Healing Power of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a simple concept with powerful results. Mindfulness has been tied to a decrease in stress, an improvement in mood, better sleep and more. And being mindful can be incredibly healing. It can benefit your brain and the responses of your body to stress. In our final segment on healing powers, we look at mindfulness. We will discuss some of the different ways to cultivate it, where it occurs in our brain and the effects of different types of mindful meditation. The video below will walk you through the lesson. Give it a shot!
What is Mindfulness?
(What is Mindfulness, 2014)
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not particularly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going on around us.
Although it is a natural process, it can also be used in various ways, such as walking, seated, laying down and moving. We can also add it in short pauses of our everyday life, or by merging meditation practice with other activities (like Yoga or sports).
Some facts about mindfulness
(Henriques, 2015)
· Mindfulness takes no special skills. It requires just to be aware and in the moment. It is done without judgment and uses curiosity, warmth and kindness.
· Mindfulness is more than a practice. It brings awareness and caring into everything we do. It cuts down on needless stress.
· Mindfulness is also evidence based. Both science and experience demonstrate the positive benefits for health, happiness, work and relationships.
· Mindfulness can also help solve problems and spark innovation. With curiosity and open mindedness, we can get past the obstacles to find a viable solution.
· Mindfulness begins in the Buddhist tradition, thousands of years ago. But in 1979 it gained a huge following, based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This revolutionary approach to pain encouraged participants to take a mindful approach to pain, instead of trying to escape it. The MBSR program was so successful, mindfulness began to be integrated in psychology practices, and was combined with behavior and cognitive therapy.
Mindfulness is often combined with meditation (and was the basis of MBSR), so in some places of this lesson we refer to mindfulness, while in others we may refer to mindful meditation. They are very similar, although mindfulness would be more of a state, while mindful meditation would be more of a process.
Learn more:
Are you interested in learning more about the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program which began at the University of Massachusetts? On the Palouse Mindfulness website, you can take part in this eight week session at no cost to you. It is definitely worth the time, and will introduce you to lots of tools to improve your mindfulness practice. Take a look!
Mindfulness in our daily life
(Pal, 2018)
Mindfulness does not have to be a set routine. Instead, it can be done throughout the day in small segments of time. Here are some ideas on bringing mindfulness into your life:
Mindful art: You can be mindful when creating or viewing art. In the process, you can feel the brush on the canvas, smell the paint, hear the knife scraping on the palette. You can also engage in a mindful type of art called contemplative art. This type of art affects us through the creation of objects and images that inspire and heal. There are two categories: process emphasis (the process is more important than the product) or product emphasis (a particular type of object related to contemplation, such as painting a religious icon). The intention is the same, to engage the creative process with contemplation. (Contemplative Art, 2015)
Mindful movement: Mindfulness in movement focuses on the moment in the movement. It can include a movement designed to reduce stress and encourage mindfulness (Tai Chi, Qi Gong) or it may be a movement session where you focus on how your body is responding (walking with awareness on posture and alignment). In any case, it is neglecting those distractions that interfere with the mindfulness while maintaining a sense of being in the present.
Mindful eating: Paying attention and eating mindfully can satisfy not only the need for nutrition but other needs as well. Mindful eating includes preparation (deep breathing before beginning meal), awareness (determining how hungry you are) and the process of eating mindfully (focusing on each bite, putting your fork down, relaxing). Make a mindful choice about what to eat based on what you enjoy.
Mindful driving: You do not need to be a part of the road rage problem. Instead, you can use that commute to practice mindful skills. To be more mindful, begin with that deep breath. If you feel stressed, take a moment to find tensions within your body and soften them. Enjoy the experience of driving (the changing scenery, the beautiful day, the comfort in your car).
Mindfulness in the brain
(Powell, 2018) (Zapletal, 2017)
There is increasing interest in mindfulness meditation, with benefits including a variety of conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, anxiety, psoriasis, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Although many of these findings have been questioned (sample size or program design) a handful of key areas have used well-designed and well-run studies which support mindfulness meditation. These include depressions, chronic pain and anxiety. Although the effects are not significantly better than other methods (medication and therapy), it is a small effect.
Researcher Goelle Desbordes has been studying depression, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take before and after pictures of the brains of depressed patients after they have learned to meditate. In 2012, she demonstrated that changes in brain activity in subjects who learned to meditate held steady even when not meditating. The scans detected changes in brain activation patterns from the beginning to the end of the study. Desbordes is not sure why the brain changes with meditation in depressed people, but she is interested in one hypothesis: that meditation training boosts body awareness in the moment, called interoception and as patients focus attention on the present, they can break the pattern of self-rumination that accompanies depression.
Sara Lazar is a neuroscientist at Harvard and also uses MRI technology to see what is happening in the brain when a person is doing a certain task, such as yoga and meditation. She used to be skeptical about the claims her yoga instructor had made about the emotional benefits of meditation. However, as she progressed in her yoga training, she felt calmer and happier, and decided to re-focus her research on the changes in the brain through meditation practice.
In her first study, she looked at people with an extensive background in meditation (primarily focused attention on internal experiences, with no mantras or chanting) and found that meditation may slow down or prevent age-related thinning of the frontal cortex (used among other things for the formation of memories).
In the second study, she used people who had never meditated and took them through the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training program. After eight weeks, she found that the brain volume increased in four regions including the hippocampus (learning, storage of memories, spatial orientation, regulation of emotions) and the temporoparietal junction (where temporal and parietal lobes meet, responsible for empathy and compassion).
Lazar also found decreased brain volume in the amygdala, the area of the brain which triggers fight or flight. The smaller the amygdala, the less stressed people feel.
A research review suggests eight regions of the brain altered by mindfulness. (Haley, 2016). There were:
· Self-awareness of thoughts and emotions (frontopolar cortex)
· Body awareness (sensory cortices and insula)
· Memory (hippocampus)
· Self and emotion regulation (anterior and mid-cingulate, orbitofrontal cortex)
· Communication between parts of the brain (superior longitudinal fasciculus, corpus collosum)
Try it!
The video (above) discusses two competing networks in our brain, the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Task Positive Network (TPM). Only one network can be used at a time. So let's give it a shot! Begin by thinking of something that is bothering you, something that you are concerned about, something that worries you or makes you depressed. This will activate your DMN. Now try to shift your thoughts to something positive in the moment that desires your attention. That may be washing the dishes, tending to the garden, or cleaning out a drawer. Make sure and be in the present when you are doing this task. What did you find? Were you able to stop the rumination and feel better? Consider trying this whenever you are stuck in the DMN!
Mindfulness and happiness
(Meditation: In Depth, 2015)
Will mindfulness make you happier? A variety of studies define 4 areas which will benefit:
· Sustained positive emotion: In a study examining results to positive images, individuals with higher activity in the regions associated with positive emotions had a higher level of psychological well-being
· Recovery from negative emotion: There is evidence that mindfulness training leads to greater resilience to painful stimuli. Experienced meditators in this study reported the same pain intensity as non-mindful participants, but with less unpleasantness.
· Pro-social behavior and generosity: Behavior that increases social bonds and improves the quality of social relationships increases well-being. Research suggests that compassion can be cultivated with mental training.
· Mindfulness and mind-wandering: A study where a smartphone app was used to monitor thoughts and feelings showed that their minds were wandering about half of the time, and while doing so they reported significantly more unhappiness. So being mindful instead of letting your mind wander can make you happier.
How to practice mindfulness
(Seleni Institute, 2016)
Even if mindfulness doesn’t live up to all the hype, it has been shown to be effective for stress, anxiety, depression and pain at least. Here is a guide to beginning a mindfulness practice of your own.
· Begin your mindfulness practice when you are not under periods of high stress or difficulty. Start with pleasant moments, and you can build up to the more challenging times.
· Pick one or two things that you do every day and pay attention to them. If your mind wanders, just bring your attention back to the task at hand.
· Instead of feeling anxious or angry about a situation, try instead to be curious. It may help you to find more clarity so you can make the best decision.
· As you shift between the activities that you do each day, take a couple of deep breaths and come back to the moment.
· Breathe! Taking three or four deep breaths and paying attention to them can help you calm down and focus.
· Ground yourself: Sit and notice the feeling of the chair below you. If you put your hands on a table, note how the hard surface feels. You might consider using a small stone to run your fingers across which will help you keep your awareness in the present.
Mindfulness apps:
Would you like to have mindfulness on the go? There are many apps available for that. Here are some of them:
Headspace: Free for basics, available on iOS and Android. Good news about Headspace: It is a very comforting app. Bad news is that it wants to hook you. You get the basic 10 sessions, along with the introduction and a breathing session. The free version never expires. But, if you want more content, you will have to pay for a subscription. Prices are $12.99 a month, or $7.99 a month if paid for by the year.
Calm: Free for basics, available on iOS and Android. Like Headspace, you begin by establishing your goals. You can choose more than one. The choices include improve focus, increase happiness, build self- esteem, reduce anxiety, learn to meditation, develop gratitude, reduce stress or sleep better. You will also have to sign up with an email and password. You can choose not to sign up for the seven-day trial, after which time you will have to pay for the subscription. Their prices are $12.99 a month or $4.99 a month if paid for by the year. The online site (calm.com) has lots of free meditation with sounds and pictures.
Buddhify: $4.99 for the app on iOS and Android. Yes, I was skeptical on one that charged. However, after realizing how limited the previous two were, I decided to take a look. I was pleased to find that once you pay for the app, you aren’t responsible for paying any more. Their approach is to focus on mobile or on-the-go meditation which can be done anywhere. If you choose to take it further, you can join as a member for $30/year.
Online guided meditation examples
Final video (and this is a good one)
In this final video, you meet Dr. David Vago, a neuroscientist who studies meditation and mindfulness. In this 20 minute Ted Talk, he brings together the elements of our lesson including the importance of thoughts in shaping our future. He tells us how our life is shaped by our minds, and that every thought and emotion transforms the brain. He review the science and shares a story of meeting the Dalai Lama. Although a little long, the video will go far in pulling together the information, and providing evidence that mindfulness and meditation really CAN change your brain.
Summary:
Mindfulness is a gift you can give yourself all year round. It is low key and simple, and the rewards can be felt in many different ways. It can change your brain, and produce positive changes in many areas of your life. Science supports this simple way of changing thoughts and overcoming such negative emotions as depression, anxiety and stress. Mindfulness is the gift that keeps on giving.
Works Cited
Contemplative Art. (2015, April 24). Retrieved from contemplativemind.org: http://www.contemplativemind.org/practices/tree/comtemplativeart
Haley, A. (2016, August 5). How Does Mindfulness Work. Retrieved from umn.edu: https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/mindfulness/how-does-mindfulness-work
Henriques, G. (2015, February 6). What is Mindfulness and How Does It Work? Retrieved from psychologytoday.com: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory- knowledge/201502/what-is-mindfulness-and-how-does-it-work
Meditation: In Depth. (2015, March). Retrieved from nccih.nih.gov: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm#hed4
Pal, P. e. (2018, August 27). 5 Simple Mindfulness Practices for Daily Life. Retrieved from mindful.org: https://www.mindful.org/take-a-mindful-moment-5-simple-practices-for-daily-life/
Powell, A. (2018, April 9). Researchers study how it seems to change the brain in depressed patients. Retrieved from news.harvard.edu: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/04/harvard-researchers-study-how-mindfulness-may-change-the-brain-in-depressed-patients/
Ratner, P. (2017, October 10). Scientists Discover How Meditation Changes the Brain. Retrieved from bigthink.com: https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/scientists-discover-how-meditation-changes-the-brain
Seleni Institute. (2016, June 9). Easy Ways to Practice Mindfulness. Retrieved from psychologytoday.com: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-s-mental-health-matters/201606/easy-ways-practice-mindfulness
What is Mindfulness. (2014, October 8). Retrieved from mindful.org: https://www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness/
Zapletal, K. (2017, June 26). Neuroscience of Mindfulness: What Happens to Your Brain When You Meditate. Retrieved from observer.com: https://observer.com/2017/06/neuroscience-mindfulness-brain-when-you-meditate-development/