Mental Fitness Program: 5 minutes, 5 brain areas, 5 questions, 1 attitude
In this series of eight posts, we look at a Morning Mental Fitness Program. I put it together for people needing a short, practical approach to mental fitness and Preventative Mental Health that’s effective and steeped in science.
This Morning Mental Fitness Program consists of 5 minutes spent alone every morning to prepare you for the day, whatever it may bring. It involves 5 brain areas which influence your outlook on life, yourself and other people. In reality, you need all of your brain working all of the time, but each brain area becomes a focus of attention to help start your day with a good mindset and release healthy brain chemicals to keep you mentally fit amongst life’s stresses.
This first post presents you with evidence for the effects of mindfulness meditation and a simple approach to mindfulness. You can start today if you want. If meditation is not for you, try deep breathing, whole-body relaxation, contemplation, prayer or any form of focused, quiet activity which suits you. 5 minutes to focus and prepare your brain for a day can bring you peace and serenity which, with practice, can last the whole day.
Mindfulness meditation: some evidence
Mindfulness meditation improves immune system function,[i] helps control pain,[ii] and aids clear thinking.[iii] It has measurable effects on brain structure and changes brain areas concerned with
increased awareness
emotional regulation
better memory and learning.[iv]
These help keep your brain focused on who you are, and on good relationships with people. Even brief meditation techniques benefit you.[v]
The practice
Here’s a very simple form of mindfulness meditation.
Find time and space to be by yourself. Sit or lie-down comfortably. In the silence, close your eyes, and drink in the peace. Breathe in and out comfortably. You do not need to breathe deeply or in any particular rhythm. Just breathe. With each out-breath, allow a little more tension leave your body. You’ll naturally relax.
Observe your thoughts and your feelings. Try not to react to them; just observe them. If you react to them, that’s OK, just go back to observing when you can.
Allow yourself simply to be who you are: a living, breathing human being.
Be.
There is nothing you have to do.
You are not a human doing, you are a human being.
Just be.
Now, focus your attention on your breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep repeating this and enjoy it.
Become aware of the tip of your nose. Focus your attention on the tip of your nose. Gently keep your awareness on the tip of your nose.
Notice how the tip of your nose gets a little cooler when you breathe in and a little warmer when you breathe out. Gently keep breathing and keep noticing the subtle temperature changes at the tip of your nose. Keep your awareness on the tip of your nose. Keep breathing. Enjoy the experience.
Gently keep breathing and keep noticing the temperature changes at the tip of your nose.
Notice any other sensations in your body.
Stay with this for as long as you like.
That’s it. You’re meditating.
The only effort involved is the noticing, the focusing, and the gently keeping.
Your mind will wander. That’s OK. Whenever this happens, just observe it, don’t judge it, don’t react to it; gently keep bringing your awareness back to your breath and to the tip of your nose. Gently keep it there. Your mind will wander again, that’s OK, gently bring it back. Do this easily; effortlessly; gently. Don’t try hard. Just notice and enjoy.
Meditation is well-known to increase serotonin and beta endorphins. In coming posts we’ll add techniques to balance dopamine and increase oxytocin for a full DOSE of the feel-good brain chemicals: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and beta Endorphin.
We’ll also add focusing on specific brain areas to help set you up for the day.
Cheers
Dr Christian Heim
[i] Davidson, Richard J., et al. "Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation." Psychosomatic medicine 65.4 (2003): 564-570.
[ii] Kabat-Zinn, Jon, Leslie Lipworth, and Robert Burney. "The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain." Journal of behavioral medicine 8.2 (1985): 163-190. Hellwig, Jennifer. "Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief." Nursing for Women's Health 20.1 (2016): 17.
[iii] Zeidan, Fadel, et al. "Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training." Consciousness and cognition19.2 (2010): 597-605.
[iv] Fox, Kieran CR, et al. "Is meditation associated with altered brain structure? A systematic review and meta-analysis of morphometric neuroimaging in meditation practitioners." Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 43 (2014): 48-73. Lazar, Sara W., et al. "Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness." Neuroreport 16.17 (2005): 1893. Kang, Do-Hyung, et al. "The effect of meditation on brain structure: cortical thickness mapping and diffusion tensor imaging." Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 8.1 (2012): 27-33.
[v] Tang, Yi-Yuan, et al. "Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104.43 (2007): 17152-17156. Zeidan, Fadel, et al. "Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training." Consciousness and cognition 19.2 (2010): 597-605. And, for a discussion on a possible mechanism, see Manna, Antonietta, et al. "Neural correlates of focused attention and cognitive monitoring in meditation." Brain research bulletin 82.1 (2010): 46-56.