Meditation & Mindfulness

Mindfulness means keeping your thoughts and your feelings in the present moment. What brought you to this moment is less important than the fact that the moment is what it is.

Mindfulness…

• Means being aware and living your best right now.
• Means using all your senses plus being aware of what you feel and think.
• Means less pain from the past or worry about the future.
• Can include prayer or contemplation, but is not religious.
• Is backed by a great deal of good research.
• Can be learned by training and practice.

Mind-body therapies that cultivate mindfulness have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression in people diagnosed with cancer. Mindfulness interventions improve quality of life and reduce distress caused by cancer and its treatments. Mind-body therapies and mindfulness also reduce cancer pain.

Meditation is a type of mindfulness practice. Meditation prior and during chemotherapy can decrease anxiety by nearly 50%. Meditation can be used individually with audio, video, or phone apps, or in group settings. Start a daily practice for yourself, even if just starting at 5-7 minutes per day, with the goal of reaching 20 minutes per day.  This is because twenty minutes daily of contemplative practice such as meditation or mindfulness has been shown to boos the immune system, among other benefits.  Meditation is best practiced either in the early morning or before bedtime, though many seasoned practitioners prefer early morning because they are more alert at that time of day.

There are many varieties of meditation practices that have been developed and practiced for centuries around the world and adapted to Western culture. Many of these include breathwork, or focus on physical sensations in the body (like breathing or other sensations), while others use chanting or mental 'mantras' that might involve the repetition of positive affirmations, words, or sounds. Most communities offer free or nearly-free meditation classes or open group meditation offerings for people interested in trying this in a supportive environment.  Meditation or mindfullness are not associated with any particular religion and can be practiced by any person, regardless of religion, culture or life philosophy.

Try This: Breathwork

In and Out

(Inbreath ((I am)) and outbreath ((at peace)). On the inbreath, you think and/or say internally, "I am;" and on the outbreath, you think and/or say internally, "at peace" repeat this several times-can also do while walking.

Square Breathing

Square breathing: inbreath vertical & horizontal and outbreath vertical & horizontal to complete square. Visualize a square. On the inbreath, visualize a vertical line and then a horizontal line. On the outbreath, you visualize another vertical and horizontal, and you complete the square.

• Videos
• 4-7-8 Breathing

Try This: Meditation Practices

• Videos
• Heart Centered Meditation
• Mindfulness Meditation
• Yogic Meditation

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an 8-week course developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts. It combines meditation and yoga practices. Due to MBSR effectiveness, it has been adopted in over 200 medical centers around the nation and is also offered in many community settings as well as online courses. MBSR has been shown to benefit patients with mood disorders, elevate mood, improve chronic pain, can reduce blood pressure, and decrease cancer-related stress. Mindfulness is a lifelong practice intended to help us engage in life as it is, weather pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, in any given moment.