April 26, 2025 • 17 mins
In this episode, Dr. Veronica McBurney, family physician and founder of Westbourne Medical Studios in Glasgow, joins Scott Becker to share how her global experiences and personal healing journey inspired a unique approach to integrative medicine. She also discusses the power of music, meditation, and energy in modern healthcare.
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(00:00):
This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast.
We have a very special guest today, doctor
Veronica
McBurnie.
And doctor McBurnie is gonna talk to us
about she's a family physician,
but a holistic medical provider.
She's also a singer, a speaker,
has so many interests. It's hard to keep
track of. But but we'll have a terrific
(00:22):
conversation with doctor McBurney. Doctor Veronica Veronica McBurney,
can you take a moment and introduce yourself?
Hi, Scott. Thanks very much for having me
on your show. My name's Veronica McBurney.
I'm a family physician here in Glasgow, Scotland,
and I'm very excited to be talking to
you from my clinic in the heart of
the city.
(00:43):
I've opened this quite unique, so far, clinic
in Scotland, which bridges the health care gap
between all the conventional and allopathic medicine that
we know,
and the holistic
healing,
which which goes together to form the whole
picture of how we can help ourselves heal
and how we can make the make ourselves
(01:04):
whole again. So, you know, medicine isn't just
about writing prescriptions
or, sending someone to the physiotherapist.
It's about much more than that. And I
believe it's a really
bespoke attitude to each and every patient who's
a unique individual
and how we can access a lot of
our own body's healing mechanisms
and different ancient ways of healing to help
(01:24):
us make a good recovery from any illness.
And how did this become your sort of
passion and and your your what you do,
this holistic health? How did you move towards
that sort of way of healing and and
way of practicing?
Well, I've always been interested in what makes
people heal.
And, you know, you could take two different
patients, and one could have a tiny little
(01:45):
speck of cancer and be gone in three
weeks, and another one could be riddled with
the disease and still be here five years
later. So I I I didn't quite understand
then how the same rules could apply to
everyone in the same way. And even when
I was at medical school, you know, I
was taught a third of the drugs
help a third of the people a third
of the time. So these statistics aren't great.
So there have to be other ways to
(02:07):
be well. And I was always interested, and
I've explored the world.
I've been a patient myself. So,
I spent a long time in hospital with
a spinal injury after falling from a horse.
So it really gave me some time to
think about life and about healing. And shortly
after that, I took myself off to the
mountains of Nepal
that worked in a leprosy hospital for a
(02:27):
while where we had very little in the
way of supplies or
high-tech medical equipment. We had to use other
resources to to help people heal. So I
began to develop an interest in
how different people heal across the globe. And
I've worked in Australia. I've worked in Bermuda.
I've worked with Maasai people in Africa.
I've, you know, worked in Nepal and India.
(02:49):
And, you know, I'm fascinated by how different
countries and different cultures,
how they approach healing. So I've been learning
from wonderful teachers
along the way.
I think being a patient yourself actually helps
you,
it helps open up your your mind to
new ideas about how how you can be
well because the you can't take the same
(03:09):
approach to every single person and expect the
same results.
So I've I've been taught by a lot
of very interesting people along the way, and
that's why I'm delighted to have a fantastic
team here. We have a homeopath. We have
a hypnotherapist.
We have a nutritional therapist. We have someone
who does massage. We have a breath work
specialist. We have someone who does cold water
swimming, including me.
(03:30):
I'm also interested in singing and music and
frequency and how that applies
to our own healing from an energetic point
of view. So I've been lucky enough to
be inspired by many people along the way,
especially by my patients actually.
And,
for that reason, I I I had always
wanted to open a a clinic that was
mine. It could be like a beacon of
(03:51):
light to show people, look, there there are
other ways
to to help you heal.
And,
a few years ago,
after the passing of my dear mother, I
decided, well,
she's lent me some money. I could either
buy my house or I could buy my
clinic and fulfill my dream of opening a
place that really is all about healing the
whole person. So here I am. This is
(04:13):
what I did. And I've been I've been
here five years now. And, yeah, we're getting
busier and busier, and I'm the team is
growing, and I'm so excited to to be
here and to to fulfill
what I see as my dream. And I
I hope that sets an example for others
that you can actually be a family physician
traditionally taught in western medicine and still accept
(04:34):
and learn from the wisdom of other types
of healing and and, medicine at the same
time. It it it let me ask you
a question, doctor McBurney. In addition to being
a family physician and a holistic
provider and
running and managing a clinic and and and
founding a clinic.
Take a moment on singing.
I I I know that you're a noted
(04:54):
singer. What do you sing?
And I won't ask you to sing on
the show, But what do you what do
you sing, and and what's your is that
your passion singing? Is that one of your
passions? Singing is my passion. I'd be happy
to sing. In fact, while I was waiting
for you to come online, I was I
have a piano in my consulting room, so
I was playing and singing while I was
waiting for you.
And what what were you singing? What were
(05:15):
you playing and what you were singing? Well,
actually, I I was playing,
I was playing a song of which I
am preparing
for,
a service in a couple of weeks' time.
One of my dear friends had passed, and
her husband asked if I would sing at
her service. So I was just thinking of
her and and playing playing her song.
Oh, that that's that's beautiful. I I'll ask
(05:38):
you to sing if you'll if you'll indulge
us.
I hate to have you sing then unless
you wanna practice it because that seems so
special for Not gonna tomorrow service.
I'm not gonna sing that. But you know,
I sing lots of things all the time.
And I love to sing to my patients.
I love to sing with my patients.
And really I love to help them affirm
that their their body as well. So there's
a great little ditty that I can sing
(05:59):
to my patients and teach them. And it
goes like this. Every little cell, every little
cell, every little cell in my body as
well.
Every little cell, every little cell, every little
cell in my body as well. And then
you can develop that. And, actually, I encourage
my patients to communicate with every cell in
their body. And, you know, that's actually a
(06:19):
form of what's called autogenic training, which is
when you're really connecting your mind and body
together, and you're telling your body that actually
all is well and every cell in your
body can be healthy if you choose to
to make it that way.
So I I absolutely love it. Every little
cell every little cell every little cell as
well. And I'm gonna ask Chanel, our producer.
She's actually got a magnificent singing voice. I'm
(06:41):
gonna ask her to sing that as well.
No. I'm not gonna do that, Chanel. Don't
worry. The, but I love that, doctor McBurnie.
Talk to us for a moment unless Chanel
wants to sing that,
because she can't. She's got a tremendous talent
too. Okay. Our producer is not gonna sing
for us, but it is what it is.
Unless we all do it as a chorus.
Doctor McBurney, tell me what you're most focused
(07:01):
on and excited about this year. Where where
are you most focused and excited this year?
Ah, well, I'm focused and I'm focused and
excited most days because I think it's a
great way to be when you wake up
in the morning just to put your feet
on the floor and say thank you for
being alive.
So I'm excited that my clinic is growing.
I'm excited that more people are joining my
team. I'm excited that the message is getting
(07:22):
out and patients are realizing that they do
have a great strength within themselves and almost
a responsibility,
if you like, to help themselves heal. So
I'm excited by all of these things.
I'm excited the fact that my weekend my
weekly drop in meditation classes are getting more
full. I'm excited that the singing workshops that
I run every week are getting bigger and
(07:43):
bigger.
I'm excited that the world is actually listening,
I think, now and realizing that, you know,
energy is all there is. It just changes
from one form into another. So things like
frequency and medicine, which we already use
in the form of ultrasound.
You know, a physiotherapist will ultrasound
your bruise to help it break up and
(08:04):
help the muscles recover. So, you know, the
the frequency in medicine is actually a thing,
and more and more people are are are
waking up and realizing that we can we
can use that to heal ourselves.
In fact, the the National Health Service in
in The UK is now using a frequency
device
that you place on the head, which helps,
reprogram the brain and, and and help lift
(08:26):
lift lift yourself out of depression.
So, I also use a frequency device, which
is slightly different for that. So, yeah, I'm
excited that people are finally listening that things
can change from the inside.
I also I also work with,
a fabulous fabulous human.
I'm proud to be part of one of
(08:46):
his health coalitions
with the doctor Joe Dispenza, and he's done
a lot of fantastic research about meditation
and how that can affect
the health of every single cell in your
body. So I'm excited that that is now
all these papers are now being published, and
people are seeing the wonder that that that
that that that the wonders that meditation can
do for us. So, there's so many things
(09:06):
I could talk about. So I'll let you
lead the way, Scott.
Well, let me ask you a question.
You can't really combine meditation and singing, can
you? Or could you use the singing
as a mantra to get yourself into a
meditative, relaxed relaxed
space?
You definitely can. There were the workshops I
run are full of people who think they
(09:26):
can't sing. But once you have an open
heart and a willingness to sing, the noise
that comes out is one of the most
beautiful sounds there there is.
Even though people might not sing in tune,
that's just because a muscle
hasn't learned just like you haven't learned to
run a marathon, your muscles haven't learned what
to do to get that particular note. But
soon, the whole flock can be singing together.
And I often encourage people to sing. We
(09:47):
don't often have music or sheets with words
on. We just sing a few a few
chant like things over and over and over
again. It could be a simple phrase, like
every single cell in your body as well,
or I am peace, I am love, I
am joy, or I don't know, an African
something. So once you get singing in harmony
and you get a few people singing singing
together and you do it over and over
again, it becomes like a mantra. And then
(10:09):
you lose yourself in the frequency and the
movement of the song. And before you know
it, you're really taking yourself into a meditative
state. So I think you can combine singing
and meditation from that point of view. So
so you've got a ton of different interest.
You're also a public speaker. Talk about your
public speaking
in in in some of the things you
speak on. I take it a lot on
these subjects, but talk about that. Yeah. A
(10:30):
lot. I'll speak anywhere to anyone who have
me.
So I'm just really excited to spread the
spread the news that, you know, it is
possible
for you to tap into the wonderful
creative energy that is your body and to
help your body heal and to to reach
a state of optimal health and well-being as
much as possible. So that's probably my main
passion, and there are many routes to that,
(10:51):
whether it's meditation,
whether it's singing, whether it's breath work, whether
it's just tuning into yourself. I mean, my
my class was full at lunchtime today. We
have drop in meditations at lunchtime, and it
was great. People just come in off the
street, and, I have a big,
yoga studio, mind, body, soul studio in my
clinic.
I love to use that as a community
(11:11):
space.
So I'm excited that more people are are
coming and and sharing that and sharing ideas
and sharing meditations together.
Let me ask question. People that meditate
so I have the hardest time staying with
the meditation practice.
By nature,
too caffeinated, a little bit hyper.
How do you sort of gradually become a
little bit better
(11:33):
at working towards meditation or or using meditation?
Well, it's practice. You know? And when you
realize how good meditation makes you feel, you
want to do it more.
So it doesn't have to be a big
complicated
thing.
You know, there are different ways to to
tap into meditation, but all meditation means to
get to go within, to get to know
(11:54):
thyself, I suppose. So and it's associated with
many religious practices, which I think in the
past
has put people off. But I think more
and more people are realizing meditation is just
about going within and slowing down the brainwaves
so that you get out of that fight
or flight part of the nervous system, and
you move more into the rest and relax
and restorative part of your nervous system where
(12:15):
you can create, where you can be at
peace with yourself,
where you can repair the body as if
you're almost asleep, and your brain waves slow
down gently.
And and and in some cases,
when experienced meditators can get to a state
of what some people might call ecstasy, I
suppose, which is when you get a a
state of arousal of the brain where you
go into what's called gamma,
(12:36):
and, your your brain is totally in a
blissful state. So you're you're lucky if you
manage that in a lunch time, but, you
know, it is possible if you practice.
Let me ask you a question. We've got
yourself and myself on on the podcast. We've
got our producer Chanel on the podcast.
Yeah. Would we get any benefit?
And and our we've got our listeners.
(12:59):
Would we get any benefit
from a five second
meditative
pause where we just breathe for five seconds,
or is that not a worthwhile effort to
try?
Well, that's a very interesting question, Scott. I
don't know if have you heard of heart
math?
No. I don't know what heart math is.
No. So so it's big in The US,
(13:20):
and it's all about
just doing exactly what you say, taking a
pause, breathing,
and and thinking of an elevated emotion to
make you feel
good and peaceful. So you could, for five
seconds, just put both feet on the ground,
put one hand on your heart, and just
have an awareness of breathing into your heart.
So we could do it now if you
(13:40):
like.
So you could just me ask our let
me make sure
that our audience
and Chanel,
our producer to go. Are ready. You're ready.
Okay. Good. Good. Good. Good. Okay.
Doctor McBurney, we're in your competent hands
to lead us through
the effort.
Well, perhaps I could have slightly more than
five seconds. But all I'd ask you to
(14:01):
do is just place a hand on your
heart,
close your eyes because it helps shut out
some of the other senses and just breathe
into your heart. And just have an awareness
of your breathing.
A nice deep breath into the heart. And
while you're breathing into the heart,
just take your mind
to a really pleasurable emotion. Maybe think about
(14:23):
someone you love very much or a situation
that made you feel very happy
or feeling at peace
sitting
outside in the sun,
and breathe into that and breathe into your
heart.
I'll just be aware of how that makes
you feel.
(14:46):
And when you get used to doing that,
you could do it anywhere. You could do
it if you're in a traffic jam. You
could do it if you're in a supermarket
line. You could do it anywhere. It's just
about getting yourself out of the angry situation
or the stressful situation,
connecting in with your heart, breathing,
and thinking of an emotion that makes you
happy. There you go. You've locked in.
(15:08):
Well, you you might have to wake me
back up, doctor McBurney. I might have gone
so far out that I can't get back
up now, but I will come back to
the podcast, and I feel better. And that
was very helpful. Thank you. Doctor McBurney, where
could people learn more about you and all
that you do? How could people I found
you on LinkedIn. You were introduced to me
by a magnificent publicist.
(15:29):
Tell us how we can learn more about
you in our audience, learn more about doctor
Victoria McBurney. What what a what what a
fascinating person you are. So fantastic to visit
with you. How do people learn more about
you? Thank you, Scott. Well, for first of
all, if you get my name right, it's
doctor Veronica McBurnie. So that's a good start
when you look me up.
(15:49):
I was close. I was close. If I
meditated better, I would do it better. I
don't know how I got fixated on the
term Victoria versus Veronica because I see it
right in front of me, doctor Veronica
McBurnie. That is I'm going back to
Vermeer.
Victoria was a very powerful ruler of of
The UK at one point. She was one
(16:09):
of our queens,
but, I'll settle for that. But, you know,
Veronica's my name. So, yeah, yeah, I guess
that there is some stuff around if you
look online, but I have a my my
my clinic is called Westbourne Medical Studios.
We're based in Glasgow, Scotland, but we have
clients all over from LA to Australia.
And, I'd be delighted to meet with anyone
online if anyone felt there was anything I
(16:31):
I I had that would be useful to
them or I could offer them. So we
offer a vast ranger services,
and I'm actually hoping to come over to
LA for a visit,
in the June because I'm coming to San
Diego for a conference. So, yeah, I love
traveling. I love to meet people, and I'd
be delighted to connect with anyone online or
on LinkedIn.
Doctor Veronica McBurney, what a pleasure to visit
(16:53):
with you. Thank you so much for joining
us today on the Pecker's Healthcare podcast.
I I just loved visiting with you. Thank
you so much.
Thank you, Scott. It's been lovely talking to
you. Thank you for asking me on.
This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast.
We have a very special guest today, doctor
Veronica
McBurnie.
And doctor McBurnie is gonna talk to us
about she's a family physician,
but a holistic medical provider.
She's also a singer, a speaker,
has so many interests. It's hard to keep
track of. But but we'll have a terrific
(00:22):
conversation with doctor McBurney. Doctor Veronica Veronica McBurney,
can you take a moment and introduce yourself?
Hi, Scott. Thanks very much for having me
on your show. My name's Veronica McBurney.
I'm a family physician here in Glasgow, Scotland,
and I'm very excited to be talking to
you from my clinic in the heart of
the city.
(00:43):
I've opened this quite unique, so far, clinic
in Scotland, which bridges the health care gap
between all the conventional and allopathic medicine that
we know,
and the holistic
healing,
which which goes together to form the whole
picture of how we can help ourselves heal
and how we can make the make ourselves
(01:04):
whole again. So, you know, medicine isn't just
about writing prescriptions
or, sending someone to the physiotherapist.
It's about much more than that. And I
believe it's a really
bespoke attitude to each and every patient who's
a unique individual
and how we can access a lot of
our own body's healing mechanisms
and different ancient ways of healing to help
(01:24):
us make a good recovery from any illness.
And how did this become your sort of
passion and and your your what you do,
this holistic health? How did you move towards
that sort of way of healing and and
way of practicing?
Well, I've always been interested in what makes
people heal.
And, you know, you could take two different
patients, and one could have a tiny little
(01:45):
speck of cancer and be gone in three
weeks, and another one could be riddled with
the disease and still be here five years
later. So I I I didn't quite understand
then how the same rules could apply to
everyone in the same way. And even when
I was at medical school, you know, I
was taught a third of the drugs
help a third of the people a third
of the time. So these statistics aren't great.
So there have to be other ways to
(02:07):
be well. And I was always interested, and
I've explored the world.
I've been a patient myself. So,
I spent a long time in hospital with
a spinal injury after falling from a horse.
So it really gave me some time to
think about life and about healing. And shortly
after that, I took myself off to the
mountains of Nepal
that worked in a leprosy hospital for a
(02:27):
while where we had very little in the
way of supplies or
high-tech medical equipment. We had to use other
resources to to help people heal. So I
began to develop an interest in
how different people heal across the globe. And
I've worked in Australia. I've worked in Bermuda.
I've worked with Maasai people in Africa.
I've, you know, worked in Nepal and India.
(02:49):
And, you know, I'm fascinated by how different
countries and different cultures,
how they approach healing. So I've been learning
from wonderful teachers
along the way.
I think being a patient yourself actually helps
you,
it helps open up your your mind to
new ideas about how how you can be
well because the you can't take the same
(03:09):
approach to every single person and expect the
same results.
So I've I've been taught by a lot
of very interesting people along the way, and
that's why I'm delighted to have a fantastic
team here. We have a homeopath. We have
a hypnotherapist.
We have a nutritional therapist. We have someone
who does massage. We have a breath work
specialist. We have someone who does cold water
swimming, including me.
(03:30):
I'm also interested in singing and music and
frequency and how that applies
to our own healing from an energetic point
of view. So I've been lucky enough to
be inspired by many people along the way,
especially by my patients actually.
And,
for that reason, I I I had always
wanted to open a a clinic that was
mine. It could be like a beacon of
(03:51):
light to show people, look, there there are
other ways
to to help you heal.
And,
a few years ago,
after the passing of my dear mother, I
decided, well,
she's lent me some money. I could either
buy my house or I could buy my
clinic and fulfill my dream of opening a
place that really is all about healing the
whole person. So here I am. This is
(04:13):
what I did. And I've been I've been
here five years now. And, yeah, we're getting
busier and busier, and I'm the team is
growing, and I'm so excited to to be
here and to to fulfill
what I see as my dream. And I
I hope that sets an example for others
that you can actually be a family physician
traditionally taught in western medicine and still accept
(04:34):
and learn from the wisdom of other types
of healing and and, medicine at the same
time. It it it let me ask you
a question, doctor McBurney. In addition to being
a family physician and a holistic
provider and
running and managing a clinic and and and
founding a clinic.
Take a moment on singing.
I I I know that you're a noted
(04:54):
singer. What do you sing?
And I won't ask you to sing on
the show, But what do you what do
you sing, and and what's your is that
your passion singing? Is that one of your
passions? Singing is my passion. I'd be happy
to sing. In fact, while I was waiting
for you to come online, I was I
have a piano in my consulting room, so
I was playing and singing while I was
waiting for you.
And what what were you singing? What were
(05:15):
you playing and what you were singing? Well,
actually, I I was playing,
I was playing a song of which I
am preparing
for,
a service in a couple of weeks' time.
One of my dear friends had passed, and
her husband asked if I would sing at
her service. So I was just thinking of
her and and playing playing her song.
Oh, that that's that's beautiful. I I'll ask
(05:38):
you to sing if you'll if you'll indulge
us.
I hate to have you sing then unless
you wanna practice it because that seems so
special for Not gonna tomorrow service.
I'm not gonna sing that. But you know,
I sing lots of things all the time.
And I love to sing to my patients.
I love to sing with my patients.
And really I love to help them affirm
that their their body as well. So there's
a great little ditty that I can sing
(05:59):
to my patients and teach them. And it
goes like this. Every little cell, every little
cell, every little cell in my body as
well.
Every little cell, every little cell, every little
cell in my body as well. And then
you can develop that. And, actually, I encourage
my patients to communicate with every cell in
their body. And, you know, that's actually a
(06:19):
form of what's called autogenic training, which is
when you're really connecting your mind and body
together, and you're telling your body that actually
all is well and every cell in your
body can be healthy if you choose to
to make it that way.
So I I absolutely love it. Every little
cell every little cell every little cell as
well. And I'm gonna ask Chanel, our producer.
She's actually got a magnificent singing voice. I'm
(06:41):
gonna ask her to sing that as well.
No. I'm not gonna do that, Chanel. Don't
worry. The, but I love that, doctor McBurnie.
Talk to us for a moment unless Chanel
wants to sing that,
because she can't. She's got a tremendous talent
too. Okay. Our producer is not gonna sing
for us, but it is what it is.
Unless we all do it as a chorus.
Doctor McBurney, tell me what you're most focused
(07:01):
on and excited about this year. Where where
are you most focused and excited this year?
Ah, well, I'm focused and I'm focused and
excited most days because I think it's a
great way to be when you wake up
in the morning just to put your feet
on the floor and say thank you for
being alive.
So I'm excited that my clinic is growing.
I'm excited that more people are joining my
team. I'm excited that the message is getting
(07:22):
out and patients are realizing that they do
have a great strength within themselves and almost
a responsibility,
if you like, to help themselves heal. So
I'm excited by all of these things.
I'm excited the fact that my weekend my
weekly drop in meditation classes are getting more
full. I'm excited that the singing workshops that
I run every week are getting bigger and
(07:43):
bigger.
I'm excited that the world is actually listening,
I think, now and realizing that, you know,
energy is all there is. It just changes
from one form into another. So things like
frequency and medicine, which we already use
in the form of ultrasound.
You know, a physiotherapist will ultrasound
your bruise to help it break up and
(08:04):
help the muscles recover. So, you know, the
the frequency in medicine is actually a thing,
and more and more people are are are
waking up and realizing that we can we
can use that to heal ourselves.
In fact, the the National Health Service in
in The UK is now using a frequency
device
that you place on the head, which helps,
reprogram the brain and, and and help lift
(08:26):
lift lift yourself out of depression.
So, I also use a frequency device, which
is slightly different for that. So, yeah, I'm
excited that people are finally listening that things
can change from the inside.
I also I also work with,
a fabulous fabulous human.
I'm proud to be part of one of
(08:46):
his health coalitions
with the doctor Joe Dispenza, and he's done
a lot of fantastic research about meditation
and how that can affect
the health of every single cell in your
body. So I'm excited that that is now
all these papers are now being published, and
people are seeing the wonder that that that
that that that the wonders that meditation can
do for us. So, there's so many things
(09:06):
I could talk about. So I'll let you
lead the way, Scott.
Well, let me ask you a question.
You can't really combine meditation and singing, can
you? Or could you use the singing
as a mantra to get yourself into a
meditative, relaxed relaxed
space?
You definitely can. There were the workshops I
run are full of people who think they
(09:26):
can't sing. But once you have an open
heart and a willingness to sing, the noise
that comes out is one of the most
beautiful sounds there there is.
Even though people might not sing in tune,
that's just because a muscle
hasn't learned just like you haven't learned to
run a marathon, your muscles haven't learned what
to do to get that particular note. But
soon, the whole flock can be singing together.
And I often encourage people to sing. We
(09:47):
don't often have music or sheets with words
on. We just sing a few a few
chant like things over and over and over
again. It could be a simple phrase, like
every single cell in your body as well,
or I am peace, I am love, I
am joy, or I don't know, an African
something. So once you get singing in harmony
and you get a few people singing singing
together and you do it over and over
again, it becomes like a mantra. And then
(10:09):
you lose yourself in the frequency and the
movement of the song. And before you know
it, you're really taking yourself into a meditative
state. So I think you can combine singing
and meditation from that point of view. So
so you've got a ton of different interest.
You're also a public speaker. Talk about your
public speaking
in in in some of the things you
speak on. I take it a lot on
these subjects, but talk about that. Yeah. A
(10:30):
lot. I'll speak anywhere to anyone who have
me.
So I'm just really excited to spread the
spread the news that, you know, it is
possible
for you to tap into the wonderful
creative energy that is your body and to
help your body heal and to to reach
a state of optimal health and well-being as
much as possible. So that's probably my main
passion, and there are many routes to that,
(10:51):
whether it's meditation,
whether it's singing, whether it's breath work, whether
it's just tuning into yourself. I mean, my
my class was full at lunchtime today. We
have drop in meditations at lunchtime, and it
was great. People just come in off the
street, and, I have a big,
yoga studio, mind, body, soul studio in my
clinic.
I love to use that as a community
(11:11):
space.
So I'm excited that more people are are
coming and and sharing that and sharing ideas
and sharing meditations together.
Let me ask question. People that meditate
so I have the hardest time staying with
the meditation practice.
By nature,
too caffeinated, a little bit hyper.
How do you sort of gradually become a
little bit better
(11:33):
at working towards meditation or or using meditation?
Well, it's practice. You know? And when you
realize how good meditation makes you feel, you
want to do it more.
So it doesn't have to be a big
complicated
thing.
You know, there are different ways to to
tap into meditation, but all meditation means to
get to go within, to get to know
(11:54):
thyself, I suppose. So and it's associated with
many religious practices, which I think in the
past
has put people off. But I think more
and more people are realizing meditation is just
about going within and slowing down the brainwaves
so that you get out of that fight
or flight part of the nervous system, and
you move more into the rest and relax
and restorative part of your nervous system where
(12:15):
you can create, where you can be at
peace with yourself,
where you can repair the body as if
you're almost asleep, and your brain waves slow
down gently.
And and and in some cases,
when experienced meditators can get to a state
of what some people might call ecstasy, I
suppose, which is when you get a a
state of arousal of the brain where you
go into what's called gamma,
(12:36):
and, your your brain is totally in a
blissful state. So you're you're lucky if you
manage that in a lunch time, but, you
know, it is possible if you practice.
Let me ask you a question. We've got
yourself and myself on on the podcast. We've
got our producer Chanel on the podcast.
Yeah. Would we get any benefit?
And and our we've got our listeners.
(12:59):
Would we get any benefit
from a five second
meditative
pause where we just breathe for five seconds,
or is that not a worthwhile effort to
try?
Well, that's a very interesting question, Scott. I
don't know if have you heard of heart
math?
No. I don't know what heart math is.
No. So so it's big in The US,
(13:20):
and it's all about
just doing exactly what you say, taking a
pause, breathing,
and and thinking of an elevated emotion to
make you feel
good and peaceful. So you could, for five
seconds, just put both feet on the ground,
put one hand on your heart, and just
have an awareness of breathing into your heart.
So we could do it now if you
(13:40):
like.
So you could just me ask our let
me make sure
that our audience
and Chanel,
our producer to go. Are ready. You're ready.
Okay. Good. Good. Good. Good. Okay.
Doctor McBurney, we're in your competent hands
to lead us through
the effort.
Well, perhaps I could have slightly more than
five seconds. But all I'd ask you to
(14:01):
do is just place a hand on your
heart,
close your eyes because it helps shut out
some of the other senses and just breathe
into your heart. And just have an awareness
of your breathing.
A nice deep breath into the heart. And
while you're breathing into the heart,
just take your mind
to a really pleasurable emotion. Maybe think about
(14:23):
someone you love very much or a situation
that made you feel very happy
or feeling at peace
sitting
outside in the sun,
and breathe into that and breathe into your
heart.
I'll just be aware of how that makes
you feel.
(14:46):
And when you get used to doing that,
you could do it anywhere. You could do
it if you're in a traffic jam. You
could do it if you're in a supermarket
line. You could do it anywhere. It's just
about getting yourself out of the angry situation
or the stressful situation,
connecting in with your heart, breathing,
and thinking of an emotion that makes you
happy. There you go. You've locked in.
(15:08):
Well, you you might have to wake me
back up, doctor McBurney. I might have gone
so far out that I can't get back
up now, but I will come back to
the podcast, and I feel better. And that
was very helpful. Thank you. Doctor McBurney, where
could people learn more about you and all
that you do? How could people I found
you on LinkedIn. You were introduced to me
by a magnificent publicist.
(15:29):
Tell us how we can learn more about
you in our audience, learn more about doctor
Victoria McBurney. What what a what what a
fascinating person you are. So fantastic to visit
with you. How do people learn more about
you? Thank you, Scott. Well, for first of
all, if you get my name right, it's
doctor Veronica McBurnie. So that's a good start
when you look me up.
(15:49):
I was close. I was close. If I
meditated better, I would do it better. I
don't know how I got fixated on the
term Victoria versus Veronica because I see it
right in front of me, doctor Veronica
McBurnie. That is I'm going back to
Vermeer.
Victoria was a very powerful ruler of of
The UK at one point. She was one
(16:09):
of our queens,
but, I'll settle for that. But, you know,
Veronica's my name. So, yeah, yeah, I guess
that there is some stuff around if you
look online, but I have a my my
my clinic is called Westbourne Medical Studios.
We're based in Glasgow, Scotland, but we have
clients all over from LA to Australia.
And, I'd be delighted to meet with anyone
online if anyone felt there was anything I
(16:31):
I I had that would be useful to
them or I could offer them. So we
offer a vast ranger services,
and I'm actually hoping to come over to
LA for a visit,
in the June because I'm coming to San
Diego for a conference. So, yeah, I love
traveling. I love to meet people, and I'd
be delighted to connect with anyone online or
on LinkedIn.
Doctor Veronica McBurney, what a pleasure to visit
(16:53):
with you. Thank you so much for joining
us today on the Pecker's Healthcare podcast.
I I just loved visiting with you. Thank
you so much.
Thank you, Scott. It's been lovely talking to
you. Thank you for asking me on.
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