The Mindfulness Blog

 Before writing this post I went on a bit of a research mission so I could describe in more detail how mindfulness can help in anxiety situations. Fat lot of good that did! Details, facts and figures do nothing to help people deal with anxiety day to day, so what I am going to do is simply write this post from the way I see things and how mindfulness has helped me. I hope that you can understand where I am coming from!

Have you ever faced a situation where your mind played out scenario’s in your head that had you all tense and stressed before the event had even occurred? Maybe it was going for a job interview or facing up to someone that you had been arguing with or even stepping out the door and going about your daily life brings on these thoughts and feelings of stress.

Nobody is immune to anxiety and it does serve a purpose in life. If we were completely oblivious to it we could find ourselves in situations that may be life threatening but it is when the anxiety causes irrational thinking and behavior that it becomes a problem. How we are able to cope with these thoughts and feelings determines how much it affects us, some people cope with it quite well and seem very confident and secure in themselves but some of us are unfortunately controlled by our feelings of anxiety.

How does practicing mindfulness increase our ability to deal with anxiety? The art of living mindfully involves taking a break from the thoughts doing the rounds in our heads and seeing everything for as it is. That is not a great definition but it is a hard concept to put into words. In essence though what we try to do is to remove any emotion or feeling from the situation we are in and take everything on ‘face value’.

That’s great Craig, but how the hell do I do this? Glad you asked! (Sorry, I am in a particularly funny mood tonight. I have been struggling for a couple of days with my back pain and all my frustration is coming out here!) The first skill we need to develop is to recognize when we start feeling uncomfortable or anxious. Once we can identify these feelings at an early stage we have a better chance of nipping it in the bud before it becomes an issue.

The next step is to remove yourself from the situation – not physically and certainly not when your complete concentration is required. All of this takes practice and mental strength, I have been applying these methods in my life for over six months now and I am nowhere near getting it right one hundred percent of the time yet but persistence does pay off. Anyhoo, back to the subject at hand.

Once you have the chance to ‘remove’ yourself it is time to take a few deep breaths in and out. Now for the tricky bit, pick something to concentrate on. I like to concentrate solely on the rise and fall of my chest as I take the breaths. I also find that in the beginning I needed to close my eyes for this to work but please yourself. No falling asleep though!

As you focus your concentration on the one thing you have chosen you will notice thoughts come and go in your mind. That is perfectly ok, what we aren’t trying to do is suppress our thoughts. What we are trying to do is let those thoughts come and go but not pay any attention to them what so ever. Certain thoughts will enter our mind and what we were concentrating on will be totally forgotten.

All of a sudden that thought of what Mr. XYZ really thinks of us will come flooding back into our mind and we are back to square one again. The trick is to catch yourself before that happens and simply let that thought of Mr. XYZ come in and most importantly flow out of our mind without even a second glance given to it.

I have found that with practice I can clear my mind within a matter of minutes and once the feeling of calm comes back it is simply a matter of returning back to what you were doing. Make no mistake this does take a fair bit of practice and mental strength to achieve but I do know from experience that it does make life a great deal easier.

I truly hope that this post has made some sense to you, my writing skills are far from great but if even one persons life is made easier from this my job is done. If you feel that you need a better explanation I recommend that you take a look at the Mindfulness for Beginners CD which will give you a far better understanding of the concepts involved. If you are suffering from anxiety I wish you all the best in finding a solution that works for you, life is hard enough without having to deal with this type of thing. Keep you chin up and don’t ever forget that the sun will shine again and soon!

Craig

I was asked recently to contribute to a radio show broadcast on BBC about whether or not pain is in the mind. There are so, so many people suffering in pain everyday! People were phoning in constantly looking for answers to dealing with their pain. It really is sad that so many people are so desperate to find an answer to help improve their quality of life. And I thought I had it bad! Not likely!

Anyway back to the topic at hand, it is my opinion that pain is not a product of the mind however, I am living proof that we can limit our suffering by training our mind to react in certain ways when we feel pain. This is far from easy and takes a great deal of practice to master. I have been consistently ‘catching’ myself whenever I start to let my pain overcome me but I still have days when my mind is tired and the pain takes over and I suffer physically to the point of spending all day just trying to get around. I would like to share with you a ‘good’ day though when my mind is strong enough to deal with the pain.

Usually when I first wake up is a bad time for me. My back is stiff and sore and it takes quite a while for me to be able to put my weight on my feet due to painful heels. This is make or break time for me! Either I will sit there on the bed and whine and complain about the pain (usually only when there is a sympathetic ear around, but these are few and far between these days!) or I will take control over it and put Mindfulness into practice.

Try this any time you feel pain and see if it helps you – sit yourself on the edge of the bed and take deep breaths in and out. Concentrate only on your breathing. Feel the breath coming into your lungs and feel it coming out again. Watch your chest rise and fall with each breath. Try doing this for five minutes without loosing your concentration. You will find that thoughts enter your mind pretty much continually and the key is to acknowledge that they are there and simply move them on, don’t pay any attention to them.

If you find your focus has moved away from your breathing and watching your chest rise and fall, gently take your focus back to these things and continue the exercise. The next part is something that I have added to the exercise and find very helpful although you may not read about it in any Mindfulness books! While still focusing on your breathing, say out loud “I am going to have a good day” or “I have many reasons to make the most of today and that is exactly what I am going to do”.

I find affirmations are a great way to prepare me mentally to deal with my pain and keep me going throughout the day. These are just a couple that I find useful and obviously different affirmations will work for different people. One thing I avoid is saying things like – “I can deal with this pain” or “This pain won’t get the better of me”. I find even the mention of the word pain will shift your focus back to it and it will take over your thoughts again and you’re back to square one.

Once I am happy that I am mentally prepared for the day I go back to focusing on my breathing and watching my chest rise and fall for a minute or two and then slowly bring myself back to the room. I find this exercise so good that even though I am in quite a bit of pain there is no way that I can stay sitting on that bed wallowing in my self-pity, I simply have to get up and do my best to make the day a good one. Admittedly I may have to do this several times a day to stay positive but that doesn’t matter, do it as many times as you need to.

There will always be times when it is easier just to lie back down, make yourself as comfortable as you can and stay there all day. I know I have done this on many occasions when I just can’t get my mind to ‘over-ride’ what I am feeling physically and it is awfully hard to keep going. If you find yourself having one of these days try doing this exercise again in one hour and keep trying until you have enough mental strength to get yourself out of bed. Also, try thinking of something that you like doing that you could do once you are up and about, I find that helps a lot. Heck, I even think of sitting down having a cup of coffee as a positive reason to get out of bed these days! Sad isn’t it!

I have no doubt at all that even chronic pain is not all in the mind, but I do hope that this little exercise may give you enough mental strength to overcome your pain enough to give you a positive outlook on life and I know from experience that staying positive can make life so much easier when you are suffering in pain.

I would love to hear your comments on what you think about this subject and whether or not this exercise helped in any way.

I have been at this keyboard for over an hour now so I think I better go and lie down! Nah, just kidding! I could really do with a stretch and walk around though.

Take Care

Craig

Mindfulness Meditation – A Path To Happiness
By Kirsten Harrell, Psy.D.

Meditation has been found to have a positive influence on the body, mind, and spirit.  Successful management of chronic pain, decrease in blood pressure, and reduction in stress hormones are a few of the physiological benefits of meditative practices.  Meditation is also known to produce a variety of psychological benefits, including reduction of anxiety, enhanced sense of well-being, increased awareness of emotions, and a greater sense of self-actualization.  Spiritual bliss and enlightenment are among the spiritual benefits of meditation.

Recently scientists have looked at the effect of mindfulness meditation (one type of awareness meditation) on the brain and neuroplasticity.  Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to develop and change – essentially rewire itself – in response to training and/or experience.  Richard Davidson, PhD at the University of Wisconsin has conducted research that indicates that meditation increases neuronal firings in the left frontal cortex of the brain – the same area associated with positive feelings and happiness.  Studies involving very experienced meditators (Buddhist monks) have shown that these brain changes may be long lasting.  In other words, mindfulness meditation may increase your level of happiness and the more you practice the happier you will be.

Rather than disregarding any distracting thoughts, those practicing mindfulness meditation simply observe their thoughts without judgment.  The goal of this form of meditation is to increase awareness in the present moment.  If you want to give this type of meditation a try, I suggest beginning with a mindful walking practice.  This simply means that while you are walking, you keep your awareness on the experience of walking.  Stay in the present moment and be aware of what your body feels like as you walk.  Notice the sensations as you put one foot in front of the other.  Notice the sights, sounds, and smells around you.  Simply keep your awareness on your experience in the moment.

When other thoughts come into your mind (and they most definitely will come) simply observe them and let them go – without judging them.  This is a key to mindfulness – rather than getting caught up in these thoughts or berating yourself for having distracting thoughts, it is important to be an impartial observer of the thoughts flowing through your mind.  Remember… observe the thoughts and let them go.

As you gain experience with this type of meditation, you will gain the understanding that your true essence – your essential spirit – is not the contents of your mind, but rather the observer of the contents.  This awareness will help you detach from intense emotions and allow them to flow freely and easily.  When practiced on a regular basis, mindfulness becomes a way of life and a path toward greater happiness, peace, and joy.

Kirsten Harrell, Psy.D. is a psychologist, consultant, life coach, inspirational speaker, and entrepreneur.  Dr. Harrell has combined her expertise in positive psychology, energy psychology, stress management, and mind-body therapies, to provide cutting edge services to individuals and businesses for over 15 years.  In addition, she is a leading authority on the use of positive thinking to create health, happiness, and success.  Dr. Harrell has taught graduate level courses at the University of Dayton and Wright State University.  She is the President and co-founder of Popular Inspirations, Ltd. http://www.ipopin.com and co-creator of ipopins (the one minute affirmations).

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