Breathwork, Mindfulness, Trauma Treatment, Treatment

Mindfulness – Emotions as Messages

I really want to start a mindfulness class/group at the office but my schedule has been a little unpredictable as of recently.  So in preparation, I decided to provide some resources and discussion on mindfulness until I can get something organized.

Why Mindfulness?

A lot of work that has to be done in treatment involves looking at obstacles to our goals.  Obstacles that bring individuals into therapy a lot of time involve very difficult emotions and painful memories.  In order to overcome these and begin making progress toward the ultimate goals that actually lead to peace and happiness, we have to be with these painful feelings/memories and work through them so they don’t resurface or if they do it’s at least with less intensity.

To “be” with these memories/emotions involves mindfulness, to “be” in the moment without judgement or attachment.  Of course we don’t just begin with the painful emotion/thought and teach mindfulness as we go, we have to begin with mindfulness and then use it when we are ready to face the difficult “whatever”.

Emotions as Messages

A good place to start with mindfulness is the understanding of emotions.  Many of us were taught that emotions like anger, grief, stress, loneliness, shame, guilt were bad to feel and experience and we should avoid them or get rid of them at all costs.  Emotions are just chemical messengers.  They are more specifically the mechanism to which our mind can register a chemical message from our body or subconscious.  Each emotion serves a purpose.  Anger – something is wrong and needs to be changed.  Anxiety – I need to prepare for something.  Sadness/grief – Something/Someone was important. Guilt – I should have done something differently.  Happiness – something is going well.  Fear – I need to protect myself.  Frustration – This is not going as I expected and I need to re look at the goal.  Shame – my reputation has been damaged and I will need to repair it publicly.  There are obviously more emotions and more messages.  These are just some of the main ones we experience.

How to Hear the Message

So you can see how running away or blocking these emotions can leave you in a bad situation.  You won’t get the message.  And of course if you don’t get and answer the message and nothing is resolved.  The message will continue to be released by our body.  The first step in mindfulness is staying in the moment long enough to receive the message(s).  Many times in order to do this we have to learn certain practices that may not come easy, like breathing calmly.  This means not hyperventilating by allowing slow long exhales to be the focus.  Our body does this naturally through a deep breath and a sigh.  If we continue with this deep breath and sighs, we actually are working on a skill that will allow us to experience the emotion without getting lost in it.  We overcome the fear of the emotion.  The fear telling us to protect ourselves from getting lost.  We listen to this and develop a strategy to protect and ground ourselves, which involves the deep breathing with long exhales.

Practice the Skill

The next step is after receiving the message, interpreting it and deciding if the message is coming from a reliable source or a “cognitive distortion”.  My next post will focus on the message.  In the meantime, we all can practice mindful breathing in just our day-to-day experiences.  Like waiting in line somewhere, we can breathe through our frustration.  Similarly if you have kids then when you are angry, breathing through the anger before reacting till you can formulate why you are angry. Is it because they need to change something or do you need to change something like getting something to eat.   Life gives us many opportunities throughout the day to practice mindfulness in a safe environment, if we choose to recognize it in this way.

A resource to check out:

The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction, by Rebecca Williams, PhD and Julie  Kraft, MA

 

brain, Nutrition, Wellness topic

The Gut and Depression

I am fascinated about all the research in the gut biome and our relationship with the microbes that live inside of us.  I am motivated to figure out how to guide clients in improving their mood through their nutrition.  I am not a professional nutritionist but I try very hard to stay up on the latest research.  Subsequently I ran across this article in Psychology Today, October 2017 issue, pg 31-32 on how the microbes in your gut affect your mood.

There were  2 studies mentioned that as I scanned the information grabbed my attention.  The first one was on the transplanting fecal matter from depressed patients into germ-free rats.  The rats then began to develop symptoms of anxiety and anhedonia (not taking interest in the usual things one finds interesting).  The other study involved giving patients prebiotics (material that enhances the grown of beneficial microbes in the gut.)  The researchers discovered one particular type of prebiotics ( galacto-oligosaccharides – GSOs) to decrease cortisol and increase a patient’s attention to positive events.

However what was most intriguing as I looked deeper into the article was the theory of how important fiber is to our gut biome.  Apparently  fibrous material from plants which are more difficult to digest help feed beneficial microbes.  This fermentation that occurs releases energy, gases, and metabolites called “short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).  These SCFAs are one of the ways our gut communicates with our brain, signaling molecules throughout the body to mobilize hormones and activate nerve pathways to everything from body weight to mood states.  Apparently the material present from these prebiotics in the fiber is extremely important for wellness and something our general Western diet lacks.  Per article our ancestors consumed around 100 grams of fiber while  we consume currently around 15 grams of fiber a day.   This is just another added point toward why nutrition is so important to limiting our stress and increasing well-being.

 

Chronic pain, Exercise, Wellness topic, Yoga

Back Pain and Exercise

 

In sessions, I hear a lot about chronic pain, particular back pain.  Many folks are  becoming more and more skeptical to the use of pain killers with all the headlines about the opioid epidemic.  They want to look at other options for pain and/or reduce their personal use of opiates and other pain killers.  Exercise comes up with mixed thoughts and feelings.  On one hand they hear that the increase of exercise can help with circulation, healing, and tension related to pain.  On the other hand, the wrong exercise or the wrong amount can cause serious damage and create more problems.

A recent article in the October 2017 edition of Scientific American highlights some research on this topic.  The research looked at over 300 individuals with chronic back pain and prescription painkillers.  They assigned these individuals to either a program of yoga, physical therapy, or a program of educational materials.  What they discovered is that the individuals in the yoga and physical therapy groups were able to significantly reduce their use on pain killers than the control and education only group.    The author described the yoga that was prescribed in the group as gentle stretches including cat/cow and child’s pose.

The article spoke to the evidence that what seems to work best is an overall combination of tools, which could be medications and movement.  When speaking to one’s primary care physician or pain treating provider, asking about other options for pain relief in addition to medications is recommended.  If there are no structural reasons for the pain or damage to any vertebrae many times movement is preferred over medications.   Although even with structural problems with someone’s skeleton, increasing flexibility and circulation is beneficial and necessary for healing.  Muscle relaxers may help obviously with muscle tightness, but you may get much more with exercise such as overall increase in circulation, relaxation and strengthening of muscles.

Bottom line seems to be that there are benefits to medication but much more for adding the right exercise with or without the medication.   Figuring out the right exercise may take a little research and time.  Speaking to qualified professionals familiar with one’s unique health history and getting a list of options to choose from is the best place to start.   A physical therapist is also a great place to start but if you want to try something at home, one could always begin with asking their healthcare provider to explain first off which exercises they shouldn’t do and why.  Then at least  an individual is able to stay safe while they sample different exercises to try at home.  As with any exercise program, when you find something that works, it’s the consistency that will give you the most benefit.   It’s better to start small and keep going than start too big and feel like you can’t keep it up due to time or energy.