All wound up? Is stress making you anxious or down in the dumpy? Mean and slumpy?
Take time to make time and lighten your mood by being mindful. No joke.
The anxieties of today are very different from primitive times. From the saber tooth tiger to the black plague, worry was overt and right in front of us. Today it’s much more insidious, deeply etched with the unknown. There’s a raucous among us lying just beneath the surface of our mind’s eye. More often than not we don’t even realize what’s stressing us out because we’re so accustom to just putting our proverbial head down and going.
Well, robust research says it’s time to stop and smell the posies.
No matter what stress plague symptom you have, you can quell it, and even keep it permanently at bay with “Mindfullness Meditation.” Stefan Hofmann of the Boston University Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, recently lead a review of the literature to find that research is clear… Mindfullness Meditation is as effective at treating anxiety depression as Zoloft and Prozac. It is most effective at staving off the recurrence of symptoms.
How so? The theory goes that meditation helps us to avoid perseverating on bad thoughts. The more you stew, the less you brew! The research goes on… Once you learn to thwart the stew, you begin to control your breath and thoughts to the point where you can shift emotions away from fear into a sense of control and calm. Neuroscience working hand in hand (or shall we say synapse in synapse) can now show you actual changes in brain activity as you adjust your thinking, as you get clarity on what really matters in life.
It’s remarkable, really — that we can look at the brain and see anti-depression anxiety armies at work. All mustered by your own thinking. Whew!
Hoffman suggests that controlling thoughts become easier when we see ourselves as an outside observer to our lives rather than mired down in the midst of disarray. Mindfullness Meditation allows the opportunity to reflect as more of a director or consultant than a participant.
To help you dip a toe into the idea of meditation, particularly Mindfullness Meditation, below is a stretch and strengthen exercise that pushes stress out of your hips and spine, while you reflect on your day. Breathe, relax, and focus on your thoughts; focus on reframing negative thoughts into powerful antecedents of growth and renewal! Research tells me so! Olga’s gut tells her so.
Olga calls this seated twist. Yoga calls it “Half Lord of the Fishes.” Whatever name floats your boat, it’s soothing and energizing to the spine in our book:
Here are a few resources on the Web for more information on Mindfulness Meditation as well:
- UCLA Mindfulness Research Center – good sample guided meditations
- Oxford Mindfulness Research Center (UK) – good definition and explanation of how it works with treating depression)
- Mindfulnet. Org – Neuroscience of Mindfulness
- Shambala Sun – Buddhist magazine with a great explanation on how to get started.
- Center for Mindfulness – Website for Jon Kabat Zinn, grandfather of US mindfulness research and practice, out of UMass Med School.