Want to make changes? However, your schedule or life duties (like family caregiving) seem to always get priority over “you!”
Starting off on the right foot to accomplish your goals or even to approach those New Year’s resolutions takes fortitude and discipline. Doing this does not sound like fun or something most of us want to do when only about 10% of us will stick to our resolutions.
In this Newsletter I am going to introduce you to “mindfulness” and every month I will give you an affirmation to use in addition to the content that will either assist you as a family caregiver or a professional serving the “Elder Generation.”
Mindfulness has been around for a long time in various practices such as yoga, meditation or prayer. What is most interesting is that new research is being done around the country (including two local prestigious universities, Stanford and UCSF) on the reality of changing our brain cells – neuroplasticity. The research is showing that this practice has a profound health effect that might be greater than any other change we could make to our lifestyles.
Mindfulness
Since we know stress has a major impact on several diseases (e.g., cancer and dementia) as well as the quality of our lives, “mindfulness” is what we can do to balance that stress and increase brain health. While it is impossible, and not necessarily good to eliminate all stress, we still need to find ways in which we can approach stressful situations and balance it so that it does not negatively affect our health or relationships.
Genetics
Telomeres (the caps on our chromosomes – like the cap on a shoelace) and Telomerase (the enzyme that we can rebuild and lengthen telomeres) seems to be a key to brain cell health and could reverse cell aging. Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn from UCSF received the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 2009 for her discovery of these two genetic elements.
The research done at UC Davis, called the “Shamatha Project,” showed that after a three month intensive meditation retreat, the subject lengthened their telomeres by one-third. Most of us don’t have the time to go on a long retreat with a Buddhist meditation master – but all of us can do some mindfulness every day or every hour or start with it once a day by just clearing our minds for one minute and focusing on our breathing.
This doesn’t mean giving up a healthy life style: a good wholesome diet, exercise (aerobic exercise can also help lengthen those chromosomes) and staying engaged with positive social contacts in your life. It does mean being intentional in your activity of “mindfulness.” You can take a class – they are offered all over the Bay Area – UCSF has one, Alta Bates and local community centers often offer classes on “mindfulness.” In our busy culture it is hard to slow down as many of us have not had role models; so a class might be needed.
The good news is that it is never too late (even if you are under chronic stress) to reap the benefits of a healthy changing lifestyle that includes “mindfulness” to help reverse cell aging.
Tune-Up
Remember we need to take these bodies of ours in for a “tune-up” at least once a year – Medicare covers an annual “wellness check-up” – now is the time to schedule it! In order to care for others we must care for ourselves.
A “new you” is in the making. Find a quiet place and focus on your breathing – it sometimes helps to read an affirmation and choose one word from it to say as you focus from 1 to 15 minutes on your breathing.
Monthly Affirmation
“I am kind and friendly to myself when things go wrong.” You can make up your own starting with “I am or I choose.”
Protect those chromosomes and keep those cells young and healthy – my wish for you this year! And if you are finding it a struggle to self-care, please give us a call and schedule a counseling session with one of our licensed therapists to assist you on your new journey. Or, if you or someone you know is overwhelmed by a caregiving situation, we may be able to help in a variety of ways including both mindfulness and partnering on the care to bring a healthy balance back into your/his/her life.
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