Deepak Chopra on how to keep mental health in check amid COVID-19: 'Share love and empathy'

Deepak Chopra, wellness guru and founder of The Chopra Foundation & Chopra Global, joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on mental health, in addition to his new podcast partnership with Audible.

Video transcript

SEANA SMITH: Well, the pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health. We're seeing this reflected in people's well-being. So here to talk about that in a new podcast that is launching today, we want to welcome back to Yahoo Finance Deepak Chopra. He's a author, wellness guru, and founder of the Chopra Foundation and Chopra Global. Deepak, it's good to see you again. The last time you and I spoke was about three or four months ago. We were talking about the state of how people are feeling right now, just around a year into the pandemic.

Now we're about 18 months into the pandemic. I guess, what's your assessment on how people are feeling and the well-being of people at this point?

DEEPAK CHOPRA: I think people are stressed. The pandemic is obviously very serious. But even more serious is our reaction to the pandemic, which is panic, sympathetic overdrive, inflammation. And therefore, the stress actually aggravates the morbidity and mortality from the pandemic. What we need to do is override this stress response through a nervous system, which is called parasympathetic nervous system. The mediator of that is a vagus nerve. And all mind body practices, including meditation, yoga, breathing, Tai Chi, martial arts, dancing, music, poetry can help you alleviate the stress.

SEANA SMITH: Deepak, when you're talking about ways to alleviate the stress, certainly I think people have felt a little bit more stress over the last several weeks when they look at the numbers when it comes to the Delta variant. In terms of how receptive people have been to some of these methods, have you seen people be a little bit more open at this point into the pandemic just in terms of, I guess, different ways or various ways for them to feel a little bit better or to get to the other side of where we are right now?

DEEPAK CHOPRA: I think they just need to be aware of what's going on. You can't deny what's going on. There is the Delta variant. But we also know that every booster addresses the variants. And people are not succumbing to the Delta variant unless they're highly stressed and they have what we call inflammatory storms. And so we need to be aware. We need to be vaccinated. We need to do all the hygiene that's important, including masks, physical distancing.

But be reassured. The vaccines are working, 95% to 97% to 98% of the time. People are also developing herd immunity. And we are learning a lot. Actually, in the last two years, science has advanced so enormously that understanding the mechanics of developing these new vaccines actually has an advantage. We'll be able to soon develop vaccines for various types of other illnesses through these technologies.

SEANA SMITH: Deepak, you're launching a new podcast today. It's on Audible. It's called "Mind Body Zone, Living Outside the Box" Oprah is actually one of your guests. I know you have a couple of key themes here throughout this series. But when it comes to the conversations and what you've learned about some of the biggest takeaways just in terms of physical and emotional well-being, what would those be?

DEEPAK CHOPRA: It's very interesting. Even though we call it "Outside The Box", the people I spoke to had no box at all, including Oprah. And that's total freedom. And Oprah's conversation with me was amazing because she delved into her own stories from when she was a young journalist all the way up to now. And she expressed so eloquently that vulnerability is power.

SEANA SMITH: What are some of the specific themes for this podcast? Because you mentioned the fact that the world has changed. I think the way people are viewing the world has changed. And so how how is that impacting the content that people are consuming and what people are looking for?

DEEPAK CHOPRA: Well people are still consuming melodramatic content, good and bad stories. But "Outside The Box" is not about that. "Outside The Box" is about shared vision, complementing each other's strengths, emotional and spiritual bonding, and not giving any credence to polarization. Ultimately, my intention with the podcast is to reach a critical mass of one billion people for a more peaceful, just, sustainable, healthier, and joyful world.

SEANA SMITH: Deepak, the appetite I guess for wellness and meditation content, how quickly has that grown do you think in the recent months?

DEEPAK CHOPRA: Well the research on meditation has been there for 35 years. There are tens of thousands of scientific papers in peer reviewed journals. But the public was not aware of that. Now because of the story of the pandemic, and the science behind it, it's become mainstream. So meditation is now mainstream.

SEANA SMITH: And Deepak, as we wrap this up, what's the most important thing for people to keep in mind as we head into the fall and the winter months?

DEEPAK CHOPRA: Stay calm. Stay sober. Don't get drawn into melodrama. Pay attention to each other. Appreciate each other. Share love, and empathy, and compassion with each other. And accept each other. That's the way to healing.

SEANA SMITH: All right. Deepak Chopra, always great to get you on the program. Author, wellness group guru, and founder of the Chopra Foundation and Chopra Global. Thanks so much for taking the time. We look forward to having you back.