Part 1 : Finding the Calm in the Storm

How can emergency physicians thrive amidst chaos and stress?

 In this Echo Episode, Dr. Andrea Austin reconnects with Dr. Leslie Crawford, a fellow residency alum, board-certified emergency physician, and creator of the Stress Relief Survival Guide. Dr.  Koenig shares her story of navigating COVID exposure, military service, and the demands of emergency medicine while raising a family. She discusses her transition to mindfulness, the power of heart rate variability (HRV) as a vital sign, and her journey to becoming a meditation teacher. From her “battery technique” for grounding thoughts to embracing meditation as a tool for neuroplasticity, Dr.  Crawford offers actionable strategies for physicians to combat burnout and reclaim balance. The conversation also explores the need to view physicians as elite performers, prioritizing recovery and self-care to sustain long-term impact.

You’ll hear how they:

• Tackle stress with simple, evidence-based techniques like the battery method to stabilize emotions in minutes
• Use heart rate variability to monitor and improve physical and mental resilience
• Reframe meditation as an accessible practice for Type-A physicians, focusing on investigation rather than clearing the mind
• Advocate for a cultural shift in medicine to prioritize physician recovery, drawing parallels to elite athletes

If you’re an emergency physician or healthcare professional seeking practical tools to manage stress and prevent burnout, this episode offers a lifeline of hope and strategies for change.

About the Guest

“Meditation isn’t about clearing your mind—it’s about investigating what’s there.” – Dr. Leslie Crawford

Dr. Leslie Crawford is a board-certified emergency physician, Afghanistan combat veteran, and author of the Stress Relief Survival Guide. With experience on the COVID frontlines and a career shaped by military service, she has developed practical, research-backed techniques to manage stress in high-stakes environments. Now training to become a meditation teacher through The Path program, Dr. Crawford is passionate about helping physicians embrace mindfulness, track heart rate variability, and prioritize recovery to combat burnout.

📍 Connect with Leslie

• Website: https://stressreliefsurvivalguide.com
• Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/stressreliefsurvivalguide
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stressreliefsurvivalguide
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesliecrawfordmd

📚 Resources + Mentions

🔗 Stress Relief Survival Guide by Dr. Leslie Koenig  (https://www.amazon.com/Stress-Relief-Survival-Guide-Techniques/dp/0578681536)

🔗 The Path Meditation Program (https://www.thepath.com/teacher)

🔗 Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3336928/)

🔗 Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning)

🔗 Wearable devices: WHOOP (https://www.whoop.com/us/en/?srsltid=AfmBOorjSAv5cIHFHxMsxh1gMuqbt6yTnJPABUWvgFNIeHiWCVWXJZsx) , Oura Ring (https://ouraring.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopQP54QFfojXBarna82bU6YY1pnQeBuRwyozvU7rupvHuoolmeE)

🔑 Top 3 Key Takeaways

• Master Stress with Simple Tools: Use the “battery technique” to ground yourself by assigning positive and negative thoughts to a pen, fostering mindfulness and emotional stability in minutes.
• Track Heart Rate Variability (HRV): Monitor HRV as a vital sign of resilience using wearables like WHOOP or Oura Ring to optimize sleep, meditation, and recovery for better health.
• Reframe Meditation for Physicians: Embrace meditation as an investigative practice, not a quest for a clear mind, to build neuroplasticity and create space between stimulus and response.

🩺 About the Host

Dr. Andrea Austin is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, and passionate advocate for system-level change in healthcare. As the creator and host of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare, Dr. Austin brings curiosity, compassion, and bold honesty to conversations with leaders who are challenging the norms and reshaping medicine from the inside out.

With decades of experience in high-pressure clinical environments, Andrea has seen firsthand the cracks in the system—and the people working to repair them. Whether she’s mentoring residents, speaking on national stages, or recording with a fellow disruptor, she centers one theme: change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens heart to heart.

💫 About the Show

Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare isn’t just a podcast—it’s a pulse check on what’s possible.

Hosted by emergency physician and educator Dr. Andrea Austin, Heartline features conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and quiet disruptors who are challenging the way things have always been done.

Each episode explores real stories of change—from redefining leadership and communication, to reimagining systems built on burnout and hierarchy. This is a space for truth-telling, for aski…