear about
Five Good Minutes:
How in the world can only five minutes in the morning help someone who’s overwhelmed by stress?

A. In mindfulness-based stress reduction classes, we like to say, “It’s not the stress but how you handle the stress that makes all the difference.”

People often handle their stress ineffectively in ways they do not even realize. One of the results of stress is that the stress reaction in the body becomes activated.

The familiar elements of this reaction include a general state of hyper-arousal, racing heart, tightening muscles, and increased blood pressure.

When stress reactivity becomes chronic—frequently arising over extended periods of time—then the person experiences this hyper-arousal as distressing and usually develops ways to deal with the distress they feel.

They might say they are “stressed out” or feel “overwhelmed by stress.” They look for ways to reduce the feelings of distress they feel, both consciously and unconsciously.

Unfortunately, many of the ways of coping with chronic stress that people exhibit actually become harmful over time.
These ways frequently involve habits of inattention to what is present, denial of feelings, seeking distraction, and engaging in destructive compulsive behaviors (such as substance abuse, overeating, or doing MORE work!).

Because the experience of stress reactivity is felt in the body and emotionally and cognitively as well, then the means of coping may target all of these dimensions of oneself. Increased susceptibility to stress-related illness, and vulnerabilityto addictive behaviors are common examples of the cost of not coping successfully with stress.
This is where even five minutes can make a difference.

By stopping and becoming present through mindful breathing, setting intention, and acting wholeheartedly to practice ease, relaxation, awareness, joy, connection, or any of the other subjects in Five Good Minutes, one actually interrupts the unconscious patterns of reacting to stress and tastes a different way of being in the world and in one’s own life.

Of course, the old habits are strong. But, if one has had a personal taste of something different, if they have had a direct personal experience of ease or connection, for example, then the truth of this experience can be a catalyst for change in how they approach other moments of life.

The practice they do for five good minutes can be a seed that becomes a beautiful flower in their life if they can learn to cultivate it.

Q. How did a conventional doctor, a psychiatrist, get so involved with practices that have historically found a home in monasteries, not in hospitals?


A. I was fortunate that during my psychiatry residency at the University of California at Irvine Medical Center, there were opportunities to explore what have now come to be known as mind-body practices.

Mind-body simply means any method that takes advantage of the connection between mind (including brain and nervous system) and the organ systems and functional elements of the body. Examples of mind-body methods include practices such as imagery, clinical hypnosis, and, of course, meditation, including mindfulness meditation.
In the last twenty-five to thirty years or so, Western medical science has come to recognize increasingly the power of mind-body methods in an overall approach to health care.


One of the most important aspects of mind-body medicine, at least for many of us in the field, is the fact that when a person takes up a mind-body method, they are taking increased responsibility for their own health, and are more empowered in that direction.

So, in response to your question, I could say that I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time! I was exposed to mind-body methods, including meditation, at a time when Western medicine was becoming interested in the subject.

Q. The subtitle of your book promises increased calm and focus. How do they influence each other?


A. Focus here refers to directing attention. Where is attention “focused?” What interferes with focusing attention? What supports focused attention?

Without realizing it, many people are actually training themselves not to have sustained focus of attention.


Their attention moves rapidly and habitually from one object to another. Often, there is an underlying sense of urgency or even distress driving this movement of attention.

The exercises in this book call for focusing attention during the “five good minutes” on the experience itself.


Focus here actually supports acting wholeheartedly. When attention is focused it can actually lead to increased feelings of calm and ease (as when the “relaxation response” is activated in mind and body). Or, when one is relatively calm (not agitated), then the ability to focus is usually stronger.

Q. One of the practices in Five Good Minutes is called “license to do nothing.” For many Americans that’s like saying license to be lazy, after all we’re steeped in the Protestant work ethic. Do you see this attitude in people you work with and how do you respond to it?

A. I don’t think the issue is so much about being lazy, as it is about the importance of practicing self-care. I see many people with significant health issues related to stress who work heavy schedules, but who do little to manage the stress or to bring balance and support into their lives. Unfortunately, many people have come to believe that the only time they can be relaxed is when they are sleeping! We live in an over-stimulated, hyperactive culture where doing, doing, doing seems to have become the standard of behavior.


If activity does not produce measurable, “billable” results, then somehow it is not deemed worthy. Health consequences of such busyness abound.

They include all the signs of stress, such as irritability, fatigue, poor sleep, poor concentration, increased vulnerability to infections and colds, and impact upon a variety of illnesses including hypertension, diabetes, allergies, and even cancer.


Being willing to stop and to make time for oneself is not being lazy or selfish, it is simply being smart. I like to think of making time for oneself this way as practicing self-care.

Of course, one could be selfish about self-care, but in my experience, most people err way too far the other way. That is, they more often tend to neglect their own interests related to health and well-being.
People do NOT tend to neglect their obligations in favor of excessive self-care!


Taking the time to do any of the 100 exercises in Five Good Minutes is one way to practice self-care.

There are many other ways as well.

The important thing is actually to begin some form of self-care.
Self-care is closely related to values, and the sense of meaning, and purpose in life.


Self-care includes taking time to inquire: what is important in your life? What are your deepest values? How are they being served, or not served?

Once in the habit of doing some self-care, it is easier to look more broadly at the demands in one’s life.


Then, wherever and whenever necessary, the work of restoring and maintaining a more balanced approach to work, life, family, and personal needs can happen.

Five Good Minutes ~ a book well worth reading- just click on the icon below:



Get a copy for yourself (also a great gift for someone you care about).

Until next time...

To your Mind, Body & Spirit ~

Many Blessings,

Dr. Mike

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