Sobre harmony
Sobre harmony
Blog Article
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.
Ultimately, meditation is something you can do anywhere and at any time, so getting comfortable meditating without guidance can be useful.
This idea is further supported by the fact that other stress-reducing therapies also seem to impact physical health, as well.
PJ: What advice would you offer someone who works in a company that doesn’t offer mindfulness training?
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.
If you find yourself getting sleepy during meditation practice, open a window to let in some fresh air, or try meditating outside.
mindfulness skills might work in different ways. Look for future mindfulness research to follow a similar approach and to generate more fine-grained, actionable insights for us to apply to our lives.
So what do I do? We can approach this common experience exactly like we approach distracting thoughts: the moment we realize we’re fidgeting, notice it, let it go, and return our focus to our breath.
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.
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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.
A helpful trick for dealing with thoughts and other distractions in meditation is to name eliminate negative energy them as they arise. It’s just like it sounds: When a thought comes into your mind, silently say “thought.” When a bit of emotion starts to stir, simply name it— “sadness,” for example.
Some people find listening to music while meditating helpful. Indeed, some music, especially slow or instrumental music, can invoke a quiet, relaxed state that’s conducive to meditation. Just make sure to choose music that won’t distract you.
It can also be helpful to notice how emotions feel in the body. Is anxiety making us clench our fists? Is worry making us sweat? Is boredom causing us to zone out? Then we can use the breath to try and ease some of that tension.