Health

Improve Physical Health with Yoga

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Yoga is an ancient practice. Its longevity would suggest that it has observable benefits for its practitioners. Although for years anecdotal evidence supported this notion, it has only recently been demonstrated with modern controlled research studies that yoga indeed is beneficial for health and well-being.

In a previous post, yoga practice was shown to reduce the symptoms of the Metabolic Syndrome a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1045854842105108/?type=1&theater

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/heart-healthy-yoga/

In another previous post, it was demonstrated the yoga practice improves the immune system

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/healthy-balance-through-yoga/

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and in yet another post, yoga was shown to delay the decline in strength and flexibility on ageing individuals.

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/age-healthily-yoga/

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1015482441809015/?type=1&theater

In today’s Research News article “Effects of a 12-Week Hatha Yoga Intervention on Cardiorespiratory Endurance, Muscular Strength and Endurance, and Flexibility in Hong Kong Chinese Adults: A Controlled Clinical Trial.”

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4475706/

Lau and colleagues demonstrate that yoga improves cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility in both male and female adults.

One of the keys to any program for physical health is its acceptability. There are a large number of different varieties of fitness programs all of which can improve health if practiced. But many are disliked by participants who discontinue participation or only sporadically engage in the program. Lau and colleagues found that that people like yoga practice and so stick with it. Participants attended 94% of the available classes and only 11% dropped out. A practice is only as good a people’s willingness to engage in it and yoga practice appears to pass this test, making it a very good choice for physical health.

The fact that yoga is often practiced in groups may account, in part, for its enjoyability and the high participation rates. The presence of others provides support and camaraderie. The participant discussions that can precede and follow the practice can be helpful in learning about the progressions and difficulties encountered by others, making one’s own difficulties seem more normal and acceptable and setting more realistic expectations for future progress.

It would be expected that yoga would improve muscular strength and flexibility. After all that is what it’s designed to do. But the improvement in cardiovascular endurance is an important bonus. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. killing 800,000 people each year. The observed improvement in cardiorespiratory endurance along with the prior findings of effectiveness for metabolic syndrome, suggest that yoga could help prevent cardiovascular disease and increase longevity.

So, practice the enjoyable exercise of yoga and improve your health.

CMCS

 

Mindfulness Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease

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Parkinson’s Disease (PD) has received public attention because of its occurrence in a number of celebrities such as Mohammed Ali, Michael J Fox, and Linda Ronstadt. PD is a disease of the central nervous system that attacks the dopamine neurotransmitter system in the brain. There are around one million people in the U.S. living with PD and about 60,000 people are diagnosed with PD every year. PD is associated with aging as the vast majority of patients are diagnosed after age 50.

PD is a progressive degenerative disease. Its symptoms include resting tremor, slow movements, muscle rigidity, problems with posture and balance, loss of automatic movements, and slurring of speech. PD itself is not fatal but is often associated with related complications can reduce life expectancy, such as falls, choking, and cardiovascular problems.

Because PD is exclusively a physiological disorder it is surprising that mindfulness practice can help improve the symptoms. But it can as shown in today’s Research News article “Mindfulness Training among Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease: Neurobehavioral Effects.”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1048400695183856/?type=1&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4460233/

Pickut and colleagues demonstrate that mindfulness training improves motor performance and quality of life but increases pain in PD patients.

These are exciting and remarkable findings that a simple practice like mindfulness training could relieve the symptoms that result from degeneration of a neural system. But this just goes to illustrate that the separation of mind and body is far less than we assume. What are the mechanisms by which mindfulness training might improve PD symptoms?

A key mechanism might be via stress reduction that is so emblematic of mindfulness training. There is a clear relationship between stress and PD symptoms. When PD sufferers experience stress their symptoms get worse and when stress is lowered the symptoms improve. So, the stress reduction produced by mindfulness may well be responsible for the improvements.

Mindfulness training is known to produce significant changes directly in the nervous system. It has been shown that mindfulness training in PD patients increases grey matter density in the hippocampus and the amygdala. The same thing was found in areas of the right and left caudate nucleus, left occipital lobe, and left thalamus. These areas are known to be damaged in PD. So mindfulness training may act by improving brain areas that deteriorate in PD thus reducing symptoms.

Remarkably, mindfulness training has not been shown to produce improvements in the cerebellum, a structure responsible for motor coordination. The cerebellum increases in size by the usual care for PD. This may suggest that mindfulness training acts in a different way than directly working on the motor systems, perhaps by accentuating the activity of structures that take over and compensate for lost abilities.

One rather surprising finding was that mindfulness training actually increased pain perception in PD patients. This is exactly the opposite of its normally pain reducing properties. Pickut and colleagues, however, observed a marked increase in mindful observing in the trained PD patients. Buy becoming better at observing their bodies these patients may be becoming better at noting their pain levels.

So, mindfulness should be employed to help patients with Parkinson’s Disease.

CMCS

Age Healthily – Mindful Movement and Cancer Recovery

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Age Healthily – Mindful Movement and Cancer Recovery

Arguably the most feared disease is cancer. It is the second leading cause of death in advanced countries. In the US it accounts for over a half a million deaths annually. But, even if cancer is survived the debilitating effects of the disease may so weaken the individual to interfere with further recovery from the cancer or can lead to death from other causes.

Fatigue and distress are common symptoms among cancer survivors. This can lead to declines in quality of life, and poor adherence to cancer treatment. For older survivors, fatigue and distress can become debilitating.  The survivors lack the energy to manage the side effects of the treatments. The fatigue can also impair the elderly person’s ability to stave off other age-related diseases. It can also further exacerbate the declines in physical functioning associated with aging. The joint effect of all of these fatigue related issues  may create a downward spiral towards poor health and functioning. This can threaten their ability to maintain their independence into late life or even their life itself.

In today’s Research News article, “Levels of Fatigue and Distress in Senior Prostate Cancer Survivors Enrolled in a 12-Week Randomized Controlled Trial of Qigong,”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1030202173670375/?type=1&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945387/pdf/nihms536092.pdf

it is discovered that engaging in an ancient practice of mindful movement, Qi Gong, helps to relieve the fatigue and distress resulting from recovery from prostate cancer.

This is a potentially important finding as mindful movement practices are virtually an ideal exercise for the elderly. The slow mindful movements tend to increase mindfulness and also improve muscle strength and balance. The increased mindfulness can lead to marked psychological benefits of greater happiness and engagement in life as well as decreased depression and anxiety.

The increased muscle strength tends to help counteract the deterioration of the muscles associated with aging. While the improved balance aids in preventing falls that can have disastrous consequences given the fragile bones of the elderly. Mindful movement can do all of this and not produce further problems since the practice is not stressful on the muscles and bones. So it can be practiced without fear of injury.

So, engage in mindful movement practice and improve health particularly if your recovering from a debilitating health challenge.

CMCS

Why is Mindfulness so Beneficial

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Mindfulness has been demonstrated to have a broad range of positive benefits from improved mental and physical health, see today’s Research News article, “). Standardised Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Healthcare: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of RCTs”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4400080/

to the treatment of both physical and mental illnesses, to increases in creativity, to increased happiness, and on and on. I am unaware of anything that is so beneficial to so many things as mindfulness. As an added bonus, developing mindfulness costs nothing and can be done virtually anywhere under any conditions.

Mindfulness sounds too good to be true. How can this be? How can anything do all of this? To understand we must first recognize that we make ourselves miserable and sick. We constantly worry about the future and this creates fear, anxiety, and stress. We constantly and ruminate about the past and this makes us regretful and depressed and lowers our self-esteem.

Mindfulness is about present moment awareness. It recognizes that the past is gone and the future is not here yet. The only thing that matters is now! By moving us away from the misery producing thoughts of past and future, mindfulness immediately removes two processes that have negative impacts on us. In addition, it helps us recognize that the only time we can ever be happy is now! So it shifts our focus to the good things that are always there and present in the present moment.

Mindfulness reduces stress and this can reduce inflammatory responses that are detrimental to our health. We create much of our own stress by driving ourselves toward some future goal or by inordinately worrying about what is actually only a remotely possible catastrophe, or by trying to live up to some glorified image of what we should be or what we should accomplish. Mindfulness is an antidote for all of this. Seeing things as the really are right here right now undercuts the unhealthy striving, relieves the fears, and places realistic perspective on our human condition.

Modern life as we’ve developed it has removed us from the conditions in which we as a species evolved. It has created an artificial world that has become increasingly divorced from nature including our own human nature. Mindfulness is an important treatment for this modern illness. It helps us reconnect to the natural world that is our origin. It helps us reconnect with our own body; physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a result, it relaxes, refreshes, and creates happiness in just being alive.

Mindfulness practices probably would not have been so beneficial centuries ago or in more primitive societies. Most of its benefits emanate from its counteracting the problems that modern life creates. But, in today’s world, its benefits are amplified.

So cultivate mindfulness, the antidote to modern life

CMCS