Cool Neuro Podcast Willison

Mindfulness is a positive way to cope with stress. It creates awareness of the body and connection to the world. It originated in Buddhism but has been adapted in the West. Mindfulness can be as simple as focusing on yourself in the present moment. Breathing techniques are important in mindfulness practice and can improve mental health. Mindfulness increases glutamate in the brain and can relieve stress. Believing in the practice is essential for it to be effective. Mindfulness also improves brain connectivity and can prevent age-related brain degeneration. Practicing mindfulness can be a form of stress relief. The transcript ends with a guided mindfulness breathing exercise. I want you to imagine a situation where you would feel increased levels of stress. Maybe you're a college student and it's finals week, or maybe you have a big presentation at work that you need to give to your boss. What are some ways that you cope with that stress? You could be eating more unhealthy food, staying up way too late at night cramming in work, or even going on your phone to just completely avoid doing work at all. These are all negative ways to cope with stress, but the practice of mindfulness can instead be a positive outlet for all that stress. My name is Sarah Willison and I'm a junior and psychology student at Allegheny College. I have a particular interest in how people of different ages cope with stress. In my freshman year at Allegheny, my freshman seminar course was centered around mindfulness practices. We began the course discussing how mindfulness has its roots in Buddhism and talked about past and present practices. My professor taught us meditation and breathing techniques and introduced us to other mindfulness techniques that I will share later on. This course sparked my interest in mindfulness, which led me to the podcast Mindset Neuroscience with Stephanie Fay. The podcast discussed the relationship between brain chemicals and different life experiences. One of the life experiences that was often discussed were stressful life events, which led me to think about the relationship between stress and mindfulness. So what exactly does mindfulness mean? The definition of mindfulness is actually pretty simple. It's basically any technique that creates a greater awareness of the body and connection to the world around you. The practice originated in Buddhism, but was brought over to the West where it was changed slightly. As defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness, quote, can be thought of as moment to moment non-judgmental awareness cultivated by paying attention in a specific way. That is, in the present moment and as non-reactively, as non-judgmentally, and as open-heartedly as possible. End quote. At its most basic form, mindfulness is being focused on yourself in the present moment, ignoring the environment around you. There are different levels of mindfulness practice. You can sit cross-legged with your eyes closed, hands on your knees, and completely clear your mind of all thoughts, which is probably what you thought of when I said mindfulness. But mindfulness practice does not necessarily need to be this difficult. Some of the mindfulness practices that I practice in my daily life include just taking my mind off of the task or topic that is stressing me out. For example, going for a walk outside and being in the fresh air can often take my mind off of the stressor. Other classes and other types of exercise can also be mindfulness practices if you focus on your breathing and body rather than external pressures such as the people around you, goals you hope to accomplish, or any insecurities that you may have. One of the most important components of the practice is the focus on breathing. If you even take several minutes a day to sit quietly and focus on breathing, it can improve your mental health. I want you to take a moment and put yourself back in that stressful situation from before. Think about the practices that you would use. Are they positive? Are they negative? Maybe it's a mix of both. Are there any positive practices that you could incorporate into your life? I want you to take a second and hold those practices in your brain. I'm going to shift our focus now back to the connection between mindfulness and the brain. The benefits of mindfulness can actually be seen through the chemicals and neurotransmitters in your brain. Mindfulness practice can naturally increase the amount of glutamate in your brain. Glutamate is one of the major excitatory neurotransmitters and can be increased through different practices like mindfulness. In a study done by Mia Michaela Powell, she found that exercising can also increase the amount of glutamate in your brain and relieve stress. The researchers looked at the brains of Zen Buddhist monks who meditated and used mindfulness practices daily and found that their brains had higher levels of glutamate than those who did not meditate daily. This means that mindfulness practice can be effective, but you also need to believe that the practice is beneficial to you. In a similar study that was conducted that looked at mindfulness practice as compared to other self-improvement practices, the researchers stated that, quote, the practitioners do not merely believe the practice is effective, they know it is effective from self-experience, end quote. In simple terms, this just means that mindfulness practice is only effective if you believe that it will be beneficial to you. This idea seems abstract, but it can be related to all practices in your daily life. When you feel passionate about something and have faith in your own abilities, then it will be more beneficial to you. If you are still not convinced that mindfulness practices are beneficial for your brain, I'm going to shift our focus to discuss brain connectivity. Brain connectivity, in its simplest form, relates to the speed at which your brain sends signals and processes information. This often decreases with age and memory disorders. As described by a study titled, Mindfulness Practice Alters Brain Connectivity in Community Living Elders with Mild Cognitive Impairments, the researchers concluded that, since, quote, there are no curative drugs for dementia, mindfulness practice may prove promising in the prevention or delay of age-related brain degeneration, end quote. Although this does not directly relate to stress relief, it does show the benefits of starting mindfulness practice early in life. The researchers also describe how effective mindfulness practice can be for brain connectivity because it requires virtually nothing except the presence of the practitioner. The practice is accessible to all and requires little instruction and can be used as a form of stress relief. Now, I want you to stay with me for a moment because this may seem a little bit strange. Take a few moments to stress yourself out. Think about everything you have to do or something that you've been procrastinating for months. I know there has to be something. If you are feeling that familiar pit in your stomach or your brain feels a little bit foggy, let's sit with that for a little while. I want to first apologize for creating stress for you if you did not have any before, but I am going to work through it with you using mindfulness practice. If you were on a walk or exercising while listening to this podcast, then you are one step ahead. However, if that is not the case, then we are going to work through that stress using mindfulness breathing techniques. Sit somewhere quiet with no distractions. Yes, this even means your phone. Put your phone and any work that is causing you stress far away and attempt to clear your mind. I find that clearing my mind of all thoughts is particularly difficult, but I tend to think of flowing water to block the conflicting thoughts in my brain. Once you feel that you are at a place where your brain is not filled with these conflicting thoughts, I want you to start to count your breaths. I will count with you up to five during this session, but if you would like to continue after the podcast, feel free to. I encourage you to focus on the sound of my voice or one spot in your field of vision or even close your eyes and focus only on your breath. If you are still feeling stressed out, relax. Maybe while I am counting, you will find a way that works for you to clear your head. Take one deep breath in and we are going to begin now. One, two, three, four, five. I do not want you to open your eyes immediately or immediately start to worry again. Stay in the same position and think about how you were feeling. Become conscious of your body, but continue to ignore the thoughts in your mind. Maybe you were feeling a little bit lighter and want to continue your practice after this podcast concludes. Maybe this practice did not work for you and you need to pursue other mindfulness topics that might work better. If you are somewhere in between, I want you to continue to work at the practice. Regardless of which one of those groups you identify with, your brain is most likely thankful for the practice that you just did. There might be higher levels of glutamate in your brain after the practice that is causing you to feel more motivated because you believed that the practice would benefit you. Or maybe the processes in your brain are moving slightly faster because your practice increased brain connectivity. At the very least, I hope that taking time for yourself allowed you to take a break and increased your motivation. Thank you for listening and thank you for taking the time to become familiar with mindfulness.