Source: Gregg Braden Official
Gregg Braden shares 4 things you can do to thrive and extend your lifespan in this fast-changing world: nutrition, exercise, supplements, and heart-brain coherence.
Source: Mindset Mentor
In this brilliant, 8-minute video, psychologist Kelly McGonigal, PhD, teaches a simple and very effective strategy to resist temptation by surfing the urge.
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If you find it challenging to finish a project, get through work tasks, study for exams, or concentrate on something, you may be looking for ways to improve focus.
You’re in a moment when you sit at your desk with an urgent deadline and cannot focus on the task at hand. Despite your efforts, you fail to progress. But you know you need to focus and motivate yourself because your job depends on this. Nevertheless, you just can’t concentrate.
In the digital era, it’s easy to get distracted. Interesting content is everywhere, and you deal with an increasing amount of information delivered in various ways. The inability to focus is one of the maladies of our generation, and everyone wants to find out the secret to better focus. So, the tricks for improving concentration are worth addressing.
Image source: Unsplash
In the book Will Power & Discipline, Remez Sasson defined concentration as one’s ability to direct attention to their will. Concentration is control of attention, an ability to focus your mind on one thought, object, or subject while excluding other sensations, feelings, ideas, or thoughts from your mind.
The last part is most likely quite tricky if you’re reading this article. To focus implies not paying attention or excluding unrelated sensations, feelings, ideas, or thoughts. To ignore your phone, emails, beeps, or colleague who is eating ice cream at their desk.
Your daily routine is dominated by switching in and out of digital devices. You get a constant flux of emails, messages, and notifications from apps critical to your job. You are constantly searching for information to solve daily issues or complete tasks.
But all these distractions affect your concentration and productivity, and it takes you longer than it should to complete a task. You don’t listen to what other people have to say, don’t comprehend things, and misunderstand or misinterpret information. Your lack of concentration also affects your memory, and you often forget things or fail to recall information.
Some days you feel like your focus is under attack from all sides. External and internal factors affect your concentration, and you need to identify them in order to improve your focus.
Here are the main factors that stop you from zooming in on the task in front of you.
Distractions. Enormous amounts of information daily bombard you while you work. Researchers found out that the human brain is so primed for distractions that only hearing the phone’s beep impairs your ability to focus. You need to constantly decide if the information you receive is useful, meaningless, or sufficient. The constant flow of information muddles your assessment of whether you need it to decide or complete a task.
Insufficient sleep. Science suggests that lack of sleep can lower your alertness, reduce concentration, and slow thought processes. When you’re sleep-deprived, you feel confused and find it more challenging to focus. Therefore, your ability to meet deadlines is seriously affected. Insomnia can affect your concentration and memory.
Eating habits. What you eat impacts how you feel and how sharp your mind is. If you don’t fuel your brain with the proper nutrients, you can experience fatigue, memory loss, and lack of focus. A restrictive or low-fat diet negatively affects concentration because it triggers cravings and hunger and leaves you feeling unwell.
Environment. Depending on your activities, the environment can impact your concentration; a loud noise level can prove problematic because you may need quietness to focus. It’s not only the overall noise level but also the kind of noise that affects your focus. While co-workers chatting may derail your focus, a favourite song can keep your mind focused.
Vary your diet
What you eat affects your cognitive functions, such as memory and concentration. Stay away from processed foods and take supplements like trace minerals to boost concentration. Staying hydrated also positively impacts your focus because even mild dehydration can make it challenging to remember information.
Improve sleep
When you’re tired, your reflex slows down and affects your daily tasks. Therefore, it’s essential to get as close to the recommended amount of sleep nightly. Experts state that adults should aim for 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night.
How can you improve your sleep?
Exercise
Regular exercise increases concentration because physical activity benefits everyone. Research suggests that adults who engage in moderate physical activity can stop or reverse memory loss associated with brain atrophy.
Experts still debate what tricks function best in improving concentration. We hope that now you can identify the factors that impact your focus and strategies that can help you enhance your engagement.
Steve Taylor, Ph. D. | Waking Times
In the 1840s, a Scottish doctor living in India named James Esdaile was frequently visited by men with enormous tumors (weighing up to 45 kg) in the scrotum, caused by mosquito bites. The operation to remove them was so painful that men would often put it off for years, only having it as a last resort.
Esdaile had read about hypnotism (or mesmerism, as he referred to it) and decided to try the technique as a way of relaxing patients so that they would agree to have the operation.
To his surprise, he found that not only did the patients feel relaxed, but they also didn’t feel any pain during the operations. In other words, hypnosis had somehow acted as a powerful anesthetic. Esdaile reported that, in some cases, there was no pain or injury after the operation either, and that the healing process was faster. As he wrote, “less constitutional disturbance has followed than under ordinary circumstances. There has not been a death among the cases operated on.”
Word began to spread about this amazing surgeon who could remove the massive tumors in 20 minutes without pain or after effects, and soon patients began to flock to Esdaile’s hospital near Calcutta. Esdaile began to use hypnotism in other procedures too, including eye surgery, the removal of tonsils, breast tumors, and childbirth. Esdaile was sure that it wasn’t a matter of his patients pretending (to themselves and/or to him) that they weren’t feeling any pain — he noted that, in addition to a lack of writhing and moaning, patients didn’t display physiological signs of pain such as changes to pulse rate and eye pupils.
At the time Esdaile was practicing, mortality rates for operations were massive: a staggering 50% of patients died during or after them. But in 161 recorded cases of Esdaile’s operations, the mortality rate was only 5%. The reasons for this aren’t clear. Esdaile himself believed it was due to “vital mesmeric fluids” passing from him to the patient, which stimulated the healing process. However, it was probably related to reduced loss of blood, and perhaps activation of the same self-healing abilities that occur with a placebo.
The hypnotic state is still mysterious — there is no clear explanation of what happens when a person becomes hypnotized, or how the state is different from normal consciousness. But the essential aspect seems to be that, under hypnosis, the normal conscious self becomes immobilized. Normal conscious functions such as volition and control are taken over by the hypnotist. And with the conscious self in abeyance, the hypnotist appears to have direct access to the person’s subconscious mind.
Certainly, one of the most striking aspects of hypnosis is the powerful influence of the mind (via the hypnotist’s suggestions) over the functioning of the body. Esdaile was by no means the only physician to use hypnosis, but from the mid-nineteenth century, the practice was superseded by the use of chemical anesthetics. But there were still some areas of medicine where the practice continued — dentistry, in particular. At the turn of the 20th century, hypnosis was dentists’ main method of pain management, and it became almost universal for dentists during the First and Second World Wars when chemical anesthetics were scarce and facial trauma was common. Even now, some dentists still use hypnosis, especially in cases where a person’s medical history precludes the use of an anesthetic.
Recent research with patients who had teeth extracted under hypnosis showed that “hypnotic-focused analgesia” can increase pain thresholds by up to 220%. (1) This research also found that 93% of patients experienced reduced postoperative pain and hemorrhage. (This links to Esdaile’s finding that mortality rates decreased very sharply as a result of his use of hypnosis. Hypnosis can reduce blood loss and hemorrhage.)
Beyond its analgesic properties, there is a great deal of evidence that hypnotism can have a powerful healing effect. During the early to mid-nineteenth century, the technique was used by physicians as a treatment and found to be effective against conditions such as epilepsy, neuralgia, and rheumatism. However, hypnosis appears to be particularly effective with skin conditions. In highly suggestible people, hypnosis has been used to rapidly heal wounds and burns, to make warts and blisters disappear, and to control the bleeding of hemophiliacs. Conversely, highly suggestible people may produce blisters or burn marks, if they are told by a hypnotist that their skin has been burnt, or if they are blindfolded and the hypnotist pretends to touch them with a red hot poker or another object. (2)
Being 34 weeks pregnant, I’ve been reading as many books as I can on how to stay calm and focused during natural childbirth (which is the plan). What I keep seeing as a common topic amongst every book I pick up is how powerful using visualization techniques can be to literally write the script of your experience.
In other words, we can empower ourselves to trust that our bodies know exactly what to do. And when needed, we can connect and communicate with our baby to focus on cooperative energy as you both work as a team to bring forth life into the world.
“Back in the day” women viewed childbirth in a completely different way from how we currently do in modern times. It was not common to fear the process nor to focus on the pain or the avoidance of said pain. Instead, women were taught what it genuinely is…a natural biological process that our bodies were designed to perform and that there is nothing to fear when you surrender to the process itself.
The understanding of how the energy and emotions brought to the experience can tip the scale one way or another will make all the difference in how painful or joyous the experience will be. And this is where using visualizations can be the perfect tool to guide you through your delivery.
Well-known amongst athletes, martial artists, and those who meditate regularly, visualizations are a valuable tool used to perfect their craft. The simple act of taking your own thoughts through how you want the experience to play out (on a regular basis) literally rewires the brain to be better prepared and to not react in fear when you finally do go through the real experience.
It’s a way to desensitize your brain’s reaction to the experience itself. When the body is fearful, it creates adrenaline and cortisol which increase stress as well as pain. It’s almost like the brain fighting the natural process. As with all spiritual practice, we must remind the mind and the ego that they are not the boss. We, as pure consciousness, run the show, and perhaps we needed to be reminded of that as well.
The technique I’m using for myself is custom-made and honestly, that’s how it should be for us all. We all know what we want and we all have the right to put energy into manifesting exactly that. The closer I get to my delivery date, the more I realize that I can either surrender to the what-if’s and fear the unknown, or realize that I have much more say in how my delivery turns out.
I picture myself in the birthing pool, breathing calmly, and focusing on the mandalas that I created and blessed with personal sigils. There are 3 of them and each is attuned to specific energy I channeled into their intricate designs and vivid colors. The first is PEACE/BREATH, the second is POWER/FOCUS, and the third is PUSH/STRENGTH for each stage of labor and delivery.
My vision is pulling from all of the senses and I can smell the lavender oils in the background while the soothing sounds of Bob Marley take me away while bringing me present to the moment. More connected, more aware, and more prepared to ride the waves of my coming labor.
I’ve only been using this visualization for about 2 weeks now, but I can already feel a shift my uncertainty and need to control everything. I am more at peace with the fact that I may end up having to deliver at the hospital and only getting to labor in the tub rather than give birth. But I am equally balanced in focusing on and drawing my reality the vision I have for my perfect day. Which of course, leaves room for imperfections and provides openness to unexpected change. 
Again, this technique can be used for several purposes, from learning to slow a chattering mind that won’t let you sleep, to becoming a better shot at basketball. When we can proactively take ourselves through the experience, we give our brains the preview of what to expect. Our brains do not know the difference in the reality of our thoughts and as long as we believe something to be true, the brain will as well.
This is such an empowering lesson, at least it was for me. It reminds us that we are not slaves to our emotions, but rather we can learn to work with them and not allow them to force our bodies into a panic when consciously we want peace. When we can remove the fear and act on courage and trust, we give ourselves an almost as great of a gift as motherhood. And that is the ability to connect with this life-changing experience in a way that is all our own…lead by love and grace.
Tamara Rant is a Co-Editor/Writer for CLN as well as a Licensed Reiki Master, a heart-centered Graphic Designer, and a progressive voice in social media activism & awareness. She is an avid lover of all things Quantum Physics and Spirituality. Connect with Tamara by visiting Prana Paws/Healing Hearts Reiki or go to RantDesignMedia.com
Tamara posts new original articles to CLN every Saturday.
According to the American Institute of stress, about 70% of adults experience stress that affects their physical and mental health. Moreover, around 40% of adults worldwide experienced elevated stress levels in 2020, making it the most stressful year.
Whether you experience a minor challenge or a major crisis, stress always tags along. Every person gets their fair share of stress triggers, so it’s pretty hard not to get overwhelmed now and then. While you can’t always control these triggers or stressors, you can control how you respond to them. Some people get anxious, others get aggressive, and many get worked up to the extent that they get physically ill. Instead of giving in to stress, learn to find ways to keep its side effects at bay.
So, when you feel your stress becomes overwhelming or makes you feel frustrated or irritable, you can always resort to some stress-relieving habits. Listed below are some tips that can help tame stress and restore peace and balance to your tipsy turvy life.
Try Energy-therapy
When you experience a trauma or a setback, your emotions get displaced. To curb this emotional damage, people start using self-made coping mechanisms which may suppress emotions related to trauma. This suppression of negative emotions disturbs the human energy field. It manifests later in the form of behavioral problems, physiological conditions, or psychological disorders. If you tried to get rid of your emotional baggage on your own but failed, it is time to reach out for professional aid. If you aren’t sure about visiting a therapist yet, you can purchase books online, such as the emotion code. These books provide information on effective and transformative energy healing methods. Professionals design these books to provide an outlet for trapped energy related to past emotions. They help ease emotional wounds, alleviate physical discomfort, and restore relationships.
Eat a healthy diet
Foods can help tame stress in many ways. For example, comfort foods like a bowl of warm oatmeal increase serotonin levels. This brain chemical soothes and calms our brain. Fruits like oranges and leafy green vegetables rich in magnesium also help curb stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, reducing stress. Some people practice emotional eating, which involves binge eating to soothe themselves and their negative feelings. They fill their emotional void through this temporary aid without realizing that it only adds to their chronic stress. Eating healthy foods can help you counter stress over the long haul since your body will get detoxified, and your brain will function properly.
Take a break
In this day and age, when people are busy making ends meet, trying to live up to the expectations of their family, and meeting deadlines at work, they forget to take a break. Give a pause to your robotic life and relax. As a goal-oriented person, it might be difficult for you to plan on some actual downtime. But you will eventually look forward to these moments. The most relaxing things you can do are meditation, yoga, prayer, listening to some soothing music, or spending time amongst nature. Go on a short vacation even! Meditation is popular for stress management and is beneficial in relaxing the body, mind, and soul.
Exercise daily
Frequent workouts are an effective way to help relieve mental stress. Exercise helps reduce the level of the stress hormone cortisol and pumps up the release of endorphin. Endorphins can improve your mood instantly, and they also act as natural painkillers. Exercising can also treat your insomnia and enhance the quality of sleep. But a consistent exercising routine is necessary for it to pay off. So, take a stroll around the office as downtime from a frustrating task. Walking is one of the simplest ways to rejuvenate your mind and body. You can also try breathing exercises to de-stress yourself.
Connect and socialize
Your friends and family are the most reliable source of emotional support. When you feel stressed, you might want to isolate yourself. Talk to a friend or family member rather than piling up your emotions to the extent that you feel suffocated. Talking about your worries to a confidant can help in emotional catharsis. Spending time with family or being part of a healthy social network is therapy in itself and can boost your self-esteem. This will ultimately help you sort out issues and navigate the rough patches of your life. In case you have no one to talk to, seek professional aid from a therapist.
Try Guided imagery
Guided imagery is an effective stress management technique that you can use just about anywhere to relax and calm yourself. It is like taking a short cost-free vacation in your mind that is simple and pleasant to practice. All you need to do is imagine yourself being in your happy place. For example, picture yourself sitting on a beach, feeling the refreshing breeze, and listening to the crashing waves. Relaxing, right? So, when you start to feel stressed due to work overload or feel anxious due to an exam, close your eyes and slip away to your nirvana.
Pen down your thoughts
Writing down your thoughts and feelings can be a source of therapy that aids in relieving stress. Journal writing provides an outlet for your otherwise pent-up emotions. Don’t think about what to write or spelling and grammar mistakes; just let your thoughts slip on paper.
Engage in leisure activities
People these days are too busy to engage in leisure activities. While juggling work, family, and other responsibilities, they often forget to make time for themselves. However, leisure activities can help relieve stress. When you feel good, you will eventually perform better. Try to figure out what you like and make time for it. Gardening, painting, or cooking are a few activities you can engage in. You can even pet an animal. Interaction with pets boosts mood and reduces stress through oxytocin release.
Try a laughter workout
Last but not least, try to laugh more throughout the day. A laugh may not cure all illnesses, but it is the best medicine to help you feel better when things look tough. Laughter boosts mood, gives you a lighter feeling, helps surmount problems, and improves physical and mental health. So, next time when you feel stressed, listen to a few jokes or tell some, watch a standup comedy video, hang out with humorous people, or even force a fake laugh.
Conclusion
Life is full of challenges and setbacks. When you feel helpless in coping with specific demands related to work, family, financial pressures, etc., that is where stress comes in. Stressors are temporary, but the stress that stems from them may become chronic if not managed timely. Chronic stress can take a tremendous toll on your well-being, making you debilitated to work and tackle demanding challenges. This article mentions a few effective tips to help cope and reduce stress without investing too much time.
When I was a teenager, there was nothing I loved to do more than to hop in my Jeep and go drive the back roads of Pennsylvania. I loved it so much in fact that I have more memories of my Jeep being brown than black due to it constantly being covered in mud.
My love for nature and the freedom of the open road has never left me, and as strange as it might sound, the recent eclipse has stirred up some deep-rooted memories of what freedom, creation, and expression really mean…at least to me on a personal level. On a VERY personal level in fact.
My dreams lately have been so incredibly vivid and where I normally wouldn’t remember things, the finest and apparently most significant details are there with me, even on throughout the day. I feel as if, no matter what, there is something refusing to let me let go of this information I am supposed to have at this time in my life. I FEEL it in every inch of my being. And I imagine this is what it feels like to truly trust your own intuition for the very first time and to literally surrender to it completely.
My usual M.O. is to get continuous downloads and know I’m getting some juicy and quite useful stuff I can be aptly applying to my own life, and so I journal the shit out of it with the full intention to do just that. But then something happens…or rather does not, and often times I just end up sitting on these gems after some justification that I’m waiting to throw them in a future book I’m “going to write” or saving it as “program material” for clients I don’t even have within my circle yet.
Do you see the issue here? While it’s great to have plans, goals and a pool of resources to contribute to as well as draw from, we need to also realize that when we are always living from a space of becoming, that we never actually get there…we never actually become what we want because we do not ever let go of that space of “still getting there-ness”. We, of course, need to do the work and the healing, however, we cannot expect there to be this glorious moment of revelation that tells us it’s time to take the next step. It is US who decides when we are ready; no one else.
And so this brings me to what everyone in the spiritual community is calling The Shift or perhaps more commonly, “The Great Awakening”. From an un-awakened, individual perspective, the world looks like complete chaos and a world impervious to compassion or positive change. That is only a perspective of what the outer reality is offering; one possibility and it’s not looking good. And when we focus on the changes occurring on such a granular level, we make it quite difficult to not only connect with others to be able to offer and receive information but to even clearly see into their world at all. And this leaves it even harder to see any other perspective. This reminds me of the difference between “being awake” and someone who is “woke”.
Imagine having a can of paint dumped onto your windshield of your car and trying to see inside; yeah it’s kinda like that. You see, we are all the world unto ourselves, each a unique dimension of Source expression that has merely tricked itself into temporarily believing that it is separate and fragmented, and therefore we experience that on a level of humanity as a deep sense of unworthiness, confusion and need to love and be loved. So, in essence, that is the illusion we are here to overcome, not that EVERYTHING is an illusion. If everything was an illusion, then there would be no Source, and since we know everything comes from Source, then everything is definitely not an illusion. The only true illusion is that we must hold onto the ideas of reality that we are presented with from outside sources that do not resonate our own Truth.
All I hear throughout the New Age community so often is so many “should’s” that insist we must always be for or against something, or must in in a battle with something. I admit to being overwhelmingly lost in the need to have every last book and attend every last festival and try to meet every last spiritual mentor, and honestly there’s nothing wrong with that, but when you lose who you are, in the attempt to find who you are, well that kind of defeats the entire purpose.
Anything that doesn’t feel good is an indicator that you are living within time. To some that may instantly confuse, to other, it may instantly resonate. I won’t get too deep into it, but all things happen simultaneously and like an old picture show there is only the moment of now and life simply is all these “nows” spliced together to appear as happening in a linear progression. But now you know better…I hope. And I also hope you pay more attention to how you seem to “lose” track of time when you’re having fun or in a good mood AKA high vibration. It is literally because good feelings; positive emotions take you OUT of time. I can and will write a whole other article on what you can do with that another time…
So, back to the Shift and how to so many all over the world see chaos when some see order. How is this possible when we are all in the same world? It’s because again, we are not. We are all our OWN worlds, and we decide what we. When you respond to another’s opinion or perspective you are merely interacting with their world, not your own. And this is such a useful tool in helping you work out conflicts and karma in your current relationships and ancestral lineage.
For so long we have been living in the energy of the Mind and to me “The Shift” simply represents humanity moving into the energy of the Heart, so that we are best prepared to integrate it all in the Solar Plexus or our Seat of Intuition. But honestly, I feel that the entire point of this energetic upgrade is for people to recognize their own power and reclaim it so you are reminded that there is no higher source of truth that your higher Self; therefore it’s pushing YOU to decide for yourselves what this sh*t is all about! 🙂
Tamara Rant is a Co-Editor/Writer for CLN as well as a Licensed Reiki Master, heart-centered Graphic Designer and a Conservative voice in social media activism & awareness. She is an avid lover of all things Quantum Physics and Spirituality.
Tamara posts new original articles to CLN every Saturday.
This article was originally created and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Tamara Rant and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.
Source: London Real
In this 3-minute video, Sadhguru shares some great advice for living a long life by managing your energy and your time.
Research suggests that mindfulness benefits our bodies, not just our minds.
By Jill Suttie | Greater Good Magazine
According to thousands of years of tradition, Buddhists meditate to understand themselves and their connections to all beings. By doing so, they hope to be released from suffering and ultimately gain enlightenment.
In recent decades, researchers have been gaining insight into the benefits of practicing this ancient tradition. By studying more secular versions of mindfulness meditation, they’ve found that learning to pay attention to our current experiences and accept them without judgment might indeed help us to be happier. Studies to date suggest that mindfulness affects many aspects of our psychological well-being—improving our mood, increasing positive emotions, and decreasing our anxiety, emotional reactivity, and job burnout.
But does mindfulness affect our bodies as well as our minds?
Recently, researchers have been exploring this question—with some surprising results. While much of the early research on mindfulness relied on pilot studies with biased measures or limited groups of participants, more recent studies have been using less-biased physiological markers and randomly controlled experiments to get at the answer. Taken together, the studies suggest that mindfulness may impact our hearts, brains, immune systems, and more.
Though nothing suggests mindfulness is a standalone treatment for disease nor the most important ingredient for a healthy life, here are some of the ways that it appears to benefit us physically.
Heart disease is the leading killer in the United States, accounting for about 1 in 4 deaths every year. So, whatever decreases the risks or symptoms of heart disease would significantly impact society’s health. Mindfulness may help with that.
In one study, people with pre-hypertension were randomly assigned to augment their drug treatment with either a course in mindfulness meditation or a program that taught progressive muscle relaxation. Those who learned mindfulness had significantly greater reductions in their systolic and diastolic blood pressure than those who learned progressive muscle relaxation, suggesting that mindfulness could help people at risk for heart disease by bringing blood pressure down.
In another study, people with heart disease were randomly assigned to either an online program to help them practice meditation or to a waitlist for the program while undergoing normal treatment for heart disease. Those who took the mindfulness program showed significant improvements on the six-minute walking test (a measure of cardiovascular capacity) and slower heart rates than those in the waitlist group.
While one review of randomly controlled studies showed that mindfulness may have mixed effects on the physical symptoms of heart disease, a more recent review published by the American Heart Association concluded that, while research remains preliminary, there is enough evidence to suggest mindfulness as an adjunct treatment for coronary disease and its prevention.
Mindfulness may also be good for hearts that are already relatively healthy. Research suggests that meditating can increase respiratory sinus arrhythmia, the natural variations in heart rate that happen when we breathe that indicate better heart health and an increased chance of surviving a heart attack.
People tend to lose some of their cognitive flexibility and short-term memory as they age. But mindfulness may be able to slow cognitive decline, even in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
In a 2016 study, people with Alzheimer’s disease engaged in either mindfulness meditation, cognitive stimulation therapy, relaxation training, or no treatment, and were given cognitive tests over two years. While cognitive stimulation and relaxation training seemed to be somewhat beneficial in comparison to no treatment, the mindfulness training group had much more robust improvements on cognitive scores than any other group.
MINDFUL BREATHING – TRY IT NOW (HERE)
Why might that be true? A 2017 study looking at brain function in healthy, older adults suggests meditation may increase attention. In this study, people 55 to 75 years old spent eight weeks practicing either focused breathing meditation or a control activity. Then, they were given the Stroop test—a test that measures attention and emotional control—while having their brains monitored by electroencephalography. Those undergoing breath training had significantly better attention on the Stroop test and more activation in an area of the brain associated with attention than those in the active control group.
While this research is preliminary, a systematic review of research to date suggests that mindfulness may mitigate cognitive decline, perhaps due to its effects on memory, attention, processing, and executive functioning.
When we encounter viruses and other disease-causing organisms, our bodies send out troops of immune cells that circulate in the blood. These cells, including pro- and anti-inflammatory proteins, neutrophils, T-cells, immunoglobulins, and natural killer cells, help us to fight disease and infection in various ways. Mindfulness, it turns out, may affect these disease-fighting cells.
In several studies, mindfulness meditation appeared to increase levels of T-cells or T-cell activity in patients with HIV or breast cancer. This suggests that mindfulness could play a role in fighting cancer and other diseases that call upon immune cells. Indeed, in people suffering from cancer, mindfulness appears to improve a variety of biomarkers that might indicate progression of the disease.
In another study, elderly participants were randomly assigned to an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course or a moderate-intensity exercise program. At the end, participants who’d practiced mindfulness had higher levels of the protein interleukin-8 in their nasal secretions, suggesting improved immune function.
Another study found increases in interleukin-10 in colitis patients who took a mindfulness meditation course compared to a mind-body educational program, especially among patients whose colitis had flared up. Yet another study found that patients who had greater increases in mindfulness after an MBSR course also showed faster wound healing, a process regulated by the immune system.
Studies have found effects on markers of inflammation, too—like C-reactive protein, which in higher levels can harm physical health. Research shows that people with rheumatoid arthritis have reduced C-reactive protein levels after taking an MBSR course versus being on a waitlist for the course. Overall, these findings suggest that mindfulness meditation can have disease-fighting powers through our immune response.
Cell aging occurs naturally as cells repeatedly divide over the lifespan and can also be increased by disease or stress. Proteins called telomeres, which are found at the end of chromosomes and serve to protect them from aging, seem to be impacted by mindfulness meditation.
Studies suggest that long-time meditators may have greater telomere lengths. In one experimental study, researchers found that breast cancer survivors who went through MBSR preserved the length of their telomeres better than those who were on a waitlist. However, this study also found that general supportive therapies impacted telomere length; so, there may not be something special about MBSR that impacts cell aging.
On the other hand, another study with breast cancer survivors found no differences in telomere length after taking an MBSR course; but they did find differences in telomere activity, which is also related to cell aging. In fact, a 2018 review of research ties mindfulness training to increased telomere activity, suggesting it indirectly affects the integrity of the telomeres in our cells. Perhaps that’s why scientists are at least optimistic about the positive effects of meditation on aging.
Of course, while the above physiological benefits of mindfulness are compelling, we needn’t forget that mindfulness also impacts our psychological well-being, which, in turn, affects physical health. In fact, it’s quite likely that these changes have synergistic effects on one another.
First of all, a great deal of research suggests that mindfulness can help healthy people reduce their stress. And thanks to Jon-Kabat Zinn’s pioneering MBSR program, there’s now a large body of research showing that mindfulness can help people cope with the pain, anxiety, depression, and stress that might accompany illness, especially chronic conditions.
For example, drug addictions, at heart, come about because of physiological cravings for a substance that relieves people temporarily from their psychological suffering. Mindfulness can be a useful adjunct to addiction treatment by helping people better understand and tolerate their cravings, potentially helping them to avoid relapse after they’ve been safely weaned off of drugs or alcohol. The same is true for people struggling with overeating.
Fascinating though it is, we shouldn’t overplay meditation’s effects on physical health at the expense of its importance to emotional health. In fact, it may be difficult to separate out the two, as a key impact of mindfulness is stress reduction, and psychological stress has been tied to heart health, immune response, and telomere length. This idea is further supported by the fact that other stress-reducing therapies also seem to impact physical health, as well.
Still, it’s encouraging to know that something that can be taught and practiced can have an impact on our overall health—not just mental but also physical—more than 2,000 years after it was developed. That’s reason enough to give mindfulness meditation a try.
A version of this article was originally published in Lion’s Roar.
Jill Suttie, Psy.D., is Greater Good’s book review editor and a frequent contributor to the magazine.
Migraine is a neurological disease that can be severely debilitating and is the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Unfortunately, many patients with migraine discontinue medications due to ineffectiveness or side effects. Many patients still use opioids despite recommendations against them for headache treatment. However, in a recent clinical trial from Wake Forest Baptist Health, researchers showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may provide benefit to people with migraines.
“Mindfulness-based stress reduction is a mind-body treatment that teaches moment-by-moment awareness through mindfulness meditation and yoga,” said Rebecca Erwin Wells, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Health. “Mindfulness can also teach new ways to respond to stress, a commonly reported migraine trigger.”
According to an article published by JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers studied whether MBSR improved migraine outcomes, pain perception, and measures of emotional well-being compared to headache education.
In the study, 89 adults with a history of migraine were randomly assigned to either the MBSR group or headache education group with training or instruction delivered in eight weekly two-hour sessions.
The MBSR group followed a standardized curriculum of mindfulness meditation and yoga. Participants also received electronic audio files for home practice and were encouraged to practice at home 30 minutes a day. The headache education group received instruction on headaches, pathophysiology, triggers, stress, and treatment approaches.
Participants in both the MBSR and headache education groups reported fewer days with migraines. However, only MBSR also lessened disability and improved quality of life, depression scores, and other measures reflecting emotional well-being, with effects seen out to 36 weeks. Further, experimentally induced pain intensity and unpleasantness decreased in the MBSR group compared to the headache education group, suggesting a shift in pain appraisal.
“At a time when opioids are still being used for migraine, finding safe non-drug options with long-term benefit has significant implications,” said Wells, who is also the founder and director of the Comprehensive Headache Program at Wake Forest Baptist. “Mindfulness may treat the total burden of migraine and could potentially decrease the impact of this debilitating condition. A larger, more definitive study is needed to confirm these findings.”
Journal: JAMA Internal Medicine
Getting healthy or staying healthy is a bit more than mind over matter, but what you believe affects the matter of your body. This takes place on a subconscious level (below your awareness), because this is where the automatic functions of your body and habits occur. There is no emotion involved in the subconscious, there is only function that forms. Get this: Function that informs the body how to live, to heal, to stay in balance.
Basically your body strives to stay in balance (homeostasis). Here is a very simple process of how the balance of your body can be upset.
Many illnesses are more than a genetic cause and are now called ‘lifestyle diseases’. Using genetics as a reason for this type of illness is a huge “doom factor”. It’s almost like playing Russian Roulette. Why? Because this belief disempowers and makes you feel that you have no control. Thus, you are a victim. Fear is a huge player and this mental toxin can lead to compromised health.
A better way to look at illness or pain is to understand that it is a messenger. So a key to healing is to understand the message. This is why meditation, mindfulness and faith are powerful tools and allies in the healing process. These allies affect the subconscious, which is a major player determining your state of being and your physical health.
Can you heal from chronic, debilitating diseases? It depends, what do you really believe? It is a bit more than mind over matter, because your subconscious must know it’s reality. Just making a statement, I believe, is only the beginning. It must be truth, in the core of your being, beyond your awareness. A higher state of consciousness will take you to places of sweet dreams where good health abounds and each morning is something to look forward to. Read my other articles and those like it on Conscious Life News to learn how to train your subconscious. Be healthy, be happy and live well my friend.
Julia Rae Parsell
Julia Parsell is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with an emphasis on the intersection of science and the sacred. She writes from experiences and transformative understandings that have led her to an authentic and peaceful life. She goes by these names: wife, grandmother, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend. As home educator of her three children, she also developed/ran cafes, and maintained various leadership roles within her community. Her greatest desire is to encourage others to live life fully. Her passions are family, writing, and trail blazing. She is happily married in Western North Carolina. Please visit her blog here.
Smiling is a natural and often unconscious response when we are amused, joyful, or contented, although we can also smile by choice, even when we are not feeling positive. When we feel down, we don’t really feel like smiling, but there are several reasons why you should try to smile as often as you can. In fact, smiling has been found to have a tangible impact on our wellbeing, whether we are feeling happy or not. If you are not convinced, this article will explain how smiling has a positive impact on our wellbeing, including both our physical and mental health.
Smiling makes us more attractive to others
People who smile are magnetic, and there have been scientific studies that show we are more attracted to smiles and less attracted to frowns, grimaces, or scowls. By placing a smile on your face, you are more likely to attract positivity and social experiences (whether you are looking for friends or a romantic partner). If you are self-conscious about smiling because you feel your teeth are unattractive, consider fixing your smile with professional dental work.
Smiling can alleviate stress
When we are feeling stressed and run down, it shows on our faces, and this can have a contagious effect on the people around you. Smiling can not only prevent others from picking up on your stress, but can even reduce the symptoms of stress by elevating our mood. Smiling can trigger the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin, which act as natural anti-depressants and painkillers. In addition, as smiling is often contagious, you may have a positive impact on the people around you, therefore improving the social atmosphere around you.
Smiling can boost your immune system
When we are stressed or tired, our immune system is compromised as it enters “fight or flight” mode. Because smiling encourages the release of mood-boosting neurotransmitters, the body becomes more relaxed and able to function, therefore dealing with minor illnesses and injuries much more effectively.
Smiling can ease high blood pressure
Smiling lowers blood pressure, and you do not need to read a scientific study to see this for yourself. If you have a blood pressure cuff in your home, take a reading when you are not smiling and then another after a minute of two of smiling to see the impact that it can have.
Smiling can make you appear younger
In addition to making us more attractive, smiling can also make us look younger and healthier. It lifts the facial muscles and smooths out lines and wrinkles in seconds, making us appear more energetic and vibrant.
Smiling projects an impression of confidence and success
A person who is smiling is more likely to be perceived as a confident person, and confident people are usually more likely to be noticed, promoted at work, and approached by others. When you have a job interview or a professional meeting, smiling more will make you appear more successful, which is often half the battle when trying to progress your career.
https://youtu.be/7QYOiRsKAyg
By Dr. Joseph Mercola | mercola.com
According to the featured BBC Documentary “The Power of Meditation,”1,2 originally aired in 2008, more than 10 million Westerners practice daily meditation. More recent statistics3 suggest people are turning to meditation in droves, with the number of practitioners tripling since 2012. As of 2019, an estimated 200 million to 500 million people meditate regularly around the globe.
Considering its many psychological and physical benefits, this is good news, especially in light of the pandemic we are all going through. There is a large body of evidence demonstrating the mind-body connection is real, and that your mind has a direct impact on your physical health.
For example, brain imaging has revealed meditation alters your brain in a number of beneficial ways — such as increasing gray matter volume in brain regions involved in the regulation of emotions, memory, learning and self-referential processes4 — and studies show meditative practices even alter your genetic expression.5,6,7,8
Indeed, one study9 found meditation practice altered the expression of no less than 2,209 different genes. Examples of genetic effects include the down-regulation of genes involved in inflammation and stress.10,11
According to a study in PLOS ONE,12 many of these genetic changes — such as reduced oxidative stress and increased antioxidant production and telomerase stability — are the result of activating the body’s relaxation response. The relaxation response also influences your energy metabolism, which can have bodywide benefits. As explained by the authors:13
“Upregulating ATP synthase — with its central role in mitochondrial energy mechanics, oxidative phosphorylation and cell aging — RR [the relaxation response] may act to buffer against cellular overactivation with overexpenditure of mitochondrial energy that results in excess reactive oxygen species production.
We thus postulate that upregulation of the ATP synthase pathway may play an important role in translating the beneficial effects of the RR.”
Findings such as these prove you cannot separate your health from your emotional well-being, and if you want to prevent chronic illness, you’d be wise to incorporate this knowledge.
Clinically, mindfulness-based meditation practice has been demonstrated in randomized trials to improve depressive symptoms in women with fibromyalgia14 and to have lasting anti-anxiety effects after only eight weeks of group practice.15
In “The Power of Meditation,” professor Kathy Sykes begins her investigation of meditation by visiting a Buddhist monk in Nepal, who teaches her basic Buddhist meditation, which involves sitting comfortably, with your spine straight, concentrating on a single focal point, such as your breath.
When a thought arises, you simply refocus your attention on your breath. Over time, this kind of meditation fosters inner calm, happiness, relaxation, and emotional equanimity, although results can often be felt rather quickly. “Meditation is not just a hobby,” the monk says. “It’s something that is going to change the very way you experience every moment of your life.”
I’ve already mentioned a number of studies demonstrating the benefits of meditation. “The Power of Meditation” cites16 additional evidence showing it can help a wide range of health problems, including cardiac arrhythmias, bronchial asthma, cold sores, cough, ulcers, diabetes, constipation, infertility, high blood pressure, psoriasis, pain and much more.
Research17 even suggests total medical costs for primary care could be drastically reduced simply by practicing meditation and other relaxation techniques.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed data from 4,452 people who received eight weeks of relaxation response training and 13,149 controls who did not meditate. The intervention group also worked on building resiliency using social support, cognitive skills training, and positive psychology. Results showed:
“At one year, total [health care] utilization for the intervention group decreased by 43%. Clinical encounters decreased by 41.9%, imaging by 50.3%, lab encounters by 43.5%, and procedures by 21.4% … The intervention group’s Emergency department (ED) visits decreased from 3.6 to 1.7/year and Hospital and Urgent care visits converged with the controls.
Subgroup analysis (identically matched initial utilization rates—Intervention group: high utilizing controls) showed the intervention group significantly reduced utilization relative to the control group by: 18.3% across all functional categories, 24.7% across all site categories and 25.3% across all clinical categories.
Conclusion: Mind body interventions such as 3RP [relaxation response resiliency program] have the potential to substantially reduce healthcare utilization at relatively low cost and thus can serve as key components in any population health and health care delivery system.”
The researchers estimate the average patient could save between $640 and $25,500 a year in health care costs by implementing this kind of relaxation response training.
While the mind-body connection has long been ignored by conventional medicine, the American Heart Association in 2017 issued its first scientific statement and guidelines on seated meditation,18 suggestings it can be a valuable adjunctive intervention for cardiovascular disease. As noted in the AHA’s scientific statement:19
“Novel and inexpensive interventions that can contribute to the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease are of interest. Numerous studies have reported on the benefits of meditation.
Meditation instruction and practice is widely accessible and inexpensive and may thus be a potential attractive cost‐effective adjunct to more traditional medical therapies …
Neurophysiological and neuroanatomical studies demonstrate that meditation can have long-standing effects on the brain, which provide some biological plausibility for beneficial consequences on the physiological basal state and on cardiovascular risk …
Overall, studies of meditation suggest a possible benefit on cardiovascular risk … Given the low costs and low risks of this intervention, meditation may be considered as an adjunct to guideline‐directed cardiovascular risk reduction by those interested in this lifestyle modification …”
As noted in “The Power of Meditation,” there are many different kinds of meditation techniques. Common forms of seated meditation suggested in the AHA’s guidelines include:20
| Samatha (focused attention technique) | Vipassana (insight meditation; an “open-monitoring” technique that encourages a broader awareness of your environment or train of thought, allowing feelings you might normally suppress to rise to the surface) |
| Mindful meditation | Zazen (Zen meditation) |
| Raja yoga | Metta (loving-kindness meditation) |
| Transcendental meditation (TM) | Relaxation response practice |
“The Power of Meditation” interviews Dr. Robert Schneider, a medical doctor who conducts research on the health benefits of Transcendental Meditation.21 According to Schneider, there are several hundred studies showing TM “evokes a deep state of rest and an orderliness of the brain and nervous system, and this results in improved mental health, physical health and even improved social health.”
He goes on to discuss the scientifically demonstrated benefits of TM on cardiovascular diseases specifically. This includes lowering high blood pressure and reducing death rates from heart attacks and strokes.
In the 2014 Talks at Google video above, meditation expert Emily Fletcher22 explains the differences between two popular styles of meditation, directed attention (mindfulness) meditation and non-directed attention meditation (which she refers to as “self-induced transcendence” meditation), and explains how each meditation style affects your brain.
She also discusses the similarities between meditation and caffeine. Both have the effect of energizing you and boosting your productivity, but meditation accomplishes this without any adverse effects.
Caffeine stimulates neural activity in your brain that triggers the release of adrenaline, a stress chemical involved in the fight-or-flight state. Meditation, on the other hand, energizes you and makes you more productive without triggering an adrenaline rush.
The reason for this is because meditation de-excites your nervous system rather than exciting it further. This makes it more orderly, thereby making it easier for your system to release pent-up stress. It also makes you more productive. In fact, she notes that many are now starting to recognize meditation as a powerful productivity tool.
Contrary to popular belief, taking the time to meditate can actually help you gain more time through boosted productivity than what you put into it.23 According to Fletcher, meditating for just 20 minutes equates to taking a 1.5-hour nap, and provides your body with rest that is two to five times deeper than sleep. This is why even a short period of meditation each day can help you feel more refreshed and awake.
So, just how do different types of meditation styles impact your brain? Here’s a summary of some of the neuroplastic changes induced by three popular sitting meditation practices:
•Transcendental meditation24 causes your brain to switch into primarily alpha frequency, corresponding to a relaxed yet aware state akin to daydreaming.
As the left and right hemisphere of your brain enter into coherence, endorphin production increases, inducing a sense of happiness and bliss. Over time, this kind of meditation expands your sense of self beyond bodily limitations, resulting in a more integrated personality.
•Mindful meditation25 and Samatha — focused attention techniques in which you concentrate on your breath or a single object, thought, mantra, sound, or visualization — activate the executive mode of your brain.
The idea behind mindfulness is to remain in the present moment by focusing your attention in the now. The brainwave frequency here typically responds to the gamma range.
Long-term, this type of meditation tends to enlarge your hippocampus, which is where your memories are stored while shrinking the amygdala, the emotional center and the site of your fight-or-flight instinct. This is in part why mindfulness training tends to be helpful for depression and anxiety, as it helps improve the regulation of emotions.
•Self-induced transcendence (discussed by Fletcher in the video above) is a non-directed style of meditation in which you access the fourth state of consciousness that is different from waking, sleeping, and dreaming. Transcendence style meditation strengthens your corpus callosum, the bridge between your two brain hemispheres.
Your left brain is in charge of the past and the future, language, math, and critical thought, while your right brain is in charge of “right now,” intuition, inspiration, connectedness, creativity, and problem-solving.
By strengthening the connection between your right and left hemispheres, you gain access to more creative problem-solving and increase your productivity without adding stress.
Sykes also investigates the benefits of meditation on mental health, for which there is perhaps even more evidence. She visits a woman named Carol, who struggled with severe depression after the death of her husband.
Her psychiatrist suggested meditation, in which you focus on your breathing — similar to the Buddhist meditation described earlier. “It stopped me from living in my head with my thoughts,” Carol says, “and it’s given me a better picture of what it’s like to be alive, really.”
The program Carol enrolled in, called MBCT, which stands for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, was developed by Professor Mark Williams, described as a leader in the field of clinical depression. MBCT is a mix of about 80% mindfulness meditation and 20% cognitive therapy, which is a widely used psychological technique.
As explained by Williams, mindfulness meditation teaches you to see your problems or thoughts clearly, without trying to change or fix anything. In other words, you learn to view your thoughts as “just thoughts,” be they positive, negative or neutral, rather than something with intrinsic meaning or something that you need to do anything about.
According to Sykes, four different trials have demonstrated that MBCT reduces the risk of recurrent depression by 50% in people who have had three or more depressive episodes.
Williams also points out that mindfulness meditation can really benefit everyone, as it helps us deal with expectations, judgments (of self and others), paralyzing self-analysis, and the feeling that we’re just not good enough.
“All of these things are just thoughts,” he says. “They will come up in meditation, and learning to recognize what they are — thoughts — and let them go, can be enormously empowering.”
While it’s not unusual for the most experienced meditators to have spent decades, even a lifetime, perfecting the art of meditation, you can gain benefits just from meditating in your home for 20 minutes a day.
If you’d like to give meditation a try, there are many classes and group sessions available if you want a structured group setting and free guided meditation apps you can use on your own wherever you are.
UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center26 is a helpful resource where you can download free guided meditations in English and Spanish. The following suggestions can also help you get started:
•Set aside 20 to 30 minutes to meditate each day. Choose a quiet place where you can sit comfortably without being disturbed or interrupted. Simply close your eyes and focus on your breath. You don’t need to control your mind or breathe in any unnatural way. When thoughts arise — and they will — simply let them pass through without judgment and return your attention to the breath.
•As you meditate, you will notice thoughts, sensations, and sounds. The next step is to take note of the presence or “witness” that is doing the actual noticing. You’ll find that this presence cannot be pinned down to any particular place inside you. As you continue, simply abide in this presence and be the witness.
In the book, “The Untethered Soul, the Journey Beyond Yourself,”27 Michael Singer asserts that happiness and freedom are the results of cultivating “witness consciousness,” a state of willfully observing your mind, emotions and behaviors, rather than feeling that you actually are these things.
•The more you meditate, the easier it will become to quickly enter into a state of calm and relaxed yet focused awareness. It will also become easier to remain in meditation for longer periods of time. The after-effects will also last longer the more you meditate, allowing you to go through your day in a calmer more focused state.
Whether you have a daily spiritual practice or not, it’s always a great idea to set up an area within your home that is quite special to you and that not only encourages peace and calmness, but allows you to literally enter a sacred space within that touches on your Divine creative force. This place should be quiet, comfortable, free of electronics and allow you to connect to Source in whatever way works best for you.
For some people this is prayer while for others it is through meditation. An yet for some it is through personal expression such as art, i.e. painting or playing a musical instrument. Whatever invokes a feeling of magnificent connectedness and greatness that leaves us feeling alive and fulfilled is what we might be wise to put energy and focus into as often as possible. For when we can do what we love, we become love, and then…we remember we were love all along and live AS love itself.
Ideally the space you choose can contain items that are significant to your practice and what you intend to manifest such as vision boards, crystals, photos, affirmations, etc. or if the space is where you will paint for instance, then of course it would contain all of your panting supplies such as brushes and paints.
The key focus here is to pay attention to how the space feels. We not only want it to work best for functionality if it will be a working creative space, but also to invoke a sense of inspiration and encouragement so you are in a positive note while you jam out on that jazz sax!
A space used solely for meditation will perhaps be much simpler. All one needs here is a comfortable, quiet place to sit and be still. Ideally you will have a meditation stool or pillows you can sit on, but whatever works for you to keep your back as straight as possible, but allowing you to sit in comfort for extended periods of time. Sitting with our backs straight allow for energy to flow precisely where it needs to go and also assists us with doing our meditation breathing exercises properly.
I actually have a few meditation spaces in my home, one outdoors and one indoors, but both are adorned with quartz, rose quartz and amethyst crystals. My outdoor space has two large pink Himalaya salt candles, plants and cacti, and a comfy mini futon that faces the gorgeous morning Arizona sunrise every day. My indoor space has Buddha statues, rocks I’ve collected from Sedona vortexes, notes with positive messages and affirmations, incense and candles a mini CD player so I can jam my favorite binaural beat meditation music while connecting to the Divine. 🙂
I’ve come to learn that what matters most about your sacred space is that it speak to you, and you may even come to find that you multi-task in this space in that you may not only meditate, but also write, draw, make music, etc. Whatever you are into, what is important is that it works for YOU and is a space that you are most comfortable in. I like to visualize it to be something like a proverbial bird’s nest – haha
Having your own space is vital to inner peace and creative expression of each and every one of us as an individual. Many parents can try this as a fun project with their children and will find that the giving of a space all their own to a child will ultimately result in an appreciation expressed in a happy, creative kid who feels they can always go be exactly who they want to be in their sacred space. This will give them confidence and strength to bring all of who they are out into the world.
If it sounds like too much work right now to create this kind of space in our outside of your home or you are feeling like you simply don’t have the time; well then you’d be the type of person that needs a space like this the most….honestly and sincerely. So, I’d suggest starting very small and begin by creating a sacred space within your own mind.
What I mean is, for even 5 minutes a day, take the time for positive self-talk and focus on your own wants, dreams and desires in life. Tell yourself something you like about yourself and something you are looking forward to. Speak of things you are grateful for in life; the focus is to invoke a sense of love and connectedness, to yourself and everything.
Once we can master the art of spiritual self-care and are actively creating a sacred space within, we will ultimately see the benefit of having one in our everyday lives. Have a space like this all our own is like a little reflective sanctuary where we can bounce back our ideas, our gifts, our dreams, and if we’re committed, what we plan to give back to world by showing up more fully as our most authentic selves.
Tamara Rant is a Co-Editor/Writer for CLN as well as a Licensed Reiki Master, heart-centered Graphic Designer and a progressive voice in social media activism & awareness. She is an avid lover of all things Quantum Physics and Spirituality. Connect with Tamara by visiting Prana Paws/Healing Hearts Reiki or go to RantDesignMedia.com
Tamara posts new original articles to CLN every Saturday.
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This article was originally created and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Tamara Rant and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.
By Jill Suttie | Greater Good Magazine
Many people I know have been complaining lately about losing sleep. It’s no surprise why. All of us are feeling increased stress and worry, and experiencing changes in our work and family life. The novel coronavirus can keep us up at night.
What can we do to protect our sleep during this time? For answers, I turned to Shelby Harris, the former director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center, an associate professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and author of the book The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia. We discussed what’s driving sleep disruption, the place of news and social media in our lives, the best way to binge your favorite TV shows, and more.
Jill Suttie: Why do you think it’s important to consider our sleep during a time like this when so much else is going on?
Shelby Harris: Sleep is important for so many things. It’s important for mood regulation, emotion regulation, as well as the immune system. We need sleep to keep us as sane as we can be and also keep ourselves healthy.
Also, it’s important for our relationships. People who are sleep-deprived tend to be more irritable with their family and more irritable at work. We’re already stressed, to begin with, but without enough sleep, people will lash out a lot easier and a lot quicker at others around them. Our irritability goes from zero to 60 a lot faster when we are sleep-deprived
.
JS: People seem particularly anxious right now. Is this playing a role in sleep disruption? Are other things contributing?
SH: People are definitely worried right now. They’re worried about their families, about money, about what’s going on in the world. And even people who aren’t typically anxious are now saying that their brains are so busy that they can’t turn them off to go to sleep. Or they wake up two hours later and their brain is just right there thinking about news and about life, and they just can’t quiet it down.
But there are also people who know that their families are fine, and while they’re concerned about the world, they’re not overly worried. What gets them off track with sleep is the lack of a schedule, the lack of routine in their lives. They’re not in their same beds, or they’re not going to sleep and waking up at the same time. Maybe they’re watching the news and getting bright-light exposure at night, or they’re not exercising the same way they used to, or they’re not socializing during the day. When their routine is taken away from them, that’s when people get thrown off their sleep.
JS: How does not socializing affect our sleep?
SH: When I think of socializing, I think it’s like charging your battery. It’s not about just talking to people over Zoom, but about people having a lunch date or working out with a partner and going out for a walk together. These are all ways to help bolster your mood by socializing, but they also mean you’re getting light exposure, which charges your battery.
If we’re not doing those things—if we’re not connecting with people and we’re not going out of the house—it’s just going to make it harder for us to sleep at night. Plus, if people feel more isolated, that can negatively impact their mood, too.
JS: You mention watching the news as a problem, but we need to stay informed.
SH: I’m a huge fan of limiting your news intake, and I think everyone needs to stop checking the news at night when nothing is changing. People should try to check news no more than once a day if that. And people need to be very thoughtful about what they’re checking and why they’re checking it. Here in New York, I’m having people just watch Governor Cuomo’s conference briefing every day, because it’s really the least triggering source of news for people.
JS: Do you think that positive or inspiring news could be useful now?
SH: It can be, but staying away from all news at night is a good idea. Not that you should live in avoidance—that’s not good either. But, at night, you just need to find a way to wind down. Maybe you could add some positive news into your hour or half-hour of news during the day. But at nighttime, that’s when you should practice gratitude, practice meditation, practice the stuff that’s more personal to yourself.
JS: I’m hearing people complain about three different sleep problems: not being able to fall asleep, waking up in the night feeling panicky, and waking up too early without a full night’s sleep. Do you see those as separate problems requiring different interventions? Or are they all the same problem?
SH: I can’t really say, because people’s sleep problems are so varied. Sometimes depression can cause early-morning awakening, but so can anxiety. Then again, a busy brain can be the cause of us having trouble falling asleep. A lot of women who’re going through perimenopause and hormonal issues can wake up in the middle of the night, or so can people with sleep apnea or diabetes. So, it’s hard to make blanket statements—there are so many different factors that can cause these things.
Even so, I tend to treat them all very similar. I try to have patients practice limiting time in bed if they’re not sleeping. If you’re not sleeping, you shouldn’t be in bed. And you shouldn’t try to force sleep—that’s the worst thing you can do.
I’m encouraging people to use meditation a lot during the day because that helps with all of these sleep issues—at the beginning of the night, the middle of the night, and the early-morning awakenings.
Also, some people may tell you that if you didn’t sleep at night, you should take a nap during the day to compensate for the loss of sleep at night, or to sleep in late in the morning, or to go to bed earlier than usual. But that’s all stuff that’s actually going to make it worse. So, I recommend people keep a stricter sleep schedule when they’re not sleeping well.
A lot of these recommendations help across the board, but what I might change is the timing of going to bed—for some people. I might have some people stay up later to push their wake time later, but that’s very individual and varies based upon their sleep schedule and how severe the problem is. It depends if someone’s waking up super early—like two in the morning every night.
JS: A lot of my friends have been sharing great TV shows and movies to stream or watch at the end of their workday. Is watching these a problem for sleep?
SH: It’s fine and not fine. People will binge-watch in a good way—maybe to get out of their reality. But then they lose track of what time it is and before they know it, it’s an hour or two or three later than when they should be going to bed. So, what I usually recommend people do is to watch one show and then turn off the auto function on Netflix (or whatever service it is) so that when the show ends, you make a mental note of looking at the time. If it’s close to your bedtime, you turn off the show. People need to stay away from screens at least half-hour to an hour before bedtime because that bright light really does delay sleep.
JS: What about the content of the show? Does that make any difference?
SH: Light actually has a bigger influence than content. That’s why they make a huge deal in the sleep field about blue-light exposure before bed and during the night. But yeah, of course, what you watch is going to make a difference, too.
That being said, I’ve worked with a lot of millennials over the years who were watching The Office and Friends—I don’t know why those two shows, but they love those two shows—and they will not change to become a reader. So, what I have them do is use blue-light-blocking glasses that you can get online to watch TV. That’s worked for them because those shows are calming and funny and the glasses block most of the blue light.
I haven’t seen content make a big difference. As long as it takes you out of stress, it’s fine. But I am a big fan of just old-school methods for calming your mind before bed. Find a book, find a magazine, or a puzzle if you can. Up until an hour before bed, you can watch all the TV you want. But, from a sleep preservation standpoint, you don’t want blue light right before bed, because it reduces your natural melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone usually released in your brain when the sun goes down and makes you sleepy. Interfering with its release is a terrible idea.
JS: Is there anything else that you think we need to know to sleep better?
SH: Some people need to stay away from social media as much as possible. I want people to connect, but some social media feeds tend to be triggering for people.
Having a routine is key because if you don’t have routine during the day, you’re not going to have any routine at night. Too many people are working into the late-night hours because they can’t keep ahead of everything. They need to try to set a cutoff time—a strict bedtime and wake time—and to really end their day so that they reduce white-light exposure at night.
Also, make sure when you’re working during the day that you have bright light. Open your shades, even if it’s cloudy out—especially when you first wake up in the morning. Then, an hour or two before bed, start dimming the light, to say to your brain that it’s bedtime now. You should get into a rhythm where it’s light during the day and dark at night, to help set your nighttime circadian rhythm. That will help you sleep, too.
