When I was in my teens and
twenties, it seemed to me that my parents worried about everything. I was determined that I would never worry
like they did when I grew older. I would
be calm and relaxed and take all of life’s ups and downs in stride. Now I know better. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that worry
and stress are my constant companions.
The challenges of work, parenting adult children, and aging, not to
mention worrying about the state of the world, cause me stress from which I
find it difficult to escape. It appears
I’m not the only one struggling with the stresses of 21st century living. One researcher reported that 7 in 10
Americans suffer from physical symptoms due to stress, and 67% reported high
levels of daily stress. Given that
ongoing daily stresses can contribute to serious health problems, as well as
taking away from enjoyment of life, what can we do to manage our stress? One answer is mindfulness.
Mindfulness is everywhere in the
news these days. In the last month, I’ve
read articles about mindfulness being used by librarians to offset the stress
of heavy workloads, by teachers stressed over high stakes testing and time
urgency, by professional basketball players to slow down the mind to get into
game shape, and by the U.S. Marines preparing for deployment. The library catalog has numerous books on
mindfulness, for parenting, for people dealing with pain and acute illness, and
increasingly, for children in school, as well as many other situations.
So, what exactly is
mindfulness? Is it different from
meditation? Mindfulness is simply
awareness. It is slowing down, paying
attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental way. Meditation is a large umbrella term
encompassing many techniques and practices to reach a heightened level of
consciousness. According to Jon
Kabat-Zinn who has studied mindfulness for over 35 years, practicing mindfulness
is actually a form of meditation, and all meditation is about paying attention,
no matter what tradition or technique is used.
Jon Kabat-Zinn was a molecular
biologist who began meditating as a graduate student at MIT, and founded the
Stress Reduction Clinic at the University Massachusetts Medical School in 1979. In developing the first program to help
patients deal with chronic pain, he brought an ancient tradition into the
mainstream of Western medicine. He and
his colleagues at the Stress Reduction Clinic began an 8-week program known as
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or MBSR.
At the end of the 8 weeks of mindfulness training, participants reported
lower stress levels and a greater ability to deal with chronic pain, as well as
other stressful situations. Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues began researching the
patient outcomes of their program. Since
then, many thousands of peer reviewed scientific studies have confirmed the
usefulness of mindfulness training in helping people cope with stress and
develop a broader repertoire of ways of experiencing themselves. Other benefits
have been shown in treating cardiovascular disease, depression, addictions, and
many other conditions. Today, MBSR
programs exist at hundreds of medical centers and clinics in the U.S. and
around the world.
The developing field of cognitive
neuroscience has made it possible to actually see the effects of mindfulness
training on the brain. Recent MRI
studies done before and after an 8-week MBSR program show structural changes in
four regions of the brain, areas involved with learning and memory, emotional
arousal, and empathy and compassion.
Other studies have shown changes in brain activity during mindfulness
activities, specifically an increase in connectivity between regions of the
brain. These structural and functional
changes in the brain correlate with decreased stress and greater calmness and
balance in patients.
So, how does one begin the practice
of mindfulness? Jon Kabat-Zinn says that you can be mindful
anywhere, anytime, and with anyone you like.
This is simple, and at the same time, difficult. When I take my morning walks, I try to focus
on what I am seeing and sensing — the trees and sky, the sounds of birds, the
warmth of the sun on my face, the way my body feels as I walk. Inevitably, I find myself thinking about
other things, trying to solve problems, planning my day. Each time I realize that my mind is wandering,
I bring myself back to focusing on the present moment. I’ve read that with practice, paying
attention to the present moment becomes easier.
One of the simplest things we can
do to get back to the present is to focus on breathing in and breathing
out. I’ve found that ten minutes of slow,
regular breathing relaxes me and reduces my stress. It is encouraging to me that practicing
mindfulness doesn’t require advanced skills to be helpful and effective, and
that a small time commitment to practice can provide immediate benefits.
I’ve been reading several books on
mindfulness, all of which have aided me in understanding this topic. Mindfulness
for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn is a collection of reflections and
practices that he has found most useful with his students, and includes a CD
with 5 guided mindfulness meditations. In This Moment: Five Steps to Transcending
Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroscience by Kirk Strosahl and Patricia
Robinson provides practical strategies for dealing with the daily stresses we
all experience. Mindfulness in Eight Weeks by Michael Chaskalson gives detailed
instructions to support you in learning mindfulness in a structured way. And finally, The Little Book of Mindfulness by Patrizia Collard is just that – a
small book, containing simple 5 and 10 minute practices to let go of stress and
anxiety. These are but a few of the
numerous books on mindfulness in the Minuteman Library Network. I encourage you to take a look at some of
them. I hope you will find them useful
as I have.
