THE BENEFIT OF BEING PRESENT How Mindfulness Practice Positively Impacts Our Health and Well-Being

“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,

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