Mindfulness

It is easy for most people to accept and understand the linkages between what you eat, your activity and your sleep on your overall health.
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Our next core behavior can be harder for people to understand.  I have labeled it Mindfulness, others would choose to call it flow, many health practitioners would describe it as stress management

These labels can attract or repel, as they may have other associations that we do or don't identify with.  From my perspective, the label is less important than the realization that the interaction between the mind and the body is foundational for health.

We are only beginning to understand the scope of this interaction and the realization that it is very clearly bi-directional - the mind affects the function, performance and health of the body AND the body affects the function, performance and health of the mind.

Having a personal wellness practice that does not incorporate specific mind behaviors really makes as much sense as doing all the training for a marathon, but getting no sleep; or focusing exclusively on what you eat but never exercising.

Not having a mindfulness practice of some sort is similarly neglectful, yet for many of us we ignore this part of our health.  For many of us, it is cultural to ignore mindfulness - we live in a culture that since Descartes and the Enlightenment has placed a premium on the rational mind - "I think therefore I am".  As Kotler and Wheal make the point of in their excellent book "Stealing Fire", quoting Abraham Maslow: "When all you've got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail".  We are facing the same situation with our rational minds at the expense of our health.  Developing practices that allow us to tap into the full capacity of our mind may be the way out of the mental health crisis that we see today.

At Wellness Garage, we have laid out some simple rules for each core behavior that will improve one's health without risk.  For mindfulness we start very simply.

1. Be grateful every day - the simple act of gratitude has been shown in many studies to improve health, and encourage healthier behaviors.  Gratitude probably works through two mechanisms.  First, negative thoughts and moods have been shown to dysregulate both immune and neuroendocrine function, while positive mood, which gratitude has been shown to influence, improves these core systems that our bodies use to fight illness and cancer.  Second, happier, more optimistic people are more likely to engage in preventive health behavior - exercising, sleeping, and eating (sounds familiar!); they are also more likely to have social support (core behavior #5) which has been shown to positively affect health; and finally they are more likely to avoid health risks.  Gratitude is a key driver of happiness and optimism.
2. Do something for someone else - daily - this is closely related to gratitude, and to my thinking is the external manifestation of the same positive psychology that drives the health benefits of gratitude.  Simple acts of kindness have been shown to decrease pain, stress, anxiety, depression and even blood pressure.  Kindness is associated with oxytocin release - the 'love hormone' that can reduce cortisol (associated with stress), decrease pain, reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, and even improve gut function.
3. Meditate - meditation has been practiced for thousands of years in many different cultures.  Originally part of religious and spiritual practices to understand the mystery of life, meditation is now most commonly used for stress reduction.  In our society, where stress levels are higher than ever, and rates of anxiety and depression are epidemic, a simple, side-effect free therapy should be embraced.  Many studies go further and suggest that meditation can play an important role in helping people manage asthma, cancer, chronic pain, depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, sleep problems and tension headaches.  At a biological level mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce inflammation, improve cell-mediated immunity, and potentially increase longevity

Applying these simple rules to your life, while taking some effort, will improve your health and well-being, and I guarantee that they are without negative side-effects.  The first two, being grateful and kind, are so simple they require no training, perhaps only some accountability tracking.

Meditation can be more intimidating and challenging.   Increasingly there are apps such as Headspace, and technologies like Muse that can help novices quickly master the basics of meditation, as well there are numerous classes and courses available locally.

 At Wellness Garage, we have a dedicated meditation space that is available for drop-in meditation and soon we will be offering courses for beginners.