In October 2006, he gave a lecture entitled To reduce stress: the Buddha or the prozac?, within the framework of dinner talks of PasseportSanté.net at the table of Commensal restaurants, of which here are some excerpts.

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PasseportSanté.net – Where does stress come from?

D^r Robert Beliveau – Stress comes from the life we ​​lead. We live in a culture of productivity and accumulation – as if “more” were always “better” – which has little focus on the quality of relationships and happiness. It taints our relationship with time, money, others …

What I see in my practice are people who are sick because they live beside their values. For example, we say we love our children, but all we do is work to have more financial security and when we are with them, we have our minds elsewhere … And afterwards, we blame ourselves, we feel guilty!

You have to review your habits, give priority to what matters to you. In this regard, heart attack, depression and burnout (the burn out) are great opportunities for reflection that are too often overlooked because of the appropriation of the disease by medicine.

We have to get rid of the cultural insensitivity that characterizes the relationship we have with the body so that, when a symptom occurs, we first try to find our own solutions. I have nothing against drugs to cure a sudden illness. But, it must be recognized that there are deep-seated evils which call for a broader approach. People need to find out what leads them to depression, for example, in order to better heal themselves and regain long-term health.

PasseportSanté.net – Why were you interested in stress management?

D^r Robert Beliveau – What interests me is not only stress reduction, but also its effect on overall health, on the quality of relationships with others, with emotions, with ecology… Through meditation and mindfulness, I suggest that people move towards a new way of life, to take responsibility, to take control in their own way and according to their own values.

In fact, we are often afraid of suffering because we have lost confidence in our own means of transforming our ailments. Experts are asked to think for him. We listen, we are docile, rather than asserting ourselves, thinking and being creative!

By meditating, we can discover our own traps, our fears and respond to them differently … Meditation is not to feel guilty, but to take responsibility. By learning to live the present moment, we bring our mind back to the present moment, which tends to wander or escape to design more or less realistic scenarios. The practice of meditation is training the mind to stay focused, not to get lost.

PasseportSanté.net – Tell us about your stress management workshops.

D^r Robert Beliveau – The workshops first allow you to familiarize yourself with the five keys to balance: the occasions of stress, attitudes and skills, signs and symptoms, the response (what I do when I experience situations of discomfort) and mindfulness that is at the center of all of these keys.

We can define the latter as being a state of consciousness that we reach through meditation, by intentionally focusing our attention on the unfolding moment, without judging. It allows us to cohesion with our own strengths and our creativity, in a calm state, while being aware of our limits and our warning signals of a physical or psychological nature.

In fact, the signs of symptoms that we are experiencing are there to wake us up, not to discourage us! Acquiring a little more awareness makes it possible to prevent illness better: to do this, you have to give yourself moments of rest, every day.

So I train people to observe the signs and symptoms that afflict them and that I relate to the stressful occasions that present themselves to them: changes, losses, plans, griefs, needs, conflicts, desires. too. Then, we associate what is happening in their life with what is happening in their body, to straighten the bar before falling or falling ill again.

It also examines how they decode information and events to which they are subjected, because attitudes, whether resistance or acceptance, determine how symptoms appear. And we try to change harmful attitudes: because we can change them. We are not helpless!

Then, we come into contact with the body, especially through the scan body, a relaxation technique. Then come exercises that demystify meditation.

PasseportSanté.net – What concrete benefits do your patients derive from meditation?

D^r Robert Beliveau – First of all, they are no longer patients, but participants, ordinary people, like you and me. They all want to regain power in their lives. They are better off when they learn to integrate into their lives what we practice together during the workshops.

You don’t need to have any special skills, but you just have to want to take time out. And the desire to meditate often comes from necessity: because we are unhappy, we are not doing well, we are sick … It is especially when we are in pain that we understand that a change is necessary. . It is a first step.

Then, we see that when we judge ourselves less, we understand each other better and our human relations improve. We relate to others in a richer, healthier way, because we ourselves are more peaceful. When you carry peace inside, others feel it.

The first relationship to develop is with yourself. It is done through solitude and silence. It doesn’t just affect the body: it breeds more clairvoyance, clarity and creativity.

You cannot totally control your health, but you can influence it through your attitudes. And attitudes, it develops: when you are in contact with positive people, you become positive …

Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net

September 25, 2006

1. The website of the EPIC center: www.icm-mhi.org [consulted on September 19, 2006]