Category: Psychology and Wellness

anxiety,depression,MBSR, Miami holistic health coach, Miami psychologist, mindfulness meditation, stress,

How mindfulness meditation can help you to soothe your mind and extend your life . . .

If you’re reading my blog, you’re probably not fully aware of what is happening right now and you are distracted by a torrent of thoughts and feelings. Researchers from Harvard University have found that people spend 46.9% of their waking time thinking about something other than what they’re doing and that this generally leads to a state of unhappiness.

Moreover, negative emotional states like dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety and depression can contribute to and accelerate the speed of cognitive decline. It’s no wonder then that you may be searching for a way to help you improve your life satisfaction and enhance your cognitive abilities. Fortunately, the simple skill of paying attention to your breath can help to soothe your mind you and may even extend your life.

Research has found that learning and practicing mindfulness meditation (i.e., observing your breath and simply noticing your thoughts and emotions non-judgmentally with curiosity, receptivity and affection) can lower your levels of stress, increase telomerase activity (i.e., your telomeres play a key role in the aging of your cells), enhance cognitive abilities like your memory and ability to focus and may even extend your lifespan by warding off the physiological effects of aging.^{1, 2, 3}

This is significant news since research from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study has found that having early adverse life experiences like physical, emotional or sexual abuse, having parents who divorced, abused alcohol and drugs or family mental illness significantly increases the likelihood that you will experience emotional and cognitive impairments, adopt heath risk behaviors, chronic disease and lead to premature death.⁴

To learn mindfulness meditation is simple but not easy. Several resources exist, however; to support you and provide guidance as you cultivate a steady practice. The Center for Mindfulness, developed by Jon Kabat Zinn, offers an 8-week MBSR training program. You can also find MBSR programs locally or online.

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.

Epel, E, Daubenmier, J, Moskowitz, JT, Folkman, S, and Blackburn, E. “Can meditation slow rate of cellular aging? Cognitive stress, mindfulness, and telomeres.” Annals NY Academy of Science. (2009). 1172: 34–53. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04414.Jacobs, TL, Epel, ES, Lin, J, Blackburn, EH, Wolkowitz, OM, Bridwell, DA et al. “Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators.” Psychoneuroendocrinology. (2011). 36(5) 664–681.
Hölzel, BK, Carmody, J, Vangel, M, Congleton, C, Yerramsetti, SM, Gard, T, and Lazar, SW. “Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density.” Psychiatry Research. (2011). 191(1):36-43. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006.
Kim, S, Bi, X, Czarny-Ratajczak, M, Dai, J, Welsh, DA, Myers, L, et al. “Telomere maintenance genes SIRT1 and XRCC6 impact age-related decline in telomere length but only SIRT1 is associated with human longevity.” (2012). Biogerontology. 13(2):119-31. doi: 10.1007/s10522-011-9360-5.
Teicher, MH, Anderson, CM and Polcari, A. “Childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced volume in the hippocampal subfields CA3, dentate gyrus, and subiculum.” Proceedings in the National Academy of Science U S A. (2012). 109(9) 563-572. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1115396109.

The information, published and/or made available through the www.drjosesandoval.com website, is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a physician-patient relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information in this post for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. Any action on the reader’s part in response to the information provided in this blog is at the reader’s discretion.

How letting go will help you to experience gratitude and love . . .

In Psychology and Wellness

With Thanksgiving Day around the corner,
you may have big plans with your family, friends or life partner to appreciate and celebrate the abundance and love in your life. If you are single, you may experience the anticipation, dread the isolation and experience sadness over another holiday alone. Whether you already have special plans, look forward with optimism or would simply prefer that Thanksgiving Day did not exist, there are several important qualities that you can develop to appreciate, experience gratitude, love yourself and everyone near you.

Traditionally, Thanksgiving Day marks a celebration and expression of gratitude. Gratitude and acknowledgement for all of the positive aspects in your life during which you acknowledge your basic needs being met (e.g., a roof over your head to sleep, clean water, food), the material goods in your life, friends, family and loved ones.

Many studies have found that when you cultivate gratitude you are more likely to be happier, cope more adaptively and increase your relationships with the people who you love.1,2,3 You are also less likely to get stressed or depressed and will engage in fewer negative coping behaviors, such as substance abuse.4

Acknowledging the positive aspects in your life can be challenging; particularly, when you focus or hold on to negative emotions like frustration, anger and resentment. Holding negative emotions towards situations and people in your life can exacerbate the painful conditions you are trying to avoid or change.

Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to cultivate a grateful heart and reap the many psychological benefits. In order to have an attitude of appreciation, you must first release and let go of any negative emotions that you are holding on to in your life. Like any skill, you must also practice appreciation in order to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

To help you release negative emotions, try the traditional Hawaiian practice of Hoʻoponopono. This traditional practice of forgiveness or reconciliation will help you to open your heart and mind to the many blessings in your life. It is defined in the Hawaiian Dictionary as a “mental cleansing: family conferences in which relationships were set right through prayer, discussion, confession, repentance, and mutual restitution and forgiveness.”

To practice, simply bring to your awareness the difficult situation or person with whom you are holding on to a negative emotion. As you visualize the situation or person, repeat in your mind and affirm “I’m sorry,” “Please forgive me,” “Thank you” and “I love you.” Let go of the need to find blame, be gentle and refrain from judging yourself. Continue the practice for 5 – 10 minutes. Do this every day for a few weeks and you will experience a shift in your heart and be more open and receptive to the good graces in your life.

As you let go of the negative emotions that are holding you back and cultivate gratitude, you will also want to keep a gratitude journal. Start each morning reflecting on the people, situations or aspects of your life for which you are grateful. You can use The 5 Minute GratitudeJournal that has prompts for you to write down 2 aspects each morning. Gratitude journals have been found to help people experience more positive emotions and reduce painful feelings like depression in many psychological studies.5

In order to sustain and cherish the love in your life, it is simultaneously important to learn to notice, pay attention and forgive. We all commit errors, make mistakes and act in ways that only with the perspective of maturity and growth we later regret or feel contrite about in life. As the English poet Alexandar Pope has eloquently stated “to err is human; to forgive, divine.”

You cannot avoid the pain that invariable comes from acting in a manner that you or your loved one now would act in differently. In seeking to minimize or avoid your pain, you also cut yourself off from experiencing human virtues like joy, love, appreciation and gratitude. So in order to cultivate and nourish these “feel good” emotions, you must be willing to make room for them and hold them lightly. So this Thanksgiving Day, learn to notice how you feel, allow and make room for all emotions and cultivate gratitude by releasing the painful emotions that hold you back and notice the abundance in your life.

To your health,
Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.

1. Algoe, Sara B.; Fredrickson, Barbara L.; Gable, Shelly L. “The social functions of the emotion of gratitude via expression.” Emotion, (2013) 13(4), 605-609.

2. Emmons, R.A., McCullough, M.E. “Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (2003) 84(2), 377-389.

3. Gordon, A.M.; Impett, E.A.; Kogan, A.; Oveis, C.; Keltner, D. “To have and to hold: Gratitude promotes relationship maintenance in intimate bonds. “ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2012) 03(2) 257-274.

4. Grant, A. M.; Gino, F. “A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (2010) 98(6), 946-955.

5. Lyubomirsky, Sonja; Dickerhoof, Rene; Boehm, Julia K.; Sheldon, Kennon M. “Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being.” Emotion (2011)11(2), 391-402.

The information, published and/or made available through the www.fullofradiance.com website, is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a physician-patient relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information in this post for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. Any action on the reader’s part in response to the information provided in this blog is at the reader’s discretion.