- Judith Akatugba
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Stress has a way of taking over, blurring focus, depressing mood, and eroding the willpower needed to make wise decisions. Stress is a normal and understandable reaction to difficult circumstances, but too much of it is harmful. You can take action to improve your thinking even when you are powerless to alter your external circumstances.
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Being mindful can be beneficial. Actress Goldie Hawn, who founded MindUP, a kids’ mindfulness program, and Amishi Jha, an associate professor of psychology and the University of Miami’s director of contemplative neuroscience (who also happens to be Hawn’s mindfulness teacher) spoke on TIME100 Talks: Health about the benefits of mindfulness for people going through tough times.
According to Jha, it’s important to pay attention in the here and now without passing judgment. The significance of mind training in this manner lies in the fact that we do not automatically adopt this mode of being. The mind is an independent entity.
These are their suggestions for using mindfulness to establish peace in the midst of turbulent times.
Calm down, “barking dog.”
The aim of mindfulness practice is straightforward, but in order to do it well, it’s helpful to have a basic grasp of how the brain works. According to Hawn, “Every child has one, and we don’t tell them how it works.” “They can think better, learn better, and make better choices” when children (and adults) understand the emotional system of the brain and how to quiet it down. If we practice this consistently over time, “our brain will eventually slowly default to a better state of mind.”
Children that participate in MindUP learn monikers for important brain regions that control emotions. According to Hawn, “the prefrontal cortex’s wise old owl is rendered helpless to think, remember, or act when the amygdala barks like a barking dog.” “It’s taking over the prefrontal cortex’s energy and ability to stay awake, causing the lightbulb to go out.” This approach of looking at the brain explains to children that all they need to do to relax is to “quiet the dog down in the doghouse for a while.” Taking a “brain break”—Hawn’s kid-friendly phrase for a brief meditation—is one method to accomplish this.
Adjust your attention
According to Jha’s research, mindfulness training programs improve people’s ability to focus under stressful situations, even active-duty military personnel. Because “we need it for everything: focusing, noticing, making decisions, regulating our emotions,” according to Jha, attention is crucial. Simple exercises like monitoring breath sensations, encouraging compassion and interpersonal connections, or visualizing a flashlight scanning your entire body and focusing where it shines can all help to improve your attention. Jha claims that “we can start these practices at any time and see benefits in as little as 15 minutes per day.”
Shifting your emphasis can have a big impact. Hawn attended meditation lessons early in her career as she began to experience panic attacks and anxiety. “I started to use my mantra and meditate because there was incense, flowers, and a breeze coming through the curtains in this room,” the woman explains. Something took place to me. It seemed as though my happiness and this sense of delight had been buried, and I was rediscovering the joy that, in a strange way, I think we are all born with.I just burst out laughing. I had realized that I had rediscovered a part of myself. Over time, Hawn was able to clarify her priorities through meditation. According to Hawn, “I was really able to individuate from my’stardom,’ or visibility as a celebrity.” “I was able to concentrate on the things that were most important to me—happiness, a family, and being a mother.”
Incorporate mindfulness in unanticipated settings
It’s difficult for anyone to go through periods of stress, such as the coronavirus epidemic, and it’s also difficult to precisely follow healthful habits at those times. Jha states, “I’m feeling depleted, worried, and uncertain.” “At this point, I really want to lower the bar and not have any expectations of succeeding.” Stress increases with the amount of demands you place on yourself when things are tough.
According to Jha, incorporating mindfulness into routine tasks like brushing your teeth is a simple method to do so without spending any additional time on it. “Usually you don’t even remember brushing your teeth,” but you may practice mindfulness if you pay attention to every action, such as gripping the toothbrush, putting toothpaste on it, and observing the feelings that surface as you move it around your mouth. Jha says, “Remember, mindfulness is always available to us.” “It didn’t take me any longer to complete, but it did give me a fleeting feeling that I am still here and that my life is still developing. Even with so much to be anxious about and so much uncertainty, I can always go back to this sense of stability and have faith in my ability to get through it.
