For the past few weeks I’ve been practising mindfulness and meditation. Why? I’m an over-thinker, I get caught up in the same thought – over and over again, to the point where it’s exhausting. Tired of feeling tired, I decided to try meditation.
A study conducted by Harvard University’s Sara Lazer over eight weeks in 2011 found that consistent meditation is beneficial in three ways: it increases your ability to retain information; it helps you to control your mind and stop it wandering; and it expands your capacity for empathy. The study also found a significant decrease in cell volume of the amygdala – the part of your brain responsible for the fear, anxiety, and stress. This finding was corroborated in a second study conducted in 2014 by Dr Elizabeth Hodge.
In another study conducted among recovering alcoholics in 2014, Dr Sara Bowen reported a relapse rate of eight per cent among those practicing meditation, compared to 20% among those following a 12-step recovery programme. This suggests that meditation was more effective in enabling these subjects to control their addiction.
Time to tell you how I got on. I downloaded meditation and mindfulness apps Headspace and Calm. Guided meditations were helpful when they reminded me to remain conscious of my own breathing as I allowed my thoughts to come and go. Almost immediately I felt a greater sense of calm, although occasionally I found myself chasing a thought and getting lost in it. Then I learnt to notice not only the content of my thoughts but also their presence, and this gave me a moment in which to catch myself having an unwanted thought before the spiral began.
As my practice has gone on I’ve incorporated this kind mindfulness not only within meditation sessions but in my day to day life, thus focusing my mind on the task I am doing at the time. Activities such as mindful eating – acknowledging the bites I am taking and the taste of the food, mindful walking – recognising the steps I am taking, and even mindfully brushing my teeth, finally allow me to stay in the present instead of being caught up in worries about the past or concerns for the future.
This has been a real present for me – you should try it, too.
