The Benefits of Mindfulness

--Vicki Milnark, MA, AT, PCC-S

Are you a Prisoner of your Mind?

Mindfulness

• The intention to remain in the present moment without judgment.

• Watching the mind’s activities

• Letting go of unhelpful thoughts

• Not investing energy into thoughts

• Allowing pleasant and unpleasant feelings and thoughts

Mindfulness

• Learning to take charge of where we put our attention

• Disengaging from emotional problem-solving and reactions

• Clearing the mind of clutter

• Being in the present moment

Mindfulness

• “There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes to wash the dishes.”

• --Tich Nhat Hanh

Objective of Mindfulness

To be awake to our lives!

To get out of our minds and into our lives—Steven Hayes

Mindfulness: Five Senses

• Taste• Touch • Smell

• Hearing• Seeing

Layers of Mindfulness

• Mindful to emotions

• Mindful to judgments

• Mindful to urges

• Mindful to relationships

• Mindful to self care

• Mindful to the world around me

What is Mindlessness?

• Automatic thinking: “depression forges a connection in the brain between sad mood and negative thoughts” --kicks in with minor sadness Williams, Teasdale, Segal & Kabat-Zinn (2007), p. 4.

• Automatically suppressing emotions• Evaluation: applying rules automatically

without context Langer, E. J. (2005).

Doing vs. Being Modes of Mind

• Goal focus• “How things are now”

vs. “how I want them to be”

• Monitor success or failure in reducing discrepancy

• Thinking about the past, present or future

• Not motivated to seek any goal

• Acknowledging what is in the present

• Non-evaluative of experience

• Direct experience of the present

• Segal (2006)

The Relationship between Stress and Depression

Stress= “Perceived change that is needed

that will overwhelm perceived resources.”

-Britton (2004).

Threat Response:Is same whether real or envisioned

Cognitions that activate stress:• Thoughts involving threat

or failure

• Perceived stress

• Ideal compared to real situation

• Degradation of self or current situation

• Recall of disturbing events

• Self-judgment

• Hostility• Rumination of

negative event and it’s possible impact

• Emotional avoidance or suppression

• Pessimism• Denial/avoidance

• Britton (2004).

Stress/Depression-related Physiology and their Reversal by Meditation

• Diabetes • High cholesterol• HPA axis hyperactivation• Hypercortisolemia• Decreased hippocampal

activity• Decreased PFC, cingulate

activity• Heart disease• Chronic pain• Fibromyalgia• Britton (2004).

• NE, DA dysfunction• Serotonin depletion• Negative memory bias• Immune Suppression• Sleep disruption• Attentional/executive

deficiencies• High blood pressure• Greater Rt. To Lt. PFC

activation

Psychological Benefits

• Decreases anxiety traits- Cahn & Polich (2006)

• Increased cortical thickness –Lazar et al.,

Neuroreport 2005

• Increases immunity-Britton (2004)

• Increases intrapersonal attunement –Seigel, D. (2007)

• Emotion regulation from increased ability to name emotions- Lieberman, M. et al (2007) Psychological Science.

• Cuts relapse in half for Pt.s w/ 3 episodes of major depression-Teasdale,

Williams, Segal & Kabat-Zinn (2007).

• Increases approach-Britton

(2004)

Sources

1. Cahn, B. R. & Polich, J. (2006). Meditation States and Traits: EEG, ERP, and Neuroimaging Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132 (2) 180-211.

2. Britton, W. (2004). The Pathophysiology of Stress and Depression. Presented at the Fifth Annual International Scientific Conference: Integrating Mindfulness-Based Approaches & Intervention into Medicine, Healthcare and Society, April, 2007, Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts.

3. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2006). Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World with Mindfulness. New York: Hyperion.

4. Marra, T. (2004).Depressed & Anxious: The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Workbook for Overcoming Depression & Anxiety. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

5. Lieberman, M. et al (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science, 18 (5) 421-428.

6. Linehan, M. M. (1993). Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder. New York: Guilford Press.

7. Langer, E. J. (2005).On Becomina an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity. New York: Ballantine Books.

8. Seigel, Daniel (2007). The Mindful Brain. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.9. Walsh, R. (1983). Meditation Practice and Research. The Journal of Humanistic Psychology

23(1)18-50.10. Williams, M., Teasdale, J., Segal, Z., Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The Mindful Way Through Depression. New York: Guilford Press.