Mindfulness and Meditation: A New Era of Psychotherapy

Reducing Stress --> Happiness

In the world we are living in today, most of us would agree that it’s not unusual to have a busy day. Some people may find it invigorating as they feel the rush of living in a fast paced life. Well, some of us may also say life is too stressful whether it be due to work, family, or personal life crisis. There are so many things to worry about and yet, have we tried to take a moment and think through possible ways to eliminate certain stressors in our lives? 

Mindfulness has been a hot topic today as it corresponds to this idea of practicing focused attention on the present moment. In relation, Dr. Marcia Grabowecky, a Professor at Northwestern University, talked about this topic on her lecture, The Cognitive Neuroscience of Meditation and Mindfulness. She states that, “Attention is the gateway to awareness and probably to happiness too.” In her talk, the concept of mindfulness has been stretched as she adds that this present-moment awareness should be non-judgemental in nature. Alongside with mindfulness, Dr. Grabowecky mentions meditation as a key element in stabilizing attention. The beauty of mindfulness not only improves one’s well-being, but also one’s physical and mental health. Several studies from the lecture show that there is an increase in cortical thickness and emotional reactivity among people who practiced mindfulness meditation. As Dr. Grabowecky pointed out, this technique is easy, cheap, generally harmless and can be beneficial in decreasing stress. 

 To further explore the wonders of mindfulness, Lecia Bushak talks about mindfulness as an alternative psychotherapy in her article, Mindfulness is Just as Effective as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Treating Anxiety, Depression. In the article, the study by Jan Sundquist suggests that after an 8-week mindfulness therapy, participants reported a decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms. The results from this study also show the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy to be similar with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Mindfulness is indeed a powerful tool that can help improve one’s life through stress reduction and can also promote a healthy mind and body. Studies surrounding mindfulness and meditation may have emerged over the years and it has been a useful therapy that are now widely used among clinicians. As Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, states that mindfulness and meditation alleviates tension in the body and mind. Even more so, he says that the power of meditation “can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger, and that is very healing.” In his words, we can truly appreciate the beauty of this technique as it can mend the negative energies that surround us. And in closing note, if we look deeper to the world of mindfulness and actually practice it, we may prove that improving our attention may unlock the doors that lead us to happiness. 

References:

Bushak, L. (2014). Mindfulness is just as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy in treating anxiety, depression. Medical Daily. Retrieved from http://www.medicaldaily.com/

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