Reducing Stress

imageWe all speak about stress.  But what is it? What do we mean when we say we are stressed?  Stress is the nervous system response to what we PERCEIVE as a stressor.

The key point here is that our perception has a lot to do with what we find stressful and how stressed we feel about something.  Stressors can be life experiences but also our own thoughts can trigger stress.

So the first lesson in learning to reduce stress is to begin to pay attention to how we perceive or interpret the things we feel are stressful.  So why not start by saying: this is how I see and interpret this situation, person, etc. and it is one way of seeing it, there are likely other ways to see it.

THE MIND: The anxious mind

THE MIND: The anxious mind.   IMG_0630

As I said in the previous post, the mind is like a factory of thoughts.  It just releases thought after thought after thought.  Some of these thoughts are just benign like what you are going to have for dinner or how the weather sucks.  However, the habits of the mind that create suffering are torturous at times and can lead people to feel debilitated by their fears and anxiety.

The mind can torture us with awful thoughts of a dangerous future that, almost always, does not materialize. “What if I am rejected?” “What if I fail?” “What if I end up alone?” “What if, what if, what if….?”

Mark Twain once said: “I went through a lot of awful things in my life and the majority didn’t happen.” This is the anxious mind. The part of our mind that anticipates pain, rejection, loss, failure, judgment, and it tortures us with the fear that if these things happen, we will be destroyed.

Mindfulness invites us to witness our thoughts and learn that they are just “puffy” things that are there one minute and gone the next. It is only our mind that feeds them and makes them appear as truths, as solid entities that generate anxiety and panic.

Mindfulness allows us to cultivate the ability to observe our thoughts and to disentangle from them. Tell yourself: Thoughts are just thoughts. Observe them as “puffy” things that just pass like clouds in the sky.

Practice observing the mind with curiosity and with interest. Become an ongoing witness to the habits of your mind. This is the first step to gaining mastery over it.

So each time you have a fearful “what if” kind of thought, just say: “oh there is that thought” and bring your attention back to the present moment by taking 3 deep breaths, and taking in all the information available through your senses: what are you seeing? what are you hearing? What are you touching? what are you smelling?

There is much less suffering in the present moment. Even if there is pain in the present moment, when you don’t let the mind engage in creating stories about the pain, you can be with the essence of the pain each moment by just noticing your breath and the presence of whatever you are aware of.

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THE MIND: Reflections on the mind and suffering

THE MIND: Reflections on the mind and suffering image

I will be writing a series of posts in the next few weeks about the workings of the mind and its impact on our wellbeing.

In the traditions that teach us mindfulness, the mind is like a factory of thoughts. It just releases thought after thought after thoughts. Many of these thoughts are benign but others are hurtful and torturous.

There is something very illogical about how our own minds torture us. Should our mind be our best friend? Our best advocate? It should but in practice it seems to be our worst enemy.

The mind can be filled with thoughts of self-doubt, of self-loathing, of self-hatred even. It can spend a lot of time anticipating pain, rejection, failure, judgement. It can scare us to death with thoughts of horrible things that could happen (and most times don’t). It can dwell on the past and make us feel depressed and worthless.

There is also a part of the mind that is unknown to us: the contents of the unconscious. As we have travelled throughout our lives we have buried some memories and conclusions we have drawn about ourselves and the world in the unconscious.

Most of what informs how each of us interacts with our world and with others is found in our mind in the form of perceptions, interpretations, core beliefs, conclusions we have drawn, and so on.  The problem is that we identify with these thoughts and beliefs.  We have convinced ourselves that they are true and that they are the only way to view things.

Culltivating Mindfulness is a wonderful way to get to know our minds and to learn to gain mastery over our minds. Not to control our minds but to gain mastery. In other words, to feel at the wheel rather than at the mercy of our torturous thoughts.  To learn to have more flexibility in the way we see things and how we interpret ourselves and the world.

Begin by sitting down in a wakeful, upright position and bring awareness to your breath. Then just follow the breath; the in-breath and the out-breath. And watch what happens with the mind. Each time you are no longer on the breath because the mind has wandered into thoughts, just note where your mind went, what was it thinking about, and then come back to the breath. Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes.

This gives you an opportunity to begin to observe the habits of your mind.

Mindfulness Vancouver!







Mindfulness, one moment at a time

IMG_5705Mindful awareness is cultivated by the formal practice of meditation.  Sitting or walking with focused awareness usually on one object of attention at a time.  For many, this formal practice is difficult to establish so they give up.  Here are some tips to keep you moving in the direction of a daily practice:

  1. Start with doing some practice every day.  This may involve sitting or walking meditation for 5 minutes.  But it may also include informal practices such as washing the dishes mindfully every day; or having a mindful shower or walking to work mindfully, and so on.
  2. These informal practices help cultivate mindfulness in our daily life.  In order to do an activity mindfully, you invite your awareness to notice what you are aware of in that present experience.  For example, if you are washing the dishes, notice the sensations of the water, the soap, the smell of the soap, the sensations of standing, the sound of the water, etc.  The same for the mindful shower, and so on.  If you commit to doing one informal practice a day, you are on your way.
  3. Another tip is that because we all lie down to go to sleep every day, we can end our day in mindful meditation every day.  Come to your breath; notice the sensations of the bed holding your body, of the warm blankets, of your head resting on the pillow, and then go to the breath, and stay there.  When you become aware that your mind has wandered off into thoughts, note briefly where it went (planning, worrying, remembering, analyzing, etc.) and then gently escort it back to the breath.  You may fall asleep right away or you may be in meditation for a while. It doesn’t matter as long as you do it.
  4. Do the same when you wake up.  Take a few mindful breaths before getting out of bed.
  5. Lastly, chose one thing that you do many times a day to remind yourself to come to the present.  Maybe every time you wash your hands or every time the phone rings.  Take 3 breaths and become aware of your present experience.

I hope these little tips are helpful to keep  you in the path to a formal practice.  Don’t give up!

Mindfulness and Stress









Being happy can be cultivated!





Tip #3




The Brain and Mindfulness Meditation

THE MINDFULNESS BASED STRESS REDUCTION PROGRAM STARTS MAY 19TH! Read to find out more about the amazing benefits! image

One student in my MBSR class recently told me that the MBSR class was truly life changing; another student who struggles with arthritis told me that thanks to mindfulness she is now able to dance, whereas a year ago she could hardly walk.  The brain is plastic and this may be partly why we find mindfulness so beneficial.  If you find yourself being a “worrier” or with a very busy mind that won’t stop,  I have good news for you! Your brain and thinking habits can change at the neurological level.  We now have evidence that the brain is plastic and that it changes in very positive ways with Mindfulness.

In a recent study, researchers looked at the brains of 16 people who signed up to do the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program by taking MRI scans (magnetic resonance images) of their brains before and after the 8 week program.  They also scanned the brains of a control group of people who did not participate in the program.

After finishing the program, all participants reported they had improved in measures of mindfulness, such as acting with awareness and in reduced judgement towards others and themselves.

What was more amazing was that the MRI scans showed that those who had taken the MBSR class had an increase in gray matter concentration within the left hippocampus, the posterior cingulate cortex, the temper-parietal junction, and the cerebellum.  Brain regions involved in learning and memory, emotion regulation, sense of self, and perspective taking (Harvard neuroscientist group, Britta Hölzel, Sarah Lazar).

This study among many others suggests that our brains are plastic and that with discipline and practice we feel better not only  because we are spending time meditating, but because our brains are changing!



Finding peace in your life….







Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction: Effectiveness

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Life Changing!image






Clinician and MBSR Participant Comments about their Experience of MBSR







