Improve Sleep with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Sleep with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness meditation appears to be a viable treatment option for adults with chronic insomnia and could provide an alternative to traditional treatments for insomnia.” – Ethan Green

 

Modern society has become more around-the-clock and more complex producing considerable pressure and stress on the individual. The advent of the internet and smart phones has exacerbated the problem. The resultant stress can impair sleep. Indeed, it is estimated that over half of Americans sleep too little due to stress. As a result, people today sleep 20% less than they did 100 years ago. Not having a good night’s sleep has adverse effects upon the individual’s health, well-being, and happiness. Yet over 70 million Americans suffer from disorders of sleep and about half of these have a chronic disorder. It has been estimated that 30 to 35% of adults have brief symptoms of insomnia, 15 to 20% have a short-term insomnia disorder, and 10% have chronic insomnia

 

Insomnia is more than just an irritant. Sleep deprivation is associated with decreased alertness and a consequent reduction in performance of even simple tasks, decreased quality of life, increased difficulties with memory and problem solving, increased likelihood of accidental injury including automobile accidents, and increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It also can lead to anxiety about sleep itself. This is stressful and can produce even more anxiety about being able to sleep. About 4% of Americans revert to sleeping pills. But, these do not always produce high quality sleep and can have problematic side effects. So, there is a need to find better methods to treat insomnia. Contemplative practices have been reported to improve sleep amount and quality and help with insomnia. The importance of insomnia underscores the need to further investigate safe and effective alternatives to drugs.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Quest for Mindful Sleep: A Critical Synthesis of the Impact of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Insomnia.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5300077/

Garland and colleagues review the published research literature on the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on sleep. They identified 7 studies, 6 of which used randomized controlled trials. In most of these studies the mindfulness training consisted of either Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) programs. They concluded that these studies demonstrated that mindfulness training can produce significant improvement in the severity of insomnia and sleep disturbance in healthy individuals, people with chronic disease, and with older adults.

 

These are encouraging results that suggest that mindfulness training is effective for improving sleep in a variety of sick and health individuals of varying ages. It is not known exactly how mindfulness acts to improve sleep. But, it can be speculated that the ability of mindfulness training to improve the psychological and physiological responses to stress may be involved.

Since high levels of stress are almost universal in modern populations and stress has been shown to contribute to sleep disturbance, it would seem reasonable to believe that reduction of the individual’s response to stress would improve sleep. Hence, mindfulness training may be an important alternative to drugs in the treatment of sleep problems. This improvement of sleep, in turn, can contribute to the individual’s overall health and well-being.

 

So, improve sleep with mindfulness.

 

“By taking this mindful attitude, sleep is facilitated by simply being aware of the moment-to-moment experience of relaxing into the bed, without judging or being critical of that experience, so that the mind can gently slip into sleep.” – John Cline

 

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

Sheila N. Garland, Eric S. Zhou, Brian D. Gonzalez, Nicole Rodriguez. The Quest for Mindful Sleep: A Critical Synthesis of the Impact of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Insomnia. Curr Sleep Med Rep. 2016 Sep; 2(3): 142–151.. doi: 10.1007/s40675-016-0050-3

 

Abstract

Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) for insomnia and sleep disturbances are receiving increasing clinical and research attention. This paper provides a critical appraisal of this growing area investigating the application of MBIs for people with insomnia and sleep disturbance. First, we discuss the theoretical justification for how mindfulness meditation practice may affect sleep processes. Second, we provide a focused review of literature published between January 1, 2012 and April 1, 2016 examining the impact of MBIs on sleep, broken down by whether insomnia or sleep disturbance was a primary or secondary outcome. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5300077/

 

Improve Emotions in Quitting Smokers by Increasing Relaxation with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Emotions in Quitting Smokers by Increasing Relaxation with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Depressed individuals tend to smoke at higher rates; at the same time, depressive symptoms make it more difficult to quit. Consequently, depressed individuals suffer from a higher rate of smoking-related diseases. Developing and implementing effective smoking cessation interventions for this vulnerable population is a public health priority.” – Haruka Minami

 

“Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year, with more than 41,000 of these deaths from exposure to secondhand smoke. In addition, smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than $300 billion a year. In 2013, an estimated 17.8% (42.1 million) U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers.”  (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

 

There are a wide variety of methods and strategies to quit smoking which are to only a very limited extent effective. According to the National Institutes of Health, about 40% of smokers who want to quit make a serious attempt to do so each year, but fewer than 5% actually succeed. Most people require three or four failed attempts before being successful. One problem is that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known and withdrawal from nicotine is very stressful, producing many physical and psychological problems, including negative emotional states and depression. In essence the addict feels miserable without the nicotine. This promotes relapse to relieve the discomfort.

 

Better methods to quit which can not only promote quitting but also prevent relapse are badly needed. Mindfulness practices have been found to be helpful in treating addictions, including nicotine addiction, and reducing the risk of relapse. But, it is not known how mindfulness produces these beneficial effects. One possibility is that mindfulness training helps to relieve the stress, negative emotions, and depression that accompanies nicotine withdrawal. In today’s Research News article “Coping Mediates the Association of Mindfulness with Psychological Stress, Affect, and Depression Among Smokers Preparing to Quit.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5296771/

Vidrine and colleagues examine this issue by studying the relationship of mindfulness to stress, negative emotions, and depression in smokers entering a smoking cessation treatment program. They recruited adult smokers from an urban population who were willing to partake in a mindfulness-based quitting smoking program. Prior to the therapy program the participants completed measures of nicotine dependence, mindfulness, coping mechanisms, positive and negative emotions, and depression.

 

Analyzing these responses, they found that the higher the levels of mindfulness the lower the levels of perceived stress, negative emotions, and depression and the higher the levels of positive emotions. In other words, being mindful was associated with better emotional health. In addition, they found that that the higher the levels of mindfulness the greater use of coping methods of catharsis, seeking social support, religion, and relaxation. Hence, mindful people used adaptive methods to cope with discomfort and stress. Employing a sophisticated statistical technique of mediation analysis, they were able to demonstrate that mindfulness increased coping through relaxation which resulted in reduced perceived stress and depression, and higher positive emotions. They were also able to demonstrate that coping with catharsis was able to magnify the association of mindfulness with lower negative emotions.

 

These results are very interesting and suggest that mindfulness may be able to assist in smoking cessation by reducing the negative consequences of nicotine withdrawal, in particular by increasing relaxation which in turn reduces perceived stress and depression, and heightens positive feelings. They also suggest that the coping strategy of catharsis acts by amplifying the ability of mindfulness to reduce negative feelings. These findings have implications for smoking cessation. They suggest that including relaxation and catharsis practices in a mindfulness-based smoking cessation treatment program might strengthen its ability to assist the smoker to quit.

 

So, improve emotions in quitting smokers by increasing relaxation with mindfulness.

 

“Mindfulness seems to be beneficial by helping smokers cope with craving. Cigarette craving can be a powerful motivator, and one of the major reasons for relapse. But mindfulness is effective at helping people cope with strong emotions, such as those experienced with depression, anxiety, and pain.” – Cecilia Westbrook

 

 

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

Jennifer Irvin Vidrine, Michael S. Businelle, Lorraine R. Reitzel, Yumei Cao, Paul M. Cinciripini, Marianne T. Marcus, Yisheng Li, David W. Wetter. Coping Mediates the Association of Mindfulness with Psychological Stress, Affect, and Depression Among Smokers Preparing to Quit. Mindfulness (N Y),  2015 Jun; 6(3): 433–443. doi: 10.1007/s12671-014-0276-4

 

Abstract

It is not surprising that smoking abstinence rates are low given that smoking cessation is associated with increases in negative affect and stress that can persist for months. Mindfulness is one factor that has been broadly linked with enhanced emotional regulation. This study examined baseline associations of self-reported trait mindfulness with psychological stress, negative affect, positive affect, and depression among 158 smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation treatment trial. Several coping dimensions were evaluated as potential mediators of these associations. Results indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with psychological stress, negative affect and depression, and positively associated with positive affect. Furthermore, the use of relaxation as a coping strategy independently mediated the association of mindfulness with psychological stress, positive affect, and depression. The robust and consistent pattern that emerged suggests that greater mindfulness may facilitate cessation and attenuate vulnerability to relapse among smokers preparing for cessation. Furthermore, relaxation appears to be a key mechanism underlying these associations.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5296771/

 

 

Improve Fatigue in Severe Chronic Disease with Yoga

psyjdc 4 Comments

Improve Fatigue in Severe Chronic Disease with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga has stood out as an especially effective treatment for CFS because of its holistic approach to healing; unlike drugs, diets, physical therapy, or psychotherapy alone, yoga is a means to address physical, mental, and spiritual issues, all of which play roles in CFS.” – Lis Wagner

 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) otherwise known as Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) occurs in about 0.2% of the population. It produces a profound, prolonged, and debilitating tiredness. Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) when severe can produce a chronic and extreme tiredness, so severe that sufferers can become bed-bound or need to use a wheel-chair. Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) also produces muscle pain, brain fog and dizziness, poor memory, disturbed sleep and trouble with digestion. All this may be combined with the kind of malaise that comes with a post-viral infection.

 

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is thought to be caused by a combination of stress plus a virus or a toxin, shock, or poisoning. But the exact cause is not known. There is no known cure. Usual treatments for CFS/ME are targeted at symptom relief and include exercise and drugs. Mindfulness has been shown to reduce fatigue due to a number of conditions. Yoga is a mindfulness practice that also includes exercise. So, yoga practice may be an effective treatment for the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) / Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

 

In today’s Research News article “Development of a recumbent isometric yoga program for patients with severe chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: A pilot study to assess feasibility and efficacy.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5335724/

Oka and colleagues recruited patients (26-61 years old) who were diagnosed with severe Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). In a previous study, a program of isometric yoga in a sitting position was successfully shown to reduce fatigue in ME patients. But, in severe conditions sitting yoga proved to be too difficult. So, they developed an isometric yoga program that could be practiced while lying down, recumbent. Isometric yoga involves static postures with contraction of muscles without movement. Yoga was practiced for 3 months every 2 to 4 weeks for 20 minutes when the patients came to the hospital. They were also encouraged to practice at home. Fatigue was measured before and after the last practice and before and after the 3-month practice period.

 

They found that there was very good compliance with patients practicing at home on average of 6 days per week. There were no adverse events and patients reported high satisfaction with the program. Importantly, on the short-term, before and after the final yoga session there was a significant decrease in fatigue produced by the yoga session, nearly cutting it in half. So, the 20-minute practice appeared to energize the patients. On the long-term between before and after the 3-months of practice there was also a significant decrease in fatigue. Hence the program appeared to be well accepted, was energizing, and significantly improved the primary symptom of Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), fatigue.

 

It should be mentioned that this pilot study did not have a control condition and as such conclusions must be tempered. The results, however, are sufficiently encouraging that a randomized controlled clinical trial is warranted. The trial should contain at least one other form of exercise to determine if the effects are specific to yoga or the results of any light exercise program. It should be noted that these patients could not tolerate even sitting yoga practice. So, it is particularly encouraging the a tolerable variation of isometric yoga practice was so beneficial.

 

So, improve fatigue in severe chronic disease with yoga.

 

“teaching yoga to those with ME, or indeed any chronic condition, is about teaching students the value of pacing, of slowing down; of breathing properly and learning to relax, whilst facilitating them to get back in touch with their spiritual centre and to live more in the moment.” – Yoga Abode

 

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

Oka, T., Wakita, H., & Kimura, K. (2017). Development of a recumbent isometric yoga program for patients with severe chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: A pilot study to assess feasibility and efficacy. Biopsychosocial Medicine, 11, 5. http://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-017-0090-z

 

Abstract

Background

Our previous randomized controlled trial demonstrated that isometric yoga in a sitting position reduces fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). However, some patients experience difficulties sitting or practicing isometric yoga in a sitting position for long periods. To date, therapeutic interventions for patients with severe symptoms have not been established. Therefore, we developed a recumbent isometric yoga program, which takes approximately 20 min to complete, designed to reduce fatigue in patients with severe CFS/ME. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility, safety, and usefulness of this program.

Methods

This pilot study included 12 adult patients with CFS/ME. Six patients were reluctant to practice isometric yoga in a sitting position because of the severity of their fatigue (group 1). The remaining six patients had previously practiced isometric yoga in a sitting position (group 2). For 3 months, the patients of both groups practiced recumbent isometric yoga every 2 to 4 weeks with a yoga instructor and at home on other days if they could. The short-term effects of isometric yoga on fatigue were assessed using the Profile of Mood Status (POMS) questionnaire immediately before and after their final session with the yoga instructor. The long-term effects of isometric yoga on fatigue were assessed using the Chalder Fatigue Scale (FS) questionnaire before and after the intervention period. Adverse events, satisfaction with the program, and preference of yoga position (sitting or recumbent) were also recorded.

Results

All subjects completed the intervention. In both groups, the POMS fatigue score was significantly decreased after practicing the 20-min yoga program and the Chalder FS score was decreased significantly after the 3-month intervention period. There were no serious adverse events. All subjects in group 2 preferred the recumbent isometric yoga program over a sitting yoga program.

Conclusions

This study suggests that recumbent isometric yoga is a feasible and acceptable treatment for patients with CFS/ME, even for patients who experience difficulty practicing isometric yoga in the sitting position.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5335724/

 

What’s Wrong with Meditation III – Jargon

psyjdc Leave a comment

What’s Wrong with Meditation III – Jargon

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Since clarity is beneficial and if Buddhism really is adaptable, then using one’s own language in its study should not be a big deal. I’m not trying to be Anglo-centric but it seems like we all lay it on thick some times.” – Brian Schell

 

As was discussed in the prior essay on What’s Wrong with Meditation I – Expectations  and What’s Wrong with Meditation II – Improper Instructions there are three essential problems with the way meditation has been presented in the west that have produced problems, misconceptions, and misunderstandings. First, meditation has been presented in a way that has evoked beliefs, ideas, and images that are overly idealized and not reflective of the typical experiences of meditation practice. Secondly, immediately jumping into meditation practice has been encouraged, without the provision for proper background information, study, or instruction. Lastly, the focus of the present essay, the jargon used to describe the process, experiences, obstacles, and results are extreme, resulting in ideas and expectations that far exceed normal experience and miss the most powerful aspects of the teachings.

 

Words and phrases such as suffering, emptiness, impermanence, greed, quieting the mind, stopping thoughts, clinging, no-self, abandonment of desire, karma, etc. are in a sense accurate, but they present too extreme an image of what the process is, what actually occurs, and what are the desired outcomes. This can cause the practitioner to be looking for the wrong experiences and completely miss it when the experiences are moving in the right direction. In fact, a recent issue of a Buddhist magazine had three separate full articles each explaining what was meant by a particular term. No wonder the novice doesn’t have a clue what they mean.

 

Let’s start with “suffering.” We are told that the purpose of meditation is liberation from suffering. This term is often thought by the beginner, as was true for me, to mean very painful or highly damaging. I was taught that the way to liberation was through suffering. This gave me problems because I didn’t believe that I was suffering and this left me at sea as to how to proceed with meditation. But, the word that the Buddha used was dukkha which is often translated as “suffering” but this Pali word also can also be translated as unsatisfactoriness. Now that’s a completely different story. Looking at experience it can readily be seen that humans find most things in their live as not being satisfying. In fact, we wish that most of our experiences were different than they were. We want the news to be different, we want our meal to taste better, we want our route to be free of traffic, we want others to think like we do, etc. The truth is that unsatisfactoriness is everywhere all of the time in our lives. Once we see this we can begin to meditate on why we find things to be so unsatisfactory. We can begin to uncover the universality of the Buddha’s teachings. We can begin to see our egos refusing to accept things as they are, producing unsatisfactoriness. What a difference a translation of a word makes.

 

We often hear the word greed as a desire that we should release. When I think of greed, I picture intense pursuit of money, like in the movie “Wall Street.” That being the case, it seemed that releasing greed is not a problem as I don’t think of myself as having that level of desire for money or things. But, again, the word is deceptive. What is actually meant by greed is wanting things, anything, even simple things, like a piece of candy, a new wallet, a significant other, the red light to change, win a point in tennis, for it to stop raining, etc. So, what we need to work on eliminating is not extreme avarice, but desiring things.

 

So, when we’re meditating should we release the desire to have anything. No, again that’s not the meaning. Desire for things is in human nature. There’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, it’s healthy. What needs to be released is insisting that you get the desired outcome. It is not needed that you meditate on releasing the desire, rather releasing the need for a particular outcome. This is even true for meditation. We need to release the desire to “make progress,” to “clear our minds,” to get into a new state of consciousness, etc. When it is said to eliminate greed, it simply means to eliminate the stake we might have in attaining the thing we desire. If we don’t get it or we get something we’re not expecting, it’s OK. We’re not married to the outcome. This is what is meant by another confusing term equanimity. It just doesn’t matter what happens, whether the desired outcome or something different happens. It’s perfectly OK either way.

 

One of the most confusing pieces of jargon is no self. We are instructed to practice and realize that there isn’t a self. This is sometimes termed losing the center. When I first heard of no-self, I envisioned it as being a state devoid of an experiencing entity. But, again that’s not the meaning. The mind produces a concept of self, based upon experience and conditioning, which is very useful in negotiating our world. But, it is a hypothetical construct. There is no thing that can be pointed to that is the self. It’s simply a term used to summarize a set of experiences. This construct is not permanent and unchanging but evolves and changes with experience. What the idea of no-self refers to is just that. There is no thing that is the self and there is nothing permanent called the self. Hence, there is no permanent self, or no self. Seeing this we can meditate on the self and become aware of its artificial and ever changing nature. We can begin to understand what is real and what is constructed reality.

 

When we meditate we are instructed that we should quiet the mind. When I first heard this I envisioned producing a state with no disturbance, no thoughts, feelings, interpretations, etc. But, once more that is not what is meant by quieting the mind. Thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc. arise in the mind spontaneously. There is nothing wrong with this. It’s the natural ongoing function of mind to do this. What’s referred to as quieting the mind simply means not to respond to these sensations. It simply means allow them to arise and to fall away without reaction, simply watching them. Thoughts will occur but in a “quieted mind” they are simply noted and let to dissipate without further processing. Likewise, sounds, sights, tactile sensations are only observed without further attention. Similarly, feelings arise, are observed, and allowed to simply dissipate without thought, or any attention at all. So, the “quieted mind” is not exactly quiet. Lots can be going on. But, whatever is happening is not reacted to, attended to, or thought about in any way. So, in meditation, we quiet the mind, not by turning things off, but by being a passive observer, letting them flow in and flow out, arise and fall away, come and go. This needed explanation because the term used can easily give a wrong impression and lead the meditator to try to control what can’t be controlled, leading to frustration and feelings of failure. Understanding what is really meant by the term produces peace and progress in meditation.

 

Meditation practice is often confusing and new practitioners often assume meditation is something other than it is because of the problematic and misleading terms used in its description and instruction. If you want to meditate it is important that proper instruction is provided in the early stages of practice so that it can develop appropriately. Without this instruction the meditator can move in wrong directions, become frustrated, and abandon the practice. With proper instruction, the meditator can understand the process, understand when its going in the right direction, be patient with its ups and downs, gradually improve the practice, and enjoy all of the wonderful benefits of a meditation practice.

 

“A seeker may be clever and may understand the exceedingly complicated principles of Buddhist philosophy, but is this really wisdom? These concepts have been born through excessive philosophizing in overly intellectual environments, where monks apparently had nothing better to do than analyze trivial things rather than find a clear path to enlightenment. To be intelligent is to aspire to gain the right knowledge: knowledge which is directly useful in the task of finding peace and realizing our true self.” – Anadi

 

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.

Does Meditating More Have a Greater Impact?

psyjdc Leave a comment

Does Meditating More Have a Greater Impact?

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Loving Kindness meditation cultivates four sublime attitudes called “four immeasurables”: (1) loving-kindness, which refers to unselfish friendliness; (2) compassion, which refers to a willingness to cease the suffering of the distressed one; (3) appreciative joy, which refers to feeling happiness for other’s success or fortune; and (4) equanimity, which refers to calm toward the fate of others based on wisdom. “ – Xianglong Zeng

 

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.  The seemingly simple behavior of meditation is actually quite complex. Adding to the complexity is that there are a variety of different meditation techniques. To begin to understand exactly how meditation works to produce its benefit, it is important to determine the requirements for effectiveness. One of the simplest is dose response; how much meditation is needed for maximal effectiveness.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Systematic Review of Associations between Amount of Meditation Practice and Outcomes in Interventions Using the Four Immeasurables Meditations.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00141/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w6-2017

Zeng and colleagues review and summarize the published research literature which uses different amounts of meditation practice while keeping constant the type of meditation. They looked at studies that employed “Four Immeasurables Meditations” more commonly known as Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM). This meditation technique 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. They identified 20 studies that investigated the effectiveness of different amounts of Loving Kindness Meditation practice. These were studies of the effectiveness of Loving Kindness Meditation practice on a wide range of different outcome variables including physical and mental health of the practitioners and responses on behavioral tasks. No attempt was made to separate different dependent variables. Rather, simply the association of the amount of meditation with the strength of outcome was evaluated.

 

They found that the published studies reported only a few small differences in outcomes between different amounts of meditation practice. The amounts of meditation reported, however, were relatively low as the largest was only 8 weekly meditation sessions. It is possible that much greater amounts of practice are needed to show additional benefits. In many studies, it was found that in these relatively brief studies, the greater the amount of meditation practice, the greater the amount of benefit. Hence, there was evidence of short-term effects of amount of practice, but the studies were not long enough themselves to determine if amount of meditation practice is related to outcomes in the long run.

 

The summary of the published research revealed that there is a need for systematic studies investigating the effects of amount of meditation over much larger time periods. It would also be useful to look at the length of each practice and the frequency of practice to determine if the pattern of practice made any difference in the outcomes. So, there appears to be a great need for further research to determine the dose response effects of meditation practice. Such studies would be important for understanding how to maximize the effectiveness of meditation for the health and well-being of patients.

 

“The incredible thing about Loving Kindness meditation is that a single short session of about 10 minutes, can kick-start a positive ripple effect, leading to increased feelings of social connection and positivity towards strangers. Loving Kindness Meditation also has continued benefits for those that practice more frequently. In fact, science suggests that the benefits can be surprisingly far reaching.” – Lisa Abramson

 

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

Zeng X, Chio FHN, Oei TPS, Leung FYK and Liu X (2017) A Systematic Review of Associations between Amount of Meditation Practice and Outcomes in Interventions Using the Four Immeasurables Meditations. Front. Psychol. 8:141. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00141

 

Interventions using the “Four Immeasurables Meditations” (FIM) are effective for various outcomes; however, whether increased meditation practice in these interventions leads to better results has not been well investigated. This systematic review included 22 FIM interventions that reported associations between the amount of meditation practice and its outcomes. Despite the heterogeneity in intervention components and outcome variables, there were generally few significant associations between amount of meditation practice and its outcomes. Specifically, only five studies reported that more than half of the calculated results were significant. In comparison with correlations between total amount of practice and overall outcomes, the short-term influence of meditation practice was evaluated in fewer studies; however, it had a better association with outcomes. More studies are required that address the underlying mechanisms that elucidate how meditation practice leads to outcome changes in daily life. In this study, two promising mechanisms with initial evidence were discussed. This review also summarized common methodological issues including a lack of experimental manipulation and inaccurate measuring of meditation practice.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00141/full?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Psychology-w6-2017

 

Improve Type II Diabetes with Yoga

psyjdc 1 Comment

Improve Type II Diabetes with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“a number of studies have revealed that yoga can reduce contributing factors and help patients cope with diabetic symptoms. Although regular exercise can help, yoga for diabetes provides unique benefits that can effectively restore the body to a state of natural health and proper function.” – Yoga U

 

Diabetes is a major health issue. It is estimated that 30 million people in the United States have diabetes and the numbers are growing. Type 2 diabetes is a common and increasingly prevalent illness that is largely preventable. Although this has been called adult-onset diabetes it is increasingly being diagnosed in children. One of the reasons for the increasing incidence of Type 2 Diabetes is its association with overweight and obesity which is becoming epidemic in the industrialized world.

 

Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. In addition, diabetes is heavily associated with other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, and circulatory problems leading to amputations. As a result, diabetes doubles the risk of death of any cause compared to individuals of the same age without diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes results from a resistance of tissues, especially fat tissues, to the ability of insulin to promote the uptake of glucose from the blood. As a result, blood sugar levels rise producing hyperglycemia.

 

A leading cause of this tissue resistance to insulin is overweight and obesity and a sedentary life style. Unlike Type I Diabetes, Type II does not require insulin injections. Instead, the treatment and prevention of Type 2 Diabetes focuses on diet, exercise, and weight control. Recently, mindfulness practices have been shown to be helpful in managing diabetes.

A mindfulness practice that combines mindfulness with exercise is yoga and it has been shown to be helpful in the treatment of Type II Diabetes. In order for any treatment, including yoga practice, to be effective beyond the guided treatment, the regimen of practice must be continued and adhered to.

 

In today’s Research News article “Adherence to yoga and its resultant effects on blood glucose in Type 2 diabetes: A community-based follow-up study.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225741/

Angadi and colleagues studied the effect of varying levels of adherence to yoga practice after treatment to treat the symptoms of Type II Diabetes. They recruited adult (40 years of age and older) patients who had been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. As part of a previous study these patients had been practicing yoga for 3 months. To measure adherence, their attendance at continuing yoga practices was simply recorded over a 6-month period. Blood sugar levels, fasting and after a meal, and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), a marker of blood sugar level control, were measured at baseline and again at 1, 3, and 6 months.

 

They found that at the end of 6 months, the greater the attendance at yoga classes, the lower the fasting blood sugar levels. This suggests, not surprisingly, that adherence to attendance at yoga classes is important for the continuing effectiveness of yoga in reducing blood sugar levels in patients with Type II Diabetes. It should be noted that all of the participants in this study had been practicing yoga for 3 months prior and there was not a control comparison condition that did not practice yoga. As such, the primary effectiveness of yoga practice was already present. The current study simply looked at the consequences of varying levels of continuing yoga practice for the subsequent 6-month period. Hence, continuing a program of yoga practice appear to be helpful in maintaining the effectiveness of yoga practice as an adjunctive activity for the treatment of Type II Diabetes.

 

So, improve Type II Diabetes with yoga.

 

“Regular yoga practice can help reduce the level of sugar in the blood, along with lowering blood pressure, keeping your weight in check, reducing the severity of the symptoms  and slowing the rate of progression of the disease.” – TheHealthSite.com

 

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

Angadi, P., Jagannathan, A., Thulasi, A., Kumar, V., Umamaheshwar, K., & Raghuram, N. (2017). Adherence to yoga and its resultant effects on blood glucose in Type 2 diabetes: A community-based follow-up study. International Journal of Yoga, 10(1), 29–36. http://doi.org/10.4103/0973-6131.186159

 

Abstract

Aim:

To study the adherence to yoga and its effects on blood glucose parameters in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Methods:

A single group longitudinal study over 6 months was conducted at VASK yoga centre, Bangalore. Fasting Blood Sugar, Post Prandial Blood Sugar Levels and Glycosylated Hemoglobin and qualitative in-depth interview of the participants and therapist was conducted at baseline, end of 3rd month and end of 6 months; intermediate observations was conducted at the end of every month.

Results:

Adherence to yoga in the community in Bangalore is around 50% over 6 months. Participants who completed the yoga programme had significantly lower HbA1c (end of 3rd month). At the end of 6 months yoga adherence was significantly negatively correlated with FBS and stress. Further there was a trend towards those who dropped out having higher FBS, controlling for medication intake, stress levels and diet pattern (OR = 1.027, P = 0.07). Qualitative data revealed that most of the participants joined and completed the yoga programme to help cure their diabetes. Participants who dropped out from the yoga programme gave reasons of travel, ill-health and increased work-load at office.

Conclusions:

Adherence to yoga has an effect on the blood glucose parameters in diabetes. Hence, strategies to motivate participants to undergo ‘lifestyle modification practices’ including maximizing adherence to yoga should be the focus to experience any beneficial effects of yoga.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225741/

 

Improve Drug Resistant Major Depressive Disorder with Yoga Breathing Exercises

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Drug Resistant Major Depressive Disorder with Yoga Breathing Exercises

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga breathing can help you manage the symptoms of both anxiety and depression. After years of meditating, and learning to observe my anxiety-based depression, I actually recovered from a condition that literally almost killed me. I regained and continue to maintain my optimum mental health with a yoga breathing practice.” – Amy Weintraub

 

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 antidepressant drugs only about a third attained remission of the depression. After repeated and varied treatments including antidepressant drugs, therapy, exercise etc. only about two thirds of patients attained remission. But, antidepressant 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.

 

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 Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was specifically developed to treat depression and can be effective even in the cases where drugs fail. Aerobic exercise has also been found to relieve depression.

 

Yoga practice in many ways is ideal as it is both a mindfulness practice and an exercise and it can be practiced in groups or individually at home. It has also been shown to reduce depression. Yoga practice, though, is a combination of practices including postures, meditation, and breathing exercises. Hence, it is not clear which, or which combination of these components is effective for depression. In today’s Research News article “A Breathing-based Meditation Intervention for Patients with Major Depressive Disorder Following Inadequate Response to Antidepressants: A Randomized Pilot Study.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5272872/

Sharma and colleagues perform a controlled pilot test of yogic breathing exercises alone for the treatment of antidepressant drug resistant major depressive disorder.

 

They recruited patients diagnosed with a major depressive disorder who after at least 8 weeks of antidepressant drug treatment did not show a decrease or remission in their depression. The participants were then randomly assigned to either a wait-list control condition or to receive 8 weeks of yogic breathing exercise practice meeting in groups, once a week for 90 minutes and practiced daily at home for 20 to 30 minutes. The intervention consisted of a series of sequential, rhythm-specific breathing exercises that bring practitioners into a restful, meditative state. They were measured prior to and after the intervention and mid-course at 4-weeks into practice for anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and behavior, medication compliance, and adverse effects.

 

They found that the yogic breathing group had high completion rates and no adverse effects. The intervention group, in comparison to the wait-list control group, had a highly significant, 44% decrease in clinician rated depression, and in self-rated anxiety and depression. Hence, yogic breathing exercises appeared to produce dramatic, clinically significant reductions in depression in patients who were unresponsive to antidepressant drug treatment.

 

These are interesting and exciting findings that simple breathing exercises with no side effects can produce clinically significant relief of antidepressant drug resistant major depressive disorder. It is remarkable that such a simple intervention can have such huge effects on a disorder that is exceedingly difficult to treat. It should be mentioned that the control condition did not receive and additional treatment. So, it is important that this pilot study be followed by a randomized controlled clinical trial that also includes other forms of active treatments such as relaxation or meditation training. This could help reduce confounding and to sort out which components of the yogic breathing exercise were effective.

 

So, improve drug resistant major depressive disorder with yoga breathing exercises.

 

“A powerful tool for preventing the onset of depressed moods in the first place, breath awareness restores energy during acute phases of depression, lightens your emotional load, and creates needed distance from gloomy thoughts. And it complements other healing strategies by providing an underpinning of relaxation and emotional stability.” – Rolf Sovic

 

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

Sharma, A., Barrett, M. S., Cucchiara, A. J., Gooneratne, N. S., & Thase, M. E. (2017). A Breathing-based Meditation Intervention for Patients with Major Depressive Disorder Following Inadequate Response to Antidepressants: A Randomized Pilot Study. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 78(1), e59–e63. http://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.16m10819

 

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate feasibility, efficacy and tolerability of Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY) as an adjunctive intervention in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with inadequate response to antidepressant treatment.

Method

Patients with MDD (defined by DSM-IV-TR) depressed despite ≥8 weeks of antidepressant treatment were randomized to SKY or a waitlist control (delayed yoga) arm for 8 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was change in 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) total score from baseline to 2 months. The key secondary efficacy end points were change in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) total scores. Analyses of the intent-to-treat (ITT) and completer sample were performed. The study was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania between October 2014 and December 2015.

Results

In the ITT sample (n=25), the SKY arm (n=13) showed a greater improvement in HDRS-17 total score compared to waitlist control (n=12)(−9.77 vs. 0.50, P =.0032). SKY also showed greater reduction in BDI total score versus waitlist control (−17.23 vs. −1.75, P = .0101). Mean changes in Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) total score from baseline were significantly greater for SKY than waitlist (ITT mean difference: −5.19; 95% CI −0.93 to −9.34; P = .0097; completer mean difference: −6.23; 95% CI −1.39 to −11.07; P = .0005). No adverse events were reported.

Conclusion

Results of this randomized, waitlist-controlled pilot study suggest the feasibility and promise of an adjunctive SKY-based intervention for patients with MDD who have not responded to antidepressants.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5272872/

Improve Attitudes and Mental Health at Work with Mindfulness

psyjdc 1 Comment

Improve Attitudes and Mental Health at Work with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness is, above all, about being aware and awake rather than operating unconsciously. When you’re consciously present at work, you’re aware of two aspects of your moment-to-moment experience—what’s going on around you and what’s going on within you. To be mindful at work means to be consciously present in what you’re doing, while you’re doing it, as well as managing your mental and emotional state.” –  Shamash Alidina

 

Stress is epidemic in the western workplace with almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. In high stress occupations burnout is all too prevalent. It frequently results from emotional exhaustion. Burnout is the fatigue, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, sleep disruption, and professional inefficacy that comes with work-related stress. Sleep disruption is an important consequence of the stress.  This exhaustion produces a loss of enthusiasm, empathy, and compassion. Regardless of the reasons for burnout or its immediate presenting consequences, it is a threat to the workplace. From a business standpoint, it reduces employee efficiency and productivity and increases costs. From the worker perspective, it makes the workplace a stressful, unhappy place, promoting physical and psychological problems. Hence, preventing burnout in the workplace is important. One technique that is gaining increasing attention is mindfulness training. It has been demonstrated to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout in a number of work environments.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindful2Work: Effects of Combined Physical Exercise, Yoga, and Mindfulness Meditations for Stress Relieve in Employees. A Proof of Concept Study.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241323/

de Bruin and colleagues performed a pilot study of the effectiveness of a program of exercise, meditation, and yoga for the relief of work related stress symptoms. They recruited

workers who were referred by physicians who diagnosed them with work related stress issues. The workers received training in six weekly 2-hour sessions and a follow-up session, consisting of 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, 20 minutes of Hatha restorative yoga, and 80 minutes of mindfulness meditation including psycho-education. The participants were encouraged to practice at home. They were measured before and after the intervention, 6 weeks and 6 months after the completion of the program for workability, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, emotions, and sleep.

 

They found that the participants liked the program rating it at 8.1 on a 10-point scale. Following the intervention work-related fatigue and exhaustion (burnout) was markedly and significantly reduced while motivation, activation, focus and concentration, and energy were significantly increased. The employees became significantly less likely to leave their job, worked a significantly greater proportion of their contract hours, and found the work environment to be significantly better. Hence, the employees showed markedly improved attitudes and behavior toward their jobs. The employees’ psychological health was also greatly improved, with significant reductions in anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and increases in sleep quality and positive emotions. These effects all had very large effect sizes and were still strong and present 6 months after the conclusion of training. Hence, work-related psychological issues were improved in a lasting way with the intervention.

 

These results of this pilot study were impressive. But, the lack of a control group or condition markedly limits the conclusions that can be reached. Also, since the intervention contained meditation, yoga, and aerobic exercise, it cannot be determined which, or which combination of components are necessary for the benefits. But, the results certainly suggest that a large randomized controlled clinical trial should be conducted. With the intense stresses of the modern work environment, a program that reduced stress and improved attitudes and emotions, would be extremely valuable both to the employer and the employees.

 

So, improve attitudes and mental health at work with mindfulness.

 

“Many corporations and employees are realizing that the benefits of mindfulness practices can be dramatic. In addition to supporting overall health and well-being, mindfulness has been linked to improved cognitive functioning and lower stress levels.” – Carolyn Gregoire

 

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

De Bruin, E. I., Formsma, A. R., Frijstein, G., & Bögels, S. M. (2017). Mindful2Work: Effects of Combined Physical Exercise, Yoga, and Mindfulness Meditations for Stress Relieve in Employees. A Proof of Concept Study. Mindfulness, 8(1), 204–217. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0593-x

 

Abstract

Work-related stress and associated illness and burnout is rising in western society, with now as much as almost a quarter of European and half of USA’s employees estimated to be at the point of burnout. Mindfulness meditation, yoga, and physical exercise have all shown beneficial effects for work-related stress and illness. This proof of concept study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the newly developed Mindful2Work training, a combination of physical exercise, restorative yoga, and mindfulness meditations, delivered in six weekly group sessions plus a follow-up session. Participants (n = 26, four males), referred by company doctors with (work-related) stress and burnout complaints, completed measurements pre and post the intervention, as well as at 6-week (FU1) and 6-month (FU2) follow-up. Results showed very high feasibility and acceptability of the Mindful2Work training. The training and trainers were rated with an 8.1 and 8.4 on a 1–10 scale, respectively, and training dropout rate was zero. Significant improvements with (very) large effect sizes were demonstrated for the primary outcome measures of physical and mental workability, and for anxiety, depression, stress, sleep quality, positive and negative affect, which remained (very) large and mostly increased further over time. Risk for long-term dropout from work (checklist individual strength [CIS]) was 92 % at pre-test, reduced to 67 % at post-test, to 44 % at FU1, and 35 % at FU2, whereas employees worked (RTWI) 65 % of their contract hours per week at pre-test, which increased to 73 % at post-test, 81 % at FU1 and 93 % at FU2. Intensity of home practice or number of attended sessions were not related to training effects. To conclude, the newly developed Mindful2Work training seems very feasible, and acceptable, and although no control group was included, the large effects of Mindful2Work are highly promising.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241323/

 

Improve the Aging Brain’s Cognition with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve the Aging Brain’s Cognition with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“there is a small but growing body of evidence that regular meditation really can slow ageing – at least at the cellular level.” – James Kingsland

 

Human life is one of constant change. We revel in our increases in physical and mental capacities during development, but regret their decreases during aging. 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, problem solving ability, and emotion regulation. It is inevitable and cannot be avoided. There is some hope for these age-related declines, 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.

 

Using modern neuroimaging techniques, scientists have been able to view the changes that occur in the nervous system with aging. In addition, they have been able to investigate various techniques that might slow the process of neurodegeneration that accompanies normal aging. They’ve found that mindfulness practices reduce the deterioration of the brain that occurs with aging restraining the loss of neural tissue. Indeed, the brains of mindfulness practitioners have been found to degenerate less with aging than non-practitioners.

 

Since the global population of the elderly is increasing at unprecedented rates, it is imperative to investigate methods to slow physical and mental aging and mitigate its effects. In today’s Research News article “Mindful Aging: The Effects of Regular Brief Mindfulness Practice on Electrophysiological Markers of Cognitive and Affective Processing in Older Adults.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241348/

Malinowski and colleagues recruited individuals between the ages of 55 and 75 years and randomly assigned them to either receive mindfulness training or to an active brain training. Mindfulness training consisted of breath following meditation practice. The brain training condition involved performing mental arithmetic problems that required effortful cognitive processing. Both mindfulness and braining training groups practiced for 10 minutes, 5 days per week, for eight weeks. Before and after training participants were measured for mindfulness, self-efficacy, and mental well-being and were assessed for cognitive and emotion regulation abilities by performance of an eStroop task while their brains’ electrical responses, Electroencephalogram (EEG), were recorded. In the eStroop task the participants viewed a computer screen where one to four words were presented simultaneously. The participants were asked to simply press one of four keys to indicate the number of words presented. There were four conditions; emotionally positive words (love), emotionally negative words (sad), emotionally neutral words (box), and incongruent words. In the incongruent condition the words, one, two, three, or four were presented, with the number of words different from the meaning of the words, e.g. the word three presented two times.

 

They found that from pre-test to post-test the mindfulness training, but not the brain training group increased in mindfulness and increased their response speed (reaction time) in the eStroop task under all conditions. So, the breath meditation increased mindfulness and made for quicker reactions in the cognitive task. The N2 negative going neural response occurring 0.27 to 0.34 seconds after the presentation of the words, was significantly stronger in the mindfulness than the brain training group. The electrical response was measured over the frontal central cortex, components of the network regulating attention. This result suggests that mindfulness training improves the brains ability to regulate attention.

 

This study is particularly strong because the control condition was active and required similar commitment of time and energy and belief that the treatment would produce improvements. As a result, the conclusions from the study are very clear. The results suggest that mindfulness training produces improved attentional ability resulting from improved neural responses. These effects were produced in an older group of participants. This suggests that mindfulness training may reduce the cognitive-attentional decline that normally occurs with aging.

 

This is an exciting proposition, that mindfulness training may improve our ability to cognitively age healthily. As the population continues to live longer and the number of older and elderly individuals increases, the problem of cognitive decline will place an increasing burden on caregivers and stress the healthcare system. So, being able to delay and reduce this decline could have profound effects on individuals and society. Hence, promoting mindfulness training for the elderly could reap substantial benefits for the elderly and the system that supports them in their declining years..

 

So, improve the aging brain’s cognition with mindfulness.

 

“Our modern assumptions, ideas, beliefs, and cultural narratives about growing old are too small for us to inhabit. Our thinking about aging is often hijacked by fear, negativity, and ageism. The authentic experience of aging is a source wonder, curiosity, and fascination. Mindful aging is a skillful means to embrace the process of growing older in order to cultivate a deeper understanding and appreciation of the natural flow of all life.” – Brian Alger

 

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

Malinowski, P., Moore, A. W., Mead, B. R., & Gruber, T. (2017). Mindful Aging: The Effects of Regular Brief Mindfulness Practice on Electrophysiological Markers of Cognitive and Affective Processing in Older Adults. Mindfulness, 8(1), 78–94. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0482-8

 

Abstract

There is growing interest in the potential benefits of mindfulness meditation practices in terms of counteracting some of the cognitive effects associated with aging. Pursuing this question, the aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of mindfulness training on executive control and emotion regulation in older adults, by means of studying behavioral and electrophysiological changes. Participants, 55 to 75 years of age, were randomly allocated to an 8-week mindful breath awareness training group or an active control group engaging in brain training exercises. Before and after the training period, participants completed an emotional-counting Stroop task, designed to measure attentional control and emotion regulation processes. Concurrently, their brain activity was measured by means of 64-channel electroencephalography. The results show that engaging in just over 10 min of mindfulness practice five times per week resulted in significant improvements in behavioral (response latency) and electrophysiological (N2 event-related potential) measures related to general task performance. Analyses of the underlying cortical sources (Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography, VARETA) indicate that this N2-related effect is primarily associated with changes in the right angular gyrus and other areas of the dorsal attention network. However, the study did not find the expected specific improvements in executive control and emotion regulation, which may be due to the training instructions or the relative brevity of the intervention. Overall, the results indicate that engaging in mindfulness meditation training improves the maintenance of goal-directed visuospatial attention and may be a useful strategy for counteracting cognitive decline associated with aging.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241348/

 

 

Improve Obesity with Yoga

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Obesity with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga is a powerful activity that connects mind, body and a sense of self to achieve endless health benefits, including maintaining weight-loss. The philosophy of yoga fosters a healing practice that brings peace and acceptance to the self no matter where you are in your life.” – Laurel Dierking

 

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

 

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

 

In today’s Research News article “Yoga Practice for Reducing the Male Obesity and Weight Related Psychological Difficulties-A Randomized Controlled Trial.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198375/

Rshikesan and colleagues recruited overweight and obese (BMI > 25) male participants. They were randomly assigned to either receive Integrated Yoga Therapy or a no-treatment control condition. The yoga therapy instruction was conducted for 90 minutes per day, 5 days per week, for 14 weeks, consisting of lecture, stretching, yoga sun salutations, postures, breathing exercises and meditation This was followed by 3 months of home yoga practice. The participants were measured prior to training, after 14 weeks of training and after the 3-month home practice, for body weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist and hip circumference, body shape index, skinfold thickness, % body fat, perceived stress, and acceptance of weight related problems.

 

They found that compared to the no-treatment control condition that showed non-significant improvements, the yoga therapy group had significant decreases in weight, arm circumference, % body fat, Body Mass Index (BMI), and skinfold thickness and a decrease in perceived stress. Hence, Integrated Yoga Therapy produced a significant improvement in the physical and psychological manifestations of obesity.

 

These are encouraging results but the conclusions from the study need to be tempered as the improvements were relatively small, with a 3%, ~ 2 kg, reduction in weight after over a half a year of practice. In addition, the control condition did not include any programmed exercise or dietary activity. So, the results could have been produced by any increase in exercise induced caloric expenditure, or potentially by a placebo, experimenter bias, or attentional effect. Also, it has long been known that upon initiating an exercise program there is a small decrease in weight initially, but no further reductions occur with continued practice. So, it cannot be concluded that the yoga practice would continue to reduce weight and improve body shape. Regardless, the program did improve the physical and psychological manifestations of obesity.

 

So, improve obesity with yoga.

 

“What matters is having other fat people around, supporting each other and improving together. Fat people spend their whole lives trying to fit into a world that neither fits nor accepts them. Having a separate space to explore one’s physical self — and one’s spirituality — with others who have the same goals, is tremendously healing.” – Kay Erdwinn

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

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

 

Study Summary

Rshikesan, P. B., Subramanya, P., & Nidhi, R. (2016). Yoga Practice for Reducing the Male Obesity and Weight Related Psychological Difficulties-A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research : JCDR, 10(11), OC22–OC28. http://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/22720.8940

 

Abstract

Introduction

Obesity is a health disorder and increasing all over the world. It is also a cause for many non-communicable diseases. Yoga practice reduces the stress level which may improve the eating habits and help in weight reduction.

Aim

To assess the final outcome of the effects after 3 months of the 14 weeks yoga training on obesity of adult male in an urban setting.

Materials and Methods

This was a randomized controlled trial with parallel groups (Yoga and Control groups) on male obese. Total 80 subjects with Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 to 35 kg/cm2 were enrolled and randomized into two equal groups in which 72 subjects (yoga n = 37 and control n=35) completed the trial. Yoga group mean age ± SD was 40.03±8.74 and Control group mean age±SD was 42.20±12.06. A 14 weeks special IAYT (Integrated Approach of Yoga Therapy) yoga training was given to the Yoga group and no specific activity was given to Control group. The interim results of this study at 14 weeks were covered in another article which is under process. After the 14 weeks of yoga training the Yoga group was asked to continue the yoga practice for the next 3 months and the Control group was not given any physical activity. The final outcome is covered in this paper.

The assessments were anthropometric parameters of body weight (Wt), BMI (Body Mass Index), MAC (Mid-upper Arm Circumferences of left and right arm), WC (Waist Circumference), HC (Hip Circumference), WHR (Waist Hip Ratio), SKF (Skin Fold Thickness) of biceps, triceps, sub scapular, suprailiac and cumulative skin fold thickness value), Percentage body fat based on SKF and Psychological questionnaires of PSS (Perceived Stress Scale) and AAQW (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Weight related difficulty). Assessments were taken after 3 months of yoga training, for both Yoga and Control groups. Within group, between group and correlation analyses were carried out using SPSS 21.

Results

Improvement in anthropometric and psychological parameters such as Wt, Percentage body fat, PSS were observed in the final outcome. Also, some of the improvements such as AAQW score were lost in the final outcome, compared to interim results.

Conclusion

The yoga practice is effective for obesity control for adult male in an urban setting.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198375/