THE BENEFIT OF BEING PRESENT

How Mindfulness Practice Positively Impacts Our Health and Well-Being Garrett Hooper Body Mind Wellness Challenge March 2010

“Mindfulness is a moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a specific way, that is, in the present moment, and as non reactively, as non-judgmentally, and as openheartedly as possible.” Jon Kabat-Zinn, Coming to Our Senses

What is Mindfulness?

 Present moment awareness  Non-judgmental  Non-reactive  Openhearted  Challenge to the monkey-mind

Mindfulness is not….

 Thinking  Daydreaming  Spacing out  Repeating affirmations  Self-hypnosis  Sleeping

Mindfulness Is…

 Stopping our automatic, habitual pattern of reactivity  A space between one’s perception and response  Reflectivity, not reflexivity  Investigative awareness  Observation, discrimination, causality

Orientation to Experience

 Attitude of curiosity  Where the mind goes…  What is the object of experience?

 Everything is relevant  Not trying to produce a “state”  Acceptance of each moment

The Stress Response

 Good stress, bad stress  Life on the Serengeti  Life commuting on the 405  Chronic stress shutdown  Immune system  Digestive system  Reproductive system

Predictions

 Reduced use of strategies to avoid aspects of experience      Increase dispositional openness Change of psychological context Improved affect tolerance Emotional awareness Relationship between thoughts, feelings, and actions

Predictions

 Insight into the nature of thought  Passing events of the mind,

NOT

inherent aspects of the self  Awareness of thoughts as…  Contextual  Relativistic  Transient  Subjective

Origins

 Most cultures have some form of mindfulness practice:      Breath meditation Mantra Yoga T’ai Chi Contemplative prayer

Why Mindfulness?

Physiological Benefits   Decreased heart-rate during meditation Lower blood-pressure in normal and moderately hypertensive individuals      Quicker recovery from stress Increase in alpha rhythms (relaxation) Increase in synchronization (hemispheres) Reduced cholesterol levels Reduction in the intensity of pain

Why Mindfulness?

Psychological Benefits

       Greater happiness and peace of mind Less emotional reactivity Increased empathy Enhanced creativity Heightened perceptual clarity Reduction in acute and chronic anxiety Enhanced self-actualization

Therapeutic Interventions

   Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Reduction of symptoms:        Chronic Pain Anxiety Depression Eating Disorders Fibromyalgia Psoriasis ADHD

MBSR

 8-week program: meditation, body scan, hatha yoga  Baer’s Meta-analysis: MBSR effective in reducing stress, increasing well-being  Research: reduction of stress in medical students  Shapiro, et al., 1998; Rosenzweig, et al., 2003  Research: reduction of stress in cancer patients  Carlson, et al., 2004; Tacon, et al., 2004.

The Science of Mindfulness

  Reduction of negative affect Increase in left-side activity of the prefrontal cortex   Increase in immune-system functioning Increased gamma-wave oscillations (

synchrony

) Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., et. al. (2003). Alterations in brain function produced by mindfulness meditation.

Psychosomatic Medicine, 65

, 564-570.

Everyday Mindfulness Breath Meditation



Walking Meditation



Eating Meditation

Making Time for Mindfulness

  Set aside 5-10 minutes per day Find time before, during, or after one of your regular activities:  Add 5 minutes of mindfulness during mealtime  Meditate for a few minutes before watching TV  Meditate before work begins, during your lunch hour, or at the end of the workday

References

Baer, R. A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review.

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10

(2), 125-143.

Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., Segal, Z. V., Abbey, S., Speca, M., Velting, D., Devins, G. (2004). Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition.

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11

(3), 230-241.

Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84

, 822-848.

Rosenzweig, S., Reibel, D. K., Greeson, J. M., Brainard, et. al. (2003). Mindfulness based stress reduction lowers psychological distress in medical students.

Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 15

(2), 88-92.

Shapiro, S. L., Schwartz, G. E., & Bonner, G. (1998). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on medical and premedical students.

Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 21,

581-599.

References

Tacón, A. M., Caldera, Y. M., Ronaghan, C. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction in women with breast cancer.

Families, Systems, & Health, 22

, 193-203.

Teasdale, J. D., Williams, J. M., Soulsby, J. M., Segal, Z. V., Ridgeway, V. A., & Lau, M. A. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68

, 615-623.