A mindfulness practice will help you to fully commit to the here and now and bring a greater sense of calm to your life.
How to Practice Mindfulness
What is mindfulness?
To put it simply, it is making the conscious effort to stay in the moment and focus on the here and now.
We spend a great portion of our days scattered, unable to give our full attention to what is in front of us. This can lead to life feeling out of control. However, even when you can’t control the here and now, you can learn to control your response to it.
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Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness
Mindfulness helps shift your “flight or fight” nervous system (sympathetic) to the “rest and digest” mode (parasympathetic). The sympathetic system can be helpful, like if you need to move out of the way of a car in the street! But when the gas pedal is pressed on “flight or fight” for too long, your body continues to produce chemicals that signal it is in danger. In the long run, this can cause health problems like high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and inflammatory changes that make pain feel worse and cause autoimmune issues.
Results of practicing mindfulness and meditation:
Lowers blood pressure
Pulse decrease
Breathing slows
Stress hormones decrease
Digestion is facilitated
Coping and resilience are improved
Particularly in multiple sclerosis, studies suggest that meditation and mindfulness are helpful for reducing pain and anxiety.
That’s why we’ve created a meditation practice specifically designed for people living with multiple sclerosis.
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How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation Tips
Any meditation is better than none. 1.
2.
Think of meditation as meaning “begin again,” so if you get distracted, you don’t fail. Rather, you get another chance to start over. Rather, you get another chance to start over. It’s great to have do-overs in life!
3. Focus on your breath.
Be in a comfortable position, but not so comfortable that you will fall asleep. I call it “relaxed alertness”.
4.
Breathe in slower and deeper than usual. Sometimes, counting 4-6 seconds for each inhale and exhale helps.
5. If you are new to meditation, start slow. I recommend 2 minutes. 6. If you are using a mantra, like we do in Mindful Moments, breathe in the 7. words of the mantra and breathe out negative thoughts. 8.
Inhale: I am strong
Exhale: I let go of negative thoughts, or I let go of feelings of weakness
Mediation Mantras
A mantra is a sound, word, or group of words that helps make meditation a little easier. A mantra takes us away from our busy brains so that we can focus on something more simple. Repeating a positive thought in meditation or daily can help it become ingrained in your mind. This can make it easier for you to find a sense of calm.
Mindful Moments
Our weekly Monday Mantras are gearedtowards helping you focus on a positive thought for the week. Join Mindful Moments for an approachable guide to mindfulness. Every week, we will introduce you to a mantra to start the week o right, allowing you to free your mind – even just for a moment – from the con ning feelings of MS.
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Guided Meditation Podcast
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