Month: January 2017

Reduce Amygdala Mediated Stress responses with Mindfulness

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Reduce Amygdala Mediated Stress responses with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It is vital to practice mindfulness to ensure you help the mind to relieve stress. Notably, constant fear and anxiety are likely to sabotage and hinder achievements. Mindfulness can be effective in dealing with both stress and anxiety.“ – Pick the Brain

 

Stress is an integral part of life. In fact, I’ve quipped that the definition of death is when stress ceases. People often think of stress as a bad thing. But, it is in fact essential to the health of the body. If the muscles are not stressed to some extent they deteriorate. As it turns out, this is also true for the brain. The same goes for our psychological health. If we don’t have any stress, we call it boredom. In fact, we invest time and resources in stressing ourselves, e.g. ridding rollercoasters, sky diving, competing in sports, etc. We say we love a challenge, but, challenges are all stressful. So, we actually love to stress ourselves. In moderation, it is healthful and provides interest and fun to life.

 

If stress, is high or is prolonged, however, it can be problematic. It can damage our physical and mental health and even reduce our longevity, leading to premature deaths. So, it is important that we employ methods to either reduce or control high or prolonged stress or reduce our responses to it. Mindfulness practices have been found routinely to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. It is known that stress not only affects the body but also affects the brain, producing changes particularly in neural circuits involving the Amygdala. Mindfulness also alters the brain, particularly neural circuits involved in attention, executive functions, and emotion regulation. This suggests that mindfulness may also alter the Amygdala circuits in the brain to affect the stress responses.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1470331626324092/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666115/

Taren and colleagues recruited adult participants from the community and measure perceived stress and also scanned their brains with functional magnetic imaging (f-MRI). They found that the greater the perceived stress in the individual the greater the functional connectivity between the Amygdala and the Cingulate Cortex. This verified the notion that stress can act by altering the neural circuits involving the Amygdala but was correlational and did not demonstrate causation.

 

Taren and colleagues then went on to examine the effects of meditation practice on these Amygdala circuits. They recruited unemployed community participants who were seeking employment and also exhibited high stress levels and randomly assigned them to either an intensive 3-day mindfulness meditation condition or a 3-day rest and relaxation condition. The mindfulness practice consisted of the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program condensed into an intensive 3-day period. In the rest and relaxation condition, the participants engaged in similar activities to those included in an MBSR program but were instructed to do them in a restful way rather than a mindful way. Before and after the 3-day intervention the participants underwent f-MRI scans of their brains.

 

The researchers found that prior to the intervention period both groups displayed relatively high functional connectivity of the Amygdala with the Cingulate Cortex, but following meditation training, but not relaxation, there was a significant reduction in this connectivity. They also found that a biological marker of stress, cortisol levels, was inversely related to reductions in the connectivity; the greater the reduction in connectivity the greater the reduction in the cortisol levels. This suggests that mindfulness training reduces stress responses by reducing the ability of the Amygdala to affect other brain regions.

 

These results are interesting and provide evidence of the types of changes in the brain produced by mindfulness training that underlie the stress reducing properties of mindfulness training. The Amygdala is known to be involved in stress responses and emotionality so reducing its ability to affect other neural structures would appear to be critical for mindfulness’ stress reducing properties. Hence, a coherent picture is emerging of the physiological mechanisms underlying the ability of mindfulness to reduce stress responses.

 

So, reduce amygdala mediated stress responses with mindfulness.

 

“The picture we have is that mindfulness practice increases one’s ability to recruit higher order, pre-frontal cortex regions in order to down-regulate lower-order brain activity. In other words, our more primal responses to stress seem to be superseded by more thoughtful ones.” – Adrienne Taren

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Taren, A. A., Gianaros, P. J., Greco, C. M., Lindsay, E. K., Fairgrieve, A., Brown, K. W., … Creswell, J. D. (2015). Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(12), 1758–1768. http://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv066

 

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that mindfulness meditation training interventions reduce stress and improve stress-related health outcomes, but the neural pathways for these effects are unknown. The present research evaluates whether mindfulness meditation training alters resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the amygdala, a region known to coordinate stress processing and physiological stress responses. We show in an initial discovery study that higher perceived stress over the past month is associated with greater bilateral amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) rsFC in a sample of community adults (n = 130). A follow-up, single-blind randomized controlled trial shows that a 3-day intensive mindfulness meditation training intervention (relative to a well-matched 3-day relaxation training intervention without a mindfulness component) reduced right amygdala-sgACC rsFC in a sample of stressed unemployed community adults (n = 35). Although stress may increase amygdala-sgACC rsFC, brief training in mindfulness meditation could reverse these effects. This work provides an initial indication that mindfulness meditation training promotes functional neuroplastic changes, suggesting an amygdala-sgACC pathway for stress reduction effects.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666115/

 

Improve Personality and Well-being with a Meditation Retreat

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Improve Personality and Well-being with a Meditation Retreat

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Even if you’re terrified, even if you have no interest in being a monk and you’re not an extremist by nature, I know that sitting in silence for 10 days will blow your mind.” – MeiMei Fox

 

Retreat can be a powerful experience. But, in some ways, is like being on vacation. Everything is taken care of, beds made, towels and linens provided, all meals prepared, and time is dictated by a detailed schedule of meditations, talks, question and answer periods, and reflective time. All the individual has to do is show up, meditate, relax, contemplate and listen. The retreatants are terribly spoiled! That seeming ease, however, is deceptive. Retreat is actually quite difficult and challenging. It can be very tiring as it can run from early in the morning till late at night every day. It can also be physically challenging as engaging in sitting meditation repeatedly over the day is guaranteed to produce many aches and pains in the legs, back, and neck. But the real challenges are psychological, emotional, and spiritual. Retreat can be a real test.

 

Retreat isn’t all relaxation and fun. Far from it. The darkness can descend. During silent retreat, deep emotional issues can emerge and may even overwhelm the individual. Many participants will spontaneously burst out in tears. Others may become overwhelmed with fear and anxiety and break out in cold sweats, and still others are sleepless and tormented. How can this be, that something so seemingly peaceful as silent retreat can be so emotionally wrenching? The secret is that the situation removes the minds ability to hide and distract.

 

Humans have done a tremendous job of providing distractions for the mind including books, movies, magazines, music, television, sports, amusement parks, surfing the internet, tweeting, texting, etc. Any time troubling thoughts or memories of traumatic experiences begin to emerge in everyday life, the subject can easily be changed by engaging in a distraction. So, the issues never have to truly be confronted. But, in silent retreat there is no escape. Difficult issues emerge and there is no place to hide. They must be confronted and experienced. For some people this may be the first time in their entire life that they’ve had to directly face themselves and their darkest thoughts. It’s no wonder that retreat can be so wrenching.

 

With all these difficulties, why would anyone want to put themselves through such an ordeal and go on a meditation retreat? People go because retreat has many profound and sometimes life altering benefits. The benefits of retreat were investigated in today’s Research News article “Psychological Effects of a 1-Month Meditation Retreat on Experienced Meditators.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1469065896450665/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01935/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w51-2016

Montero-Marin and colleagues recruited experienced meditators who participated in a 1-month Vipassana meditation retreat, with 8-9 hours of meditation and 1-2 hours of teaching each day, and compared them to a control group of experienced meditators matched on gender, age, ethnicity, educational, and type of meditation practice. They were measured before and after the retreat for non-attachment, decentering, mindfulness, loving kindness, compassion, joy, and acceptance toward both the self and others, positive and negative affect, satisfaction with life, temperament, and character.

 

They found that following the retreat participants, compared to controls, showed increased non-attachment, observing, mindfulness, positive-affect, balance-affect, and cooperativeness; and decreased describing, negative-others, reward-dependence and self-directedness. Employing a sophisticated statistical technique, they were able to show that non-attachment had a mediating role in decentring, acting aware, non-reactivity, negative-affect, balance-affect and self-directedness; and a moderating role in describing and positive others, with both mediating and moderating effects on satisfaction with life. Hence, attending a 1-month retreat produced improvements in non-attachment, which, in turn, produced improvements in mindfulness, positive emotions, temperament and character.

 

These are important results demonstrating the ability of participation in retreat to powerfully affect an individual beyond what is accomplished by long-term experience meditating. Concentrated practice over an extended period during retreat appears to magnify the effects of meditation, producing even greater positive benefits to the individual. Hence, even though retreat can be difficult, physically and emotionally, it is clear that its benefits, for many, far exceed its costs. This isn’t even considering the powerful spiritual experiences that can occur during retreat. This might account for the popularity of retreat and why it has been seen as an essential component of practice over hundreds of years.

 

So, improve personality and well-being with a meditation retreat.

 

“The retreat helped me realize that I’m full of desire, of longings for raw experience, and unbelievably controlling of how my life is lived. It sounds simple, but one week of silence may give you a hint, maybe more reliably than almost anything else, of who you are.” – Tim Wu

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Montero-Marin J, Puebla-Guedea M, Herrera-Mercadal P, Cebolla A, Soler J, Demarzo M, Vazquez C, Rodríguez-Bornaetxea F and García-Campayo J (2016) Psychological Effects of a 1-Month Meditation Retreat on Experienced Meditators: The Role of Non-attachment. Front. Psychol. 7:1935. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01935

 

Background: There are few studies devoted to assessing the impact of meditation-intensive retreats on the well-being, positive psychology, and personality of experienced meditators. We aimed to assess whether a 1-month Vipassana retreat: (a) would increase mindfulness and well-being; (b) would increase prosocial personality traits; and (c) whether psychological changes would be mediated and/or moderated by non-attachment.

Method: A controlled, non-randomized, pre-post-intervention trial was used. The intervention group was a convenience sample (n = 19) of experienced meditators who participated in a 1-month Vipassana meditation retreat. The control group (n = 19) comprised matched experienced meditators who did not take part in the retreat. During the retreat, the mean duration of daily practice was 8–9 h, the diet was vegetarian and silence was compulsory. The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), Non-attachment Scale (NAS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), Temperament Character Inventory Revised (TCI-R-67), Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Other Four Immeasurables (SOFI) and the MINDSENS Composite Index were administered. ANCOVAs and linear regression models were used to assess pre-post changes and mediation/moderation effects.

Results: Compared to controls, retreatants showed increases in non-attachment, observing, MINDSENS, positive-affect, balance-affect, and cooperativeness; and decreases in describing, negative-others, reward-dependence and self-directedness. Non-attachment had a mediating role in decentring, acting aware, non-reactivity, negative-affect, balance-affect and self-directedness; and a moderating role in describing and positive others, with both mediating and moderating effects on satisfaction with life.

Conclusions: A 1-month Vipassana meditation retreat seems to yield improvements in mindfulness, well-being, and personality, even in experienced meditators. Non-attachment might facilitate psychological improvements of meditation, making it possible to overcome possible ceiling effects ascribed to non-intensive practices.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01935/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w51-2016

It’s the Awareness, Stupid!

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It’s the Awareness, Stupid

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The greatest human gift is to be aware, to be in touch with oneself, one’s body, mind, feelings, thoughts, sensations.”– Anthony de Mello

 

The vast majority of the human race is, and has always been, on a spiritual search, to find greater meaning in life and beyond. We expend time engaging in spiritual practices, going on retreat, visiting sacred sites, attending religious services, watching televangelists, etc. We expend resources supporting churches, temples, mosques, monasteries etc. supporting priests, ministers, evangelists, missionaries, gurus, rabbis, imams, spiritual teachers, and we may even tithe a considerable fraction of our wealth. And we expend cognitive and emotional resources philosophizing, studying sacred texts, ruminating about the health of the soul, listening to sermons, having conversations about spirituality/religion, etc.

 

Why do humans do this? Why do we feel such a strong pull toward spirituality? On a rational level we would do substantively better in our lives if we invested the time and resources on our careers, families, relationships, secular issues etc. rather than on spirituality. But there is something inside of us that demands attention and makes us feel that there is more to life than just the physical. Most people can’t identify what it is, but they feel strongly that there is a spiritual component of their existence. They sense something about themselves that is more than a biological machine, something enduring, something outside of the earthly realm.

 

The answer is actually right there and obvious, but they can’t see it. As Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is spread upon the earth, but men do not see it.” They don’t understand that the one that’s doing the seeking is what they’re seeking. Sometimes I want to just scream out, “it’s the awareness, stupid.” It’s what’s seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, tasting, and even what’s feeling that there’s something more. It’s the awareness they experience. It’s so obvious that most people miss it. It seems that they’re looking for something different than what is already present. So, they don’t see the most obvious, constant, and important experience of all; awareness.

 

It’s our awareness that’s responsible for all the spiritual seeking. But, we don’t seem to see that that’s what we’re seeking. Instead, we look everywhere else for something else. To some extent it’s the fault of spiritual teachings which often promise or portray a realm of existence that is far different from what is currently being experienced. The iconography portrays realized beings as altered and otherworldly, not as someone just like us. So, we constantly look for something different from what we’re experiencing and missing the oh so obvious. “It’s the awareness, stupid!”

 

Another reason why we miss it is that our nervous systems are programmed to detect change. That makes sense as they adapted to protect us from danger and a change in the environment may signal a threat that needs to be addressed as a priority and immediately, so we do. A change may also signal an opportunity, perhaps prey, and we need to react quickly to take advantage. Attention is grabbed by new things. In fact, we tend to ignore stable stimuli, like the constant hum of a ceiling fan, the feeling of our clothes on our bodies, or a persistent constant odor in the room. The retina of our eye only sends a signal to the brain when there’s a change. So, a constant image on a constant place on the retina disappears. Our awareness has been constant and unchanging throughout our existence. So, it’s no wonder we miss it, the entire nervous system is designed to ignore such things.

 

Our attention is also attracted by strong stimuli, loud noises, bright lights, strong odors, etc.  Awareness is totally quiet, deeply silent, always in the background, never in the foreground. It doesn’t produce anything. It just registers what is. So, there is nothing to bring attention to awareness. How would we ever recognize its significance when it is mostly not on the radar screen?

 

If awareness is like this, what leads to the conclusion that it is what we’re seeking in our spiritual search? What evidence do we have that it is our true nature? After all, how can something so low key and unassuming be the spiritual key to understanding birth, life, death, and the nature of reality? To answer this question, it is important to look at what would be the characteristics of something that was indeed our true nature. Firstly, the truth doesn’t change or fluctuate. If it’s really the truth, it will always be the same. Secondly, it will always be there. Our true nature can’t come and go. It must be forever present. And lastly, our true nature could not be affected by temporary conditions. It must withstand all nature of changes in our environment, our physiology, and our psychological processes, remaining steadfast, constant, unaltered.

 

The idea we have of our self doesn’t live up to these criteria. The idea of self has been in constant change from the earliest moments of life to the present moment. It comes and goes depending upon what we’re doing and thinking about. And it is very much affected by our experiences. In fact, it is to a large extent built upon them. So, the self cannot be our true nature. Is our immortal soul, as taught by many religions, our true nature? Well, we can’t tell if it changes, but religion teaches that it does, as it’s blemished by sin. This also suggests that it’s affected by experience. In addition, we can’t detect if it comes and goes as no matter how hard we look, it can’t be found or observed. So, how could an immortal soul that we cannot find or observe be our true nature?

 

Awareness, on the other hand, has never changed. We are never more or less aware. The content of awareness is forever changing. The sensory stimuli in the environment are in a constant flux as are the contents of our ever changing minds, sometimes in the present moment, sometimes lost in memory or fantasy, sometime planning for the future. But the awareness of these changing mental states and sensory experiences is always the same. It always just silently registers whatever is transpiring. Awareness has always been there, never coming or going. It was there at birth, throughout development, and right now and has always been the same. Finally, awareness, isn’t affected by the external or internal environments. It’s the same when we’re ill as when we’re health, when we’re upset as when we’re calm, when we’re bombarded by intense stimulation like at a rock concert as when we’re in silence, when our minds affected by drugs as when totally sober. It’s always present and never changing regardless of circumstances. So, our awareness fits all of the criteria of being our true nature.

 

Even with this being true, how can we be sure that it actually is our true nature? Many religious and spiritual teachers and realized beings tell it is. But, if it’s the truth we need not take someone else’s word about it. We should be able to see for our self. Indeed, that is what the Buddha taught, “Do not believe anything, even my teachings, go and see for yourself.” He even told us how to, by meditation and deep contemplation, looking inside, not outside for the key to understanding our existence. It is here that we can clearly see that at the center, the core, of all experience is an unchanging, immortal awareness.

 

When you go see for yourself, you will see “it’s the awareness, stupid.”

 

“Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They’re born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.” – Anthony de Mello

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Improve the Symptoms of Stress with Mindfulness

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Improve the Symptoms of Stress with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Through mindfulness, individuals start to see their thoughts as less powerful. These distorted thoughts – such as “I always make mistakes” or “I’m a horrible person” – start to hold less weight. We ‘experience’ thoughts and other sensations, but we aren’t carried away by them. We just watch them come and go.” – William Marchand

 

Stress is universal. We are constantly under some form of stress. In fact, if we don’t have enough stress, we seek out more. Moderate stress can be a good thing promoting growth and flourishing. But, it must be moderate or what is called the optimum level of stress. Too little or too much stress can be damaging. Unfortunately for many of us living in a competitive, multitasking, modern environment stress is all too often higher than desirable. In addition, many of the normal mechanisms for dealing with stress have been eliminated. The business of modern life removes opportunities for rest, extra sleep, and leisure activities. Instead people are working extra hours and limiting or passing up entirely vacations to stay competitive. Persistently high levels of stress are damaging and can directly produce disease or debilitation increasing susceptibility to other diseases. Indeed, chronic stress has been associated with depression, anxiety, burnout, suicide attempts, poor immune functioning, and cardiovascular disorders.

 

It is beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress, so it is important that methods be found to reduce the individual’s responses to stress; to make the individual more resilient when high levels of stress occur. Contemplative practices including meditation practice have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. Because of their ability to relieve stress, mindfulness trainings are increasingly being practiced by individuals and are even being encouraged in some workplaces. But, some other treatments such as exercise or biofeedback may also be effective.

 

In today’s Research News article “A RCT Comparing Daily Mindfulness Meditations, Biofeedback Exercises, and Daily Physical Exercise on Attention Control, Executive Functioning, Mindful Awareness, Self-Compassion, and Worrying in Stressed Young Adults.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1466297833394138/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5010624/

de Bruin and colleagues recruited young adults, aged 18-40 years, who were high in perceived stress and randomly assigned them to either a daily mindfulness meditations, daily heart rate variability biofeedback, or daily physical exercise groups. The participants were provided a 2-hour orientation instruction and then practiced daily over 5 weeks for 10 to 20 minutes per day on an individualized practice plan. They were measured before and after treatment and 6-weeks later for attention control, executive function, mindfulness, self-compassion, and worry.

 

They found that all three interventions produced significant improvement from the pretest to posttest in attention control, executive function, mindfulness, self-compassion, and worry. These effects remained significant at the 6-week follow-up, suggesting lasting effects. All practices had moderate to large effects sizes. Surprisingly there were no significant differences between the three different practices as all produced significant improvements in the measures.

 

It is interesting that all three practices produced significant increases in mindfulness. This would be expected for the mindfulness meditation group but is somewhat surprising for the heart rate variability biofeedback and physical exercise groups. This fact may explain why all of the practices were beneficial. It suggests that improved mindfulness is responsible for the improvements in attention control, executive function, self-compassion, and worry. This seems reasonable, give that mindfulness training has been shown previously to improve attention control, executive function, self-compassion, and worry. Hence it appears that there are a number of practices that can improve the psychological conditions of stressed young adults and that they act by increasing mindfulness.

 

So, improve the symptoms of stress with mindfulness.

 

“mindfulness meditation promotes metacognitive awareness, decreases rumination via disengagement from perseverative cognitive activities and enhances attentional capacities through gains in working memory. These cognitive gains, in turn, contribute to effective emotion-regulation strategies.” – Daphne Davis

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

De Bruin, E. I., van der Zwan, J. E., & Bögels, S. M. (2016). A RCT Comparing Daily Mindfulness Meditations, Biofeedback Exercises, and Daily Physical Exercise on Attention Control, Executive Functioning, Mindful Awareness, Self-Compassion, and Worrying in Stressed Young Adults. Mindfulness, 7(5), 1182–1192. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0561-5

 

Abstract

Our Western society is characterized by multitasking, competition, and constant time pressure. Negative effects of stress for the individual (anxiety, depression, somatic complaints) and for organizations and society (costs due to work absence) are very high. Thus, time-efficient self-help interventions to address these issues are necessary. This study assessed the effects of daily mindfulness meditations (MM) versus daily heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV-BF) and daily physical exercise (PE) on attention control, executive functioning, mindful awareness, self-compassion, and worrying. Young adults (n = 75, age range 18 to 40) with elevated stress levels were randomized to MM, HRV-BF, or PE, and measurements were taken at pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Interventions in all three groups were self-guided and lasted for 5 weeks. Generalized estimating equation analyses showed that overall, all three interventions were effective and did not differ from each other. However, practice time differed between groups, with participants in the PE group practicing much more than participants in the other two groups. Therefore, additional analyses were carried out in two subsamples. The optimal dose sample included only those participants who practiced for at least 70 % of the total prescribed time. In the equal dose sample, home practice intensity was equal for all three groups. Again, the effects of the three interventions did not differ. In conclusion, MM, HRV-BF, and PE are all effective self-help methods to improve attention control, executive functioning, mindful awareness, self-compassion, and worrying, and mindfulness meditation was not found to be more effective than HRV-biofeedback or physical exercise for these cognitive processes.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5010624/

 

Relieve Trauma Symptoms and Stress in Prisoners with Meditation

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Relieve Trauma Symptoms and Stress in Prisoners with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Ever since a kid, I’ve just been miserable being myself. After just one month of meditating, I’ve felt so much energy, it’s amazing how good I feel.” – Geoff, prison inmate serving life sentence

 

Around 2 ¼ million people are incarcerated in the United States. Prison is a very stressful and difficult environment for most prisoners. This is compounded by the fact that most do not have well developed coping skills. In addition, many have suffered from trauma, often experienced early in life such as abandonment, hunger, homelessness, domestic violence, sexual abuse, bullying, discrimination, drug and alcohol abuse, and witnessing crime – including murder. In addition, prisoners frequently suffer from attention deficit disorder.

 

Prisoners are often ill equipped to engage positively in society either inside or outside of prison. Even though prisons are euphemistically labelled correctional facilities very little correction actually occurs. This is supported by the rates of recidivism. About three quarters of prisoners who are released commit crimes and are sent back to prison within 5-years. Hence there is a great need for better prison programs that can not only help the prisoner adjust to prison life but also to life after release

 

Prison provides a great deal of time for reflection and self-exploration. This provides an opportunity for growth and development. Contemplative practices are well suited to this environment. Meditation teaches skills that may be very important for prisoners. In particular, it puts the practitioner in touch with their own bodies and feelings. It improves present moment awareness and helps to overcome rumination about the past and negative thinking about the future. It’s been shown to be useful in the treatment of the effects of trauma and attention deficit disorder. It also relieves stress and improves overall health and well-being. Finally, meditation has been shown to be effective in treating depression, anxiety, and anger.

 

So, meditation would appear to be well suited to addressing the issues of prisoners. In today’s Research News article “). Reduced Trauma Symptoms and Perceived Stress in Male Prison Inmates through the Transcendental Meditation Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1465085253515396/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5101089/

Nidich and colleagues recruited prisoners and randomly assigned them to either meditation or no treatment groups. Transcendental meditation was taught in 5 1-hour sessions in a group format and the prisoners were encouraged to practice for an additional 20 minutes per day. The prisoners were measured before training and 4 months later for trauma symptoms and perceived stress.

 

It was reported that compared to the no-treatment control group, the meditation group had moderate to large significant improvements in perceived stress and in total trauma symptoms, including the anxiety, depression, dissociation, and sleep disturbance resulting from trauma. In interpreting these results, it should be noted that there was not an active or placebo control group. So, the effects cannot be conclusively attributed to meditation as any active treatment might have produced similar improvements. In addition, since prisoners are isolated and restricted, any attention provided them may have had powerful effects. This being said, the findings are exciting and suggest the meditation training is a powerful treatment for the trauma symptoms and stress evident in prison populations.

 

A large proportion of the prison population have experienced trauma and it is thought that the effects of these experiences have profoundly affected these individuals and their behavior. The ability of meditation to mitigate the effects of trauma and reduce stress make it ideal for the treatment of prisoners. It remains for future research to determine the long-term effects of meditation practice on these prisoners, their behavior in prison and after release, and their likelihood of committing new offenses.

 

So, relieve trauma symptoms and stress in prisoners with meditation.

 

“I’ve known inmates who have, as a result of their meditation practice, move from being violent streetfighters to gentle protectors of weaker prisoners. I’ve seen inmates develop an extraordinary amount of patience with exceedingly trying circumstances. I’ve seen seemingly macho men show a tender concern for others. In short, I’ve seen people who have committed some of the most serious crimes possible — people that some might describe as “animals” or “beyond hope” — becoming better people.” – Bodhipaksa

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Nidich, S., O’Connor, T., Rutledge, T., Duncan, J., Compton, B., Seng, A., & Nidich, R. (2016). Reduced Trauma Symptoms and Perceived Stress in Male Prison Inmates through the Transcendental Meditation Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The Permanente Journal, 20(4), 43–47. http://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/16-007

 

Abstract

Context: Trauma events are four times more prevalent in inmates than in the general public and are associated with increased recidivism and other mental and physical health issues.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of Transcendental Meditationa (TM) on trauma symptoms in male inmates.

Design: One hundred eighty-one inmates with a moderate- to high-risk criminal profile were randomly assigned to either the TM program or to a usual care control group.

Main Outcome Measures

The Trauma Symptom Checklist and the Perceived Stress Scale were administered at baseline and four-month posttest.

Results: Significant reductions in total trauma symptoms, anxiety, depression, dissociation, and sleep disturbance subscales, and perceived stress in the TM group were found compared with controls (all p values < 0.001). The high-trauma subgroup analysis further showed a higher magnitude of effects in the TM group compared with controls on all outcomes, with Cohen effect sizes ranging from 0.67 to 0.89.

Conclusion: Results are consistent with those of prior studies of the TM program in other populations and its effects on trauma symptoms and perceived stress.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5101089/

 

Change the Brain for Healthy Aging with Meditation

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Change the Brain for Healthy Aging with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“With recent neuroscientific findings, meditation as a practice has been shown to literally rewire brain circuits that boost both mind and body health. These benefits of meditation have surfaced alongside the revelation that the brain can be deeply transformed through experience –  a quality known as “neuroplasticity.”” –  Quora

 

The nervous system is a dynamic entity, constantly changing and adapting to the environment. It will change size, activity, and connectivity in response to repeated or prolonged experiences. For example, the brain area that controls the right index finger has been found to be larger in blind subjects who use braille than in sighted individuals.  Similarly, cab drivers in London who navigate the twisting streets of the city, have a larger hippocampus, which is involved in spatial navigation, than predefined route bus drivers. These changes in the brain are called neuroplasticity. Over the last decade neuroscience has been studying the effects of contemplative practices on the brain and have identified neuroplastic changes in widespread areas. In other words, meditation practice appears to mold and change the brain, producing psychological, physical, and spiritual benefits.

 

The seemingly simple behavior of meditation is actually quite complex. Adding to the complexity is that there are a variety of different meditation techniques. To begin to understand exactly how meditation works to produce its benefit, it is important to determine what various contemplative techniques do. So, there is a need to test and compare the effects of a variety of techniques and variations. There are a number of different ways to classify contemplative techniques including focused attention techniques such as breath meditation of loving kindness meditation and active meditations such as yoga or tai chi. All of these techniques, even though very different, have been shown to improve the physical and mental health of the individual. A comparison of the effects on the brain of these different techniques could reveal what neural changes are in common that might explain the common benefits and which are unique to the specific techniques.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Neural Mechanisms of Meditative Practices: Novel Approaches for Healthy Aging.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1463868163637105/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5110576/

Acevedo and colleagues review the published research literature on the changes to the brain produced by focused meditation and active meditation. In particular, they compared the results for meditation practices that have a single focus, such as breath meditation or loving kindness meditation, versus those that active meditations that involved multiple foci of attention, such as chanting, active postures, breathing practices, or working with a partner. They discovered 7 studies in the literature that investigated the neural changes produced by focused type meditation practices and 6 studies that investigated active meditation practices.

 

They report that the research has identified a set of brain structures that are involved in attention, memory, conscious awareness, reward, and emotional regulation that are affected in common with both focused and active meditative practices. These are the same areas that tend to deteriorate with aging, This may explain why meditation tends to slow down the mental deterioration that occurs even in healthy aging.

 

Focused meditation uniquely activated areas involved in sensory and emotional integration, self-control, body awareness, and movement. So, focused meditation may have greater effects on emotion regulation and conscious awareness of the body and movement resulting in greater self-control. On the other hand, active meditations appeared to uniquely affect brain regions that are involved in “willful acts,” language, and movement, as well as social processes. Hence the two forms of meditation have benefits in common and some benefits that are unique to the type of meditation practice.

 

These results are reasonable given the natures of the meditation types, where focused meditation appears to benefit internal awareness while active meditation appears to benefit control of willful behavior of language and movement. Both types appear to have extensive positive benefits and appear to counteract the degenerative changes occurring with healthy aging. But their differences suggest that each may be better for different kinds of people and different disorders. Future research should explore the utility of each for targeted physical or psychological weaknesses in the individual.

 

So, change the brain for healthy aging with meditation.

 

“The impact that mindfulness exerts on our brain is borne from routine: a slow, steady, and consistent reckoning of our realities, and the ability to take a step back, become more aware, more accepting, less judgmental, and less reactive. Just as playing the piano over and over again over time strengthens and supports brain networks involved with playing music, mindfulness over time can make the brain, and thus, us, more efficient regulators, with a penchant for pausing to respond to our worlds instead of mindlessly reacting.” – Jennifer Wolkin

 

,CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Acevedo, B. P., Pospos, S., & Lavretsky, H. (2016). The Neural Mechanisms of Meditative Practices: Novel Approaches for Healthy Aging. Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports, 3(4), 328–339. http://doi.org/10.1007/s40473-016-0098-x

 

Abstract

Objectives: Meditation has been shown to have physical, cognitive, and psychological health benefits that can be used to promote healthy aging. However, the common and specific mechanisms of response remain elusive due to the diverse nature of mind–body practices.

Methods: In this review, we aim to compare the neural circuits implicated in focused-attention meditative practices that focus on present-moment awareness to those involved in active-type meditative practices (e.g., yoga) that combine movement, including chanting, with breath practices and meditation.

Recent Findings: Recent meta-analyses and individual studies demonstrated common brain effects for attention-based meditative practices and active-based meditations in areas involved in reward processing and learning, attention and memory, awareness and sensory integration, and self-referential processing and emotional control, while deactivation was seen in the amygdala, an area implicated in emotion processing. Unique effects for mindfulness practices were found in brain regions involved in body awareness, attention, and the integration of emotion and sensory processing. Effects specific to active-based meditations appeared in brain areas involved in self-control, social cognition, language, speech, tactile stimulation, sensorimotor integration, and motor function.

Summary: This review suggests that mind–body practices can target different brain systems that are involved in the regulation of attention, emotional control, mood, and executive cognition that can be used to treat or prevent mood and cognitive disorders of aging, such as depression and caregiver stress, or serve as “brain fitness” exercise. Benefits may include improving brain functional connectivity in brain systems that generally degenerate with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other aging-related diseases.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5110576/

 

Reduce Interpersonal Trauma Symptoms with Mindfulness

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Reduce Interpersonal Trauma Symptoms with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness meditation training improves your brain’s ability to help you manage stress, and these changes improve a broad range of stress-related health outcomes, such as your inflammatory health,” David Creswell

 

Experiencing trauma is quite common. It has been estimated that 60% of men and 50% of women will experience a significant traumatic event during their lifetime. Trauma produced by one person on another, interpersonal trauma, frequently involves intimate partners and can occur as personal assault, sexual assault, witnessing family violence, and sudden loss of a loved one. This is common particularly with low income women. The psychological consequences can be profound and endure over a lifetime, and can result in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

 

Another common consequence of the stress produced by trauma is an increase in inflammation. The immune system is designed to protect the body from threats like stress, infection, injury, and toxic chemicals. One of its tools is the inflammatory response. This response works quite well for short-term infections and injuries. But when inflammation is protracted and becomes chronic, such as can occur with trauma, it can itself become a threat to health. It can produce autoimmune diseases such as colitis, Chron’s disease, arthritis, heart disease, increased cancer risk, lung disease, sleep disruption, gum disease, decreased bone health, and psoriasis. Indeed, the presence of chronic inflammation is associated with reduced longevity. In addition, it can exacerbate the psychological issues produced by trauma including increasing the severity depression.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to both help improve the symptoms of trauma and to reduce the inflammatory response. So, it would be reasonable to predict that mindfulness training would be useful in reducing the inflammation resulting from interpersonal trauma in women. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to Enhance Psychological Functioning and Improve Inflammatory Biomarkers in Trauma-Exposed Women: A Pilot Study.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1462456350444953/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4624080/

Gallegos and colleagues recruited low-income women who had experienced interpersonal trauma and provided them with an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) treatment. Measurements were taken before, during (4th week), and immediately after treatment, and 4 weeks later of traumatic events, cognitive performance, perceived stress, anxiety, emotion regulation, PTSD symptoms, and mindfulness. In addition, blood was drawn and assayed for markers of inflammation.

 

They found that the MBSR treatment significantly increased mindfulness and emotion regulation and decreased perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. In addition, attendance at MBSR sessions was significantly related to decreases in IL-6 levels, a marker of inflammation. All of these improvements were maintained 4-weeks after the end of MBSR training. Hence Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) produced significant and lasting improvement in both the psychological and inflammatory effects of interpersonal trauma. It should be kept in mind that no control condition was employed. So, the results could have been produced by a placebo effect and any form of treatment might have produced comparable improvements. A controlled clinical trial is needed to confirm that MBSR was responsible for the effects.

 

It comes as no surprise that mindfulness training had these effects in women who experienced interpersonal trauma as mindfulness training has been previously been shown with other groups to produce improvement in mindfulness, emotion regulation, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, and inflammation. What the present study contributes is a demonstration that these benefits also occur in women who have experienced interpersonal trauma.

 

So, reduce interpersonal trauma symptoms with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness meditation reduces levels of interleukin 6 by altering patterns of functional connectivity: communication between different regions of the brain. “By modulating functional connectivity, you’re affecting the cell groups that influence the release of inflammatory markers and stress hormones,”  –  Adrienne Taren

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Gallegos, A. M., Lytle, M. C., Moynihan, J. A., & Talbot, N. L. (2015). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to Enhance Psychological Functioning and Improve Inflammatory Biomarkers in Trauma-Exposed Women: A Pilot Study. Psychological Trauma : Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 7(6), 525–532. http://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000053

 

Abstract

This study examined the effects of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program on psychological functioning and inflammatory biomarkers in women with histories of interpersonal trauma. The 8-week MBSR program was conducted at a community-based health center and participants (N = 50) completed several measures of psychological functioning at study entry as well as 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks later. Inflammatory biomarkers were assayed from blood collected at each assessment. A series of linear mixed model analyses were conducted to measure the effect of attendance and time on the dependent variables. Time was associated with significant decreases in perceived stress, depression, trait and state anxiety, emotion dysregulation, and post-traumatic stress symptoms as well as increases in mindfulness. Session attendance was associated with significant decreases in interleukin (IL)-6 levels. This pilot study demonstrated the potential beneficial effects of MBSR on psychological functioning and the inflammatory biomarker IL-6 among trauma-exposed and primarily low-income women. Decreases in inflammation have implications for this population, as interpersonal trauma can instigate chronic physiological dysregulation, heightened morbidity, and premature death. This study’s preliminary results support efforts to investigate biological remediation with behavioral interventions in vulnerable populations.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4624080/

 

Improve Obesity with Yoga

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Improve Obesity with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga has an important role to play in the treatment of Obesity. Yoga techniques affect body, internal organs, endocrine glands, brain, mind and other factors concerning Body – Mind complex. Various Yoga techniques can be practiced effectively to reduce the weight and achieve normal healthy condition of Body and Mind.” – Prafulla Dorle

 

Obesity has become an epidemic in the industrialized world. In the U.S. the incidence of obesity, defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above has more than doubled over the last 35 years to currently around 35% of the population, while two thirds of the population is considered overweight or obese (BMI > 25). Although the incidence rates have appeared to stabilize, the fact that over a third of the population is considered obese is very troubling. This is because of the health consequences of obesity. Obesity has been found to shorten life expectancy by eight years and extreme obesity by 14 years. This occurs because obesity is associated with cardiovascular problems such as coronary heart disease and hypertension, stroke, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and others.

 

Obviously, there is a need for effective treatments to prevent or treat obesity. But, despite copious research and a myriad of dietary and exercise programs, there still is no safe and effective treatment. Mindfulness is known to be associated with lower risk for obesity, alter eating behavior and improve health in obesity. This suggests that mindfulness training may be an effective treatment for overeating and obesity alone or in combination with other therapies. Yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of physical and psychological benefits. These include significant loss in weight and body mass index (BMI), resting metabolism, and body fat in obese women with Type 2 diabetes and improve health in the obese. Hence it would seem reasonable to investigate the benefits of yoga therapy on the weight and body composition of the obese.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Integrated Approach of Yoga Therapy on Male Obesity and Psychological Parameters-A Randomised Controlled Trial.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1461037563920165/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5121695/

Rshikesan & Subramanya recruited overweight and obese males with Body Mass Indexes (BMIs) between 23 to 35 and randomly assigned them to either a treatment as usual control group or a yoga therapy group. The yoga therapy was administered 90 minutes per day, five days per week for 14 weeks and consisted of postures, breathing exercises, relaxation, and meditation. The participants were measured both before and after the treatment for height, weight, circumferences of the upper arm, waist, and hips, skin fold thicknesses, weight related acceptance and action, and perceived stress.

 

They found that in comparison to before treatment, the yoga therapy group had modest but significant reductions in weight, BMI, front skinfold thickness, arm and hip circumferences, perceived stress, and weight related acceptance and action while the control group did not. But, the differences between yoga and control groups were only significantly different for arm circumference and skinfold thickness. The yoga group consistently had better results on the average than the control group. This suggests that the study did not have large enough groups to statistically detect modest differences between groups. In addition, there was not an alternate exercise control condition, e.g. walking exercise. So, it cannot be concluded that yoga specifically and not any form of light exercise produced the benefits.

 

The results are encouraging but not spectacular and suggest that yoga therapy can produce modest improvements in overweight and obese males. Yoga, being a light exercise, can contribute to energy expenditure and improve body composition, shifting weight from fat to muscle mass. Yoga also has a wide variety of other physical and psychological benefits. So, the present study may underestimate the value of yoga practice for overweight and obese individuals.

 

So, improve obesity with yoga.

 

“Yoga is an excellent exercise and spiritual discipline for people of any size. For some fat students, simply being made aware of body mechanics differences and being made welcome in a class are enough to bolster their confidence and allow them to progress.” – Kay Erdwinn

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Rshikesan, P. B., & Subramanya, P. (2016). Effect of Integrated Approach of Yoga Therapy on Male Obesity and Psychological Parameters-A Randomised Controlled Trial. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research : JCDR, 10(10), KC01–KC06. http://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/21494.8727

 

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is a growing global epidemic and cause of non-communicable diseases. Yoga is one of the effective ways to reduce stress which is one of the causes of obesity.

Aim: To assess the effect of Integrated Approach of Yoga Therapy (IAYT) yoga module on adult male obesity in an urban setting.

Materials and Methods: RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial) was conducted for 14 weeks on obese male subjects with yoga and control groups. Total number of subjects were 72 and they were randomized into two groups (Yoga n=37, Control n=35). The subjects were from an urban setting of Mumbai and were doing yoga for the first time. Special yoga training of IAYT was given to yoga group for one and half hour for 5 days in a week for 14 weeks. The control group continued regular physical activities and no specific physical activity was given. The assessments were anthropometric parameters of weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), MAC (Mid Upper Arm Circumferences) of Left and Right Arm, Waist Circumference (WC), HC (Hip Circumference), WHR (Waist Hip Ratio), SKF(Skin Fold Thickness of Biceps, Triceps, Sub scapular, suprailiac and cumulative), Percentage body fat based on SKF and Psychological Questionnaires of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and AAQW (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Weight Related Difficulty). These were taken before and after intervention for both yoga and control groups. Within and between group analysis & correlation of differences from post to pre readings among the variables, were carried out using SPSS 21.

Results: The anthropometric and psychological parameters were improved in both the groups but changes were significant in yoga group.

Conclusion: Incorporating the IAYT for obese male in urban setting will be effective for obesity treatment and for reducing the obesity related problems.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5121695/

 

Reduce Test Anxiety with Mindful Breathing

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Reduce Test Anxiety with Mindful Breathing

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness training for students gives you tools to help you remain calm, sustain your attention, and be able to focus. It does this by helping you to pay attention to the present moment through simple breathing and meditation practices which increase awareness of thoughts and feelings so as to reduce stress and anxiety and boost levels of attention and concentration.” – Mindfulness for Students

 

It’s a normal human response to become anxious while being evaluated by others. In fact, the vast majority of students report that the stress and anxiety associated with being evaluated is greater than that produced by anything else in their lives. The majority of students are able to cope with the anxiety and perform on tests in spite of it. But, for a minority of students, somewhere around 16%-20%, the anxiety level is so high that it causes them to “freeze” on tests and markedly impair their performance. It is estimated that they perform 12 points lower, more than one letter grade, on average than students lower in anxiety. Counselling centers in colleges and universities report that evaluation anxiety is the most common complaint that they treat among students.

 

It has been demonstrated repeatedly that mindfulness counteracts anxiety and mindfulness training is an effective treatment for a variety of forms of anxiety. Mindfulness training has been shown to be effective for anxiety disorders in general and  in relieving test anxiety. But, mindfulness training has not been directly compared to other antianxiety therapies. Cognitive reappraisal is a therapeutic technique that prompts the individual to rethink their interpretations of events and their feelings about them. For example, a student failing a test may think that this demonstrates that they are stupid and unworthy. Cognitive reappraisal of this would result in thinking that anxiety interfered with their studying and their performance. This therapy has also been shown to be effective for anxiety disorders.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effectiveness of Daily Mindful Breathing Practices on Test Anxiety of Students.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1459522354071686/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072593/

Cho and colleagues test the effectiveness of both mindfulness training and cognitive reappraisal for test anxiety. They recruited highly anxious university students and randomly assigned them to either 7-days of mindful breathing exercises, cognitive reappraisal, or no treatment. Instruction in mindful breathing and cognitive reappraisal occurred in a 1 hour, therapist guided, training session followed by 7 days of verified daily practice. The students were measured both before and after training for test anxiety, positive thoughts, and positive emotions.

 

They found that both mindful breathing and cognitive reappraisal produced clinically significant decreases in test anxiety in comparison to the control condition. But, only mindful breathing produced increases in positive thoughts. Hence, both mindful breathing and cognitive reappraisal were found to be effective treatments for test anxiety, but, mindful breathing has an additional benefit of increasing the individual’s automatic positive thoughts about themselves. Although not tested here, this would suggest that mindful breathing would have more long lasting effects on test anxiety.

 

These are exciting results in that a brief therapy, only lasting a week, and involving only an hour per student of therapist time, produced a major reduction in test anxiety. This suggests that these therapies can be administered cost effectively to large numbers of test anxiety sufferers. This is important due to the large number of students effected by test anxiety and the limited resources available to treat them.

 

Both mindful breathing and cognitive reappraisal are thought to effect anxiety by producing a distancing and disidentification of themselves from the contents of their conscious thoughts and emotions. This is known as decentering and indicates a reduction in self-criticism, rumination, and anxiety that can arise when reacting to negative thinking patterns. This decentering then counteracts anxiety by depersonalizing the feelings, making them just feelings and not indicative of some problem with the individual. Mindfulness training is known to improve emotion regulation allowing the individual to fully experience the feelings yet react to them more adaptively. This may account for the additional benefit of mindful breathing of increasing positive thoughts.

 

So, reduce test anxiety with mindful breathing.

 

“Often, when you are trying to remember important information, it is natural to tense your body or strain your mind, but this actually impedes your ability to recall information. In fact, a deeply relaxed state can enhance your ability to access memories in the moment. No matter your skill level, going into a standardized test relaxed instead of stressed will probably earn you more points.” – Suzanne Pearman

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Cho, H., Ryu, S., Noh, J., & Lee, J. (2016). The Effectiveness of Daily Mindful Breathing Practices on Test Anxiety of Students. PLoS ONE, 11(10), e0164822. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164822

 

Abstract

The present study examined the effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of university students. A total of 36 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a training mindful breathing condition (n = 12), a training cognitive reappraisal condition (contrast group, n = 12), and a non-training condition (control group, n = 12). Each of the participants trained by themselves for 6 days after they had taken one session of education for mindful or cognitive reappraisal practices. They wrote their experiences on daily worksheets and sent it by mobile with taking pictures that were confirmed by the researcher. Before and after training, each of the participants completed a questionnaire to assess: test anxiety, positive thought, and positive affect. The results of the study showed that both mindful breathing practice and cognitive reappraisal practice yielded large effect sizes in reducing test anxiety. In addition, the mindful breathing condition scored significantly higher on positive thoughts than the cognitive reappraisal and control conditions. The findings of this study suggest that both daily mindful breathing and cognitive reappraisal practices were effective in reducing test anxiety; however, mindful breathing increased positive automatic thoughts to a greater extent than cognitive reappraisal.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072593/

 

Improve Heart Failure Patient Longevity with Spirituality

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Improve Heart Failure Patient Longevity with Spirituality

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Although difficult to study, spirituality has been evaluated and deemed to have a beneficial effect on multiple measures including global quality of life, depression and medical compliance in the treatment of patients with heart failure.” – J Naqhi

 

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined. “Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. About 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that’s 1 in every 4 deaths. Every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack.” – Centers for Disease Control. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major type of cardiovascular disease. “CHF is a chronic progressive condition that affects the pumping power of your heart muscles. While often referred to simply as “heart failure,” CHF specifically refers to the stage in which fluid builds up around the heart and causes it to pump inefficiently” (Healthline).

 

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a very serious life-threatening condition. About 5.7 million adults in the United States have congestive heart failure. One in 9 deaths include heart failure as a contributing cause. The seriousness of CHF is underscored by the fact that about half of people who develop CHF die within 5 years of diagnosis. Hence, effective treatment is very important. There is a myriad of treatments that have been developed to treat CHF including a variety of surgical procedures and medications. Importantly, lifestyle changes have proved to be quite effective. These include quitting smoking, weight reduction, improved diet, physical activity, and reducing stresses.

 

Spirituality, a sense of inner peace and harmony, and religiosity are known to help with a wide range of physical and psychological problems. So, it would make sense to investigate the relationship of spirituality and religiosity to the treatment of congestive heart failure. In today’s Research News article “Spiritual Peace Predicts 5-Year Mortality in Congestive Heart Failure Patient.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1458465060844082/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4760860/.

Park and colleagues recruited a large sample of patients who had experienced congestive heart failure (CHF) of at least moderate severity. They were 64% male and averaged 69 years of age. The researchers measured severity of CHF, other health conditions, smoking, alcohol consumption, engagement in health behaviors, depression, social support, attendance at religious services, and spiritual peace. The patients were followed over a five year period to establish mortality rates.

 

At the five-year follow-up, almost a third (32%) of the patients had died. They found that age, other health conditions, and depression contributed to mortality. Controlling for these variables they found that smoking nearly tripled the risk of death, while alcohol consumption mildly reduced the risk. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle cut the risk in half and spirituality and engagement in religious practice was associated with greater engagement in healthy lifestyles. Controlling for all of these variables they found that spirituality was associated with a 20% reduction in mortality.

 

These results suggest that controlling lifestyle is critical for survival after CHF. This includes reducing smoking and increasing healthy lifestyle behaviors. But, in addition to these important factors, spirituality, but not engagement in religious practices, improves longevity. Although spirituality is associated with lifestyle, the analysis suggests that spirituality’s association with improved longevity occurs independently of lifestyle factors. These results have to be interpreted with caution since they are correlative and cannot prove causation. But, the fact that spirituality predicts longevity over a 5-year period after measurement, is compatible with an interpretation that spirituality causally contributes to longevity.

 

These results suggest that just being religious is not enough. One must be spiritual in order to obtain the longevity benefits. So, it is not enough to just believe in a greater power or attend religious services. Rather, a sense of spiritual peace and harmony is required. To some extent, this makes sense as this would reduce stress which is known to exacerbate disease processes. In addition, spirituality has been shown to improve adherence to treatment regimens for heart failure and this by itself could account for improved longevity. Regardless, the results make it clear that being spiritual can help extend the lives of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).

 

So, improve heart failure patient longevity with spirituality.

 

“We found that more gratitude in these patients was associated with better mood, better sleep, less fatigue and lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers related to cardiac health,” – Paul J. Mills

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Park, C. L., George, L., Aldwin, C. M., Choun, S., Suresh, D. P., & Bliss, D. (2016). Spiritual Peace Predicts 5-Year Mortality in Congestive Heart Failure Patients. Health Psychology : Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 35(3), 203–210. http://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000271

 

Abstract

Objective: Spirituality is favorably related to depression, quality of life, hospitalizations, and other important outcomes in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients but has not been examined as a predictor of mortality risk in this population. Given the well-known difficulties in managing CHF, we hypothesized that spirituality would be associated with lower mortality risk, controlling for baseline demographics, functional status, health behaviors, and religiousness.

Method: Participants were 191 CHF patients (64% male; Mage = 68.6 years, SD = 10.1) who completed a baseline survey and were then followed for five years.

Results: Nearly one third of the sample (32%) died during the study period. Controlling for demographics and health status, smoking more than doubled the risk of mortality, while alcohol consumption was associated with slightly lower risk of mortality. Importantly, adherence to healthy lifestyle recommendations was associated with halved mortality risk. While both religion and spirituality were associated with better health behaviors at baseline in bivariate analyses, a proportional hazard model showed that only spirituality was significantly associated with reduced mortality risk (by 20%), controlling for demographics, health status, and health behaviors.

Conclusions: Experiencing spiritual peace, along with adherence to a healthy lifestyle, were better predictors of mortality risk in this sample of CHF patients than were physical health indicators such as functional status and comorbidity. Future research might profitably examine the efficacy of attending to spiritual issues along with standard lifestyle interventions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4760860/