Month: February 2017

Improve Eating Disorders with Yoga

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Eating Disorders with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“One of the biggest ways yoga helped me heal from anorexia was the release it provided me. I had stored so much in my body, so much pain and sadness, that often when I practiced yoga I would sob. I wouldn’t know where the tears were coming from, which used to scare me, but eventually I realized I was softening my grip. I was letting go of who I was in order to become who I am.” – Jennifer Pastiloff

 

Around 30 million people in the United States of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder; either anorexia nervosa, bulimia, or binge eating disorder.  95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 26. Eating disorders are not just troubling psychological problems, they can be deadly, having the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Anorexia Nervosa is particular troubling as it is often fatal as sufferers literally starve themselves to death. It occurs in about 1% to 4% of women in the U.S.  Indeed, the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate associated with all causes of death for females 15-24 years old.

 

Binge eating disorder (BED) is characterized by the initiation of eating frequently in wildly excessive amounts. It is called disinhibited eating as there appears to be no restraints (inhibitions) that stop food intake. Once eating starts it goes on without anything holding it back. “Binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder in the United States, affecting 3.5% of women, 2% of men, and up to 1.6% of adolescents.” – National Eating Disorders Association. Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by a cycle of binge eating followed by some form of purge, often induced vomiting. It is estimated that up to 4% of females in the United States will have bulimia during their lifetime. Tragically around 4% of the sufferers will die.

 

Disordered eating is difficult to deal with in part because it is frequently paired with other disorders. In fact, around 50% of people with eating disorders meet the criteria for clinical depression. They are also frequently accompanied by anxiety and body image disturbance Eating disorders are also difficult to treat because eating is necessary and cannot be simply stopped as in smoking cessation or abstaining from drugs or alcohol. One must learn to eat appropriately not stop. So, it is important to find methods that can help prevent and treat eating disorders. Contemplative practices, mindfulness, and mindful eating have shown promise for treating eating disorders. In addition, yoga practice appears to be beneficial.

 

In today’s Research News article “Use of yoga in outpatient eating disorder treatment: a pilot study.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5148831/

Hall and colleagues recruited adolescent girls, aged 11-18 years, who were diagnosed with an eating disorder, either anorexia, bulimia, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, or other specified feeding or eating disorder and received medical monitoring, nutritional counseling and social work intervention. They attended 6-10 weekly 60 to 90-minute yoga classes in addition to their usual treatment. They were measured before and after training for depression, anxiety, anorexia, and symptoms of eating disorders.

 

They found that participation in yoga produced a reduction in anorexia, depression, and anxiety. There were also significant decreases in weight concern and shape concern. Hence, participation in yoga appeared to have significant benefits for adolescent girls with eating disorders reducing body image concerns, improving mood, and reducing restrictive dieting. Yoga appears to be capable of reducing anxiety and depression in college students who do not have an eating disorder. So, the results simply extend these findings to eating disordered adolescent girls. Many girls with eating disorders engage in vigorous exercise to help control weight. It is possible that yoga practice was an effective substitute exercise.

 

It should be pointed out that this was a pilot study that did not have a control condition. So, it cannot be concluded that participation in yoga caused the observed changes, as a number of confounding factors such as participant expectancy effects, experimenter bias, spontaneous remission, attention effects, etc. could have been responsible for the effects. So, although promising, more rigorous research is needed to draw firm conclusions. The results, however, suggest that yoga may be a useful adjunctive treatment for adolescent girls with eating disorders.

 

“Yoga is not a magic wand or an instant fix, but the practice consists of tiny changes which together will not in itself alter your life, but can alter your attitude to life, the tools you use to cope with difficult situations, the approach you take to daily activities, and thus, in all of this, be life changing.” – Francesca Baker

 

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Hall, A., Ofei-Tenkorang, N. A., Machan, J. T., & Gordon, C. M. (2016). Use of yoga in outpatient eating disorder treatment: a pilot study. Journal of Eating Disorders, 4, 38. http://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-016-0130-2

 

Abstract

Background

Individuals with restrictive eating disorders present with co-morbid psychiatric disorders and many attempt to control symptoms using strenuous exercises that increase caloric expenditure. Yoga offers a safe avenue for the engagement in physical activity while providing an outlet for disease-associated symptoms. This study sought to examine use of yoga practice in an outpatient setting and its impact on anxiety, depression and body image disturbance in adolescents with eating disorders.

Methods

Twenty adolescent girls were recruited from an urban eating disorders clinic who participated in weekly yoga classes at a local studio, in addition to standard multidisciplinary care. Yoga instructors underwent training regarding this patient population. Participants completed questionnaires focused on anxiety, depression and body image disturbance prior to the first class, and following completion of 6 and 12 classes.

Results

In participants who completed the study, a statistically significant decrease in anxiety, depression, and body image disturbance was seen, including: Spielberger State anxiety mean scores decreased after the completion of 7–12 yoga classes [47 (95%CI 42–52) to 42 (95%CI 37–47), adj. p = 0.0316]; as did the anorexia nervosa scale [10 (95% CI 7–12) vs. 6 (95%CI 4–8), adj. p = .0004], scores on Beck depression scales [18 (95%CI 15–22) to 10 (95%CI 6–14), adj. p = .0001], and weight and shape concern scores [16 (95%CI 12–20) to 12 (95%CI 8–16), adj. p =0.0120] and [31 (95%CI 25–37) to 20 (95%CI 13–27), adj. p = 0.0034], respectively. No significant changes in body mass index were seen throughout the trial.

Conclusions

Yoga practice combined with outpatient eating disorder treatment were shown to decrease anxiety, depression, and body image disturbance without negatively impacting weight. These preliminary results suggest yoga to be a promising adjunct treatment strategy, along with standard multidisciplinary care. However, whether yoga should be endorsed as a standard component of outpatient eating disorder treatment merits further study.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5148831/

Improve Depression and Cognitive Decline with Yoga

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Depression and Cognitive Decline with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“For years, we’ve been told to keep our minds sharp by doing crosswords and playing Sudoku. But yoga and meditation are more effective than memory exercises for combating the mental decline that often precedes Alzheimer’s. People who practised yoga regularly were also less likely to be depressed and anxious, and were better able to cope with stress. Regular practice could be a simple, safe and low-cost solution to improving brain fitness and ward off ageing.” Madlen Davies

 

The aging process involves a systematic progressive decline in every system in the body, the brain included. This includes our mental abilities which decline with age including impairments in memory, attention, and problem solving ability. It is inevitable and cannot be avoided. But there are more serious declines.

 

Dementia is a progressive loss of mental function produced by degenerative diseases of the brain. Dementia patients require caregiving particularly in the later stages of the disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia and accounts for 50 to 70 percent of dementia cases. Other types of dementia include vascular dementia, mixed dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more-serious decline of dementia. It can involve problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes.

 

There is some hope for age related cognitive decline, however, as there is evidence that they can be slowed. There are some indications that physical and mental exercise can reduce the rate of cognitive decline and lower the chances of dementia. For example, contemplative practices such as meditation, yoga, and tai chi or qigong have all been shown to be beneficial in slowing or delaying physical and mental decline with aging. Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve cognitive processes while gentle mindful exercises such as Tai Chi and Qigong have been shown to slow age related cognitive decline.

 

These age-related declines in mental ability are associated with mood disturbance, particularly depression. So, depression is a potentially modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline in aging. In today’s Research News article “The Roles of Exercise and Yoga in Ameliorating Depression as a Risk Factor for Cognitive Decline.” See summary below: Mathersul and Rosenbaum review the published research literature on the effectiveness of yoga and exercise to relieve depression and restrain cognitive decline.

 

They find that the published literature demonstrates that exercise, including aerobic exercise and strength training improve cognitive ability even in younger individuals and also relieves depression. In addition, the published literature demonstrates that yoga practice is also effective in reducing depression and also restraining cognitive decline. The hormonal system particularly the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis that produces cortisol and sympathetic nervous system, involved in the stress response, may be the common intermediaries as both are associated with cognitive decline and depressions and both are reduced by both yoga and exercise. But, this speculation has yet to be definitively tested.

 

These findings are interesting but are correlational and do not demonstrate causal links between yoga and exercise effects on depression and, in turn, age related cognitive decline. It remains to future research to clarify this issue. Regardless, it is clear that both exercise and yoga are effective to reducing depression and cognitive decline in aging, making them excellent practices for healthy aging.

 

So, improve depression and cognitive decline with yoga.

 

“This ancient Indian practice of exercise, breathing, and meditation has been around for about 5,000 years, and now researchers are finding out why millions of Americans practice yoga to ease depression, anxiety, and stress. In fact, the American Yoga Association says just a few minutes of yoga three times every day can balance your body and mind and get your depression on the run.” – Chris Lliades

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Danielle C. Mathersul and Simon Rosenbaum, “The Roles of Exercise and Yoga in Ameliorating Depression as a Risk Factor for Cognitive Decline,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2016, Article ID 4612953, 9 pages, 2016. doi:10.1155/2016/4612953

 

Abstract

Currently, there are no effective pharmaceutical treatments to reduce cognitive decline or prevent dementia. At the same time, the global population is aging, and rates of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are on the rise. As such, there is an increasing interest in complementary and alternative interventions to treat or reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Depression is one potentially modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. Notably, exercise and yoga are two interventions known to both reduce symptoms of depression and improve cognitive function. The current review discusses the efficacy of exercise and yoga to ameliorate depression and thereby reduce the risk of cognitive decline and potentially prevent dementia. Potential mechanisms of change, treatment implications, and future directions are discussed.

Improve Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness can be conceptualized as a facilitator of transition, enabling people to adapt to living with a long-term condition, and that this transition is associated with improved, self-directed management, important to both people with long-term conditions and healthcare providers.” – Daniela Semedo

 

MS is a progressive demyelinating disease which attacks the coating on the neural axons which send messages throughout the body and nervous system. It affects about 2 million people worldwide and about 400,000 in the U.S. It is most commonly diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50 years.  Unfortunately, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis. There are a number of approved medications that are used to treat MS but are designed to lessen frequency of relapses and slow the progression of the disease, but they don’t address individual symptoms.

 

Although there is a progressive deterioration, MS is not fatal with MS patients having about the same life expectancy as the general population. Hence, most MS sufferers have to live with the disease for many years. So, quality of life becomes a major issue. Quality of life with MS is affected by fatigue, cognitive decrements, physical impairment, depression, and poor sleep quality. There is a thus a critical need for safe and effective methods to help relieve the symptoms of MS and improve quality of life. Since mindfulness has been previously shown to improve depression, sleep quality, cognitive impairments, emotion regulation, and fatigue, it would seem likely that mindfulness practice might be effective in improving the quality of life and lessening fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis.

 

In today’s Research News article “The effect of group mindfulness-based stress reduction and consciousness yoga program on quality of life and fatigue severity in patients with MS.” See  summary below or view the full text of the study at http://journals.tbzmed.ac.ir/JCS/Manuscript/JCS-5-325.pdf

Nejati and colleagues recruited patients with multiple sclerosis, aged 20-45 years, who did not practice meditation or yoga, and randomly assigned them to receive either an 8-week program of meditation and yoga practice or treatment as usual (control). Training in meditation and yoga occurred in 8 weekly 2-hour sessions with home practice. Both groups were measured before and after treatment for multiple sclerosis quality of life, psychiatric diseases, and fatigue.

 

They found that the meditation and yoga practice produced significant improvements in the multiple sclerosis quality of life subscales including physical health, role limitations due to physical and emotional problems, energy, emotional well-being, health distress, health perception, and satisfaction with sexual function, overall quality of life, and fatigue severity. There was no improvement found in overall health.

 

It should be noted that this was a quasi-experimental design as the control group did not receive any active additional treatment. Hence, various confounding factors such as placebo effects, attentional effects, etc. could have been responsible for the results. In addition, since the intervention contained both meditation and yoga practice, it cannot be determined which one or both were responsible for the improvements.

 

Nevertheless, the results are encouraging and suggest the mindfulness training might be effective in relieving fatigue and improving the quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis. Since these patients will likely be spending the rest of their lives coping with the disease, making it easier for them to function and improving the quality of their lives is vitally important to their ling-term well-being.

 

So, improve multiple sclerosis symptoms with mindfulness.

 

“Living with the pain, discomfort, and the uncertainties of MS can lead to feelings of frustration, anger, anxiety, and depression. These feelings can lead to physiological changes such as increased fatigue and muscle pain, impaired memory and concentration, and poor sleep. “By becoming mindful and aware of our thoughts, feelings, and body sensations, we can better control situations, and we have more choices. Mindful awareness helps us to become fully conscious of the world as it is, rather than how we wish it could be.” – Regina Boyle Wheeler

 

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Nejati S, Rajezi Esfahani S, Rahmani S, Afrookhteh G, Hoveida Sh. The effect of group mindfulness-based stress reduction and consciousness yoga program on quality of life and fatigue severity in patients with MS. J Caring Sci 2016; 5 (4): 325-35. doi:10.15171/jcs.2016.034.

 

Abstract

Introduction: The chronic nature of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), have can leave devastating effects on quality of life and fatigue. The present research aimed to study the effect of group Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and conscious yoga program on the quality of life and fatigue severity among patients with MS. Methods: This study was quasi-experimental with intervention and control groups. The statistical population included all members to MS Society of Tehran Province, 24 of whom diagnosed with MS were selected as the sample based on the inclusion criteria. The subjects were randomly assigned into the test group (12 patients) and the control group (12 patients). MS Quality of Life-54 (MSQOL-54) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) were used for data collection. Subjects in the test group underwent a MBSR and conscious yoga program in 8 two-hour sessions. The data were analyzed using the SPSS ver.13 software. Results: The study findings showed that there was a significant difference between subjects in the experimental and control groups in terms of mean score of some subscales of quality of life including physical health, role limitations due to physical and emotional problems, energy, emotional well-being, health distress, health perception, and satisfaction with sexual function, overall quality of life, and fatigue severity. Conclusion: The results show that the program is effective in reduction of fatigue severity and improving some subscales of quality of life in MS patients. Hence, this supportive method can be used as an effective way for improving quality of life and relieving fatigue in MS patients.

http://journals.tbzmed.ac.ir/JCS/Manuscript/JCS-5-325.pdf

 

Change the Genes and the Brain for the Better with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Change the Genes and the Brain for the Better with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Scientists looked at how mindfulness practice affected genetic differences between one group of expert meditators compared with a control group of untrained meditators. “most interestingly, the changes were observed in genes that are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs.” – Perla Kaliman

 

There is an accumulating volume of research findings to demonstrate that mind-body therapies have highly beneficial effects on the health and well-being of humans. These include meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong, biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, hypnosis, and deep breathing exercises. Because of their proven benefits the application of these practices to relieving human suffering has skyrocketed.

 

It is clear that Mind-body therapies affect the physiology. In other words, the mind can alter the body. One way it can do that is by altering the nervous system. Meditation training has been shown to alter the nervous system, increasing the size and connectivity of structures associated with present moment awareness, higher level thinking, and regulation of emotions, while decreasing the size and connectivity of structures associated with mind wandering and self-referential thinking, known as the Default Mode Network (DMN). The brain is capable of changing and adapting in a process called neuroplasticity. As a result, the neural changes produced by meditation training become relatively permanent.

 

The mind can also affect the physiology through altering genetic processes. The genes dictate all of the chemical processes in our bodies including the immune system and the inflammatory response. In turn, the genes can affect our minds. In fact, the genes have been shown to affect an individual’s inherent emotions and level of mindfulness.

 

There has been a considerable amount of research over the last decade on the effects of mind-body therapies on the nervous system and gene expression. In today’s Research News article “The Embodied Mind: A Review on Functional Genomic and Neurological Correlates of Mind-Body Therapies.” See summary below. Muehsam and colleagues review and summarize these studies. They categorized the studies as either top-down, where mind-body therapies alter the physiology by altering attention, intention, and cognitive processes, or bottom-up, where the physical processes involved in mind-body therapies affect the nervous system. Hence, mind-body therapies act by altering the immune systems and the nervous system.

 

One of the primary actions of mind-body therapies is to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress which, in turn, affects wellness and well-being.  Studies indicate that these therapies alter the response of the brain-hormone axis that results in the production of glucocorticoids and alters the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Both of these effects alter gene expression, cellular aging, immune function, and healthy brain function. In addition, mind-body therapies can alter the immune systems inflammatory processes via action on the vagus nerve. This reduces the damage that can occur due to chronic stress producing chronic inflammation. Thus mind-body therapies act by eliminating or lessening the harmful effects of chronic stressors, thus allowing the body’s innate healing responses to be fully expressed.

 

The second major way mind-body practices impact the individual’s health and well-being is through neuromodulation. Mind-body practices alter the individual’s cognitive/affective state which have been shown to influence activity in brain regions including orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and somatosensory cortex. These practices alter the volume of brain tissue, its activity, and its connectivity with other brain regions and appear to produce relatively permanent changes in the brain via neuroplasticity. In addition, they decrease the size and connectivity of structures associated with mind wandering and self-referential thinking, known as the Default Mode Network (DMN). These changes, in turn, affect attention, learning, and emotion regulation, all of which are important for psychological health.

 

So, the published research literature reflects an increasing understanding of not only the beneficial effects of mind-body practices, but also the physiological processes and mechanisms though which these benefits occur. This produces a clear picture that mind-body practices act through the nervous and immune systems to improve the health and well-being of the practitioners.

 

“Mindfulness:  a way to keep our brains healthy, to support self-regulation and effective decision-making capabilities, and to protect ourselves from toxic stress. It can be integrated into one’s religious or spiritual life, or practiced as a form of secular mental training.  When we take a seat, take a breath, and commit to being mindful, particularly when we gather with others who are doing the same, we have the potential to be changed.” – Christina Congleton

 

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

Muehsam D, Lutgendorf S, Mills PJ, Rickhi B, Chevalier G, Bat N, Chopra D, Gurfein B. The Embodied Mind: A Review on Functional Genomic and Neurological Correlates of Mind-Body Therapies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2016 Dec 22. pii: S0149-7634(16)30325-6. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.027. [Epub ahead of print] Review.

 

Highlights

  • Functional genomic and neurological correlates of mind-body practices are reviewed.
  • EEG and Neuroimaging correlates of mind-body therapies and meditation are reviewed.
  • Mechanisms of action by which mind-body practices influence health outcomes are discussed

Abstract

A broad range of mind-body therapies (MBTs) are used by the public today, and a growing body of clinical and basic sciences research has resulted in evidence-based integration of many MBTs into clinical practice. Basic sciences research has identified some of the physiological correlates of MBT practices, leading to a better understanding of the processes by which emotional, cognitive and psychosocial factors can influence health outcomes and well-being. In particular, results from functional genomics and neuroimaging describe some of the processes involved in the mind-body connection and how these can influence health outcomes. Functional genomic and neurophysiological correlates of MBTs are reviewed, detailing studies showing changes in sympathetic nervous system activation of gene transcription factors involved in immune function and inflammation, electroencephalographic and neuroimaging studies on MBT practices, and persistent changes in neural function and morphology associated with these practices. While the broad diversity of study designs and MBTs studied presents a patchwork of results requiring further validation through replication and longitudinal studies, clear themes emerge for MBTs as immunomodulatory, with effects on leukocyte transcription and function related to inflammatory and innate immune responses, and neuromodulatory, with effects on brain function and morphology relevant for attention, learning, and emotion regulation. By detailing the potential mechanisms of action by which MBTs may influence health outcomes, the data generated by these studies have contributed significantly towards a better understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying MBTs.

Be My Mindful Valentine

psyjdc Leave a comment

Image may contain: cloud, sky, tree, outdoor and nature

Be My Mindful Valentine

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.” – Bruce Lee

 

Valentine’s Day was invented for the greeting card and florist industries but it caught on because there are few things more worth celebrating than love. Valentine’s Day is usually considered a celebration of romantic love, but I prefer it to be a celebration of love in all of its magnificent manifestations. Mindfulness is an important part as there is nothing more beautiful than mindful love. It’s pure, non-judgmental, and non-contingent love. It’s a completely unfettered outpouring of the heart.

 

Mindful love is not necessarily expressed with romantic greeting cards, roses, and chocolates. There is nothing wrong with these concrete expressions of love except when they are used as a substitute for the real thing. Too often we go through the motions of buying symbols of love and believing that these are all we need to express our feelings. True expressions of love are not concrete and tangible. They are deep connections and feelings that flow direct from the source and, if the truth be known, are the source. Let this love flow first and if it leads to giving tangible symbols, wonderful. Let it flow in any and every way it wishes to express itself.

 

The great sage Thích Nhất Hạnh said that “When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?” This sounds so simple, but it is not. What he means by “presence” is much more than being in physical proximity to another. It means to be really there for them, mindfully and totally, with the mind dedicated to them and not off thinking of something else. Rather the mind is totally focused and attentive to the other person. You are deeply listening to their words. You are deeply sensing their non-verbal messages. You are totally committed to them in the present moment. So, on Valentine’s Day offer the people you love your mindful presence. There is no greater way to express your love.

 

Mindful love is non-judgmental. It is accepting the other person for exactly who and what they are. It is appreciating their humanness with all its flaws, physical, psychological, and social. It is encouraging their aspirations and supporting them in their pursuit of them. It is filled with loving kindness and compassion. Thích Nhất Hạnh teaches “You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.” In other words, there’s no clinging or holding on. If there is, then the love is not mindful love, it is needy love.

 

Before mindful love can be given to others it must first be given to the self. Each of us has to truly love ourselves before we can freely and completely offer mindful love to another. For many westerners this can be a real challenge as many do not even like themselves. This is frequently due to westerners having unrealistic models, and beliefs and expectations about themselves. It is imperative to overcome this as this lack of self-love is the foundation of needy, demanding, self-centered love. Learn to fully accept your humanness and to understand that what you see as imperfections are nothing more than expressions of your humanity. Begin to accept that you are extraordinary, beautiful, capable, and special; a one of a kind, never to be seen again, exemplar of what it means to be a living, imperfect, human being. Recognize that you are worthy not only of your own love but the love of others. Realize that you are just as capable and competent and simultaneously just as inadequate and ineffectual as everyone else. Learn to love yourself and then you can truly love others.

 

It is nearly impossible to divorce romantic love from sexuality. From an evolutionary perspective the feelings between members of the opposite sex are driven by the needs to reproduce, making sexuality an integral part of romantic love. Unfortunately, many people separate love and sex, but this is often due to religious morality or societal dictates. There is no need to separate the two, in fact, they both are best when they work together. When mindful love is accompanied with mindful sex, each reinforces the other, producing an upward spiral of positive feelings. Recent research discovered that people are the most mindful at any time in their lives when they are engaged in sex. So, the phrase “mindful sex” may actually be redundant. But, when combined with mindful love, sexuality is a shared giving experience. Each partner is not simply engaged to satisfy their own needs, but to give, be present, and be sensitive to the other, to be non-judgmental and accepting of the other, to share one of life’s extraordinary experiences, and to truly come to understand why the word intercourse is used to label it. With mindfulness sex becomes an expression of deep and satisfying shared love.

 

Mindful love includes but expands far, far, beyond romantic love. When practiced it extends to everyone around the individual, including family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances, and even enemies. As you practice mindful love it will slowly begin to become evident that deep in the core of your being is nothing but love. The more aware you become of this the more that love gushes and envelops you and everyone around you. It even extends to all of existence. Unless you are exceptionally blessed it will take a while to get to this level. But, it doesn’t have to be sought as it is a natural outgrowth of the practice of mindful love.

 

The words, practice mindful love, are so easy to say. But, it is not easy. It’s very hard. It, like most things about mindfulness, is a practice. We work at it and try to get a little better all the time, but knowing that the ideal is not humanly possible. But the effort itself, is a true expression of mindful love. The practice of loving kindness meditation is a method that can help in the development of mindful love. But, if you work at it, invest in it, and patiently practice you will be deeply rewarded. The more you love, the more you love, the more you are loved, and the happier you become, not just superficial happiness, but the deep and abiding happiness of being a mindful valentine.

 

“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.” – Sam Keen

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Increase Connectedness by Meditating in Pairs

psyjdc Leave a comment

Increase Connectedness by Meditating in Pairs

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Couples meditation provides a great way for you and your partner to tune your instruments to one another. By taking a few minutes to meditate with your partner, you greatly increase your chances of having meaningful conversation and intimate connection. Couples meditation is a way of bringing your emotional state and psychological rhythms into alignment.” –  John Wise

 

Meditation training has been shown to improve health and well-being. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. As a result, meditation training has been called the third wave of therapies. One problem with understanding meditation effects is that there are, a wide variety of meditation techniques and it is not known which work best for improving different conditions. Also, meditation occurs in a variety of social conditions. It is practiced, alone, with another, dyad, or with groups of varying sizes. It is not known what the effects, if any, of these different social conditions might be on the effectiveness of meditation practice.

 

Four types of meditation are the most commonly used practices for research purposes. In body scan meditation, the individual focuses on the feelings and sensations of specific parts of the body, systematically moving attention from one area to another. Loving kindness meditation is designed to develop kindness and compassion to oneself and others. The individual systematically pictures different individuals from self, to close friends, to enemies and wishes them happiness, well-being, safety, peace, and ease of well-being. In focused attention meditation, the individual practices paying attention to a single meditation object, learns to filter out distracting stimuli, including thoughts, and learns to stay focused on the present moment, filtering out thoughts centered around the past or future. On the other hand, in open monitoring meditation, the individual opens up awareness to everything that’s being experienced regardless of its origin. These include bodily sensations, external stimuli, and even thoughts. The meditator just observes these stimuli and lets them arise, and fall away without paying them any further attention.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of Contemplative Dyads on Engagement and Perceived Social Connectedness Over 9 Months of Mental Training: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” See:summary below, Kok and Singer investigate the effectiveness of loving kindness meditation and open monitoring meditation practiced in dyads; meditating in pairs. They recruited normal adults aged between 20 to 55 and randomly assigned them to two different orders of conditions in a complex research design. Training in meditation began with a 3-day retreat, followed by 3 months of home-based breath focused attention and body scan meditations practiced in pairs, dyads. The first group of participants then spent 3 months practicing loving kindness meditation in combination with a taking turns for 5-minutes describing feelings and bodily sensations during a difficult situation. The next 3 months they practiced open monitoring meditation in combination with a taking turns for 5-minutes describing a recent situation from the perspective of a randomly assigned “inner part.,” e.g. “the judge” or “the loving mother.” The second group reversed the order to these home-based 3-month dyadic practices.  The participants reported daily on their feeling states, contents of thought, meta-cognition, closeness to their partner, valence, and arousal.

 

They found that the participants liked the loving kindness meditation segment best. Self-disclosures increased and became more personal over the training but this did not differ between conditions. Both conditions also produced significant increases in felt closeness to the partner, but the loving kindness meditation segment produced the greatest increase and the fastest rate of increase in this sense of connectedness.

 

These results suggest that meditating in pairs is an effective technique producing the usual benefits of meditation and also a social benefit of increasing felt closeness and self-disclosure. This could help in relieving loneliness that is often associated with depression. Loving kindness meditation appeared to be best in promoting these social benefits. Future research needs to investigate the impact of this improved social connectedness on the physical and mental health of the participants. This research is a step in the right direction of better understanding the consequences of different meditation types performed in different social conditions. Such an understanding should improve the targeting of specific meditation techniques to specific physical or psychological needs.

 

So, increase connectedness by meditating in pairs.

 

 “If you are partnered perhaps either you haven’t felt as connected as you used to or things are going great but you want to make them even better. In either case, meditating together daily, or as often as possible, could make a big difference in the quality of your relationship.” – Your Tango

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Kok BE, Singer T. Effects of Contemplative Dyads on Engagement and Perceived Social Connectedness Over 9 Months of Mental Training A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online December 28, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.3360

 

Key Points

Question  Can 2 newly developed dyadic contemplative exercises increase perceived social connectedness?

Findings  In this randomized clinical trial of 242 healthy adults, social closeness increased during a 10-minute dyadic practice session for both the socioaffective affect dyad and the sociocognitive perspective dyad. Furthermore, predyad social closeness and self-disclosure increased significantly for both dyads over the 3 months of a given training module.

Meaning  Contemplative dyadic exercises may effectively prevent or reduce the detrimental effects of loneliness and the social deficits often observed in many psychopathologies by increasing perceived social connectedness.

Abstract

IMPORTANCE:

Loneliness is a risk factor for depression and other illnesses and may be caused and reinforced by maladaptive social cognition. Secularized classical meditation training programs address social cognition, but practice typically occurs alone. Little is known about the effectiveness of contemplative practice performed in dyads.

OBJECTIVE:

To introduce and assess the effectiveness of contemplative dyadic practices relative to classical-solitary meditation with regard to engagement and perceived social connectedness.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:

The ReSource Project was a 9-month open-label efficacy trial of three, 3-month secularized mental training modules. Replacement randomization was used to assign 362 healthy participants in Leipzig and Berlin, Germany. Eligible participants were recruited between November 11, 2012, and February 13, 2013, and between November 13, 2013, and April 30, 2014. Intention-to-treat analyses were conducted.

INTERVENTIONS:

Breathing meditation and body scan (the presence module), loving-kindness meditation and affect dyad (the affect module), and observing-thoughts meditation and perspective dyad (the perspective module).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:

Primary outcomes were self-disclosure and social closeness. Engagement measures included compliance (ie, the mean [95% margin of error] number of meditation sessions that a participant engaged in per week), liking, and motivation to practice.

RESULTS:

Thirty participants dropped out after assignment to 3 experimental groups; 90 participants were assigned to a retest control that did not complete the main outcome measures; 16 participants provided no state-change data for the affect and perspective modules (226 remaining participants; mean age of 41.15 years; 59.3% female). Results are aggregated across training cohorts. Compliance was similar across the modules: loving-kindness meditation (3.78 [0.18] sessions), affect dyad (3.59 [0.14] sessions), observing-thoughts meditation (3.63 [0.20] sessions), and perspective dyad (3.24 [0.18] sessions). Motivation was higher for meditation (11.20 [0.40] sessions) than the dyads (9.26 [0.43] sessions) and was higher for the affect dyad (10.11 [0.46] sessions) than the perspective dyad (8.41 [0.46] sessions). Social closeness increased during a session for the affect dyad (1.49 [0.12] sessions) and the perspective dyad (1.06 [0.12] sessions) and increased over time for the affect dyad (slope of 0.016 [0.003]) and the perspective dyad (slope of 0.012 [0.003]). Self-disclosure increased over time for the affect dyad (slope of 0.023 [0.004]) and the perspective dyad (slope of 0.006 [0.005]), increasing more steeply for the affect dyad (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:

Contemplative dyads elicited engagement similar to classical contemplative practices and increased perceived social connectedness. Contemplative dyads represent a new type of intervention targeting social connectedness and intersubjective capacities deficient in participants who experience loneliness and in many psychopathologies.

Where Can Permanence be Found?

psyjdc Leave a comment

No automatic alt text available.

Where Can Permanence be Found?

 

By John M. de Castro

 

“We suffer from a hallucination, from a false and distorted sensation of our own existence as living organisms. It is almost banal to say so, yet it needs to be stressed continually: all is creation, all is change, all is flux, all is metamorphosis.” – Alan Watts

 

There is a prevalent delusion that there is permanence and stability in our existence. In fact, we so expect it that we are upset when things change. In truth, permanence is hard to find when one looks. Our immediate experience is constantly changing. As the Buddha taught, it’s impermanent. This is clear as sounds, sights, smells, tastes, and touches come and go constantly. They never stick around for long.

 

It’s a little harder to notice that our bodies are also constantly changing. It happens at a slower rate than immediate experience, but is constantly happening nonetheless. Over time every cell in our body degenerates and is replaced. We take in new molecules in the forms of air, water, and nutrients, using them to fuel the body and grow and replace tissues and excrete old and toxic molecules in the breath, sweat, and elimination processes. These ongoing processes mean that we are physically different than we were just a few minutes ago. This is most evident in the maturation process, growing, developing, maturing, and aging. Hence, not only our experience but also our physiology is impermanent and constantly changing.

 

The mind seems reasonably constant. But, with a little study and reflection, it can be seen that it too is constantly changing. We learn and change as we grow, acquiring language and mathematics, fundamentally changing the mind, from purely experiential to conceptual, from present moment to future planning, and as we acquire memories, from present to past. Increasingly the mind moves away from raw present moment experience to memories of the past and images of the future. From moment to moment our thoughts and images are changing. Hence, not only our experience and physiology but also our mind is impermanent and constantly changing.

 

But, surely there is permanence in our world. The ground we stand on is solid and unmoving. It is apparently unchanging and permanent. But, this is an illusion produced by the limited time spans that we directly experience. Every aspect of the earth itself is also changing and impermanent. We recently spent a week exploring the National Parks in Utah. The rock formations and canyons teach lessons that are written in a time frame that extends, not days or years or decades, or even millennia, but in billions of years. It’s recorded in geological time. To see the impermanence, it is necessary to view the parks from the perspective of this time frame. When one does, it becomes clear that everything about the earth is in motion, including the very ground under our feet.

 

We learned that the sand under our feet in Utah was formed from eroding sandstone that itself was formed from the erosion of the Appalachian Mountains, being washed westward by erosion into the rivers, forming a shoreline that millions of years ago was located in what is now Utah. As the Colorado Plateau raised up these sands formed into sandstone. This sandstone has been in turn eroding and washing toward the west coast. In fact, it has already formed sandstone in California. Hence, it has moved and reformed only to have it eroded moved and reformed again. It has, is, and will be in constant motion. But, not in human time rather in geologic time.

 

I spent reflective time looking over the Sulphur Creek Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park. It was carved 800 feet into the Colorado Plateau by erosion from the movement of water in Sulphur Creek. It took over 6 million years to carve the canyon. Here were 280 million years of geological changes right in front of my eyes. The lowest layers near the current creek bed were formed over 280 million years ago when this was the edge of the Pacific Ocean and the layer is composed of ancient sand dunes which as stated above originated in the sandstone of the Appalachian Mountains. Looking carefully and contemplatively at the canyon walls, I could see the aliveness of the earth, its impermanence. To put this in perspective, what I was looking at was actually only a small part of the 4.5 billion years of geological changes that we call the Earth. Hence, not only our experience, physiology, and mind but also the earth itself is impermanent and constantly changing.

 

Again, not apparent in the human life timeframe, but the entire universe itself is impermanent. Throughout its 13.8 billion-year history it has been constantly changing. Starting with the “Big Bang” itself to the present moment, stars have been created, matured, aged, and died, sometimes spectacularly in supernova, sometimes forming nebula, and sometimes collapsing into black holes. During their lives they’ve been moving further apart from each other as the universe continues expanding. Around the stars, planets, comets, etc. have formed each of which constantly changes and their fates determined by their constantly changing stars. Eventually, they all will cease existence in their current forms and their matter and energy will be redistributed into other forms.

 

This is disconcerting. There doesn’t appear to be any permanence whatsoever, anywhere. Everything is in constant motion. In fact, one might think that the only thing that appears to be permanent is impermanence itself. But, wait a second, what a revelation! This is actually a helpful mindset. If impermanence is embraced, then the effort to keep everything the same ceases. Instead, impermanence is accepted. Once it is embraced, the beauty and grandeur of the constantly changing internal and external landscape becomes evident. Change is beautiful and wonderful when one ceases to fight it. Knowing that we are constantly changing means that there are always opportunities to reinvent ourselves, to move in new and exciting directions, to grow and develop, and to be happy with life. Knowing that others are constantly changing means that we can discard our stereotypes and expectations about them. They will be different tomorrow than they are today. They can reinvent themselves, grow, develop and learn to enjoy the ever changing life they’ve been given. Seeing the impermanence can make our mortality more evident, focusing us more on the present moment and what is most important in our lives. In other words, accepting, indeed relishing, impermanence can transform our lives, making them happier, richer, fuller, and with deeper meaning than ever before.

 

Adopting this, we are now positioned to observe the one thing that does appear to be permanent in our existence; our awareness. Not what we are aware of, as that’s constantly changing, but, that which is aware of that content. It never seems to change. The content changes but the awareness itself does not. It’s been the same from our earliest memories of being aware, to the present moment, unchanging and ever present. Because it doesn’t change, we have a hard time becoming aware of it. Our minds have evolved to detect change as changes are the most significant events in the environment. They can contribute to or threaten our very survival. So, they stand out. But, in the background, mostly unnoticed, is this mysterious, magical, spiritual thing, awareness.

 

Grasp it, enjoy it, observe the wonder of it. It was seeing this that led the Buddha to his enlightenment. This has also been true for countless sages, mystics, saints, and yogis. Clearing away the delusion of permanence of everything else opens the eyes to the primacy of awareness in all of existence. This revelation is itself a spiritual revelation, opening a path to ultimate understanding of existence.

 

So, find permanence by seeing impermanence.

 

“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
― Robert Frost

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts arealso available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

 

Promote Engagement in Mindfulness Training with Self-Compassion and Attachment Security

psyjdc Leave a comment

Image may contain: 1 person, closeup

Promote Engagement in Mindfulness Training with Self-Compassion and Attachment Security

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The relentless search for high self-esteem has become a virtual religion; and a tyrannical one at that. Our competitive culture tells us we need to be special and above average to feel good about ourselves, but we can’t all be above average at the same time. There is always someone richer, more attractive, or successful than we are. And even when we do manage to feel self-esteem for one golden moment, we can’t hold on to it. Our sense of self-worth bounces around like a ping-pong ball, rising and falling in lock-step with our latest success or failure.” – William Morrow

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to have a myriad of positive benefits for the physical and psychological health of the individual. It has also been shown to be beneficial for those suffering from a wide range of physical and mental diseases. But, it cannot produce it’s benefits unless the individual actually engages in the practice. One of the biggest problems in all of medicine is compliance. Although, treatments are prescribed, few actually follow the recommendations. So, it is extremely important to investigate the factors that promote and prevent compliance. In the case of mindfulness trainings, it is important to study what increases the likelihood of engaging in the practices and what impedes it.

 

In today’s Research News article “Attachment Security and Self-Compassion Priming Increase the Likelihood that First-time Engagers in Mindfulness Meditation Will Continue with Mindfulness Training.” See:summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859852/

Rowe and colleagues investigate the role played by two factors, self-compassion and attachment security in influencing the willingness of individuals to engage in future mindfulness training.

 

They recruited young, 18-35 years of age, healthy, participants who did not practice mindfulness techniques and randomly assigned them to receive either primes that elicit self-compassion, or elicit attachment security, or a neutral prime. The participants were measured for perceived stress and mindfulness and then were simply asked to visualize one of three situations. In the self-compassion condition, they were asked to ‘visualize and write about being completely compassionate and warm towards yourself’. In the secure attachment prime condition, they were instructed to take some time to ‘visualize and write about a person with whom you have, or have had, a close secure relationship’. In the neutral condition, they were instructed to visualize a recent and unaccompanied shopping trip. Participants then wrote about the theme of the prime for 10 minutes. They were then instructed on mindfulness and given a 7-minute guided mindful breathing meditation. Afterwards, they were measured for felt security, compassion towards self, compassion towards others, mindfulness, subjective energy, and their willingness to engage in further mindfulness training.

 

They found that both the self-compassion and the attachment security primes resulted in a greater felt security, compassion towards self. They both also significantly increased the participants’ willingness to engage in further mindfulness training in comparison to the neutral condition. But the two differed in the method by which they affected the participants’ willingness. The attachment security prime affected willingness directly while the self-compassion prime affected mindfulness which in turn affected willingness.

 

These are interesting results that indicate that attachment security and self-compassion may be factors affecting the participants’ willingness to engage in further mindfulness training. This is a step forward in investigating the factors affecting compliance with mindfulness practice. It would appear that developing self-compassion and attachment security might be effective in promoting compliance. There is obviously much more work to do. But, this is an interesting start to improving the likelihood that participants will engage in mindfulness practice.

 

So, promote engagement in mindfulness training with self-compassion and attachment security.

 

“The main predictor of how well your child will do in school and in life is the strength of the relationship he or she has with you, the parent or primary caretaker. This relationship impacts your child’s future mental, physical, social, and emotional health. It is not founded on quality of care or parental love, but on the nonverbal emotional communication between child and parent known as the attachment bond.” – Jeanne Segal

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Rowe, A. C., Shepstone, L., Carnelley, K. B., Cavanagh, K., & Millings, A. (2016). Attachment Security and Self-compassion Priming Increase the Likelihood that First-time Engagers in Mindfulness Meditation Will Continue with Mindfulness Training. Mindfulness, 7, 642–650. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0499-7

 

Abstract

Mindfulness practice has many mental and physical health benefits but can be perceived as ‘difficult’ by some individuals. This perception can discourage compliance with mindfulness meditation training programs. The present research examined whether the activation of thoughts and feelings related to attachment security and self-compassion (through semantic priming) prior to a mindfulness meditation session might influence willingness to engage in future mindfulness training. We expected both of these primes to positively influence participants’ willingness to continue with mindfulness training. We primed 117 meditation-naïve individuals (84 female; mean age of 22.3 years, SD = 4.83) with either a self-compassion, attachment security, or a neutral control prime prior to an introductory mindfulness exercise and measured their post-session willingness to engage in further training. Both experimental primes resulted in higher willingness to engage in further mindfulness training relative to the control condition. The self-compassion prime did so indirectly by increasing state mindfulness, while the attachment security prime had a direct effect. This study supports theoretical links between self-compassion and mindfulness and reveals a causal role for these factors in promoting willingness to engage in mindfulness training. Our findings have implications for improving compliance with mindfulness intervention programs.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859852/

Relieve Back Pain with Yoga

psyjdc Leave a comment

Image may contain: 1 person, sitting and shoes

Relieve Back Pain with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“This systematic review found strong evidence for short-term effectiveness and moderate evidence for long-term effectiveness of yoga for chronic low back pain in the most important patient-centered outcomes. Yoga can be recommended as an additional therapy to chronic low back pain patients.” – Holger Cramer

 

Low Back Pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects between 6% to 15% of the population. It is estimated, however, that 80% of the population will experience back pain sometime during their lives. There are varied treatments for low back pain including chiropractic care, acupuncture, biofeedback, physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, massage, surgery, opiate pain killing drugs, steroid injections, and muscle relaxant drugs. These therapies are sometimes effective particularly for acute back pain. But, for chronic conditions the treatments are less effective and often require continuing treatment for years and opiate pain killers are dangerous and can lead to abuse, addiction, and fatal overdoses. Obviously, there is a need for safe and effective treatments for low back pain that are low cost and don’t have troublesome side effects.

 

Pain involves both physical and psychological issues. The stress, fear, and anxiety produced by pain tends to elicit responses that actually amplify the pain. So, reducing the emotional reactions to pain may be helpful in pain management. Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve emotion regulation producing more adaptive and less maladaptive responses to emotions. Indeed, mindfulness practices are effective in treating pain and have been shown to be safe and effective in the management of low back pain. Yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of health benefits. These include relief of chronic pain. Yoga practice has also been shown to be effective for the relief of chronic low-back pain.  Many forms of yoga focus on the proper alignment of the spine, which could directly address the source of back and neck pain for many individuals. So, it makes sense to further explore the effectiveness of yoga therapy for chronic low back pain and the structure of the spine.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Pain and Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based (MRI-Based) Structural Spine Changes in Low Back Pain Patients After Yoga Practice.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1481032081920713/?type=3&theater

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

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5031167/

Telles and colleagues recruited patients with degenerative intervertebral discs and randomly assigned them to either yoga or treatment as usual waitlist control groups. The yoga group engaged in light exercises and specific physical yoga postures, breathing exercises, and chanting and yoga relaxation techniques, for one hour per day for 3 months. Before and after treatment the participants were measured for pain, anxiety, and spine flexibility. To look at potential structural alteration, the participants’ spines were measured employing Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

 

They found that yoga practice produced a significant reduction in both pain levels and anxiety. There were no significant changes found in spine flexibility or the structure of the spine including nerve compression, endplate changes, and facet joint change. Hence yoga practice was shown to be effective in reducing subjective pain and the anxiety produced by it. This is in line with previous research but it was disappointing not to see changes in spine flexibility or structure. It appears that yoga practice is safe and moderately effective in treating patients with degenerative intervertebral discs.

 

So, relieve back pain with yoga.

 

“Yoga focuses a great deal of attention to developing both balance and flexibility. Improper spinal alignment can cause back pain and decrease range of motion in the spine. Yoga postures focus on elongating the spine and rediscovering the spine’s range of motion. Practicing a few yoga stretches after work can help straighten and strengthen your spine.” – Nicole Carlin

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Telles, S., Bhardwaj, A. K., Gupta, R. K., Sharma, S. K., Monro, R., & Balkrishna, A. (2016). A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Pain and Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based (MRI-Based) Structural Spine Changes in Low Back Pain Patients After Yoga Practice. Medical Science Monitor : International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research, 22, 3238–3247. http://doi.org/10.12659/MSM.896599

 

Abstract

Background:

The present study aimed at determining whether 12 weeks of yoga practice in patients with chronic LBP and MRI-based degenerative changes would result in differences in: (i) self-reported pain, anxiety, and spinal flexibility; and (ii) the structure of the discs or vertebrae.

Material/Methods:

Sixty-two persons with MRI-proven degenerative intervertebral discs (group mean ±S.D., 36.2±6.4 years; 30 females) were randomly assigned to yoga and control groups. However, testing was conducted on only 40 subjects, so only their data are included in this study. The assessments were: self-reported pain, state anxiety, spinal flexibility, and MRI of the lumbosacral spine, performed using a 1.5 Tesla system with a spinal surface column. The yoga group was taught light exercises, physical postures, breathing techniques, and yoga relaxation techniques for 1 hour daily for 3 months. No intervention was given to the control group except for routine medical care. A repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc analyses (which was Bonferroni-adjusted) was used. The Ethics Committee of Patanjali Research Foundation had approved the study which had been registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI/2012/11/003094).

Results:

The yoga group showed a significant reduction in self-reported pain and state anxiety in a before/after comparison at 12 weeks. A few patients in both groups showed changes in the discs and vertebrae at post-intervention assessment.

Conclusions:

Within 12 weeks, yoga practice reduced pain and state anxiety but did not alter MRI-proven changes in the intervertebral discs and in the vertebrae.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5031167/

 

Improve Well-Being with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, cloud, sky, nature and outdoor

Improve Well-Being with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“We believe that mindfulness—with its many benefits being increasingly corroborated through an array of scholarly approaches—is reaching a tipping point of being accepted, like physical exercise, as an essential element of well-being.” – Shalini Bahl

 

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. It’s about knowing what is on your mind.” (Jon Kabat-Zinn). It has been shown to be highly related to the health and well-being of the individual. Mindfulness training has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. As a result, mindfulness training has been called the third wave of therapies. In fact, though, little is known about how training improves mindfulness.

 

Neuroticism is considered a personality trait that is a lasting characteristic of the individual. It is characterized by negative feelings, repetitive thinking about the past (rumination), and worry about the future, moodiness and loneliness. It appears to be linked to vulnerability to stress. People who have this characteristic are not happy with life and have a low subjective sense of well-being and recognize that this state is unacceptable. There is some hope for people with high neuroticism as this relatively stable characteristic appears to be lessened by mindfulness training.

 

Well-being and neuroticism are two sides of a coin; one is a pleasant, healthful, and sought after state while the other is its opposite, an unpleasant, unhealthful, and avoided state. It is amazing that so little is known about treating neuroticism and promoting well-being. It is clear that mindfulness training helps with both. But mindfulness is a complex idea and there are many facets to mindfulness. Perhaps a better understanding of the role of these various facets in promoting well-being and treating neuroticism would lead to even better treatments.

 

In today’s Research News article “Dimensions of Mindfulness and Their Relations with Psychological Well-Being and Neuroticism.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1480193735337881/?type=3&theater

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

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0645-2

Iani and colleagues investigated the association of five different facets of mindfulness, Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-Judging of Experience, and Non-reacting to Experience. They recruited normal adults aged 21 to 84 and had them complete paper and pencil scales of the five facets of mindfulness, 6 facets of neuroticism, including anxiety, anger, depression, self-consciousness, immoderation, and vulnerability, subjective well-being, including satisfaction with life and subjective happiness, and psychological well-being, including 6 facets of self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. They then analyzed the associates between these variables.

 

They found that mindfulness in general and in particular describing and acting with awareness were strongly associated with psychological well-being, particularly with autonomy, personal growth, and purpose in life. Hence, the greater the ability to clearly describe experience yet act on it appropriately, the greater the positive functioning in life with autonomy, growth, and purpose. On the other hand, only the mindfulness facets of describing and nonreactivity were significantly correlated with both the subjective well-being facets of satisfaction with life and subjective happiness. So, being able to clearly describe experience yet not over-react to it appears to be very important for feeling good about life and general happiness. Neuroticism, particularly anxiety, depression, and vulnerability, was negatively associated with the mindfulness facets of nonreactivity and nonjudging. In other words, the more the individual does not judge nor over-react to experience the lower the levels of negative feelings.

 

These results are interesting and further refine our understanding of the relationship of mindfulness to well-being and neuroticism. In particular, the ability to function at a high level in life is associated with the ability to clearly describe experience yet act on it appropriately. While, feeling satisfied with life and happy is associated with the ability to clearly describe experience yet not over-react to it. Finally, less negative feelings are associated with the ability to not judge nor over-react to experience.

 

So, cultivate mindfulness in all its facets and have a life that is satisfying and happy, with fewer negative feelings, and functioning with autonomy, growth, and purpose. It is no wonder that mindfulness has become such an important skill for health and well-being in the modern world.

 

“Anxiety, depression, and stress/distress are different components of negative affect. When we combined each component of negative affect, we saw a small and consistent signal that any domain of negative affect is improved in mindfulness programs” – Madhav Goyal

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Iani, L., Lauriola, M., Cafaro, V. et al. Dimensions of Mindfulness and Their Relations with Psychological Well-Being and Neuroticism. Mindfulness (2016). doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0645-2

 

Abstract

In this study we examined whether differences in the habitual use of mindfulness skills were associated with specific well-being and neuroticism aspects. Two hundred eleven volunteers aged 21–84 years completed measures of mindfulness, neuroticism, psychological well-being (PWB), and subjective well-being (SWB). Describing, observing, and acting with awareness (i.e., the mindfulness “what” skills) were positively correlated with personal growth, purpose in life, and autonomy (i.e., the “core” eudaimonic components of PWB). Nonreactivity and nonjudging (i.e., the mindfulness “how” skills) were negatively associated with neuroticism aspects, such as withdrawal (e.g., depression) and volatility (e.g., anger). Describing and nonreactivity were the only mindfulness skills significantly correlated with the SWB measures. Acting with awareness mediated the effect of both withdrawal and volatility on eudaimonic well-being outcomes. Describing had consistent mediation effects across all well-being measures, but only for the withdrawal aspect. Nonreactivity and nonjudging did not mediated withdrawal when considering eudaimonic well-being as outcomes. Mediation effects for nonjudging and nonreactivity were found between volatility and SWB markers as well as between volatility and self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and positive relations with others (i.e., the “other” eudaimonic PWB components). In sum, the mindfulness “what” skills were important for eudaimonic well-being, especially for internalizing individuals. Authors discuss the usefulness of a facet-level analysis of mindfulness for examining incremental validity of some facets over others in accounting for different well-being outcomes measures. Clinical implications are also discussed.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-016-0645-2