Mindfulness

Mindfulness, which is often called the mind-body connection, is being present in the current moment. Being present means being connected to your body, thought content and feelings without using people or technology as a distraction. It is not thinking about what you should eat for lunch, mentally making a to-do list, or thinking of your response to the dialogue of someone you are in a conversation with.

Common mindfulness practices include deep breathing, visualization, meditation, yoga, and journaling. Nearly any enjoyable activity done using intentional focus can be a mindful activity, including drinking your morning coffee.

Mindfulness is great for panic attacks, because panic attacks happen when the mind creates physical sensations secondary to mental overstimulation. This can become a loop of physical stress feeding mental stress which seems endless. Mindfulness can be used before a panic attack to bring someone back into the present moment and stop the process. It can also be used during a panic attack to interrupt the sensations and reconnect to the present, and is most effective if mindfulness can be practiced with the support of a loved one. For those individuals who may not want to take medication or supplements, mindfulness is an effective tool to use without having to put anything in our body.

Mindfulness is effective for anxiety of all forms including social and performance anxiety, because it can break the thought spiral that leads to the distress. It is important to note that mindfulness should be practiced on a consistent basis to improve overall function and should be considered more of a lifestyle modification than a single therapy. For example, deep breathing once a week is going to have limited benefit when compared to using it as a technique for managing everyday stressors.

A consistent mindfulness practice can benefit ADHD, depression and trauma responses. Mindfulness is great for somatization (mind body connection), but is also a great adjunct to nearly all therapeutic practices. For depression, mindfulness can help recognize and challenge negative self-talk, catastrophizing, and focusing on the past by returning the focus to the current moment. In addictive behaviors, mindfulness can help battle impulsive urges to use and refocus the mind to prevent relapse.

In trauma, mindfulness strategies can be used to interrupt intrusive re-experiencing such as flashbacks. When someone is experiencing an intrusive memory, feeling numb or feeling disconnected, a mind-body exercise can reconnect them physically to themselves and encourage a feeling of current safety by distancing the experience. The five senses exercise below can be especially beneficial in acute situations. Mindfulness does not treat the serious implications of trauma, which should be processed with an experienced therapist.

Although mindfulness is simple and effective, it will not treat everything. Mindfulness works well in anxiety, panic, depression, ADHD, addiction and trauma disorders, but in severe cases, it may need to be used in conjunction with other forms of treatment. If someone is not able to function in daily life or is considering hurting themself or others, a medical provider should be immediately consulted to seek additional options. In conditions resulting in significant brain matter changes like stroke, toxic exposure, long term alcoholism, Parkinson’s, or dementia, mindfulness has limited use.

Mindfulness practices will not effectively treat mood swings in cycling mood disorders such as bipolar disorder, nor significantly improve the social function in personality disorders such as narcissistic personality disorder or borderline personality disorder. It also has limited impact on psychosis, hallucinations or delusions, as sometimes seen in schizophrenia or delirium. However, a consistent mindfulness practice can encourage anyone with any condition to become more aware of emotion, recognize thought patterns contributing to distress, and regulate the physical manifestations of stress.

Incorporating mindfulness is very simple to start. To become more mindful immediately, make small adjustments in your daily activities to limit distraction and attempts to multi-task. Most humans become more technology driven over time, which impacts the ability to be present in everyday experiences. If you are not present in the moment, you are missing out on it.

When attending a concert or performance, take only 10 pictures and stay off of social media. When eating dinner on the weekend, sit down, stay off of technology and enjoy your food bite by bite. When speaking with someone, do not scroll on your phone or check your email, just focus on that person. When bathing, put the phone on the other side of the bathroom and spend that time focusing on yourself instead of listening to an audiobook. When walking the dog, stop listening to music and appreciate the weather instead. Small steps like this increase overall mindfulness and enable you to find small periods of joy every day.

An impressive benefit of slowing down and being more present in every moment is recognizing your own thought content and emotion. When this happens, observe this process and yourself without being harsh or attempting to force change. Simply recognize what or how you feel with a sense of curiosity, instead of aggressively trying some type of correction.

This style of emotional awareness teaches the skill of recognition and labeling which grows stronger over time, while using negative reinforcement like self-criticism can decrease this ability. It is especially important for children and teenagers to practice healthy emotion recognition skills without learning to mask or fear emotion, as emotion recognition is the first step to emotion and behavior regulation.

To advance these skills deliberately, strive to increase your ability to be present in the moment. Great ways to practice include learning to cook or garden, journaling about your thoughts and feelings without distraction for several minutes each day, beginning meditation or daily deep breathing, or incorporating more intentional self-care processes at home. Remember that mindfulness relies on the mind-body connection so taking care of your body nearly always helps with taking care of your mind.

To try box breathing, sit comfortably in a quiet space, close your eyes and rest a moment. Then, practice 6 deliberate breath rotations focusing on breathing. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, and hold for 4 seconds before repeating the inhale. This is a single iteration of box breathing, but most people see impact doing 5-10 iterations when stressed, overwhelmed or disconnected from reality.

When you lose focus and your mind wanders from breathing, gently bring it back to your breath without being harsh or judgmental. This is a version of physical mindfulness by being aware of your physical state in each moment. This is a great time to make small changes to your posture, recognize feelings of hunger or thirst or notice that your environment is very bright.

If you are feeling stressed, this practice can make you aware of these feelings and thoughts. Perhaps you are worried about your mom, angry about an argument you had or feeling critical of a decision you made. Observe this, be aware of how this could affect the things you feel or how you may respond to things today day. If these stressors are too much to move forward, journaling or processing them with a good friend for a few minutes can be helpful.

This exercise is most helpful in episodic situations, such as a panic attack or reexperiencing a trauma memory. It will help bring you back into your body and situation. It can be followed with the box breathing exercise for a more significant reduction of physical stress. (Some people carry peppermints or lemon candy to help practice this exercise at school or work.)

To use this, simply describe the following in this order:

• 5 things you can see (white wall, green couch, bright sunshine).
• 4 things you can feel (warm sunshine, flat chair behind your back).
• 3 things you can hear (car door slamming outside, dog snoring).
• 2 things you can smell (peppermint lip balm, shampoo).
• 1 thing you can taste (cinnamon gum).

I am wishing you joy in your mindfulness journey. As I am unaware of your specific situation, this content is not formal medical advice, but a mental health professional can help you safely incorporate therapeutic practices. For further research, several widely available options are listed below. I am in no way affiliated with the listed resources.

Book: Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

Book: Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Free Application: Insight Timer

Neuroscience Podcast: The Huberman Lab Podcast

Locate Mental Health Professionals: PsychologyToday.com