Mindfulness, or How to Change Your Brain for the Better… in 8 Weeks or Less

This past week, I asked myself the question: if someone I care about knew something that could significantly reduce my stress --- whether immediately, or over the long haul --- and chose not to share it with me: would I be OK with that?  NO, I wouldn’t be OK!

In that spirit then, I want to explore mindfulness; that is, how each of us can retrain our personal response to stress.  Indeed: how we can change our brain for the better…in 8 weeks or less!

My plan then is to: underscore how mindfulness has captured center stage in psychology and education; define mindfulness; reasons to considering practicing mindfulness; show you how to do it; and tie it into the work of psychotherapists and educators.

This past summer, my university dean sent me an article on benefits of mindfulness.  The article was in the current issue of the American Psychological Association Monitor.  This journal is put out monthly by the American Psychological Association, and aims to take the pulse of contemporary American psychology.  It singles out hot topics, one of which is now: mindfulness, in psychology and also in education.

I then sent the article forward to our university’s founder as well as our current university president.  This was the beginning of our introducing mindfulness into our entire clinical training program.

All of this took me back 30 years ago to when I completed my doctoral dissertation on mindfulness meditation.

At that same time, Harvard University Medical School initiated a research study on mindfulness; in which mindfulness was defined as: “to pay attention to this present moment…as if your life depended on it.”  Well, it turns out: our lives do depend on it!

In a September 2012 article (See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/09/22/chronic-stress-health-risks_n_1897580.html), which summarizes the most up-to-date research on the “hidden health risks of chronic stress,” it turns out that 1 out of 4 of Americans classify medically as “severely stressed.”  Over ½ of our medical expenses, including sick time, are directly stress-related. 

The best part of the article was that it offers the clearest explanation I’ve yet seen of the actual biological mechanisms of the stress response within our bodies; all in user-friendly, non-technical English.

The good news is that, through mindfulness, we can inoculate ourselves against severe stress, and the toll it takes on our physical and emotional health.  For example, at UCLA Medical School, it has been discovered that just 8 weeks of daily mindfulness practice significantly thickens our prefrontal cortex.

Now, why does this matter?   Well, it turns out that the prefrontal cortex is essential in our reducing and successfully managing our stress levels.  In essence, the thicker the cortex, the lower the stress. 

If this true about mindfulness, how exactly do we do it?  I want to suggest that you practice, for no more than five minutes, the following mindful awareness exercise.

First, find a comfortable sitting position, close your eyes…and breathe.  Specifically, try counting each breath on the out-breath (as you exhale).  Simply count up to ten.  If you lose count, which is not unusual, no worries!  Simply go back to the beginning, by starting at one again.  Continue breathing, and counting, for 5 minutes.

Upon completion, reflect for just a moment on how it all went.  What did you like the most?  What was the most challenging?  Any other observations?  Might you be interested in practicing it some more.  If so, may I again recommend the above links for more detailed instruction and positive incentive?

Now, in addition to reducing our personal stress levels --- which is major --- what other ways does mindfulness apply to our lives, such as in the workplace and in our family life?

Twice this past year, I had the opportunity to attend workshops at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, which is currently spearheading (along with Harvard University and UCLA) research on mindfulness.  The conferences inspired me to think of creative applications of mindfulness to education (as I work in a university graduate school of psychology). 

I came back from Wisconsin and immediately created a brand-new elective in our curriculum: interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theory.  Now what, pray tell, might this have to do with mindfulness? 

Well, it turns out that those are just big words for how our capacity to non-stressfully pay attention to one another --- in a word, practice mindfulness --- contributes powerfully to happier marriages and healthier families.  (A very helpful resource here is UCLA psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Siegel’s textbook: “The Mindful Brain,” in which most recent research on the above is summarized; also see his numerous YouTube videos, e.g., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu7wEr8AnHw .)

Next, as I mentioned earlier, I also thoroughly revised our university’s entire clinical practicum curriculum; where mindfulness is now viewed as instrumental in cultivating the “emotionally intelligent” therapist.  To that end: every week, mindfulness exercises, similar to what you just tried, are assigned to our graduate students.

Next up for me is our university’s brand-new Certificate in Addiction Studies; where, not surprisingly, mindfulness is seen as an indispensable, primary tool in relapse prevention and maintaining sobriety within the previously addicted population.

To wrap up this brief introduction to mindfulness, and a few of its clear benefits, let me ask: “Beyond psychology, how does mindfulness promote success, for example, in learning new information (whether in school or on the job)?  Mindfulness has been shown to actively decrease our stress level.  This decrease in stress directly enhances our capacity to pay attention and retain new information.

Let’s go back for a moment to my initial question: if someone I care about knew something that could significantly reduce my stress --- whether immediately, or over the long haul --- and chose not to share it with me: would I be OK with that?

 

Now, you’ve already found the link here to that 2-page article on chronic stress.  Will you read it?  If you read it, and write me (bob@drbobweathers.com), I promise to write you back immediately.  Why?  Because I want you to begin thinking in a new way about how you might affect the quality of your life, today, for the better. 

Plus, I strongly encourage you to follow the following link to a one-page document on mindfulness instructions: http://bit.ly/UyjdG1.  This, by the way, is written by the founding director of the Harvard University research I mentioned above.  But it’s not enough to only read it.  I invite you to practice mindfulness, even one more time this week.  After trying that: write me.  Again, I will respond immediately to whatever your experience is.  Deal?

Thank you for being open-minded to something that your life might indeed depend upon!