Relieve Back Pain with Yoga

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Relieve Back Pain with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Lower back pain can be debilitating. Pain caused by ankylosing spondylitis (AS) may be especially severe. Conventional pain relief medications may cause uncomfortable side effects. If you’re looking for an alternative treatment, yoga may help. Yoga uses gentle stretching exercises to help relieve pain and increase flexibility. It helps stabilize your core to better support your spine.” – Annette McDermott

 

“Spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that, over time, can cause some of the vertebrae in your spine to fuse. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. If ribs are affected, it can be difficult to breathe deeply” (Mayo Clinic). Spondylitis, also called cervical osteoarthritis, produces considerable pain and stiffness from the neck down to the lower back. It affects the vast majority of people over age 60. The causes of Spondylitis are unknown although there appears to be some involvement of the genes and sedentary lifestyles. There is no known cure. It is normally treated with drugs, physical therapy or surgery with the aim of relieving the symptoms.

 

Back pain involves both physical and psychological issues. Physically, exercise can be helpful in strengthening the back to prevent or relieve pain. Psychologically, 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 responses to emotions. Mindfulness practices also reduce worry and rumination reducing the psychological amplification of pain. 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 is both an exercise and a mindfulness practice which has been shown to have a myriad of health benefits, including relief of chronic pain and relief of chronic low-back pain.  So, it makes sense to explore the effectiveness of yoga practice for Spondylitis (cervical osteoarthritis).

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Selected Yogic Practices on Pain and Disability in Patients with Lumbar Spondylitis.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5433117/, Malik and colleagues recruited adult patients with Spondylitis that was diagnosed with X-rays and MRI scans and who were experiencing moderate to severe pain. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups, instant relieve practice group, short-term practice group, and long-term practice group. The yoga practice consisted 1 hour of joint exercises, backward bending, and short relaxation. The instant relieve practice group practiced just once. The short-term practice group practiced 6 days per week for a total of 15 days. The long-term practice group practiced 6 days per week for a total of 30 days. The patients were measured before and after completion of their assigned yoga practices with the Roland–Morris back pain and Disability Questionnaire.

 

They found that yoga practice resulted in a significant reduction in pain and disability with the more practice the greater the improvement. After the single session, there was a 23% reduction in pain and disability while after 15 days of practice there was a 51% reduction, and after 30 days of practice there was a 64% reduction. Hence yoga practice was effective in reducing the primary symptoms of Spondylitis (cervical osteoarthritis). It is speculated that the increased strength and flexibility produced by the yoga practice markedly reduced tension in the back, reducing pain and the resultant disability.

 

So, relieve back pain with yoga.

 

“Yoga is a natural and holistic remedy for cervical spondylosis. A regular practice of this ancient science leads to a flexible body, calm mind and a positive attitude towards life.” – Art of Living

 

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

 

Manik, R. K., Mahapatra, A. K., Gartia, R., Bansal, S., & Patnaik, A. (2017). Effect of Selected Yogic Practices on Pain and Disability in Patients with Lumbar Spondylitis. International Journal of Yoga, 10(2), 81–87. http://doi.org/10.4103/0973-6131.205516

 

Abstract

Aim:

The study was designed to find the effect of selected yogic practices on lumbar spondylitis.

Materials and Methods:

This was a prospective, randomized study without a control trial. A total of 172 participants with lumbar spondylitis (age 21–79 years) from the outpatient department (OPD) of neurosurgery, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, were randomly assigned to receive yoga therapy. The module of selected yogic practices consisted of pawanamuktasana series 1 (loosening and strengthening), asana, pranayama, and relaxation techniques Yoga Nidra.

Statistics Analysis:

Within groups, comparison was done by paired t-test, and between groups, ANOVA test was carried out to determine the significant difference among the various groups under study. Correlation regression analysis was done to measure the degree of linear relationship between pre- and post-study for various groups.

Results:

Significant differences were observed with yoga therapy in instant relieve practice group, in short-term practice group, and in long-term practice group (LTPG) with better results in LTPG.

Conclusion:

Selected yoga therapy has got the better result in management of pain in lumbar spondylitis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5433117/

Drugs Produce Loss of Self Like Spiritual Awakening

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Drugs Produce Loss of Self Like Spiritual Awakening

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“People tripping on psilocybin can experience paranoia or a complete loss of subjective self-identity, known as ego dissolution” – Annamarya Scaccia

 

Psychedelic substances have been used almost since the beginning of recorded history to alter consciousness and produce spiritually meaningful experiences. Psychedelics produce effects that are similar to those that are reported in spiritual awakenings. They report a loss of the personal self. They experience what they used to refer to as the self as just a part of an integrated whole. They report feeling interconnected with everything else in a sense of oneness with all things. They experience a feeling of timelessness where time seems to stop and everything is taking place in a single present moment. They experience ineffability, being unable to express in words what they are experiencing and as a result sometimes producing paradoxical statements. And they experience a positive mood, with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

 

It is easy to see why people find these experiences so pleasant and eye opening. They often report that the experiences changed them forever. Even though the effects of psychedelic substances have been experienced and reported on for centuries, only very recently have these effects come under rigorous scientific scrutiny. One deterrent to the research is the legal prohibitions for the possession and use of these substances.

 

The fact that experiences, virtual identical to spiritual awakening experiences, can be induced by drugs and that drugs have their effects by altering the chemistry of the nervous system, has led to the notion that perhaps spiritual experiences are simply an altered state of the brain produced by intense spiritual practices. An important observation in this regard is that alterations of the brain can make it more likely that an individual will have a spiritual experience. Spiritual experiences can occur occasionally with epileptic seizures. This may provide clues as to what neural structures are involved in spiritual experiences.

 

In today’s Research News article “Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5441112/, Millière reviews and summarizes the published literature on drug effects on the concept of the self. He reports that a number of different psychoactive substances produce similar effects of ego dissolution. This is a dramatic breakdown of a sense of self producing a sense of unity with all things. No boundary between self and other is felt. Instead, there is a feeling of oneness with everything.

 

All psychedelic drugs act on the nervous system. They appear to stimulate the serotonin system in the brain and appear to suppress the activity of a set of neural structures known collectively as the Default Mode Network (DMN). These structures include the cingulate and medial frontal cortices, the thalamus which have been shown to be important for the production of a sense of self.

 

Another class of psychoactive drugs are dissociative anesthetics. These also appear to produce a loss of the sense of self, but act on a different neurochemical system, tending to stimulate the NMDA glutamate receptors. Glutamate receptors are the brain’s primary excitatory receptors and are widespread throughout the nervous system. So, the effects of this class of psychoactive substances on the brain are quite different from those of psychedelic drugs.

 

A final class of psychoactive drugs that produce an ego dissolution are kappa opioid receptor agonists. These appear to act by affecting opioid receptors which in turn affect the dopamine neurochemical system. In addition, it has been shown that drugs that block opioid receptors tend to reverse the feelings of loss of self in psychotic patients.

 

These findings do not reveal a common set of effects on the nervous system that are associated with the loss of a sense of self that are produced by the three different classes of compounds that elicit an ego dissolution. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a common mechanism, only that none has been identified. But, if there is not a common neural mechanism, then it would appear that the sense of self is fragile and can be disrupted by widespread and different effects on the nervous system. In addition, thinking about the self appears to increase activity in a completely different area of the brain and paying attention to non-self elements of experience changes still another set of structures. Hence, a sense of self appears to be produced by widespread different areas of the nervous system and disruption of widespread different areas and neurochemical systems can disrupt the sense of self.

 

One problem with the research on the neural systems responsible for the notion of self may be that what we call self may actually be a complex set of different processes. What we define as the “self” consists of a set of components including physiology, behaviors, personality, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, memories, etc. It is not a single thing rather it’s a set of things that in their entirety are considered a self. In other words, the self is a concept that summarizes a set of experiences and is not a thing unto itself. If this is the case then it is not surprising that disruption of different process may be responsible for common feelings of a loss of self.

 

All of this suggests that spiritual awakening may be an entirely different process than the effects of psychoactive drugs. They may each disrupt a different aspect of the set of components that we describe as the self. They further suggest that the sense of self is fragile and can be disrupted by disparate activities and psychoactive compounds affecting widespread and differing neural systems. Until there is greater clarity about which exact components of self are affected by each of the activities and drugs that produce an overall sense of loss of self, it will not be possible to answer the question as to whether spiritual awakening is due to organic changes produced by engagement in spiritual activities, or that they are representative of a totally different reality.

 

“There is ‘objective reality’ and then there is ‘our reality. Psychedelic drugs can distort our reality and result in perceptual illusions. But the reality we experience during ordinary wakefulness is also, to a large extent, an illusion.” – Enzo Tagliazucchi

 

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

 

Millière, R. (2017). Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 245. http://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00245

 

Abstract

There is converging evidence that high doses of hallucinogenic drugs can produce significant alterations of self-experience, described as the dissolution of the sense of self and the loss of boundaries between self and world. This article discusses the relevance of this phenomenon, known as “drug-induced ego dissolution (DIED)”, for cognitive neuroscience, psychology and philosophy of mind. Data from self-report questionnaires suggest that three neuropharmacological classes of drugs can induce ego dissolution: classical psychedelics, dissociative anesthetics and agonists of the kappa opioid receptor (KOR). While these substances act on different neurotransmitter receptors, they all produce strong subjective effects that can be compared to the symptoms of acute psychosis, including ego dissolution. It has been suggested that neuroimaging of DIED can indirectly shed light on the neural correlates of the self. While this line of inquiry is promising, its results must be interpreted with caution. First, neural correlates of ego dissolution might reveal the necessary neurophysiological conditions for the maintenance of the sense of self, but it is more doubtful that this method can reveal its minimally sufficient conditions. Second, it is necessary to define the relevant notion of self at play in the phenomenon of DIED. This article suggests that DIED consists in the disruption of subpersonal processes underlying the “minimal” or “embodied” self, i.e., the basic experience of being a self rooted in multimodal integration of self-related stimuli. This hypothesis is consistent with Bayesian models of phenomenal selfhood, according to which the subjective structure of conscious experience ultimately results from the optimization of predictions in perception and action. Finally, it is argued that DIED is also of particular interest for philosophy of mind. On the one hand, it challenges theories according to which consciousness always involves self-awareness. On the other hand, it suggests that ordinary conscious experience might involve a minimal kind of self-awareness rooted in multisensory processing, which is what appears to fade away during DIED.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5441112/

Reduce Psychotic Symptoms with Meditation

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Reduce Psychotic Symptoms with Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

 “While meditating the last day I finally could see love as an underlying force in the universe, and I had a waking dream of some fractal patterns realigning, it is hard to describe with words. It is still embarrassing to remember all the details of this, but it can be summarized with one word: delirium. I was totally out of myself, and what is worse, I was acting in inappropriate ways with other people. For instance, I was being hosted by a girl, and I acted violently smashing a cup against a wall, and throwing a chair to the floor. I still remember how my mind was watching in horror how my body was acting. It was stuff for nightmares…” – TLDR

 

There have been a number of reports that mindfulness meditation can lead to psychotic like symptoms in a few individuals. This appears to be amplified by participation in meditation retreats. It has been reported that around 60% of participants in intensive meditation retreats experienced at least one negative side effect, including panic, depression and confusion and about 7% experienced psychotic-like symptoms. Hence, meditation, although highly beneficial, does have some potential negative effects for many people and extreme negative consequences for a few.

 

There has, unfortunately been very little research on these negative effects of meditation. In today’s Research News article “Schizotypy and mindfulness: Magical thinking without suspiciousness characterizes mindfulness meditators.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5514306/, Antonova and colleagues, to address this issue, examine whether psychotic like symptoms are present in experienced meditators. They recruited male meditators who have been consistently practicing over at least 2 years, meditating at least 6 days per week for at least 45 minutes per day and males who had never practiced meditation and any other mindfulness practice. The participants were measured for five facets of mindfulness, including describing, observing, acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reacting, and schizotypal personality characteristics, including ideas of reference, excessive social anxiety, magical thinking, unusual perceptual experiences, odd/eccentric behavior, no close friends, odd speech, constricted affect and suspiciousness.

 

They found that meditators had significantly lower scores on suspiciousness and excessive social anxiety, and higher scores on magical thinking. They were also higher in mindfulness, including observing, non-judging, and non-reacting. In addition, the higher the scores on acting with awareness and non-judging, the lower the levels of schizotypal personality characteristics including suspiciousness, excessive social anxiety, and constricted affect (blunted emotions). Hence, experienced meditators tend to have fewer psychotic-like symptoms and higher mindfulness and high levels of mindfulness were associated with lower psychotic-like symptoms.

 

These results are interesting and tend to counter the notion that meditation is associated with increased negative psychotic-like symptoms. This may be due, though, to the fact that people who meditate consistently over a long period of time are generally psychological healthy individuals to begin with. It is also possible that those individuals who are sensitive of the negative effects of meditation simply drop out and don’t continue meditating as the negative consequences present themselves. The higher levels of magical thinking in the meditators may result from the fact that the meditators all practiced in the Buddhist tradition where metaphysical ideas are taught.

 

This is an important line of research and could be best addressed with longitudinal research investigating beginning meditators and following their progress over an extended period of time. Unfortunately, the present results do not provide a clearer understanding of the potential hazards of meditation practice, particularly while engaging in meditation retreats. Perhaps research that closely follows meditators while participating in a retreat may help to elucidate the factors responsible for the reported negative consequences.

 

So, reduce psychotic symptoms with meditation.

 

“60 per cent of people who had been on a meditation retreat had suffered at least one negative side effect, including panic, depression and confusion, a study in the US found.” – Harriett Crawford

 

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

 

Antonova, E., Amaratunga, K., Wright, B., Ettinger, U., & Kumari, V. (2016). Schizotypy and mindfulness: Magical thinking without suspiciousness characterizes mindfulness meditators. Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 5, 1–6. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scog.2016.05.001

 

 

Abstract

Despite growing evidence for demonstrated efficacy of mindfulness in various disorders, there is a continuous concern about the relationship between mindfulness practice and psychosis. As schizotypy is part of the psychosis spectrum, we examined the relationship between long-term mindfulness practice and schizotypy in two independent studies. Study 1 included 24 experienced mindfulness practitioners (19 males) from the Buddhist tradition (meditators) and 24 meditation-naïve individuals (all males). Study 2 consisted of 28 meditators and 28 meditation-naïve individuals (all males). All participants completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (Raine, 1991), a self-report scale containing 9 subscales (ideas of reference, excessive social anxiety, magical thinking, unusual perceptual experiences, odd/eccentric behavior, no close friends, odd speech, constricted affect, suspiciousness). Participants of study 2 also completed the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire which assesses observing (Observe), describing (Describe), acting with awareness (Awareness), non-judging of (Non-judgment) and non-reactivity to inner experience (Non-reactivity) facets of trait mindfulness. In both studies, meditators scored significantly lower on suspiciousness and higher on magical thinking compared to meditation-naïve individuals and showed a trend towards lower scores on excessive social anxiety. Excessive social anxiety correlated negatively with Awareness and Non-judgment; and suspiciousness with Awareness, Non-judgment and Non-reactivity facets across both groups. The two groups did not differ in their total schizotypy score. We conclude that mindfulness practice is not associated with an overall increase in schizotypal traits. Instead, the pattern suggests that mindfulness meditation, particularly with an emphasis on the Awareness, Non-judgment and Non-reactivity aspects, may help to reduce suspiciousness and excessive social anxiety.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5514306/

Improve Body Mass and Blood Pressure with Yoga

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Improve Body Mass and Blood Pressure with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

 “Those practicing yoga who were overweight to start with lost about five pounds during the same time period those not practicing yoga gained 14 pounds.” – Alan Kristol

 

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 are 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 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. Mindfulness has also been shown to make people more aware of eating and reduce intake. This suggests that mindfulness training may be an effective treatment for overeating and obesity. Yoga training involves both mindfulness and exercise. So, yoga training might be very effective in reducing body weight and improving cardiovascular health.

 

In today’s Research News article “Yoga Practice Improves the Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5433109/, Chauhan and colleagues recruited healthy adults who participated in a 1-month yoga camp, with 1 hour of yoga practice each day, and a no-treatment control group. Before and after the 1-month treatment period the participants were measured for body size and blood pressure.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the no-treatment control group, the yoga participants had a significant decrease in their Body Mass Index (BMI, weight divided by height squared, a standard measure of body size and overweight), and significant decreases in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Hence yoga practice resulted in improvements in body size and cardiovascular health.

 

These results suggest that yoga practice may be helpful in treating overweight and preventing obesity and the resultant cardiovascular problems. The study, however, compared a yoga group to a no-treatment group. So, potential confounding variables such as expectancy and attentional effects cannot be excluded as explanations. Future research studies should compare yoga practice to other exercise programs to establish if it’s the exercise contained in the yoga practice that is responsible for the benefits or something specific to yoga practice.

 

So, improve body mass and blood pressure with yoga.

 

“Yoga can control daily behaviors, produce self-awareness, boost personal growth and bring self-realization. This can help to improve eating patterns and promote self-control. Yoga has a promising effect in addressing a wide range of health conditions by stabilizing BMI.” – Minakshi Welukar

 

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

 

Chauhan, A., Semwal, D. K., Mishra, S. P., & Semwal, R. B. (2017). Yoga Practice Improves the Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial. International Journal of Yoga, 10(2), 103–106. http://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_46_16

 

Abstract

Background:

Yoga, an ancient Indian system of exercise and therapy is an art of good living or an integrated system for the benefit of the body, mind, and inner spirit. Regular practice of yoga can help to increase blood flow to the brain, reduce stress, have a calming effect on the nervous system, and greatly help in reducing hypertension.

Aim:

Aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of 1-month yoga practice on body mass index (BMI), and blood pressure (BP).

Materials and Methods:

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of yoga practice on 64 participants (age 53.6 ± 13.1 years) (experimental group) whereas the results were compared with 26 healthy volunteers (control group). We examined the effects of yoga on physiological parameters in a 1-month pilot study. Most of the participants were learner and practiced yoga for 1 h daily in the morning for 1 month. BMI and BP (systolic and diastolic) were studied before and after 1 month of yoga practice.

Results:

Yoga practice causes decreased BMI (26.4 ± 2.5–25.22 ± 2.4), systolic BP (136.9 ± 22.18 mmHg to 133 ± 21.38 mmHg), and diastolic BP (84.7 ± 6.5 mmHg to 82.34 ± 7.6 mmHg). On the other hand, no significant changes were observed in BMI and BP of control group.

Conclusion:

This study concludes that yoga practice has potential to control BMI and BP without taking any medication.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5433109/

Correct Brain Rhythms and Reduce Depression with Mindfulness

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Correct Brain Rhythms and Reduce Depression with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness, or paying full attention to the present moment, can be very helpful in improving the cognitive symptoms of depression.  . . 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.” –  Margarita Tartakovsky

 

Clinically diagnosed depression is the most common mental illness, affecting over 6% of the population. Major depression can be quite debilitating. It is also generally episodic, coming and going. Some people only have a single episode but most have multiple reoccurrences of depression.  Depression can be difficult to treat and usually treated with anti-depressive medication. But, of patients treated initially with drugs only about a third attained remission of the depression. After repeated and varied treatments including drugs, therapy, exercise etc. only about two thirds of patients attained remission. But, drugs often have troubling side effects and can lose effectiveness over time. In addition, many patients who achieve remission have relapses and recurrences of the depression. Even after remission some symptoms of depression may still be present (residual symptoms).

 

Being depressed and not responding to treatment or relapsing is a terribly difficult situation. The patients are suffering and nothing appears to work to relieve their intense depression. Suicide becomes a real possibility. So, it is imperative that other treatments be identified that can be applied when the typical treatments fail. Mindfulness training is another alternative treatment for depression. It has been shown to be an effective treatment for depression and is also effective for the prevention of its recurrence. Mindfulness training is also known to change the nervous system.

 

The brain shows synchronous activity where large numbers of neural cells are active together in burst. This activity can be recorded in the electroencephalogram (EEG). They appear as oscillations (waves) in the electrical signals that occur at certain frequencies. Over time these frequencies are fairly stable which is reflected in a correlation over time of the waves. This is called Long-Range Temporal Correlations (LRTC). This signal changes with mental illness and brain disease. So, it is reasonable to study the LRTC in depressed patients and the effect of mindfulness training on it.

 

In today’s Research News article “Aberrant Long-Range Temporal Correlations in Depression Are Attenuated after Psychological Treatment.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5488389/, Gärtner and colleagues recruited depressed and healthy control patients and randomly assigned them to receive either 2 weeks of mindfulness training or education on stress reduction. Mindfulness training consisted of two 25-minute guided meditation per day for 6 days per week. The stress reduction education group was asked to rest on the same schedule. Before and after training they were measured for mental illness, depression, and rumination, and the EEG recorded at rest with eyes closed.

 

They found that the there was a significant elevation of the Long-Range Temporal Correlations (LRTC) in the depressed patients in the frontal and temporal cortices. In addition, mindfulness training, but not stress reduction education, produced a significant reduction in both depression and rumination. Further, after mindfulness training there was a significant reduction in the LRTC signal and the larger the reduction in the LRTC the greater the reduction in depression. Hence, they found that depression was associated with heightened neural synchrony and that mindfulness training reduced that synchrony to normal levels while relieving depression. These appeared to be related, as the larger the reduction, normalizing, in the synchrony the greater the reduction in depression.

 

These are interesting results that suggest that mindfulness training changes the brain in beneficial ways for depressed patients, normalizing the brain activity and the depressive symptoms. Mindfulness training has been previously demonstrated to reduce depression. The present results suggest how the training may be altering the brain to relieve depression by correcting aberrant brain activity in the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain. These results, however, only demonstrate that both brain activity and depression change after mindfulness training and does not demonstrate a causal connection between the brain activity and depression. It will remain for future research to investigate whether they are causally connected.

 

So, correct brain rhythms and reduce depression with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness practices of MBCT allowed people to be more intentionally aware of the present moment, which gave them space to pause before reacting automatically to others. Instead of becoming distressed about rejection or criticism, they stepped back to understand their own automatic reactions—and to become more attuned to others’ needs and emotions. Awareness gave them more choice in how to respond, instead of becoming swept up in escalating negative emotion.” – Emily Nauman

 

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

 

Gärtner, M., Irrmischer, M., Winnebeck, E., Fissler, M., Huntenburg, J. M., Schroeter, T. A., … Barnhofer, T. (2017). Aberrant Long-Range Temporal Correlations in Depression Are Attenuated after Psychological Treatment. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 340. http://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00340

 

Abstract

The spontaneous oscillatory activity in the human brain shows long-range temporal correlations (LRTC) that extend over time scales of seconds to minutes. Previous research has demonstrated aberrant LRTC in depressed patients; however, it is unknown whether the neuronal dynamics normalize after psychological treatment. In this study, we recorded EEG during eyes-closed rest in depressed patients (N = 71) and healthy controls (N = 25), and investigated the temporal dynamics in depressed patients at baseline, and after attending either a brief mindfulness training or a stress reduction training. Compared to the healthy controls, depressed patients showed stronger LRTC in theta oscillations (4–7 Hz) at baseline. Following the psychological interventions both groups of patients demonstrated reduced LRTC in the theta band. The reduction of theta LRTC differed marginally between the groups, and explorative analyses of separate groups revealed noteworthy topographic differences. A positive relationship between the changes in LRTC, and changes in depressive symptoms was observed in the mindfulness group. In summary, our data show that aberrant temporal dynamics of ongoing oscillations in depressive patients are attenuated after treatment, and thus may help uncover the mechanisms with which psychotherapeutic interventions affect the brain.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5488389/

Improve Psychological and Physical State During Cancer Treatment with Yoga

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Improve Psychological and Physical State During Cancer Treatment with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“yoga therapy for cancer patients and cancer survivors is emerging as one of the more successful methods for combating the physical discomfort of cancer and cancer treatment.” – Yoga U

 

About 12.5% of women in the U.S. develop invasive breast cancer over their lifetimes and every year about 40,000 women die. Indeed, more women in the U.S. die from breast cancer than from any other cancer, besides lung cancer. Breast cancer diagnosis, however, is not a death sentence. Death rates have been decreasing for decades from improved detection and treatment of breast cancer. Five-year survival rates are now at around 95%. The improved survival rates mean that more women are now living with cancer.

 

Cancer treatment involving surgery and radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy is extremely difficult physically and emotionally. Surviving cancer, however, carries with it a number of problems. “Physical, emotional, and financial hardships often persist for years after diagnosis and treatment. Cancer survivors are also at greater risk for developing second cancers and other health conditions.” (National Cancer Survivors Day). Also, breast cancer survivors can have to deal with a heightened fear of reoccurrence, and an alteration of their body image. Additionally, cancer survivors frequently suffer from anxiety, depression, mood disturbance, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sleep disturbance, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, loss of personal control, impaired quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms which have been found to persist even ten years after remission. So, safe and effective treatments for the symptoms in breast cancer and the physical and psychological effects of the treatments are needed.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with general cancer recovery and breast cancer recovery. Mindfulness helps to alleviate many of the residual physical and psychological symptoms, including stress,  sleep disturbance, and anxiety and depression. The mindfulness practice of Yoga has also been shown to be helpful with the residual symptoms. So, it’s reasonable to further explore the potential benefits of yoga practice for women during and after treatment.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of a Yoga Program on Mood States, Quality of Life, and Toxicity in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Conventional Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5545947/, Rao and colleagues recruited women diagnosed with stage II or III breast cancer who had undergone surgery and either radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. They received treatment as usual and were randomly assigned to receive either education and supportive counseling or an integrated yoga program for 24 weeks consisting of 60-min daily sessions either in the clinic or at home of relaxation, breathing exercises, postures, and meditation. They were measured before and after treatment for anxiety, depression, functional levels, treatment related side effects and toxicity, sexuality, body image, and psychological and somatic symptoms.

 

They found that after treatment the yoga group, in comparison to baseline and the control group had significantly lower levels of anxiety, depression, number of treatment produced symptoms, toxicity, symptom severity, and distress, and increases in quality of life. In addition, they found that the greater the regularity of yoga practice, the lower the levels of depression and symptom severity, and the higher the levels of quality of life. In other words, yoga practice markedly relieved the physical and psychological effects of breast cancer treatment.

 

It would have been better if the control group had performed some other form of exercise to determine if it was yoga practice per se or simply exercise was responsible for the results. In addition, since the integrated yoga program contained multiple components it is impossible to differentiate which or which combination of components was effective. Nevertheless, these are remarkable and exciting results that integrated yoga practice can have such profound positive effects on women during and after treatment for breast cancer. Yoga practice appeared to improve both their psychological and physical states and the more the practice the better the results. The diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are extremely difficult physically and emotionally and it is encouraging that integrated yoga can be used to relieve a degree of the suffering.

 

So, improve psychological and physical state during cancer treatment with yoga.

 

“people with breast cancer found yoga helped to reduce distress, anxiety, depression and tiredness (fatigue). It also helped to improve quality of life, emotional wellbeing and social wellbeing.” – Cancer Research UK

 

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

 

Rao, R. M., Raghuram, N., Nagendra, H. R., Kodaganur, G. S., Bilimagga, R. S., Shashidhara, H., … Rao, N. (2017). Effects of a Yoga Program on Mood States, Quality of Life, and Toxicity in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Conventional Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 23(3), 237–246. http://doi.org/10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_92_17

 

Abstract

Aims:

The aim of this study is to compare the effects of yoga program with supportive therapy counseling on mood states, treatment-related symptoms, toxicity, and quality of life in Stage II and III breast cancer patients on conventional treatment.

Methods:

Ninety-eight Stage II and III breast cancer patients underwent surgery followed by adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) or chemotherapy (CT) or both at a cancer center were randomly assigned to receive yoga (n = 45) and supportive therapy counseling (n = 53) over a 24-week period. Intervention consisted of 60-min yoga sessions, daily while the control group was imparted supportive therapy during their hospital visits. Assessments included state-trait anxiety inventory, Beck’s depression inventory, symptom checklist, common toxicity criteria, and functional living index-cancer. Assessments were done at baseline, after surgery, before, during, and after RT and six cycles of CT.

Results:

Both groups had similar baseline scores. There were 29 dropouts 12 (yoga) and 17 (controls) following surgery. Sixty-nine participants contributed data to the current analysis (33 in yoga, and 36 in controls). An ANCOVA, adjusting for baseline differences, showed a significant decrease for the yoga intervention as compared to the control group during RT (first result) and CT (second result), in (i) anxiety state by 4.72 and 7.7 points, (ii) depression by 5.74 and 7.25 points, (iii) treatment-related symptoms by 2.34 and 2.97 points, (iv) severity of symptoms by 6.43 and 8.83 points, (v) distress by 7.19 and 13.11 points, and (vi) and improved overall quality of life by 23.9 and 31.2 points as compared to controls. Toxicity was significantly less in the yoga group (P = 0.01) during CT.

Conclusion:

The results suggest a possible use for yoga as a psychotherapeutic intervention in breast cancer patients undergoing conventional treatment.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5545947/

Improve Psychology and Physiology with a Meditation and Yoga Retreat

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Improve Psychology and Physiology with a Meditation and Yoga Retreat

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga is fantastic for decreasing stress levels, and research has also shown that those who practice yoga regularly have higher levels of leptin and adiponectin in their bodies. Both of these natural chemicals work to alleviate inflammation in the body.” –  Julie Montagu

 

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, 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, psoriasis, and depression. Needless to say, chronic inflammation can create major health problems. Indeed, the presence of chronic inflammation is associated with reduced longevity. So, it is important for health to control the inflammatory response, allowing it to do its job in fighting off infection but reducing its activity when no external threat is apparent.

 

Of course, it is far better to prevent chronic inflammation in the first place than to treat it later. Mind-body techniques such as yoga, Tai Chi and meditation have been shown to adaptively reduce the inflammatory response. Most of these results were obtained from treating diseased individuals. It is important to establish if Mind-body techniques can be effective in preventing chronic inflammation also in healthy individuals. In today’s Research News article “Yoga, Meditation and Mind-Body Health: Increased BDNF, Cortisol Awakening Response, and Altered Inflammatory Marker Expression after a 3-Month Yoga and Meditation Retreat.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5483482/, Cahn and colleagues investigate the effects of a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat on the functioning of the immune and activation systems.

 

They recruited male and female experienced yoga and meditation practitioners (average of 2 hours practice per day for 4.5 years) who were participating in a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat. The retreat involved daily yoga (about 1.5 hours per day), meditation (about 2 hours), and chanting (about 1 hour) practices and a vegetarian diet. They were measured before and during the last week of the retreat for mindfulness, psychological symptoms, and absorption. They also provided a saliva sample for cortisol assay and a blood sample for markers of the inflammatory processes.

 

They found that although the participants had high psychological health before the retreat that following the retreat there were significant reductions in psychological symptoms including depression, anxiety, and bodily symptoms and an increase in mindfulness. There were also significant increases in the neurotrophic factor, BDNF, pro-inflammatory factors, and cortisol levels immediately after waking up in the morning. Hence participation in the retreat produced improved psychological health, brain protection and development factor, and increased inflammatory system activity, and morning activation. The study did not have a control condition. So, the results could be due simply to the passage of time or expectancy or attentional effects. Future studies should include a control condition.

 

The improved mental health is similar to prior research findings that mindfulness practices improve anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms. They are, however, a bit surprising as the participants were very psychologically healthy at the beginning of the retreat. This underscores the power of mindfulness practices in improving mental health. The increase in BDNF levels also underscores the ability of mindfulness practices to improve brain processing as BDNF is a neurotrophic factor that promotes neuroplasticity and brain health. The biological results are quite surprising. They conflict with previous research that has shown that mindfulness practices decrease inflammatory factors and cortisol levels. It is possible that because the participants were experienced practitioners that the beneficial effects of mindfulness practices were already high and further improvements would be difficult to detect. In addition, the retreat was physically demanding. As such, increased inflammation would be adaptive.

 

So, improve the physiology to control inflammation and stress with a meditation and yoga retreat.

 

“The more we learn about yoga, the more we realize the benefits aren’t all in the mind. . . Yoga helps people to relax, making the heart rate go down, which is great for those with high blood pressure. The poses help increase flexibility and strength, bringing relief to back pain sufferers. Now, . . . it seems that those meditative sun salutations and downward dog poses can reduce inflammation, the body’s way of reacting to injury or irritation.” – Susan Brink

 

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

 

Cahn, B. R., Goodman, M. S., Peterson, C. T., Maturi, R., & Mills, P. J. (2017). Yoga, Meditation and Mind-Body Health: Increased BDNF, Cortisol Awakening Response, and Altered Inflammatory Marker Expression after a 3-Month Yoga and Meditation Retreat. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 315. http://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00315

 

Abstract

Thirty-eight individuals (mean age: 34.8 years old) participating in a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat were assessed before and after the intervention for psychometric measures, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), circadian salivary cortisol levels, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Participation in the retreat was found to be associated with decreases in self-reported anxiety and depression as well as increases in mindfulness. As hypothesized, increases in the plasma levels of BDNF and increases in the magnitude of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) were also observed. The normalized change in BDNF levels was inversely correlated with BSI-18 anxiety scores at both the pre-retreat (r = 0.40, p < 0.05) and post-retreat (r = 0.52, p < 0.005) such that those with greater anxiety scores tended to exhibit smaller pre- to post-retreat increases in plasma BDNF levels. In line with a hypothesized decrease in inflammatory processes resulting from the yoga and meditation practices, we found that the plasma level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-10 was increased and the pro-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-12 was reduced after the retreat. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, plasma levels of other pro-inflammatory cytokines, including Interferon Gamma (IFN-γ), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Interleukin-8 (IL-8) were increased after the retreat. Given evidence from previous studies of the positive effects of meditative practices on mental fitness, autonomic homeostasis and inflammatory status, we hypothesize that these findings are related to the meditative practices throughout the retreat; however, some of the observed changes may also be related to other aspects of the retreat such as physical exercise-related components of the yoga practice and diet. We hypothesize that the patterns of change observed here reflect mind-body integration and well-being. The increased BDNF levels observed is a potential mediator between meditative practices and brain health, the increased CAR is likely a reflection of increased dynamic physiological arousal, and the relationship of the dual enhancement of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine changes to healthy immunologic functioning is discussed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5483482/

Change Gene Expression to Lessen the Effects of Chronic Stress with Mind-Body Practices

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Change Gene Expression to Lessen the Effects of Chronic Stress with Mind-Body Practices

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don’t realise is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business. These activities are leaving what we call a molecular signature in our cells, which reverses the effect that stress or anxiety would have on the body by changing how our genes are expressed. Put simply, MBIs cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our wellbeing.” – Ivana Buric

 

There is an accumulating volume of research findings to demonstrate that Mind-body practices 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 practices affect the physiology. In other words, the mind can alter the body. In turn, the genes can affect our minds. In fact, the genes have been shown to affect an individual’s inherent level of mindfulness. These interactions are well documented. The mechanisms by which they occur, however, are not well understood. It has been shown that contemplative practices help create balance in the inflammatory response which is very beneficial for health. But, the mechanism through which contemplative practices affect the immune system is not known. The genes dictate all of the chemical processes in our bodies including immune and inflammatory responses. So, it would seem reasonable to investigate whether alterations in gene expressions might be the intermediary between mind-body therapies and health.

 

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. Its primary effect is to increase blood circulation around the infected area, dilating the blood vessels around the site of inflammation. It also produces gaps in the cell walls surrounding the infected area, allowing the larger immune cells, to pass. It also tends to increase body temperature to further fight infection. This response works quite well for short-term infections and injuries and as such is an important defense mechanism for the body. But when inflammation is protracted and becomes chronic, it can itself become a threat to health, producing autoimmune diseases such as colitis, Chron’s disease, arthritis, heart disease, increased cancer risk, lung disease, sleep disruption, gum disease, decreased bone health, psoriasis, and depression.

Mind-body practices appear to relax the physical systems of the body including the immune system, reducing inflammation. Mind-body techniques such as yoga, Tai Chi and meditation have been shown to adaptively reduce the inflammatory response. Hence, it makes sense to investigate the effects of mind-body practices on gene expressions that underlie the immune and inflammatory responses. In today’s Research News article “What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind–Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5472657/, Buric and colleagues review and summarize the published research literature on the effects of mind-body practices on gene expressions.

 

They found 18 published research articles. These articles, in general, report that following engaging in mind-body practices there is a reduction in the expression of genes that are involved in the inflammatory response resultant from chronic stress, particularly downregulation of NF-κB-targeted genes. It has been well established that mind-body practices reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. The published research on the effects of mind-body practices on gene expressions provide a mechanism by which these practices affect the stress response. They do so by affecting the physiology on the molecular level altering the genes that underlie the chemical processes involved in the inflammatory responses to stress.

 

These findings suggest that Mind-body practices can improve the health and well-being of the practitioner. One of the premiere mechanisms by which this is accomplished is by reducing the individual’s responses to the debilitating effects of chronic stress. Many of the difficulties produced by chronic stress are caused by producing a chronic inflammatory response damaging tissues. It appears that mind-body practices improve health by altering the genes that underlie these processes.

 

So, change gene expression to lessen the effects of chronic stress with mind-body practices.

 

“doing yoga or meditating may lead to a decrease in cyctokine production, and a reversal of the inflammatory gene, which ultimately lowers the risk of inflammation-related diseases and conditions.” – Brianna Steinhilber

 

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

 

Buric, I., Farias, M., Jong, J., Mee, C., & Brazil, I. A. (2017). What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind–Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices. Frontiers in Immunology, 8, 670. http://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2017.00670

 

Abstract

There is considerable evidence for the effectiveness of mind–body interventions (MBIs) in improving mental and physical health, but the molecular mechanisms of these benefits remain poorly understood. One hypothesis is that MBIs reverse expression of genes involved in inflammatory reactions that are induced by stress. This systematic review was conducted to examine changes in gene expression that occur after MBIs and to explore how these molecular changes are related to health. We searched PubMed throughout September 2016 to look for studies that have used gene expression analysis in MBIs (i.e., mindfulness, yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, relaxation response, and breath regulation). Due to the limited quantity of studies, we included both clinical and non-clinical samples with any type of research design. Eighteen relevant studies were retrieved and analyzed. Overall, the studies indicate that these practices are associated with a downregulation of nuclear factor kappa B pathway; this is the opposite of the effects of chronic stress on gene expression and suggests that MBI practices may lead to a reduced risk of inflammation-related diseases. However, it is unclear how the effects of MBIs compare to other healthy interventions such as exercise or nutrition due to the small number of available studies. More research is required to be able to understand the effects of MBIs at the molecular level.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5472657/

The Sense of Thought

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The Sense of Thought

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Whatever you see you must be mindful of as it really is. Whatever you hear you must be aware of as it occurs. Whatever you smell you must be aware of as it really occurs. Whatever you taste you must be aware of as it really occurs. Whatever you touch you must be aware of as it really occurs. Whatever you think or think about you must be aware of as it really occurs.” – Buddha

 

The Buddha identified not five senses as traditional Western thought does, but six sense doors; vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, touch, and thought. The first time I read this I was taken aback; thought as a sense! I always considered thought as processing sensory information, not as a sensory experience itself. Indeed, Descartes stated “Cogito ergo Sum”, “I think therefore I am.” Thinking was the ultimate evidence of existence, not just a sense impression. But, for a moment reflecting on Descartes phrase “I think therefore I am,” I along with many others realized that the “I” refers to something other than the thinker! Something is sensing thought, even thinking about this.

 

It is not clear that thought is a separate sense. Rather it appears to take advantage of the brain systems used for processing information from the external world. That is why we can “hear” our internal voice, “see” imagined scenes, or “feel” remembered emotions. Also, chefs can “taste” and “smell” imagined dishes; mentally combining ingredients. There’s been a long standing controversy in Psychology regarding whether there is thought without some kind of internal sensory experience, called imageless thought. The issue is not resolved but what is clear is that the vast majority of thoughts involve mental images. Hence, it appears that thoughts are not something other than the traditional senses but take advantage of them. Perhaps we sense thought through sensing the influence of thought on the traditional senses. But, still something is sensing this and it isn’t the mind, the source of thought.

 

There is clearly, however, imageless experience or awareness. Awareness itself observes sensations and thoughts, including the images accompanying thoughts, but does not itself have images. It is pure contentless awareness. In advanced meditative states, this contentless awareness can be directly experienced. Even the novice practitioner can experience this by paying close attention to the gaps that exists between thoughts. But, the thoughts that the Buddha was talking about are the processes of the mind and these appear, for the most part, to involve images. These, in turn, appear to be experienced, not by the mind, but by something else that we label awareness.

 

We appear to be incapable of truly controlling thoughts. We believe that we are in control. But, meditation practice immediately reveals that we can’t. Try as we may to concentrate on one thing, control our thinking and focus our attention, the mind inevitably wanders off into other things; planning for the future, ruminating about the past, interpreting experience. We don’t seem to be able to control it. Rather than being in control of thoughts, thoughts appear to be in control of the mind, but do so in such a sneaky way that they provide the illusion that we’re in control.  As Eckhart Tolle said “Then the mind is using you. You are unconsciously identified with it, so you don’t even know that you are its slave. It’s almost as if you were possessed without knowing it, and so you take the possessing entity to be yourself.”

 

We may not be able to control our thoughts, but we can step back and witness them. Just like our awareness senses lights, sound, etc. it can sense thoughts. This is why the Buddha classified thought as a sense. If you watch these out of control thoughts it begins to dawn on you that there’s a distinct separation between your awareness and thoughts. The thoughts begin to appear almost alien, like they’re not really yours. As Eckhart Tolle said “So when you listen to a thought, you are aware not only of the thought but also of yourself as the witness of the thought. A new dimension of consciousness has come in. As you listen to the thought, you feel a conscious presence – your deeper self – behind or underneath the thought, as it were. The thought then loses its power over you and quickly subsides, because you are no longer energizing the mind through identification with it. This is the beginning of the end of involuntary and compulsive thinking.”

 

So, the fact that we can’t control thoughts adds to the case that thought is, as the Buddha said, a separate sense. Just like our classical five senses we can’t control their content, we can only experience them. This is an important insight. As Jon Kabat-Zinn said ““It is remarkable how liberating it feels to be able to see that your thoughts are just thoughts and that they are not ‘you’ or ‘reality.’ For instance, if you have the thought that you have to get a certain number of things done today and you don’t recognize it as a thought but act as if it’s the ‘the truth,’ then you have created a reality in that moment in which you really believe that those things must all be done today.” So, by recognizing thought as just another sense, the inner self, the awareness of sensing, is revealed.

 

This can be practiced, especially during meditation. Watching thoughts is what you do in open monitoring meditation. You simply watch them and don’t react to them; just letting them arise, and fall away. Here you can clearly observe thoughts passing through, completely out of control, but when you don’t dwell on them, they pass on through and disappear. But, nonetheless, whether they stay or not, they are experienced. It can’t be emphasized too much what an important insight this is. As Eckhart Tolle observed “The most decisive event in your life is when you discover you are not your thoughts or emotions. Instead, you can be present as the awareness behind the thoughts and emotions.” This is when you begin to realize the nature of your true self. This is when you begin to see things as they really are. This is when you begin to awaken.

 

“Since, if one leaves the senses of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body & mind uncontrolled,
then evil detrimental states such as greed, lust & discontent invades & dominates the mind!
Therefore does one train control of the senses, guarding the senses, holding back the senses,
and one keeps in check these six wild-running senses…” – Buddha

 

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

 

Ease Medical Student Stress with Mindfulness

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Ease Medical Student Stress with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“I realized that the majority of my stress was self-generated. I put an inordinate amount of pressure on myself to succeed and get work done. Luckily, through mindfulness techniques, I gained some serious insight as to what makes me tick. I paid attention to my inner self and tried to implement changes in my life that could alleviate stress. To my surprise, I would perform far better in school because of these changes.” – Daniel Olson

 

Medical School is challenging both intellectually and psychologically. Stress levels are high and burnout is common. It’s been estimated that 63% of medical students experience negative consequences from stress while symptoms of severe stress were present in 25% of students. The prevalence of stress is higher among females than among males. High stress levels lead to lower performance in medical school and higher levels of physical and mental health problems, especially anxiety and depression. Indeed 50% of medical students report burnout and 11% have considered suicide in the last year.

 

Obviously, there is a need to either lower stress levels in medical education or find methods to assist medical students in dealing with the stress. One promising possibility is mindfulness training. It has been shown to reduce both the psychological and physiological responses to stress. It has also been shown to reduce stress in students, to help with the negative consequences of stress, and to reduce burnout in medical professionals. So, it would seem reasonable to suspect that mindfulness would be related to medical students’ ability to cope with the stress.

 

In today’s Research News article “Coping, perceived stress, and job satisfaction among medical interns: The mediating effect of mindfulness.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5479094/, Vinothkumar and colleagues recruited medical interns and had them complete measures of mindfulness, emotion regulation strategies, perceived stress, and job satisfaction and then conducted a regression analysis to determine the relationship between these variables.

 

They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness and adaptive strategies to cope with emotions the lower the levels of perceived stress and the higher the levels of maladaptive strategies to cope with emotions the higher the levels of perceived stress. Additionally, the higher the levels of mindfulness the higher the levels of adaptive strategies and the lower the levels of maladaptive strategies to cope with emotions. In other words, mindfulness was associated with lower perceived stress and adaptive strategies and lower levels of maladaptive strategies to cope with emotions.

 

Applying a mediational analysis revealed that adaptive strategies to cope with emotions had a significant relationship to lower perceived stress levels but that relationship was due to mindfulness, such that adaptive coping was associated with higher levels of mindfulness which in turn was associated with lower perceived stress levels. Alternatively, maladaptive strategies to cope with emotions had a significant relationship to higher perceived stress levels but that relationship was due to mindfulness, such that maladaptive coping was associated with lower mindfulness which in turn was associated with higher perceived stress levels. In other words, the relationship between adaptive and maladaptive strategies to cope with emotions with the interns’ perceived levels of stress was completely due to the coping strategies relationships with mindfulness.

 

These are interesting results that suggest that how medical interns go about coping with emotions is important in regulating their responses to stress and that this is due to the fact that these coping strategies are associated with the interns’ levels of mindfulness. It has been well established that mindfulness is associated with lower perceived stress levels. The present results suggest that coping strategies affect mindfulness producing changes in stress levels. These results further suggest that instructing medical students in how to cope with emotions may be helpful in lowering stress effects and thereby improving their performance in school and in their later careers and decreasing burnout.

 

So, ease medical student stress with mindfulness.

 

“the use of mindfulness and meditation become ingrained in the fabric of medical care-and alleviate the suffering of countless practitioners and while allowing us to take better care of our patients — and ourselves.” – Jeffrey Taekman

 

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

 

Vinothkumar, M., Arathi, A., Joseph, M., Nayana, P., Jishma, E. J., & Sahana, U. (2016). Coping, perceived stress, and job satisfaction among medical interns: The mediating effect of mindfulness. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 25(2), 195–201. http://doi.org/10.4103/ipj.ipj_98_14

 

Abstract

Background:

Past research studies on the exploration of attributes to the stress of doctors/medical interns were reported more often than the types of coping strategies, healthy practices to strengthen their internal resources to deal effectively with the stressful situations.

Objectives:

The present study was conducted to find such internal resource – “mindfulness” as a mediator of coping, perceived stress, and job satisfaction among medical interns.

Methods:

A cross-sectional descriptive study comprised 120 medical interns forms from various medical colleges in Mangalore were recruited and completed the assessment on mindfulness, cognitive-emotive regulation, coping strategies, perceived stress, and job satisfaction from doctoral interns were collected.

Results:

Initial correlation analysis results indicate that adaptive coping strategies significantly associate with greater mindfulness and less perceived stress. In turn, mindfulness is negatively correlated with nonadaptive coping strategies and perceived. Job satisfaction showed no significant relationship with any of the other variables. Mediational models indicate that the relationship between adaptive coping strategies and perceived stress was significantly mediated by mindfulness. Furthermore, partial mediation between nonadaptive strategies and perceived stress through mindfulness indicates that respondents reported a high level of nonadaptive strategy experience and a lower level of mindfulness can be counterproductive as they encourage the ineffective way to deal with the stresses.

Conclusion:

The implication of the results were discussed with suggesting a possible intervention to improve the adaptive strategies and mindfulness among the medical interns.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5479094/