What do flu prevention, stress reduction, and type 2
diabetes management have in common?
They are all therapeutic benefits of mindfulness.
Ok, first things first…do you even know what mindfulness
is? What might come to mind is
“being mindful” that is, “be mindful of others” or “mindful of your
attitude.” That’s not exactly what
practicing mindfulness means.
The website get.gg explains mindfulness as “paying
attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and
non-judgmentally.”
Have you ever driven down the road, arrived at your destination without
remembering how you got there?
Well, that’s the opposite of mindfulness.
Mindfulness is when you notice the feeling of the steering wheel in your
hand, notice the leaves on the trees are turning color and the smell of the
fall air. You are in the moment.
Your mind is not drifting somewhere else, you are not worrying about the “what
ifs” and you are taking everything in (without scrutiny). Experts have found
that when we spend more time “in the moment” so to speak, we have improved
health. Here is what Jeffrey
Greeson (2009) of Duke University found out when he reviewed the research on
mindfulness:
There is increasing scientific
evidence to support the therapeutic effect of mindfulness meditation training
on stress-related medical conditions, including psoriasis, type 2 diabetes,
fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic low back, and attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder. In addition, research has consistently shown that
mindfulness training reduces symptoms of stress and negative mood states, and
increases emotional well-being and quality of life, among persons with chronic
illness. The use of mindfulness training in treating specific pain conditions,
hypertension, myocardial ischemia, weight control, irritable bowel syndrome,
insomnia, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and substance abuse is presently
under investigation in research supported by the National Institutes of Health.
It appears when we practice mindfulness our brain actually
changes. In one 8-week study, in
the participants who had the biggest shifts in frontal brain activity had
stronger resistance to getting the flu!
The take away from that study was that mindfulness can help build up
your immune system to resist disease.
Study after study shows that practicing mindfulness significantly
reduces the stress hormone cortisol. What does that mean to you? Well, your
body has an easier time of staying healthy.
So what do you think, do you want to try mindfulness?
Here is a quick and simple place to start called “mindful
breathing.” Again, this is from
the website get.gg:
The primary focus in Mindfulness Meditation is the breathing. However, the primary goal is a calm, non-judging awareness,
allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go without getting caught up in them. This creates calmness and acceptance.
- Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and your spine reasonably straight.
- Direct your attention to your breathing.
- When thoughts, emotions, physical feelings or external sounds occur, simply accept them, giving them the space to come and go without judging or getting involved with them.
- When you notice that your attention has drifted off and becoming caught up in thoughts or feelings, simply note that the attention has drifted, and then gently bring the attention back to your breathing.
It's
ok and natural for thoughts to arise, and for your attention to follow them. No
matter how many times this happens, just keep bringing your attention back to
your breathing.
Want to read more about mindfulness?
Go here: http://get.gg/mindfulness.htm
Also try the “pray-as-you-go” website. It has MP3 that are
developed to help you pray. There is a section called “Preparing to Pray”,
which walks you through breathing and body exercises designed to “quiet your
mind” and prepare you to enter into prayer. http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/
Want to read the full article by Jeffrey Greeson? Here it is…
Greeson, J. M. (2009). Mindfulness research update: 2008. Complement
Health Practitioner, 14(1), 10-18.
Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2679512/
