The Benefits of Mindfulness & Other Meditative Strategies
Okay so I have been telling you guys that I would share more about my community clinical group project, and so that is exactly what this blog post is all about. Before starting this project with my group I was definitely excited to learn about what seemed like this new trend of meditation. And with that being said, I quickly learned that it is so much more than just a trend, it is a whole lifestyle that really does not take as much effort or time as one may think. Meditation practices have been around since 5000 years before Christ, so yeah...definitely not a new trend. I think that since we have been hearing about it more, and the fact that it has become a little more mainstream is what makes it seem like it is. It really gained momemtum in the medical world when the renowned Jon Kabat-Zin founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program in 1979 to treat patients with chronic illnesses and saw amazing results, and positive benefits related to an overall improved quality of life. And so once my group and I researched and studied scholarly articles we were so intrigued and amazed at how meditation can really be introduced to patients in pretty much any setting as a non-pharmacological intervention and has the potential to really improve their overall health! So I know that a lot of people may think that there is only one way to meditate; having to sit rigidly, cross-legged and have to completely clear your head of all thoughts. But this too is a myth! There are so many different types of meditation practices, some of which you may already be doing without even knowing it, for example meditative prayer. Meditation is all about becoming aware of your thoughts and addressing them in a nonjudgemental way. My personal favourite right now is practicing mindfulness, throughout my life, in all that I do! But before I say too much I am going to walk you guys through the three different types of meditation that I was able to learn and present about and then I will share all of the amazing benefits that will make you want to start doing these practices today and every day moving forward!
1. Mindfulness - A method of self-inquiry that leads to increased awareness of one’s thoughts, sensations, and feelings. The great thing about this one is that it can literally be practiced anywhere at anytime through activities such as sitting, walking, eating, body scanning, and yoga. In fact, it should be practiced as much as possible as it really just involves you taking the time to be mindful in the present moment.
“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally." _ Jon Kabat-Zin
About a week ago when I was listening to a Super Soul Sunday podcast that featured Jon Kabat-Zin and Oprah he said something so simple that really stuck with me. He said next time you are in the shower, really check to see of you are actually in the shower. As simple and easy as this statement sounds, it usually is hard to really just focus on being in the shower without thinking of a million other things. I know that I for sure would do a lot of thinking and some times worrying in the shower, instead of really just enjoying the warm water that is coming down on me. So now after hearing that, any and every time that I take a shower, if my thoughts start to wander I just reorient myself back to BEING in the shower and allow myself to be fully present. This has stemmed in to trying to be completely present in every task of daily living, such as when I am driving, or when I am picking up Maya or when I am cooking. They also bring up the notion of, when you are stirring the pot to really just stir the pot. That's it! Try not to get side swept in to thinking about all of the other things you have to do, or habe already been done (I.e. the past and the future). Just be present, and you will notice how less stressful and less worrisome you become. I could go on and on about mindfulness and how amazing it truly is for our health, but I don't want to overwhelm you guys with too much information. But honestly it is really just about being aware of your thoughts and paying attention to the present moment at hand. By simply doing that, you are meditating, because of course, mindfulness is a form of meditation. It definitely sounds easier to do than it actually is, but in time it will become more of a habit and then a lifestyle that will improve the quality of your life and allow you to appreciate and experience things in a different way, with a new perspective.
2. Meditative prayer - repeats a prayer(s) or mantra leading to an awakening of a deeper sense of reality. So, as I mentioned before, praying to God, talking to God and just being with God is a form of meditation. Once you are connecting to a higher force, what/who ever that higher force may be or mean to you, then you are meditating.
I'm going to tell you guys a little story about my experience with meditative prayer. Whenever I have to do a presentation in front of my peers for school I get super anxious, sweaty and tachycardic actually lol. It's quite bad and can be super overwhelming. So with that being said, in learning about meditation and all of these different techniques, on the morning of a recent class presentation I thought; you know what I am going to try this meditative praying to try and ease all of this anxiety that I am feeling because it clearly is just so unneccessary and unhealthy. So I read bible verses over and over and just really focused in on the feelings that I was experiencing with this presentation anxiety. And sure enough when it came closer to the time that I had to present, instead of being all sweaty and nervous as I usually am, I was at peace. I felt powerful and best of all I felt ready, and not fearful! I didn't have to assume any position, and I literally just read off of my computer since I was at school and didn't have my bible with me. With this experience I really came to the realization that our brain will react to what we tell it and feed it, and then that will reflect all throughout the rest of our body!
Through reading various bible verses on that day, one really stuck out to me,
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” - 2 Timothy 1 : 7
From this I came up with my own simple mantra that I repeated to myself on that day, and continue to use for any type of anxiety, which is:
I AM POWERFUL, NOT FEARFUL!
And then, out of these simple practices came this poem that I wrote below.
3. Guided Imagery - A form of relaxation based meditation that allows the imagination to stimulate several or all of the senses.
This meditative strategy is also very simple and can be done any where at any time. When I think of this, I automatically think of manifesting and the power of what we think is what we become. Once you paint a pretty picture for yourself, in your mind you will surely feel and become happier. And so then it is safe to say that the brain does not only go off of what we tell it, but also what we show it. The picture that we imagine and hold constant in our mind matters to our overall health and well being, and also to how we treat ourselves and others. Do we feel worthy? Do we focus on the good and the pretty more than the bad and the ugly? Of course not every day is going to be all sunshine and rainbows, but the trick is to not let your mind, or emotions, and in turn life get caught up in one bad thought, moment or day. Take BACK the control that only you should have over your mind!
Ok, so now that you guys are equipped with the three super simple and life changing meditative strategies, I think it is time that I share how they are beneficial to your health! Everything that I will provide here has been thoroughly researched as I mentioned above by my colleagues and I, and are not just opinions of my own.
Benefits:
-Chronic pain reduction
-Increased self-esteem
-Improvement in attention skills, memory and cognitive function
-Improved alertness, restfulness and sleep
-Greater sense of well-being (physical, mental); Positive affect that is experienced immediately after meditation but also remains long term
-Reduces depression, anxiety, and stress (due to decreased response of sympathetic nervous system)
-Improves immune response
-Modifies cardiac symptoms and reversal of heart disease
-Slows aging process
-Helps with digestion
Meditation will empower you. It will allow you to connect and check in with your self, as oppose to just going through each day of life in some sort of a robotic mode. The key really is to be nonjudgmental when checking in with the deeper, and maybe even more real version of YOU. A lot of what we feel is suppressed, and just pushed to a place that we say we might just come back to and confront at a later time. But that suppressing and pushing away can only last for so long. Once you become closer to yourself and the reasons for why you feel the way you do, or why you act the way you do in certain circumstances, then the more self aware and then confident you become. The more you know yourself and what makes you happy, or mad or sad, then the more you can feel comfortable in knowing what and WHO best serves you in this lifetime. The pain reduction is really around the way you accept, sense and then take precedence over the pain. It is not the level of pain that decreases, it is that you are acknowledging the pain and telling your brain and yourself that the pain does not define you and that you will not subject to it. Deep breathing is also such a great exercise that can and should be done throughout all of the above mentioned meditative strategies, and even at different points of the day. In doing this you are reorienting yourself in bringing awareness back to your breath, and maybe even taking the time to reflect and to just feel what ever it is you are currently experiencing.
Taking control over your mental state and not letting the everyday stress to, is really what allows your body to become happier and healthier. These strategies I believe take time, but I can definitely say that I already feel like I have grown and have reaped some of the amazing benefits in such a short time of implementing them in my own life already. There are free meditation apps that can help you get started as well, like Smiling Mind, which was introduced to me by my colleague and I love it! Also, Youtube has great meditation videos for just about everything! Or you can try to simply start out by being mindful and just living in the present moment, and see how much of a difference that alone brings to you and your outlook on life.
I hope that this post was useful to you and that you gained some sort of knowledge, as I did when learning about it! I believe that in this lifetime what ever we learn and is beneficial to our health should be shared with our peers, especially the ones who are willing and eager to listen. So of course I would like to thank you for visiting and for keeping up with what I have to say on this here blog!
Now let us all take one big deep breath together and take back, or better yet HOLD ON to the control that we possess over our own minds,
S.S