Mindfulness and its Role in Health and Stress Reduction Presented by: Colleen Camenisch, MBA

What is Mindfulness? What are some of the ideas you have about what mindfulness is?

What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness helps one to stop and notice how things are in an objective way. Rather than getting caught up in thought or problem solving mode, one is noticing where the mind is going and is being fully aware of the present moment as it is happening. Mindfulness allows us to have awareness about our thoughts and habitual patterns. Seeing things without filters, lenses or judgments. Having the ability to step back and see things clearly as they are. Finding a way to re-center ourselves and move out of the chronic stress cycle. Helps one to stay in the present moment rather than getting caught up in thoughts of the past or future.

Benefits of Mindfulness Helps us to come out of chronic stress by stopping and non-doing Mindfulness increases: Ones ability to deal with stress in our every day lives Sleep Communication Feelings of being connected Mindfulness decreases: Blood pressure Pain Anxiety Recurrent depression

Research on mindfulness Exponential increase over 35 years In 2013 more Ph.D. dissertations used mindfulness than any other index keyword Currently there are multiple streams: Mindfulness and wellness – the primary driver Defining research – what is mindfulness? Mindfulness practices – how do we get it? The ‘neurological substrate’ of mindfulness Mindfulness in the workplace and education

History of Mindfulness Kabat-Zinn – U. Mass. Medical School – Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) clinic (1979) Secularized eastern meditation practices - Kabat-Zinn was (and is) an MIT trained molecular biologist and long time meditator who worked at U. Mass Medical School Started a clinic where U. Mass doctors sent their patients who were in chronic pain when all traditional treatments proved ineffective! Created the intervention called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program This intervention has been one of the most widely studied programs in secular based meditation practice. It is highly evidence based. It is an eight-week course where participants meet 2.5 hours 1 time per week and are encouraged to meditate at home daily. There is also a full day silent retreat as a component of the course. In order to facilitate this course, one needs to have completed the requirements through the University of Massachusetts Medical School and must have their own meditation practice. * Thanks to Bill Kuechler, Ph.D. professor of Information Technology at the University of Nevada, Reno for a portion of this slide.

Mindfulness and wellness Specific treatment programs Mindfulness-based treatments specifically for: Borderline personality disorder - Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy - 1985 Depression – Zindal, et al, 1998 – discuss results Anxiety - Orsillo , Roemer and Zindel, 2011 Stephen Hayes (UNR psychology department) – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Mind-Body Bridging – Bock, 2004 (U. Utah PTSD veterans study)

Neuroplasticity Neurologically speaking, how does it work? Neuroplasticity – London cabbies - posterior hippocampi  What parts of the brain are involved (neuroanatomy)? In what specific effects? What are the changes to brain chemistry? Do different mindfulness practices (i.e. koan vs. vipassana vs. body scan) produce different effects? What are they? This research works two ways. Sometimes the parts of the brain responsible for different issues, e.g. depression, are better identified.

Diagram

Neuroplasticity An article published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 2010, showed: “A controlled pre and post study using MR images of 16 participants who attended the UMASS MBSR program showed that, MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter concentration, in brain regions involved in learning and memory process, emotional regulation, self-referential processing and perspective taking.” (Britta K. Hölzel et al. 2010) Self referential processing has to do with the amount of stimulus we take in and how we interpret that in reference to ourselves. The practice of mindfulness helps develop such qualities as non-judging and non-attachment, while at the same time increasing one’s ability to let be and develop acceptance. It can help us not get stuck in old ways of seeing ourselves

Studies in progress at the Center for Mindfulness at UMASS Medical School Researchers at the UMASS Center for Mindfulness are currently evaluating: The efficacy of mobile mindfulness training for smoking cessation in randomized clinical trials In collaboration with Drs. Lori Pbert and Elena Salmoirago-Blotcher, we are investigating whether mindfulness training can promote healthy diet and physical activity in teenagers Working with Drs. Emily Levoy, Asimina Lazaridou and Carl Fulwiler, we are exploring the efficacy of MBSR for weight maintenance after weight loss *All information is from the UMASS Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness website.

Standards of practice: It is critical for a mindfulness teacher to have a deep practice of their own There are times when mindfulness isn’t right for participants or isn’t right – right now Wording and phrasing are very important to support the process Meditation is a highly experiential process Mindfulness has many subtleties which grow with practice

Standards of practice According to the website of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, “There have been rare reports that meditation could cause or worsen symptoms in people with certain psychiatric problems like anxiety and depression.” According to an article from Brown Medicine Magazine Dr. Britton states, “the problem, is that in most cases mindfulness meditation is being taught and practiced by people who lack a deep knowledge of its Buddhist foundation.” What to consider if you are thinking about doing mindfulness: Is it the right time Have you had any recent very large life changes Do you have a current history of significant depression Have you experienced post traumatic stress disorder and have you been treated by a mental health professional for this.

Let’s do a practice together! Mindfulness Practice Let’s do a practice together!

How was the practice for you?

How can you integrate mindfulness into your daily life? By developing a daily practice, guided CD’s and a meditation course can help facilitate this. There is an 8-week program on campus visit www.equilibrium-mbsr.com for more information. Just taking a few moments, maybe five to ten minutes, to just stop and notice your breath. You can do this at a doctor’s office, at work, or at home, it is really assessable. You could use sound the same way, just having an awareness of the sounds that surround you. Daily activities like washing dishes, walking, driving etc. When you are talking with others, by listening and really hearing. Mindfully eating. Mindfulness can be translated into all of our daily lives if we can be awake each moment.

How can you integrate mindfulness into your daily life? Jon Kabat-Zinn “Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness”U of Mass Center for Mindfulness Online – Meditations – The Change Collective: 10% Happier Online 8 week MBSR course: http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/aboutcourse.php Head Space Insight Timer