Improve MS Quality of Life with Mindfulness

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“Multiple sclerosis (MS) can be an overwhelming challenge. One day you can feel strong and resilient, but the next day you can feel helpless and isolated. On these days, getting an extra push or boost from others just like you can make all the difference. ‘A positive attitude is the best medicine.’” – MS patient Lorri Lowe Peterson

“Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most widespread disabling neurological condition of young adults around the world. more than 400,000 people in the United States and about 2.5 million people around the world have MS. About 200 new cases are diagnosed each week in the United States. The most common early symptoms of MS are: fatigue vision problems tingling and numbness vertigo and dizziness muscle weakness and spasms problems with balance and coordination.” – Healthline http://www.healthline.com/health/multiple-sclerosis/facts-statistics-infographic.

 

MS is most commonly diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50 years with an average age between 30 and 35 years.  There is no cure for multiple sclerosis.  There are a number of approved medications that are used to treat MS but are designed to lessen frequency of relapses and slow the progression of the disease, but they don’t address individual symptoms. MS is not fatal with MS patients having about the same life expectancy as the general population. Hence, most MS sufferers have to live with the disease for many years. So, quality of life becomes a major issue. There is a thus a critical need for safe and effective methods to help relieve the symptoms of MS and improve quality of life.

 

Quality of life with MS is affected by fatigue, cognitive decrements, physical impairment, depression, and poor sleep quality. But, depressive symptoms are the most problematic with clinically significant depression present in 50% of MS sufferers. Since mindfulness has been previously shown to improve depression (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/depression/) sleep quality (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/mindfulness-is-a-snooze/), cognitive impairments (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/cognition/), and emotion regulation (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/emotions/, it would seem likely that mindfulness would affect the quality of life in MS patients.

 

In today’s Research News article “Examining trait mindfulness, emotion dysregulation, and quality of life in multiple sclerosis”

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Schirda and colleagues investigated the relationship of trait mindfulness with the quality of life and its associated symptoms in MS patients. They found that the higher the levels of trait mindfulness the lower the levels of depression and emotion dysregulation and the higher the quality of life in the patients. They also found that the reduction in emotion dysregulation was partially responsible for the positive relationship between mindfulness and quality of life. In addition, the higher the depression level the larger the impact of mindfulness’ association with emotion dysregulation on quality of life.

 

So, as predicted, mindfulness played an important role in mitigating the effects of MS on quality of life and its associated symptoms. These relationships in MS patients parallel the effects of mindfulness on healthy individuals and so would seem to be universal regardless of the disease state. That emotion regulation appears to be central is very interesting. Mindfulness is known to allow the individual to fully experience emotions but to respond to them in a positive and constructive way. The results of the study then suggest that this may be the critical effect of mindfulness for the patient to experience a high quality of life

 

It should be kept in mind that Schirda and colleagues’ study did not manipulate mindfulness, rather simply looking at existing levels of trait mindfulness and their relationships with quality of life. Hence, it can’t be concluded that mindfulness causes quality of life improvements in MS. For example, it could be that people who have a high quality of life with MS become more mindful. It will take future manipulative research to establish mindfulness’ effectiveness in treating MS patients.

 

But, we can tentatively recommend to improve MS quality of life with mindfulness.

 

“I want America to know that you can still have a full, exciting and productive life even if you or your loved one is battling a debilitating, chronic disease such as MS.” – Michaele Salahi

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Kill Cancer with Tai Chi

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Tai Chi Cancer Liu2

“Tai chi is often described as “meditation in motion,” but it might well be called “medication in motion.” There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice… has value in treating or preventing many health problems.” ~Harvard Women’s Health Watch

 

Our bodies contain many cancerous cells. They usually don’t develop into a cancer as our bodies defenses keep them under control. Part of that defense are types of peripheral blood mononuclear cells called Natural Killer (NK) cells. These are fast acting white blood cells that can destroy virus containing or tumor cells. So, in fighting off the development of cancerous cells into a deadly cancer, the NK cells are an important early component.

 

Exercise is known to increase NK cells in cancer survivors. Tai Chi is a gentle exercise that has been practiced for thousands of years with purported benefits for health and longevity. Tai Chi training is designed to enhance function and regulate the functional activities of the body through regulated breathing, mindful concentration, and gentle movements. Only recently though have the effects of Tai Chi practice been scrutinized with empirical research. It has been found to be effective for an array of physical and psychological issues See links below). One of the ways that it acts to have these effects is by strengthening immune system function (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/10/30/strengthen-the-immune-system-with-qigong/). It has also been shown to improve recovery from cancer (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/age-healthily-mindful-movement-and-cancer-recovery/).

 

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the U.S. Over 150,000 people a year in the U.S. die from lung cancer. If it is caught early about half of the patients will survive for at least 5 years. But, only about 15% of the cases are diagnosed early. So, overall only about 18% of the patients survive for at least 5 years. Needless to say treatments to improve survival with lung cancer are badly needed.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Tai Chi on mononuclear cell functions in patients with non-small cell lung cancer”

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4321705/

Liu and colleagues examine the effects of 16 weeks of Tai Chi exercise on peripheral blood mononuclear cells in lung cancer patients who had survived at least 2 years compared to a comparable treatment as usual group. Tai Chi produced a significant increase in the ability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells.to kill cancer cells. They found that the Natural Killer cells were the type of peripheral blood mononuclear cell that increased in the Tai Chi group.

 

These are potentially important results. They suggest that Tai Chi may be helpful in survival from lung cancer by improving the immune system’s ability to kill cancerous cells, particularly by increasing the levels of Natural Killer cells. Further research is needed to determine if this improves long-term survival in these patients.

 

There are a number of ways that Tai Chi may be improving the immune response to cancer. The simplest explanation is as an exercise. The advantage of Tai Chi, however, over other exercises is that it is very safe and gentle and can be practiced by people of all ages. Another possible explanation is that Tai Chi is known to improve the psychological and physiological response to stress. So, Tai Chi may be effective by improving the patients’ response to the stress of the illness. Regardless, it is clear that Tai Chi improves ability to kill cancer cells.

 

So, kill cancer with tai chi.

 

“Of all the exercises, I should say that T’ai Chi is the best. It can ward off disease, banish worry and tension, bring improved physical health and prolong life. It is a good hobby for your whole life, the older you are, the better. It is suitable for everyone – the weak, the sick, the aged, children, the disabled and blind. It is also an economical exercise. As long as one has three square feet of space, one can take a trip to paradise and stay there to enjoy life for thirty minutes without spending a single cent.” ~T.T. Liang

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Tai Chi Qigong links

It has been shown to improve cardiac health (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/02/heart-health-with-tai-chi/), reduce the risk for strokes (seehttp://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/18/dont-get-stroked-practice-tai-chi/), reduce the physical and psychological responses to stress (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/28/age-healthily-with-qigong-soothing-stress-responses/), improved sleep in people suffering from insomnia (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/aging-healthily-sleeping-better-with-mindful-movement-practice/ and  http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/06/age-healthily-treating-insomnia-and-inflammation/), helped with recovery from cancer (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/age-healthily-mindful-movement-and-cancer-recovery/) and reduced chronic inflammation (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/contemplative-practice/tai-chi-qigong/

Relieve Prenatal Depression with Integrated Yoga

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Yoga Prenatal depression Gong2

“I thought I’d never be able to love her. I had dreams in which I imagined I’d be able to give her away, then would wake with a horrible sinking feeling that I couldn’t. We’d planned a third child, and I should have been happy. What kind of mother feels that way about her unborn baby? What was wrong with me?” – Emma

 

Many women experience depression including pregnant women. Depression is characterized by A low or sad mood, loss of interest in fun activities, changes in eating, sleep, and energy, problems in thinking, concentrating, and making decisions, feelings of worthlessness, shame, or guilt, and thoughts that life is not worth living. It is difficult to deal with under the best of conditions but in combinations with the stresses of pregnancy can turn what could be a joyous experience of creating a human life into a horrible torment.

 

Depression occurring after delivery of a baby is well known, documented and discussed. Less well known but equally likely is depression during pregnancy. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggest that between 14 and 23 percent of women suffer from some form of depression during pregnancy. Without treatment, prenatal depression can pose a serious threat to a mother-to-be, who may stop taking care of herself or, in extreme cases, become suicidal. This can cause a woman to want to terminate her pregnancy. There are no statistics on the matter but it has been speculated that prenatal depression can lead to abortion.

 

Prenatal depression is often not recognized or diagnosed. When it is, the typical treatment is antidepressant drugs. But these drugs are often ineffective and frequently have troublesome side effects and may not be safe during pregnancy. So, alternative treatments are needed. Yoga practice has been shown to help relieve depression during pregnancy (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/22/practice-yoga-to-relieve-anxiety-and-depression-during-pregnancy/). This is encouraging as yoga has many benefits including improvement of physical and mental health and if practiced properly is completely safe, even during pregnancy.

 

There are many types of yoga practice and little is known of what forms are effective and which are not. They can be roughly separated into those that are purely physical and those that are integrated.  Physical-exercise-based yoga include exercises, such as stretching and other yoga postures. Integrated yoga, on the other hand also includes meditation or deep relaxation. In today’s Research News article “Yoga for prenatal depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.”

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4323231/

Gong and colleagues review and summarize the literature on the effectiveness of physical-exercise-based yoga and integrated yoga on prenatal depression. Overall, yoga practice was found to be effective for prenatal depression. But, interestingly, they found that only with the integrated yoga practice was depression significantly reduced.

 

This is an important finding. Since integrated yoga is a combination of exercise-based yoga with meditation or deep relaxation and exercise-based yoga alone did not significantly reduce depression, these results suggest that the meditation or deep relaxation is critical for the anti-depressive effects. Mindfulness practices alone are known to be effective for depression (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/how-do-mindfulness-based-interventions-improve-mental-health/ and http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/15/spiraling-up-with-mindfulness/). So, it is possible that the effectiveness of yoga for prenatal depression is due to its mindfulness components. But future work will be required to determine whether it is the mindfulness components alone or the combination of exercise with mindfulness is important for the anti-depressive effects.

 

Regardless, it is clear that integrated yoga is a safe and effective treatment for prenatal depression. So, relieve prenatal depression with integrated yoga.

 

“prenatal depression is hard to talk about or diagnose. Pregnancy symptoms can mimic depression signs, so it can be difficult to tell what’s really going on. Plus, everyone expects pregnant women to be blissfully happy, right? Just so overjoyed at the miracle of it all, too filled with excited anticipation to feel such humanly concerns as fear or discontentment.” – Linda Sharps

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Observe Mindfully and be Less Stressed

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MBCT Depression Internet Beck2

“I wanted to share the experience of how yoga and meditation have transformed my life, how they have enabled me to observe who I am, first in my body, and then emotionally, and on to a kind of spiritual path.” – Mariel Hemingway

 

Stress is universal. We are constantly under some form of stress. In fact, if we don’t have enough stress, we seek out more. There appears to be an optimum level of stress for which we strive. If our stress level is too low, we feel bored and do things to increase it, such as riding a roller coaster, going out to an action movie, thrill seeking, engaging socially etc. On the other hand, if your stress level is too high, we feel tense and do things to decrease it, such as resting, taking depressant drugs like alcohol, withdrawing from social interactions, taking vacations etc.

 

Stress actually can strengthen us. Muscles don’t grow and strengthen unless they are moderately stressed in exercise. Moderate mental stress can actually increase the size and connectivity of brain areas devoted to the activity. Moderate social stress can help us become more adept in social interactions. Moderate work stress can help us be more productive and improve as an employee, etc. So, stress can be a good thing promoting growth and flourishing. The key word here is moderate or what we called the optimum level of stress. Too little or too much stress can be damaging.

 

Unfortunately for many of us living in a competitive modern environment stress is all too often higher than desirable. In addition, many of the normal mechanisms for dealing with stress have been eliminated. The business of modern life removes opportunities for rest, working extra hours, and limiting or passing up entirely vacations to stay competitive. Persistently high levels of stress are damaging and can directly produce disease or debilitation increasing susceptibility to other diseases. Chronic stress can produce a condition called distress which can lead to headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping and can make other diseases worse.

 

Stress is epidemic worldwide, but particularly in the United States. It has been found that over two thirds of Americans experienced symptoms of stress such as fatigue, irritability or anger, or changes in sleeping habits. Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress and 75% to 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.

 

It is beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress, so it is important that methods be found to reduce the individual’s responses to stress and thereby reduce the conversion of stress to distress, reducing the damaging effects of chronic stress. Contemplative practices have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/stress/). Because of their ability to relieve stress, mindfulness trainings are increasingly being practiced by individuals and are even being encouraged in some workplaces.

 

Exactly what aspects of mindfulness are effective for stress are not known. There have been identified five facets of mindfulness; observing, describing, non-judging of inner experience, non-reactivity to inner experience, and acting with awareness. In today’s Research News article “The “Observing” Facet of Mindfulness Moderates Stress/Symptom Relations Only Among Meditators.”

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Neale-Lorello and colleagues investigate the relationship of these five facets of mindfulness with perceived levels of stress and physical symptoms of distress. They further separated their participants into experienced meditators and non-meditators. They found that meditators were higher in mindfulness, lower in perceived stress and had fewer physical symptoms than non-meditators demonstrating the efficacy of meditation for stress relief.

 

They further found marked differences between the groups in the relationships of the facets of mindfulness with stress and physical symptoms. In the non-meditators all of the facet except observing were negatively associated with both perceived stress and physical symptoms while for meditators none of the facets were associated with perceived stress while only non-judging and acting with awareness were negatively associated with physical symptoms. To some extent the lack of significant findings for the meditators may be the result of the fact that the meditators were already low in perceived stress and physical symptoms.

 

In a more complex analysis they found, not surprisingly, that life stress was positively associated with physical symptoms. But, this was not true for the meditators who were also high in the observing facet of mindfulness. “This result implies that mindfulness meditation training may allow people who attend closely to their experience to separate out the objective contents of what is observed from their cognitive and/or emotional reactions to them. Such a parsing would free up resources that might otherwise be expended on negative emotional responses … leaving the more mindful individual better able to deploy effective actions in response to stressors.” (Neale-Lorello).

 

These findings indicate that meditation increases mindfulness reducing the impact of stress on distress; physical symptoms. It does so, in part by increasing the observation of experience which appears to buffer the meditator from the negative physical effects of stress. So, meditation increases mindfulness, reduces perceived stress and physical symptoms and buffers the individual from the ability of stress to produce distress.

 

So, observe mindfully and be less stressed.

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

“You begin by letting thoughts flow and watching them. The very observation slows down the mind till it stops altogether. Once the mind is quiet, keep it quiet. Don’t get bored with peace, be in it, go deeper into it.” – Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

Be Mindful and Act with Awareness with Alcohol

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“I’m saying let’s bring mindfulness to the act of drinking. Let’s not overindulge; let’s work with our craving in a fashion similar to the way we work with it on the meditation cushion. Let’s enjoy the experience without falling into the trap of confusion. At the end of the night of a Right Drinking, don’t be surprised if instead of feeling woozy you feel refreshed by the experience.” – Lodro Rinzler

 

Alcohol intake is a ubiquitous fact of life. In the US 87% of adults reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime; 71% reported that they drank in the past year; 56% reported that they drank in the past month. If alcohol intake is tempered by moderation and caution it can be enjoyed and may be potentially beneficial. But as alcohol intake gets out of control it can lead to binge drinking and alcoholism. It is reported that 25% of US adults reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the last month and 7% have what is termed an alcohol use disorder.

 

This is troubling as it can be very dangerous and potentially fatal. Nearly 88,000 people in the US and 3.3 million globally die from alcohol-related causes annually, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Drunk driving accounted for over 10,000 deaths; 31% of all driving fatalities. Excessive alcohol intake has been shown to contribute to over 200 diseases including alcohol dependence, liver cirrhosis, cancers, and injuries. It is estimated that over 5% of the burden of disease and injury worldwide is attributable to alcohol consumption. So, clearly, it is important to control excessive alcohol intake.

 

Attempts by society to make alcohol illegal have been dismal failures. So, it is important to find methods to prevent excessive alcohol intake and assist in preventing relapse in recovered alcoholics. Mindfulness has been shown to be associated with lower use of alcohol in adolescents (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/10/28/lower-substance-use-with-mindfulness/) and to help with relapse prevention with alcoholism (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/11/10/staying-on-the-wagon-with-mindfulness/). So, mindfulness may be useful in controlling alcohol intake and preventing relapse.

 

In today’s Research News article “Elucidating the Association Between Trait Mindfulness and Alcohol Use Behaviors Among College Students”

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Karyadi and colleagues measured mindfulness, self-reported alcohol use, and responses to alcohol related visual cues in college students. They found that the more mindful the students the less the problematic alcohol use and the lower the level of cued alcohol cravings. Of the different facets of mindfulness, they found that acting with awareness was the most highly related to lower alcohol consumption and cued cravings. Finally, they found that acting with awareness appeared to work through a reduction in cued cravings to produce its effects on alcohol intake. Hence, mindfulness, particularly acting with awareness, appears to reduce alcohol consumption by reducing the individual’s responses to cues for alcohol intake.

 

The mindfulness facet of acting with awareness involves focusing attention on what you are doing at the present moment. When an individual is acting with awareness they are fully engaged with their current activity and not acting automatically “on autopilot.” As a result, they do not respond to unconscious or subconscious signals, but rather are in complete attentional control of what they are doing. This would make it less likely that they would respond to cues signaling alcohol craving. Rather they would respond to the conditions and act on them with complete awareness and not act irrationally.

 

These results do not demonstrate that mindfulness is the cause of the reported altered consumption. It will require a trial in which mindfulness training is actively manipulated to establish a causal connection. But, these results are encouraging and suggest that such a trial should be conducted.

 

So, be mindful and act with awareness with alcohol.

 

“The sway of alcohol over mankind is unquestionably due to its power to stimulate the mystical faculties of human nature, usually crushed to earth by the cold facts and dry criticisms of the sober hour.” – William James
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/alcohol.html#VhlXCV71s87co30G.99

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Spirituality Assists in Addiction Recovery

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“Addiction tries to make a spiritual experience static. When we are in an addictive process, we want to hold on to the moment, not feeling the discomfort of the longing but attempting to maintain what we feel in an instant. Our spirituality becomes stagnate and the addiction leads us into a deep bondage with a substance or process.” –  Jim Seckman

 

Substance abuse is a major health and social problem. There are estimated 22.2 million people in the U.S. with substance dependence. It is estimated that worldwide there are nearly ¼ million deaths yearly as a result of illicit drug use which includes unintentional overdoses, suicides, HIV and AIDS, and trauma. In the U.S. about 17 million people abuse alcohol. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for over 10,000 deaths annually and including all causes alcohol abuse accounts for around 90,000 deaths each year, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

 

Drug and alcohol addictions are very difficult to kick and if successful about half the time the individual will relapse. So, there have been developed a number of programs to help the addict recover and prevent relapse. The 12 step programs of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, etc. have been as successful as any programs in treating addictions. These programs insist that spirituality is essential to recovery.  Indeed, addiction is described as a “spiritual, physical, and emotional” problem. It appears that spirituality is highly associated with successful treatment and relapse preventions as demonstrated in a number of research studies (see links below).

 

In today’s Research News article “NIDA-Drug Addiction Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS) Relapse as a Function of Spirituality/Religiosity”

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4455957/

Schoenthaler and colleagues analyze the data from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Drug Addiction Treatment Outcome Study. They found that there were much higher rates of successful treatment outcomes for drug abuse when either spirituality or religious participation were high in the patients. They found that the higher the level of spirituality or religious participation the greater the likelihood that the individual will be drug free 12 months after the end of the program. This was true for alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana addictions, but not for crack cocaine addiction. The measures of spirituality and religious participation that were most clearly linked to successful outcomes were frequency of attending religious services, reading religious books watching religious programs and meditation/prayer

 

It should be pointed out that as impressive as these results are, they do not prove that spirituality and religious participation were the cause of improved addiction recovery. There was not a manipulation so there may be other factors that both increase addiction recovery and simultaneously spirituality and religious participation. These could include the support of a religious community, or that people who tend toward spirituality and religious participation are also good candidates for addiction recovery, or the belief that spirituality and religious participation would help.

 

Why is spirituality and religious participation associated with better outcomes? One possible reason is that spirituality provides a source of comfort as the individual faces the challenges of recovery. Spirituality may provide another way to cope with the individual’s problems. The individual can take solace in the Devine instead of drugs when upheavals occur. This can help to break the vicious cycle, making it possible to deal with the addiction. Spirituality and religious participation can provide the recognition that help is needed, that they can’t control the addiction without outside assistance. The addict then can allow fellow addicts, people close to them, or therapists to provide needed assistance when the urge to use the drug begins to overwhelm the individual’s will to stop. The recognition that there are greater powers than themselves makes it easier to ask for and accept assistance.

 

It has also the case that spirituality is associated with negative beliefs about drugs. Buddhism teaches that intoxication is an impediment to spiritual development. Other religions completely prohibit alcohol and drugs while many decry the behaviors that occur during alcoholic or drug induced stupor.  This provides a cognitive incompatibility between drug use and spirituality. The recognition that using drugs or alcohol is not an OK thing to do might provide the extra motivation to help withstand the cravings. In addition, spiritual groups tend to be populated with non-addicts. So, increased spirituality also tends to shift the individual’s social network away from drug or alcohol using buddies to people less inclined to provide temptation. It is very difficult to stop using when those around you are not only using themselves but encouraging you. So shifting social groups to people who abstain can help tremendously.

 

Nevertheless, it is clear that there is a strong relationship between spirituality and religious participation and successful recovery from addiction to a variety of different substances.

 

“The earliest A.A. members, then, discovered that some kind of spirituality— some kind of sense of the reality of some “beyond”—was essential to their sobriety” – Ernest Kurtz
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

What’s the Big Deal about the Present Moment?

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“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha
The present day mindfulness movement has made a mantra of the present moment. There are constant calls to be in the “now”, to pay attention to the present, to be aware of our state at this very moment. Whenever something like this gets into pop culture, as it has, it almost inevitably takes on meanings beyond the simple idea originally represented. The notion of the present moment is no different. It’s not rocket science. It’s simply what is right now.

 

To many, the idea of being in the present moment is not an attractive one. The present is full of suffering, it is stressful, it is unsatisfactory, and sometimes it’s terrifying. Such people not only don’t want to be in the present moment they do everything they can to escape it. They immerse themselves in books, movies, TV, social media, etc. to escape. Many use drugs and alcohol to get away from “now” and still others use thrill seeking in an attempt to make the present moment more exciting and pleasurable. But these escapes do not solve the underlying problems. Instead, they merely cover them up, to be suffered through at other times.

 

So, to many people the idea of being in the present seems ludicrous. Why focus on the suffering? Why work to stay in the place they find so uncomfortable and unsatisfactory. What is missed is that the present moment may seem to be the problem, but it is in fact the solution. After all, where else could problems be dealt with? The past can’t be changed and the future is simply a present moment that has not yet arrived. So, the present moment is a big deal because it is the only time that any problems can be solved, any issues addressed, and any happiness experienced. In fact, truly seeing the present moment as it is lets us see where our unhappiness and suffering are coming from.

 

The Buddha said that “I teach only two things: suffering and the end of suffering.” He recognized that things were unsatisfactory in the present moment, but paradoxically the unsatisfactoriness can only be ended in the present moment. Part of the problem that people have in seeing this is that their experience of the present moment is not a pure experience of the very moment. Instead it is colored by past experiences and future expectations and it is these that are the source of the suffering. Releasing them and seeing everything just as it is, is what is needed to relieve the suffering.

 

For many the present moment is filled with, not what’s simply there, but with their judgments and interpretations of what’s present based upon their past experiences. So, rather than enjoy a social interaction the individual is fearful and unhappy because in the past similar social encounters have produced unhappiness. Their past experiences cause them to interpret the current situation as a threat and not an opportunity. This makes the present moment unsatisfactory, even though, taking it simply for what it is, it is not only satisfactory but wonderful. The rumination about the past prevents the enjoyment of the moment from ever occurring.
For many the present moment and the things that are in it are predictors of future disaster or pain. The present moment is filled with anxiety fueled by constant worry and fear about the future. So the present moment is never honestly experienced, it’s constantly being seen as an indicator that problems are on the horizon. This causes these people to completely miss the wonder of the present moment.

 

We engage in mindfulness training in order to see the present moment as it is. The training works to eliminate the ruminations and worries that taint the experience of the present. It works to stop the judging and labelling of whatever is present. Our conditioning is deep and it takes time and practice, but slowly we begin to see the present in its glory. We begin to see that life is unfolding right here and right now, not in a remembered past or an imagined future, but right now. Slowly we begin to see that what is happening is not about us, it doesn’t say anything about us. It just is.

 

In actuality “now” is filled with amazing things and great joy and happiness, if we just let it. It is a big deal. In fact it’s the only deal.

 

The “Now” may be seen as boring, containing little that is new. But, in actuality, “now” is a unique moment that has never happened before and will never happen again. If we just look at it carefully we can easily discern how unique and amazing this very moment is. The fact of our breathing is simply a miracle. We are blessed by the beautiful sensations that are constantly being refreshed. We experience the biggest miracle of all, that we are aware of this very moment. Seeing and understanding that can lead to insight and awakening that can transform existence and it is only available in the present moment.

 

Our lives are the sum total of present moments. Life can only be lived now. Living elsewhere is missing out on all that life has to offer. It’s no wonder people have so many regrets on their death beds. They never truly lived. They never let themselves simply experience the essence of life itself occurring only in present moments. But, living in the “now” is not to avoid regrets. It’s to experience the joy and wonder of interacting with another human being. It’s to be loved and to love. It’s to be awed by how everything arises and falls away. It’s to feel the air on or skin. It’s to hear the music of sounds around us. It’s to see the beauty in everything. It’s to experience the intense pleasures of the flavors of foods. It’s to “smell the roses.”

 

So, practice mindfulness and discover the big deal about the present moment.

 

“The mind is never satisfied with the objects immediately before it, but is always breaking away from the present moment, and losing itself in schemes of future felicity… The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.”- Samuel Johnson

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Beat Pain with Mindfulness

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“A common but unfortunate saying is that the pain is in your head….this saying implies that it’s not real, but fabricated. This is not true. However, pain is located in your head, within your brain. When you have pain, the brain is very active processing it. How your brain processes it determines the pain you experience. So yes, your pain experience is in your head, but it’s real. It can be measured, and it can be changed for the better.” – Adriaan Louw

 

Mindfulness practices including meditation have been shown to reduce perceived pain (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/pain/). The studies that examined mindfulness and pain, however, did not include any control conditions to account for the effects of a placebo or participant expectations about the efficacy of the treatment. The placebo effect is powerful and can produce outcomes that are very similar to those produced by different forms of treatment including therapy and drugs. This effect is based upon the psychological tendency of people to produce outcomes that conform to their expectations. So, if the participant believes that a treatment will make him/her better, it will, regardless of whether the particular treatment is actually effective or not.

 

The placebo effect presents a difficult issue for treatment research and most studies do not include any mechanism for assessing the expectations of the participants. Thus many reported positive results may in fact be due to the placebo effect rather than an actual effect of the treatment. So, it is possible that the reported efficacy for mindfulness training to reduce perceived pain may in fact be due to a placebo effect. Even if a treatment is actually effective, the placebo effect may be so strong that the true effect cannot be distinguished from the placebo effect. It is very difficult to separate the two.

 

A potential method for examining whether an effect is due to a treatment or a placebo is to look at the neural mechanisms underlying the two.  In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness Meditation-Based Pain Relief Employs Different Neural Mechanisms than Placebo and Sham Mindfulness Meditation-Induced Analgesia”

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http://jn.sfn.org/press/November-18-2015-Issue/zns04615015307.pdf

Zeidan and colleagues implement this strategy and investigate the neural systems that respond to meditation vs. placebo for pain. They actually implement three control groups, placebo conditioning, sham mindfulness meditation, and book-listening for comparison with meditation and also record functional neuroimaging for each group while responding to an experimental pain condition. The placebo condition involved telling the participant that they were being administered a pain killing cream which was in actuality an inert petroleum jelly. The sham meditation condition only instructed the participant to close their eyes and breath and meditate but without specific instructions as to how to meditate. The experimental pain procedure involved the application of a non-damaging hot probe. During the application of the probe the participants rated their pain and also had their brains scanned with functional MRI.

 

They found that only the meditation group had an increase in mindfulness and that all groups except the book-listening control group had decreased pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings. The meditation group, however, had the largest decrease in perceived pain and pain unpleasantness. They also found that different neural structures were activated with the pain manipulation with the different conditions. Meditation produced a greater activation in brain regions associated with the cognitive processing of pain, including the orbitofrontal, subgenual anterior cingulate, and anterior insular cortex. While the placebo produced increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and deactivation of sensory processing regions. Sham meditation did not produce significant neural activity, but rather greater reductions in the respiration rate.

 

These results are interesting and important. They demonstrate that meditation is more effective than either a placebo or a sham meditation in reducing perceived pain and pain unpleasantness. In addition, they demonstrate that there were different neural mechanisms involved in the effects of each on pain. The fact that they work differently in the brain indicates that meditation’s effectiveness at relieving pain is not due to a placebo or subject expectancy effect or to the conditions of meditation. Hence, meditation is an effective treatment for pain.

 

So, meditate and beat pain.

 

“Your brain plays a major role in controlling your pain. How you are feeling or what you are thinking about your pain has a direct impact on what happens to the pain signal in the spinal cord, and thus has a huge effect on how much pain you feel.”- Charles Argoff

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Headaches are a Headache – Reduce them with Mindfulness 2

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“To diminish the suffering of pain, we need to make a crucial distinction between the pain of pain, and the pain we create by our thoughts about the pain. Fear, anger, guilt, loneliness and helplessness are all mental and emotional responses that can intensify pain.” ~Howard Cutler

 

Headaches are the most common disorders of the nervous system. It has been estimated that 47% of the adult population have a headache at least once during the last year. The most common type of headache is the tension headache with 80 to 90 percent of the population suffering from tension headaches at least some time in their lives. The second most common type of headache is the migraine headache. Around 16 to 17 percent of the population complains of migraines. It is the 8th most disabling illness in the world with more than 90% of sufferers unable to work or function normally during their migraine. American employers lose more than $13 billion each year as a result of 113 million lost work days due to migraine.

 

There are a wide variety of drugs that are prescribed for chronic headache pain with varying success. Most tension headaches can be helped by taking pain relievers such as aspirin, naproxen, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen. A number of medications can help treat and prevent migraines and tension headaches, including ergotamine, blood pressure drugs such as propranolol, verapamil, antidepressants, antiseizure drugs, and muscle relaxants. Drugs, however, can have some problematic side effects particularly when used regularly and are ineffective for many sufferers. So, almost all practitioners consider lifestyle changes that help control stress and promote regular exercise to be an important part of headache treatment and prevention. Avoiding situations that trigger headaches is also vital.

 

A Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program has been shown to be an effective treatment for tension headache (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/07/headaches-are-a-headache-reduce-them-with-mindfulness/). Unfortunately, migraine sufferers were not included in the study. In today’s Research News article “The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Perceived Pain Intensity and Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Headache”

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Bakhshani and colleagues examine the effectiveness of an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program compared to a treatment as usual (primarily drugs) control group for chronic headaches including tension and migraine headaches. They found that in comparison to the control group which primarily controlled pain with drugs the MBSR group had a clinically significant reduction in pain intensity with a moderate effect size. They also found that MBSR produced a significant improvement in quality of life including role limitation due to physical health, bodily pain, general health, energy and vitality, emotional health and physical and mental health. These results indicate that MBSR is a clinically meaningful effective treatment for both tension and migraine headaches, not only reducing pain but also improving the patients’ quality of life. Importantly, MBSR effects were superior to drug treatment.

 

MBSR is structured to reduce stress and has been empirically shown to significantly reduce both the physiological and psychological responses to stress (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/29/get-your-calm-on/). Since tension headaches are primarily produced by stress and migraine headaches are frequently triggered by stress, it would seem reasonable to conclude that the stress reduction contributed to the effectiveness of MBSR for chronic headaches. Mindfulness training, by focusing attention on the present moment has also been shown to reduce worry and catastrophizing (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/worry/ and http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/07/pain-is-a-pain-relieve-it-with-meditation/). Pain is increased by worry about the pain and the expectation of greater pain in the future. So, reducing worry and catastrophizing should reduce headache pain. In addition, negative emotions are associated with the onset of headaches. Mindfulness has been shown to increae positive emotions and decrease negative ones (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/15/spiraling-up-with-mindfulness/). Finally, mindfulness has been shown to change how pain is processed in the brain reducing the intensity of pain signals in the nervous system.

 

Regardless of the mechanism, it is clear that MBSR is a safe and effective treatment that is more effective than drugs for chronic headaches. So, reduce headache pain and improve quality of life with mindfulness.

 

“The way to live in the present is to remember that ‘This too shall pass.’ When you experience joy, remembering that ‘This too shall pass’ helps you savor the here and now. When you experience pain and sorrow, remembering that ‘This too shall pass’ reminds you that grief, like joy, is only temporary.” ~Joey Green

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Be Less Dependent upon Others with Mindfulness 2

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“Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem. If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge.” – Fritz Perls

 

We are social animals. Alone we are weak and vulnerable and would not have fared well in evolution. But, in concert with others we have dominated our world. By working together in organized society we have not only been able to provide for a vast population but create technical wonders expanding interpersonal interaction possibilities. It is obvious that we depend upon one another and that, in general, is a good thing.

 

We are born totally helpless. We are completely dependent upon our parents and would perish without them. We take decades to fully develop and become completely independent of our parents. There is no other creature on the planet that takes so long to become independent. But we never really are independent, as the saying goes, “No man is an island”– John Donne. Independence simply means that we can guide ourselves through the intricacies of societal dependencies without another person directing us. That independence notwithstanding, we are forever dependent on others.

 

This is healthy. But, if that dependency is so strong that it interferes with the individual’s ability to live a happy and productive life then it becomes a personality disorder, called Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency (MID). It is “characterized by the tendency to overrely on others for nurturance, support, and guidance. … the perception of oneself as weak and helpless, along with the perception of others as strong and powerful. . . fears of negative evaluation, fears of abandonment, and . . . passivity, submissiveness, reassurance seeking” Andrew McClintock. This pattern is associated with a number of other psychological disorders, but the most serious is an association with suicidality.

 

There is little known about MID and there are currently no empirically demonstrated effective treatments available. Mindfulness, however, has been shown to reduce interpersonal dependency (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/11/21/be-less-dependent-upon-others-with-mindfulness/). So, it would seem reasonable to suspect that it may be effective for Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency (MID). In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness Therapy for Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial.”

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McClintock and colleagues examined the ability of a mindfulness based treatment, Mindfulness Therapy for Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency (MT-MID), to relieve the symptoms of MID in comparison to an equally time intensive control condition. They documented a significant improvement in interpersonal dependency produced by the MT-MID treatment. This occurred with a large effect size, indicating a clinically meaningful impact on MID.

 

McClintock and colleagues reported that the mindfulness treatment group had significantly higher mindfulness and significantly lower maladaptive dependency, helplessness, fears of negative evaluation, and excessive reassurance-seeking as compared to control participants. They also found that these effects were mediated by the increased mindfulness. In other words the MT-MID treatment increased mindfulness which, in turn, produced the relief of MID symptoms. The effects were still present a month after the end of the program, indicating that MT-MID produces sustained benefit for Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency.

 

These results are potentially very important suggesting that a mindfulness based treatment program is effective for the clinical treatment of a personality disorder, MID, for which there was previously no known treatment. But, how can increases in mindfulness improve interpersonal dependency?

 

It is likely that interpersonal dependency is maintained by heightened levels of fear and anxiety and low self-esteem. Mindfulness has a number of known effects that may underlie its effectiveness for interpersonal dependency. It has been shown to reduce fear and anxiety (see  http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/anxiety/ and http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/fear/) and to improve self-esteem (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/self-esteem/). So, mindfulness addresses some of the problems underlying MID. It would seem reasonable to infer that these were the changes induced by mindfulness training that were responsible for its effectiveness for MID.

 

So, practice mindfulness and be less dependent upon others.

 

“Authority is not a quality one person ‘has,’ in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him.” ― Erich Fromm

 

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee. 

John Donne

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies