3615: Benefits of Mindfulness by Dr. Lisa Firestone of PsychAlive on Emotional Health

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_03] Wenn jemand Charles und Melanie gesagt hätte, dass sie nach ihrem Tinder-Match gemeinsam einen Channel mit crazy Aufgaben starten, also wirklich crazy, fünf Tage auf einer einsamen Insel verbringen, eine Zipline an einem Gurt runterrasen, eine Million Views knacken, eine Wand mit Saugnöpfen hochklettern und Falschirm springen in Ägypten? Das hätten die beiden niemals geglaubt. Aber das ist das Ding mit Tinder. Es führt dich an Orte, die du nie erwartet hättest. Wohin es dich auch führt. It starts with a swipe. Tinder.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_01] Kennt ihr auch diesen einen Freund, der morgens einfach so ruckzuck aus dem Bett und danach aus dem Grinsen gar nicht mehr rauskommt? Der sogar noch vor dem ersten Kaffee unverschämt gut gelaunt ist und mit der Morgensonne um die Wette strahlt? Furchtbar. Ekelhaft. Wie kann man nur so...

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_02] Ausgeruht sein? Ganz einfach. Trainiere deinen Schlaf und werde auch du zum Morgenmenschen. Mit der Galaxy Watch 7 oder dem Galaxy Ring und der Samsung Health App.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00] Das ist Optimal Living Daily. Benefits of Mindfulness. By Dr. Lisa Firestone of PsychAlive.org. I'm your narrator Justin Malek, reading you articles every single day of the year, including holidays, so that you and I can both take a step in the right direction and have just a bit more positivity in our day. It really does add up. So with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00] Benefits of Mindfulness by Dr. Lisa Firestone of PsychAlive.org. If asked to explain the value of mindfulness, you may want to consider the following question. Can you sit for one minute and completely quiet your mind? Can you do this without feeling like you're coming out of your skin? When Dr. Donna Rockwell first became interested in mindfulness, she discovered that this exercise proved quite a challenge.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00] She found, like so many of us would, if we really took the time to try it out, meditating or even just calming our mind can be tough to do. It's no wonder that in an age of high speed this and digitize that, it's even harder to slow down, to connect with ourselves, and to just be. In February, I was fortunate to meet up with Dr. Donna Rockwell at the Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference in Santa Barbara, California.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00] In addition to being a clinical psychologist, a writer, and an international speaker, Donna is now a teacher of mindfulness meditation. When I had the chance to interview Donna on this subject, she described the state that most people pass their time in, in which they are either bemoaning the past or catastrophizing the future. We spend very little time in the present. Mindfulness expert John Kabat-Zinn has described mindfulness

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00] as paying attention to the present moment with intention while letting go of judgment as if our life depends on it. The present is the only real moment we have, and in fact, our life may actually depend on it. Among its many benefits, mindfulness meditation has actually been proven to increase telomerase, the caps at the end of our genes, which in turn can reduce cell damage and lengthen our lives.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00] In addition, research demonstrates that mindfulness bolsters our immune system, making us better able to fight off diseases from the flu to cancer. Mindfulness helps improve our concentration and reduce ruminative thinking that contributes to the high levels of stress that is so prevalent in our society. Stress and ruminative thinking are not only mental health hazards, but they are, quite often, the very symptoms that lead people to seek out the help of a therapist.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00] So why is mindfulness so helpful to mental health professionals? Well, mindfulness is an incredible tool to help people understand, tolerate, and deal with their emotions in healthy ways. It helps us to alter our habitual responses by taking pause and choosing how we act. When we are mindful, we experience our life as we live it. We experience the world directly through our five senses. We taste the food we are eating.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00] We recognize the thoughts we are having. In doing so, we learn how our minds work, and we're better able to label the thoughts and feelings we're having instead of allowing them to overpower us and dictate our behavior. Because mindfulness presents an effective method to get to know oneself, to reduce stress, and to live in the present moment, cultivating mindfulness is a powerful practice in therapy. For one thing, research has shown that therapists

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00] who practice mindfulness themselves have better outcomes with their patients, even when they don't utilize mindfulness techniques in their therapy. Nevertheless, incorporating mindfulness into therapy has been effective in treating many common mental health struggles. Marshallainen was one of the first to integrate mindfulness practices into dialectical behavioral therapy, or DBT, with positive results. As it's been applied more and more,

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00] mindfulness has further proven to help treat individuals suffering with personality disorders and bipolar disorder. Mark Williams has written extensively on how mindfulness can lessen the likelihood of recurring depression. Having shown such positive results, mindfulness has been integrated into clinical practice with many therapists incorporating techniques and meditation into their methods. When you teach a person mindfulness techniques,

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_00] you help them train their mind to observe their own thoughts, feelings, and sensations with an objective view. This must be done with compassion, as people tend to lose patience with themselves, particularly in the early stages of practicing mindfulness or trying out meditation. When we release judgment and learn to live in the moment, we increase our mental agility. We could also better regulate our emotions. As Williams wrote in his book, The Mindful Way Through Depression,

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00] Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness, Quote, Get out of our heads and learn to experience the world directly, experientially, without the relentless commentary of our thoughts. We might just open ourselves up to the limitless possibilities for happiness that life has to offer us. End quote. As human beings, we're often surprised to find that we can tolerate much more than we imagine. People who have anger problems fall victim to their emotional reactions

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00] when certain triggers set them off. By learning mindfulness, they are far better able to take pause and react in a more constructive way to conflict. A simple breathing exercise can interrupt their outbursts and lead to a more favorable outcome. This is also true for parents who are struggling with their children and couples who are keying off each other based on destructive dynamics that have built up between them. When we're reactive, falling victim to our immediate thoughts or emotions,

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00] we're not always acting in our own self-interest. Mindfulness provides a great tool for developing more self-acceptance, which helps us build our compassion for others. It allows us to take more power and be more strategic in terms of our goals. It can bring us closer to the people we care about and help us to interrupt self-sabotaging patterns we've adopted throughout our lives. Teaching ourselves to calm down and to be more receptive than reactive

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00] is a practice made possible through mindfulness techniques. Whether learning to meditate or merely to tune in with ourselves at various times throughout our day, we are enhancing our ability to feel more integrated and to act with integrity. We improve our ability to focus our attention. We're better able to slow the racing thoughts that lead us to engage in limiting or self-sabotaging behaviors. We strengthen our resilience and enhance our capacity

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00] to experience the joys of everyday life. As therapists, cultivating mindfulness is perhaps the greatest gift we can offer our patients. In a sense, it is a gift of time, the permission to slow down and be present, to experience life as we live it, and to discover who we really are in the process. You just listened to the post titled Benefits of Mindfulness

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00] by Dr. Lisa Firestone of psychalive.org, and I'll be right back with my commentary. The show is sponsored by Liquid IV. Hydration isn't just about drinking more water, it's about helping your body absorb it. That's why I use Liquid IV, which uses a unique blend of allulose and amino acids to help your body retain essential electrolytes. I love the new raspberry lemonade flavor. It's sugar-free, easy to mix, and perfect for my long days in the studio. I just tear, pour into 16 ounces of water

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[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_00] and give them the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash old. Go to shopify.com slash OLD. Shopify.com slash old. Thank you to Dr. Lisa. If you've never meditated before, it can sound pretty easy to just focus on your breath. It's a simple task, right?

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00] But everyone struggles with it. They call it the monkey mind. It refuses to stay still on just that one thing. We get bored pretty quickly. Now, if you have tried meditation before, there's a decent chance you found it frustrating. It really can be. That's why some people prefer guided meditation, where someone is checking in every minute or so, sort of bringing you back to where you're supposed to be, interrupting those holes that we dig ourselves into.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00] There's actually a show we launched called NSDR that stands for Non-Sleep Deep Rest. And to me, it's like a mix between meditation and rest. It is a mindfulness practice, but with the extra bonus of not being frustrating. And whenever I do it, I come out feeling much more energized, like I took a nap or had a coffee, but without either of those. And it's exactly what she said. It's basically tuning in with ourselves at some time throughout our day.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00] So that might be something to look into if you struggle with more formal style meditation. Again, the name of that podcast is NSDR, and look for the one from Optimal Living Daily. But that should do it for today. Have a great rest of your day and start your weekend. And I'll see you tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits.