Just breathe.
It is the first thing we do when born,
It is our last act before dying.
Torah teaches that Breath made us more than just so much dirt.
So when you lose direction,
When you feel overwhelmed,
When you lose hope,
When you seek the will of G-d,
Do what you were made to do.
Just breathe. -Dale Arends
Mindfulness practice is increasingly being employed in psychology to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions such as anxiety, chronic pain, chemical dependency and depression. Research has been ongoing over the last several decades, with a surge of interest over the last ten years in particular. In 2011, the National Institute of Health released findings of a study where MRI’s of participants two weeks before and after mindfulness meditation. The conclusion of the study stated that "..these findings may represent an underlying brain mechanism associated with mindfulness-based improvements in mental health." A January 2011 study in the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, based on MRI’s of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) participants, suggested that "participation in MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking."
MBSR is a structured program established by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “Mindfulness,” states Kabat-Zinn, “is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We feel more alive. We also gain immediate access to our powerful inner resources for insight, transformation and healing.” This program which lasts eight to ten weeks consist of 2.5 hour weekly classes along with a single all-day class. Classes consist of meditations on awareness and loving-kindness, periods of easy yoga, lectures, group discussions and other activities. One focus of this program is for individuals to figure out the things that cause stress in their lives-including thoughts that may be exaggerated or false-and respond to them in such a way that he or she feels empowered rather than overwhelmed.
Easy to remember anagrams some mindfulness participants use to facilitate stress reduction practice and training include:
RAIN: Recognize when a strong emotion is present, Allow or acknowledge that it's there, Investigate the body, emotions, and thoughts, and Non-identify with whatever is there.
and
ROAR: Recognize the reactivity one feels about a stressor, take a deep breath and Relax,
Observe how one thinks/feels about the situation, Accept the situation for what it is without the stories one creates about it and Respond intentionally and with purpose to the situation as it really is.
Per NIH 2009 Mind/Body Med. Conference, effects of ongoing mindfulness practice include:
Decreases in
|
Increase in
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Weight
Blood sugar
Blood pressure
Cortisone
Inflammation
Pain
Stress
Depression
Anxiety
Aggression
Substance use/abuse
|
Well-being
Alertness/attention
Brain size/gray matter
Quality of life
Concentration
Learning
Sleep quality
Body awareness
Positive mood
|
Though founded on Buddhist meditation, Mindfulness practice does not depend on religious thought to be of use in psychological therapies though interestingly, many examples of Mindful meditation can be found in Biblical scripture including Moses’ encounter with the burning bush, and Jacob’s dream of the ladder and subsequent wrestling with the Jungian Shadow-like Ish.
Mindfulness helps us of faith answer the scriptural question G-d posed to our patriarchs.
“Where are you?"
With support and guidance we can help our patients as they too struggle with this question.
1 Kings 19-13Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at full attention before God. God will pass by.”
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?”
Sources and direct quotes from this article can be found at:
http://www.mindfulnessnw.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness
http://www.biblegateway.com/
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