article about meditation and weight loss (thanks Janet!)
Mind Over Malady
Meditation has a profound effect on health, mood, even how you eat. Here, four ways to tap into the new "mindfulness"--and reap its rewards today.
By Nicola Nieburg, Prevention
Once the catchphrase of 1960s counterculture, "mindfulness" has finally graduated from the fringe to the mainstream. "Staying in the moment" is now the guiding principle of millions of devotees who faithfully practice mindfulness meditation to enrich their daily lives. Just as impressively, mindfulness has also attracted another group of admirers: clinical researchers, whose latest investigations document its surprising and powerful physical and mental health benefits--achieved in as little as five minutes a day.
For example, mindfulness meditation--paying close attention to your thoughts, feelings, actions, and body sensations in an objective, nonattached way--is a proven pain reliever. Here's how it works: Pain has not only sensory dimensions ('Ouch!') but also emotional and cognitive ones--the turbulent thoughts and feelings ('This is killing me') that accompany discomfort. "When you zero in on the pain with kind, nonjudgmental attention, you separate the emotional and cognitive elements from the sensory ones," explains Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts and the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). "And because you're not identifying with all those turbulent thoughts, and you recognize that the sensations are just sensations--however unpleasant--for that moment, there can be significantly less suffering. When you focus attention in this way, it causes special areas of the brain to tamp down on the signals that are interpreted as pain."
Mindfulness works by interrupting learned behavior--one reason it also helps treat compulsive habits, such as binge eating. Because the practice enables you to observe your actions without judging them, it short-circuits the process that connects stress with eating, explains Ruth Q. Wolever, Ph.D., research director at Duke Integrative Medicine. Once the binge eater is emotionally separated from her usual response, she can see that there are healthier ways to deal with these urges.
Researchers have also learned that brief mindfulness meditation sessions improve memory and attention, ease anxiety--and even deepen personal relationships. Here are four proven health boosts you, too, can receive by simply learning how to "stay in the moment."
1. Gain control over emotional eating
A recent NIH-funded study tracked the eating patterns of 140 binge eaters (people who eat excessively and rapidly while feeling a loss of control, but don't purge). Researchers found that those using mindfulness-based interventions reduced their bingeing from about four times to once per week. The mindfulness group also reported feeling more in control around food than study participants *****ceived only support and education.
Try this technique: Raisin meditation (five minutes)
This exercise is designed to interrupt the emotional connection you may have with food. Hold one raisin (or other favorite snack) and look it over as if you've never seen one before. Notice how the fruit feels between your fingers, and take in its colors and ridges. Inhale its scent. Simply notice any thoughts you may have (for instance, like or dislike) without trying to push them away. Finally, bring the raisin to your lips, observing the movement of your hand and arm, and notice how you salivate in anticipation of eating the morsel. Chew slowly, taking in the taste. Observe the impulse to swallow as it wells up, then make the conscious decision that you will now do so.
2. Boost your spirits--and immunity
Mindfulness meditation eases anxiety by 44 percent and reduces symptoms of depression by 34 percent while simultaneously jacking up immunity. In a study of stressed biotech employees, Richard Davidson, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, along with Kabat-Zinn, found that those who completed an eight-week MBSR program had a significantly higher level of activity in the left prefrontal cortex (the brain region associated with a happy, calm state) than colleagues *****ceived no training. At the end of the program, both groups were given flu vaccines, followed by blood tests. Results: The meditators produced significantly more antibodies than the nonmeditators.
Try this technique: Mindful walking (10 minutes)
Pick a quiet place, such as your bedroom or living room, where you can walk slowly back and forth or in circles. Looking straight ahead, focus on one aspect of walking. For example, home in on your feet: Notice how one foot makes contact with the ground; your weight shifts; and the other foot lifts, moves forward, and finally makes contact. Continue to direct your attention toward your feet, and whenever your mind wanders, gently bring it back.
3. Ease pain
Mindfulness meditation helps older adults better cope with chronic pain in the lower back, according to a University of Pittsburgh study. Adults over age 65 with almost daily lower-back pain who participated in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program, in which they reported meditating an average of four days a week, improved their physical function (carrying groceries, for example). Anecdotally, two patients in the study stopped using their walking canes; and at a three-month follow-up, a third of the subjects reported taking fewer pain and/or sleep meds.
Try this technique: Body scan (10 to 20 minutes)
Lie comfortably on your back, side, or stomach with your eyes closed. Beginning with the toes of your left foot, focus on any sensations (tingling, warmth) you feel there. Now imagine your breath traveling down to your toes, then back up and out through your nose. Slowly move up your left leg, focusing on the sensations you encounter and directing your breath to your ankle, shin, knee and thigh. Repeat the sequence with your right leg, then move through your lower back, abdomen, upper back, chest, shoulders and both arms. Next move to your neck, throat, face, the back of your head, and--finally--the top of your head. You should also take notice when you don't feel any sensations at all.
4. Strengthen relationships
When you focus on new details in everyday activities and encounters, you're much more engaged, are viewed as more genuine, and, consequently, are more attractive to others. In a study by Ellen Langer, Ph.D., a Harvard psychologist and author of The Power of Mindful Learning (Da Capo Press, 1998), participants were asked to sell magazines either mindfully or mindlessly. Everyone memorized a sales pitch so they could recite it by rote. One group was asked to repeat the pitch verbatim with each new customer (i.e., mindlessly); the other group was told to change the script in subtle ways, such as pausing in different places (i.e., mindfully), so that only they knew how it differed each time. When the customers were asked their opinions of the salespeople, they judged the script changers (the mindful group) as more charismatic, says Langer.
A recent study from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill found that mindfulness techniques improve personal relationships as well. Couples who completed separate 8-week courses in traditional mindfulness-based techniques felt significantly more satisfied with their relationships than before; they also reported less stress within the relationship. These results were still in effect three months later.
Try this technique: Say hello--mindfully (10 minutes)
The next time you get together with good friends, make every effort to notice new details about them (what they're wearing, the color of their eyes) and observe their physical reaction to you--and yours to them. Do you feel yourself retreating or opening toward the others? Do you sense they're defensive, or eager to foster greater intimacy? Later, take a few moments to review what you've learned and how that new info has altered your perceptions of your friends.
Train yourself to be mindful:
· Every hour, stop whatever you're doing and focus on your breathing for 60 seconds.
· Savor each bite of your food during meals, and eliminate distractions, such as TV.
· During a strength-training exercise, close your eyes for one set of repetitions and concentrate on the movement of your body.
How mindfulness improves memory
Finding: Regular mindfulness meditation may slow down age-related cognitive decline, according to a recent Massachusetts General Hospital study. Using MRI scans, the researchers found that meditators' cortices were much thicker (a sign of neuronal growth) than those of nonmeditators. The differences were most pronounced in older subjects in the region that governs attention.
Tip: "Think of it as a 'use it or lose it' phenomenon," explains lead study author Sara Lazar, Ph.D. "Mindfulness meditation exercises the same part of the brain used for memory and attention, so regular practice is thought to keep it sharp, flexible, and active."
More on MSN Health & Fitness:
· Mindfulness Meditation for the Pain of Fibromyalgia
· Breathe Away Pain
· Six Ways to Stop Dwelling on It
Provided by Preventionhttp://health.msn.com/health-topics/mental-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100227263>1=31016
Take Care,
Jamie Ellis RN MS NPP
100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY
320(preop)/163(lowest)/185(current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery)
Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/
"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"
Meditation has a profound effect on health, mood, even how you eat. Here, four ways to tap into the new "mindfulness"--and reap its rewards today.
By Nicola Nieburg, Prevention
Once the catchphrase of 1960s counterculture, "mindfulness" has finally graduated from the fringe to the mainstream. "Staying in the moment" is now the guiding principle of millions of devotees who faithfully practice mindfulness meditation to enrich their daily lives. Just as impressively, mindfulness has also attracted another group of admirers: clinical researchers, whose latest investigations document its surprising and powerful physical and mental health benefits--achieved in as little as five minutes a day.
For example, mindfulness meditation--paying close attention to your thoughts, feelings, actions, and body sensations in an objective, nonattached way--is a proven pain reliever. Here's how it works: Pain has not only sensory dimensions ('Ouch!') but also emotional and cognitive ones--the turbulent thoughts and feelings ('This is killing me') that accompany discomfort. "When you zero in on the pain with kind, nonjudgmental attention, you separate the emotional and cognitive elements from the sensory ones," explains Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts and the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). "And because you're not identifying with all those turbulent thoughts, and you recognize that the sensations are just sensations--however unpleasant--for that moment, there can be significantly less suffering. When you focus attention in this way, it causes special areas of the brain to tamp down on the signals that are interpreted as pain."
Mindfulness works by interrupting learned behavior--one reason it also helps treat compulsive habits, such as binge eating. Because the practice enables you to observe your actions without judging them, it short-circuits the process that connects stress with eating, explains Ruth Q. Wolever, Ph.D., research director at Duke Integrative Medicine. Once the binge eater is emotionally separated from her usual response, she can see that there are healthier ways to deal with these urges.
Researchers have also learned that brief mindfulness meditation sessions improve memory and attention, ease anxiety--and even deepen personal relationships. Here are four proven health boosts you, too, can receive by simply learning how to "stay in the moment."
1. Gain control over emotional eating
A recent NIH-funded study tracked the eating patterns of 140 binge eaters (people who eat excessively and rapidly while feeling a loss of control, but don't purge). Researchers found that those using mindfulness-based interventions reduced their bingeing from about four times to once per week. The mindfulness group also reported feeling more in control around food than study participants *****ceived only support and education.
Try this technique: Raisin meditation (five minutes)
This exercise is designed to interrupt the emotional connection you may have with food. Hold one raisin (or other favorite snack) and look it over as if you've never seen one before. Notice how the fruit feels between your fingers, and take in its colors and ridges. Inhale its scent. Simply notice any thoughts you may have (for instance, like or dislike) without trying to push them away. Finally, bring the raisin to your lips, observing the movement of your hand and arm, and notice how you salivate in anticipation of eating the morsel. Chew slowly, taking in the taste. Observe the impulse to swallow as it wells up, then make the conscious decision that you will now do so.
2. Boost your spirits--and immunity
Mindfulness meditation eases anxiety by 44 percent and reduces symptoms of depression by 34 percent while simultaneously jacking up immunity. In a study of stressed biotech employees, Richard Davidson, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, along with Kabat-Zinn, found that those who completed an eight-week MBSR program had a significantly higher level of activity in the left prefrontal cortex (the brain region associated with a happy, calm state) than colleagues *****ceived no training. At the end of the program, both groups were given flu vaccines, followed by blood tests. Results: The meditators produced significantly more antibodies than the nonmeditators.
Try this technique: Mindful walking (10 minutes)
Pick a quiet place, such as your bedroom or living room, where you can walk slowly back and forth or in circles. Looking straight ahead, focus on one aspect of walking. For example, home in on your feet: Notice how one foot makes contact with the ground; your weight shifts; and the other foot lifts, moves forward, and finally makes contact. Continue to direct your attention toward your feet, and whenever your mind wanders, gently bring it back.
3. Ease pain
Mindfulness meditation helps older adults better cope with chronic pain in the lower back, according to a University of Pittsburgh study. Adults over age 65 with almost daily lower-back pain who participated in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program, in which they reported meditating an average of four days a week, improved their physical function (carrying groceries, for example). Anecdotally, two patients in the study stopped using their walking canes; and at a three-month follow-up, a third of the subjects reported taking fewer pain and/or sleep meds.
Try this technique: Body scan (10 to 20 minutes)
Lie comfortably on your back, side, or stomach with your eyes closed. Beginning with the toes of your left foot, focus on any sensations (tingling, warmth) you feel there. Now imagine your breath traveling down to your toes, then back up and out through your nose. Slowly move up your left leg, focusing on the sensations you encounter and directing your breath to your ankle, shin, knee and thigh. Repeat the sequence with your right leg, then move through your lower back, abdomen, upper back, chest, shoulders and both arms. Next move to your neck, throat, face, the back of your head, and--finally--the top of your head. You should also take notice when you don't feel any sensations at all.
4. Strengthen relationships
When you focus on new details in everyday activities and encounters, you're much more engaged, are viewed as more genuine, and, consequently, are more attractive to others. In a study by Ellen Langer, Ph.D., a Harvard psychologist and author of The Power of Mindful Learning (Da Capo Press, 1998), participants were asked to sell magazines either mindfully or mindlessly. Everyone memorized a sales pitch so they could recite it by rote. One group was asked to repeat the pitch verbatim with each new customer (i.e., mindlessly); the other group was told to change the script in subtle ways, such as pausing in different places (i.e., mindfully), so that only they knew how it differed each time. When the customers were asked their opinions of the salespeople, they judged the script changers (the mindful group) as more charismatic, says Langer.
A recent study from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill found that mindfulness techniques improve personal relationships as well. Couples who completed separate 8-week courses in traditional mindfulness-based techniques felt significantly more satisfied with their relationships than before; they also reported less stress within the relationship. These results were still in effect three months later.
Try this technique: Say hello--mindfully (10 minutes)
The next time you get together with good friends, make every effort to notice new details about them (what they're wearing, the color of their eyes) and observe their physical reaction to you--and yours to them. Do you feel yourself retreating or opening toward the others? Do you sense they're defensive, or eager to foster greater intimacy? Later, take a few moments to review what you've learned and how that new info has altered your perceptions of your friends.
Train yourself to be mindful:
· Every hour, stop whatever you're doing and focus on your breathing for 60 seconds.
· Savor each bite of your food during meals, and eliminate distractions, such as TV.
· During a strength-training exercise, close your eyes for one set of repetitions and concentrate on the movement of your body.
How mindfulness improves memory
Finding: Regular mindfulness meditation may slow down age-related cognitive decline, according to a recent Massachusetts General Hospital study. Using MRI scans, the researchers found that meditators' cortices were much thicker (a sign of neuronal growth) than those of nonmeditators. The differences were most pronounced in older subjects in the region that governs attention.
Tip: "Think of it as a 'use it or lose it' phenomenon," explains lead study author Sara Lazar, Ph.D. "Mindfulness meditation exercises the same part of the brain used for memory and attention, so regular practice is thought to keep it sharp, flexible, and active."
More on MSN Health & Fitness:
· Mindfulness Meditation for the Pain of Fibromyalgia
· Breathe Away Pain
· Six Ways to Stop Dwelling on It
Provided by Preventionhttp://health.msn.com/health-topics/mental-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100227263>1=31016
Take Care,
Jamie Ellis RN MS NPP
100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY
320(preop)/163(lowest)/185(current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery)
Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/
"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"
Take Care, 
Jamie Ellis RN MS NPP
100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY
320(preop)/163(lowest)/185(current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery)
Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/
"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"
Jamie Ellis RN MS NPP
100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY
320(preop)/163(lowest)/185(current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery)
Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/
"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"
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