Mindfulness Archives - Brainfit Resorts

Can Stress Be Good For Us?

Susanna Zito — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 03:42:43 +0000

Most people find stress to be a very powerful internal force and dealing with it can at oftentimes be an insurmountable task.
Is it then possible for stress to actually be good for us?

We’ve discussed in many of our articles and videos what can trigger stress and ways in which we can more effectively manage it physically, but could it be possible, for us to change our perception of what our stress actually is?

You see, our beliefs can shape our reality.
The way we appraise an event can trigger a myriad of behavioral responses that can affect the way we act and experience our whole life.

This can also affect us at the physiological level.

For example, in one of our previous articles, I mentioned how our belief of aging can affect whether we age healthily or not.

Simply by holding a strong enough belief that we can age with healthy minds, bodies, and spirits, and acting accordingly, can be the difference as to whether it becomes a reality or not.

This also applies to how we experience stress, and, how it might similarly impact our health.

But what if then, there was a simple approach to stress that would alter our whole experience and physiological response?

Research shows that what we believe of stress has a lot to do with its impact on us.

If we believe stress to be toxic, this will trigger physiological responses that can predefine serious health issues even ten years from now.

However, in people who see stress as “energizing” their biology is different: they feel better, there is less inflammation, lower blood pressure, decreased stress hormones and they handle the stressful tasks more successfully.

They use the stress response to harness the energy and address what needs to be done.

Author and researcher Kelly McGonical describes three responses to stress:

The flight and fight response
The challenge response; and
The tend and befriend response.

These three responses are all triggered by stress but have different physiological effects in the body.

Let’s explore them in more detail:

The flight and fight response:

A person perceives stress as a situation that is overwhelming. This leads to increased inflammation, high levels of cortisol and adrenalin, and strain on the cardiovascular system.

The challenge response:

A person perceives the stress as a challenge to master. The body is energized into action with less inflammation, lower blood pressure, decreased stress hormones.

The tend and befriend response:

A more socially connected response where the person reaches out for support has more compassion for himself and others. This generates a more parasympathetic system response in the body, where blood pressure is normal, and vasopressin and oxytocin are released (these are the connecting “love” hormones). In fact, this response appears to be protective of overall health, healthy aging, and brain health.

Let’s look at this in more practical terms.

Thinking stress is bad, will make us try to avoid it, causing more stress and more harm (i.e. I will drink to make these feelings go away). This happens usually in flight/fight response.
Thinking stress is a challenge we can sustain, that the feelings are excitement and energy, will activate the challenge response which is physiologically less damaging.
And reaching out and helping and connecting to others in a similar struggle is protective and physiologically not damaging at all (and this is the tend and befriend response).

So how does this work in the real world?

Let’s look at some examples.

Tommy has a big swimming race and his heart is pounding.
He is stressed but reminds himself “This energy will fuel my body during this challenge”.
He uses the energy to compete and does well in the race.

Leila has a newborn baby who does not sleep at night.
She joins a support group for mothers and finds herself understood, supported and supporting other mums in a similar situation.
She feels that she is not alone, and she can handle this challenge.

So from this, we can see that in order to activate more beneficial physiological responses when stress occurs, it is helpful to keep our beliefs of stress in check.

Accepting stress as a normal body response, rather than trying to avoid it or believe it is toxic), might help activate a “challenge stress response”.

Looking out for beliefs like “I cannot handle these feelings of stress” and reminding oneself “this is energy my body is producing to help me handle this situation” will also help us move from flight/fight to challenge response.

Finally, reaching out to your own community of family and friends, and connecting to others in similar situations, will help activate the tend and befriend response.

This is a bit like that feeling of connection that arises when big tragedies strike (i.e. after a natural disaster) and communities come together for support and care.

Rather than going within and shutting down, reaching out and connecting produces powerful healing, and generates a healthier response in the minds and bodies of all.

Applying this simple information to how you respond to a stressful situation may be helping the brain to shift from a Flight and Fight response to a Challenge, Tend and Befriend reaction.

This is not only better for the body, but this simple mind reset may generate a cascade of new and positive actions that could impact your life and brain health for the better.

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to nutrition and brain healthy foods, check out the links to some of our other articles and videos below:

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

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Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

Change The Story Of Your Inner Critic

Susanna Zito — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 04:53:26 +0000

“What the mind frequently dwells upon, that becomes the inclination of the mind” – Buddha

As you age, what type of person do you want to become?

Do you want to be critical, judgemental, nitpicking and negative?

Or, do you want to be light, warm, encouraging, fulfilled and happy?

How the mind talks to you can have an impact on who you might become and what you do with your life and aging.

Being aware of the way your mind talks helps choose behaviors that represent you better.

I feel confident that many of us have experience with the “inner critic”.

This is the part of your mind that judges you harshly, comments negatively about your choices and reprimands you when you “fail”.

It is like a running commentary of all the bad things you do.

Sadly, the inner critic – although it is trying to help by having you strive for perfection (so you can be loved and accepted) – is very negatively oriented, not very accurate and over the years can crumble your sense of worth, leaving you feeling unlovable and unworthy.

It is important to be aware of this because it can affect how you interact with the world and the people around you.

Feeling unworthy and unlovable may lead to poor self-care, to disengagement from life and potentially impact your aging in a very negative way.

In this TEDx Talk, Kari Romeo discussed the importance of the Inner Critic, and our responsibility to teach it a new story, as the path to defining who we are and the life we lead.

If you can relate to the experience of the inner critic, there are some things you can do to help you shift your relationship with it.

Firstly, become aware of the negative “background commentary” of your mind.

If this was a friend that followed you around all day, talking to you so harshly you would probably lose this friendship quickly.

Yet, we don’t seem to react to the ramblings of our minds.

Rather, we believe them without question and let them affect our lives.

So here is a radical idea… do not believe everything the inner critic says!

When the critic strikes – ask yourself:

Is this accurate? Is it helpful? Does this thought serve me?

Signs the inner critic could have taken over include the use of words like: always, never and should.

You always make mistakes…

You never do a good job…

You should have known this way was better…

These are all examples of inner critic’s unhelpful chatter, and something we undoubtedly find ourselves proclaiming regularly.

Instead, we should choose to give attention to commentary that is helpful and respond with kindness and humor, to what is pointless criticism.

Another way is visualizing the inner critic as a character.

I imagine mine as Yoda, the wise old Jedi from the movie Star Wars.

Only this version is not very wise but mostly mean.

By doing this, the critics’ words lose power, and I can chuckle at the fact Yoda gave me a hard time – again.

Sometimes I respond with a comment like “Thanks, fascinating as usual”.

But I don’t really mean it. He is always saying stuff like that and there’s nothing fascinating about it.

By doing this, just in the same way as we would with a person who is full of judgments and little knowledge, I can step back and not believe the harsh criticisms I am presented with.

The more you alter your response to these moments, the more you will build a way of relating to this internal chatter that is healthy.

Most importantly, the hold the inner critic has on your actions will be reduced.

So, if you want to age happily and be a positive presence to yourself and others, take note of your inner critic.

Ask yourself: Is this true? Is it helpful? Does it serve me?

Learn to respond to it with humor and know not to believe all it says.

Most importantly, remember the more you respond in this way, the freer you will be from the inner critic impacting your life and actions, allowing you to live your life as someone who is warm, supportive, fulfilled, happy, positive and light!

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to nutrition and brain healthy foods, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you videos, blogs, and articles just like this one, as we release them.

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We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Finally, if you know someone who may benefit from this article or any of our other features, please SHARE this article with them using the icons below and help us to better enrich the lives of those who need it.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

Practicing Mindfulness Without Meditation

Susanna Zito — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 05:08:29 +0000

There has been a lot of talk about the practice of Mindfulness in recent times.

It seems to be the latest “fad” that’s replaced Yoga, Pilates, and Paleo diets.

While the understanding and practice of mindfulness might be socially trendy, there are significant benefits to embracing the practice into our daily routines, especially as we age.

The idea of meditation, however, is not something everyone wants to do.

So, is it possible to practice mindfulness, without the need for meditation?

First, we should address the most obvious question…

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is our ability to be fully present, in the moment, aware of where we are and what we are doing.

Our minds are a complex thing, and so often can our thoughts deviate into negativity and fear of possible future outcomes or circumstances, that it takes us away from what is happening right now.

We’ve discussed in previous articles the impact of negative thoughts and how they can affect our daily lives.

By being an advocate for and actively practicing mindfulness through meditation, one can build up strong enough conscious thought to not allow negative and fearful thoughts to affect them.

Mindfulness benefits

The benefits of Mindfulness are numerous and significant.

Just by taking a little time out of your day to focus on yourself and your current state, consistent practice has shown to:

Reduce stress levels
Increase self-awareness
Help people respond effectively to challenging emotional, cognitive, and behavioral processes.
Increases creative functions within the brain
Helps to center the body’s rhythmic attributes
Lower blood pressure
Enhance one’s cognitive state

It also helps with anxiety, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, and even chronic pain.

Really, the benefits are indisputable!

Mindfulness and meditation

For many people when they hear the word Mindfulness, they think Meditation.

If you’re interested in learning how to practice mindfulness through meditation, HERE is a great article that goes in-depth into the meditation practice.

But this isn’t for everyone. Sitting uncomfortably, preferably cross-legged, for an extended period, focusing on breathing, while trying to ignore everything else around you…

Definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.

Most people, especially those entering their golden years, want no part in it.

But Mindfulness is a process of awareness and focus, and meditation is just one way of learning to cultivate this state.

The act of meditation might be how a person may choose to practice mindfulness, among other activities to engage the mind-body connection, but, it’s not the only way.

Mindfulness without meditation

If you are curious about Mindfulness, yet you are reluctant or not interested in meditation, there is another way to get a taste of what Mindfulness might bring to you.

I like to encourage my clients who are not interested in meditation to engage in the following as an experiment:

For the next four days, set the alarm on your smartphone four times per day.

For example, it may be when you wake up, at morning tea, at afternoon tea, and before dinner.

When the alarm rings, use it as a reminder for one of the following (you may choose to focus on one of each for the whole day or one of these per each day; it’s entirely up to you):

Experiment 1: Pause, looking within, and ask yourself:

“What is here?”

“Can I be with it?”

“Can I let it be?”

This could be regarding thoughts, feelings, behaviors, sensations, sounds, or any experience that is grabbing you at that time.

Experiment 2: Pause and for 3 minutes (or 40 breaths):

Notice your breath.

What is it doing?

How does it feel?

Is it fast or slow?

Is it cold or warm?

Experiment 3: Pause and scan

For the next few moments, scan your whole body, starting from the tip of your head, to the tip of your toes.

Gently allow any part you notice to soften.

Notice the head, neck, shoulders, torso, arms, legs, feet, fingers and toes.

Experiment 4: Pause and notice

Notice the activity you are engaged in.

How does it affect your posture? Your breath? Your mind?

What sensations is it generating?

In just 4 days, you will start to become more alert to yourself, your feelings in the present time, and what’s happening around you.

While these are just some suggestions, you could, in fact, bring that curiosity of mind to many daily activities like brushing your teeth, or sipping on a cup of tea, walking to your office or when you are eating your lunch.

Is mindfulness for you?

I hope this was easy enough for anyone to try and experience.

Remember though, this is just an experiment.

I encourage you to take part in it for yourself, to see if the experiences it provides are in any way beneficial to you.

The exercises in this experiment are what we consider the informal practice of mindfulness, which is perfectly fine, especially if it’s your first time trying it.

Formal practice is what most people recommend, and you may eventually be motivated to try it by joining a local community class near you or online practice.

But if you are not convinced yet, try this experiment first and see how Mindfulness suits you.

Mindfulness is a muscle, and just like any other muscle in our body, the more you use it, the stronger it will become, and in time it may help in shifting away from unhealthy thoughts and habits.

Next Steps…

Are you going to try the experiment?

Give it a try and leave us a comment below with your thoughts, feelings or emotions that YOU experienced in the experiment.

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this article, and want to see more of our articles relating to mindfulness and healthy thoughts, check out the links to some of our other recent articles below:

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you videos, blogs, and articles just like this one, as we release them.

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We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.