Becoming mindful
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Tuesday, December 26, 2006
By Becky Cairns
Standard-Examiner staff
bcairns@standard.net
It may be the day after Christmas -- whew! -- but the holiday stress isn't gone.
Still to come are days of houseguests, incoming bills and cleanup, cleanup, cleanup, not to mention a whole new year looming right around the corner.
Frazzles the mind, doesn't it -- unless you know how to calm and empty that mind.
Mindful awareness is a technique that teaches us to focus on the present moment, rather than fussing about things in the past (why Aunt Maggie criticized your holiday dinner) or fretting about the future (how to lose 10 pounds in 2007).
Mindfulness means tuning in to what you are experiencing right now, physically, mentally and emotionally.
The technique is the essence of meditation, says Dr. Michael Marcum, and although it sounds simple enough, it's something we rarely do.
"We live in the past or the future and we rarely spend much time in the present, in the now," the director of psychiatry at Ogden's McKay-Dee Hospital says.
Most of the time, our minds are "monkey minds," madly jumping from one thought to another, Marcum says.
But the goal of mindfulness is to still or quiet that "chattering of the mind." Some would argue the technique should really be called mindLESSness, Marcum quips, since it's about emptying or clearing the mind.
Mindfulness has been around for thousands of years, as long as meditation has been practiced, Marcum says. The terms "mindful meditation" or "mindful awareness" are new Western descriptions of what's been practiced in Eastern disciplines for thousands of years, he adds.
Satmandir Khalsa, an Ogden therapist and yoga instructor, says mindfulness and other Eastern techniques are moving into the American mainstream as stress-management methods.
"It's an ancient practice for modern times," adds Diana Winston, a California mindfulness educator, who says the idea has grown in popularity in the past five years.
Today, mindfulness instruction is popping up throughout the country in mental-health programs, medical schools and hospitals, and even in children's schools.
Be in the moment
How do you practice mindfulness?
The beginning point, as with many types of meditation, centers on awareness of breathing. Focus only on the rise and fall of your abdomen as you breathe, or on the air going in and out of your nose.
As you do this, you can't help but be in the present moment, Khalsa says, rather than caught up in other thoughts.
"When your mind wanders, you just simply return to your breath," says Winston, of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Another aspect of the technique is being nonjudgmental. If your mind starts thinking about other things -- as it is bound to do -- don't criticize yourself, Marcum says. Recognize the thoughts and let them go -- and bring your attention back to your breathing.
As mindfulness guru Jon Kabat-Zinn explains, "If your mind wanders off a thousand times, simply bring it back 1,000 times," Marcum says.
Some folks may choose a quiet place for breath meditation, but it can be practiced at your desk, in your car, anywhere. The body doesn't have to be physically still, Marcum says; some runners and swimmers use the technique in workouts.
Mindfulness can be part of ordinary activities, like washing the dishes, Khalsa says. Focus on the act of doing the dishes, rather than thinking about how you hate the task or about what you need to do next.
Letting go
One of the best-known mindfulness experts is Kabat-Zinn, who founded the Mindfulness Stress Reduction Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center more than 20 years ago and wrote 1994's "Wherever You Go, There You Are."
Kabat-Zinn has taught mindfulness to everyone from prison inmates to those suffering from chronic pain or cardiac disease -- anyone under stress, Marcum says.
Even children as young as pre-kindergarten are learning about mindfulness techniques in some California schools, says Winston, director of mindfulness education for the UCLA program. One recent study found the technique helped students with ADHD, she says.
Although the Los Angeles center recently issued guidelines for using mindful awareness to "survive" the holidays, Winston says the practice is something that can be used year-round.
Marcum starts every day with a half-hour spiritual ceremony that includes mindfulness exercises.
"It helps me to remain calm. It helps me to stay focused during the day," he says, and to prioritize what is important.
And, the psychiatrist says, "When bad things happen, I'm able to let go of them. I'm much more like Teflon than Velcro."
More awareness
Studies show mindfulness can help boost the immune system, reduce stress, improve mood and reduce anxiety, Winston says.
Marcum adds that the practice decreases blood pressure and pulse rate, decreases pain perception and boosts the body's ability to heal from surgery or injury.
Our society promotes the idea of living in a flight-or-fight mode, a state of arousal that leads to problems like hypertension, Marcum says. But the aim of mindfulness is to create relaxation and calmness, the "antithesis of the fear response."
Some research shows differences in normal brain activity and the brain activity of persons in deep contemplative meditation, Marcum says. Meditators have increased activity in the brain center involved with awareness and decreased activity in the part tied to time and place orientation.
Getting mired down in uncertainty about tomorrow or regrets about yesterday creates about 95 percent of the "misery" we experience, Marcum says.
But, he says, the only time we really have is now. "The more you are aware of that and the more you can stay in that moment, the more awareness you bring to the entire process of living."
Mind and body
Although mindfulness can be traced to Buddhist teachings, it isn't necessarily tied to religious beliefs. Kabat-Zinn, for instance, is known for secularizing the practice, Marcum says.
Yoga, too, employs mindfulness, says Khalsa, and its prime benefits come from that focus on breathing and fostering the mind-body connection, rather than from perfecting various postures.
Khalsa says he teaches elements of mindfulness in his work as a therapist for Weber Human Services.
Being mindful gives you "more control over how to respond to the world," he says. By observing how you react to situations, you can better understand emotions like anger and how you might change your responses.
Winston says practicing mindfulness "helps you relax and be a nicer person."
"People who are stressed-out are not nice to be around," she says.
However, she says, using the technique can be a challenge because it's at odds with our culture.
"Mindfulness itself is incredibly simple," Winston says, "but remembering to be mindful is incredibly difficult."
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