Episode 6: Mindfulness and the brain with guest Dr. Alexandra Fiocco
Today we are joined by Dr. Alexandra Fiocco, the Director of the Stress and Healthy Aging Research (StAR) Lab at Ryerson University. Dr. Fiocco will talk about her area of expertise, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) – what it is, how it impacts the brain, and how to incorporate it into daily life.
The Difference Between Mindfulness and Meditation
Meditation is a contemplative practice where we bring our attention to a point of focus and the point of focus may differ depending on the form of meditation that we're engaging in. Breath, mandala and mantra are some examples of points of focus of meditation. One form of meditation is transcendental meditation where we chant long sounds like ‘Om’.
On the other hand, mindfulness may be defined in various ways. The most popular definition is that mindfulness is the ability to pay attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, while suspending judgment or at least being aware of your judgment as it arises because judgment will arise.
Combining these two practices, which gives us mindfulness meditation, is simply the formal practice of cultivating mindfulness, which is simple yet quite challenging to do.
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction and its Benefits
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction or MBSR is a manualized protocol from the Buddhist tradition that was first developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 1970s. It's an eight-week program composed of two and a half hour long weekly sessions. Structured home practices are specifically prescribed every week. During these sessions, participants in the program learn formal practices, including the body scan, sitting meditation, and mindful movement like Hatha Yoga postures and movements. Participants also learn informal mindfulness practices, such as mindful eating and bringing awareness to daily life activities e.g., brushing your teeth or washing the dishes for example.
The objective of MBSR is to minimize the experience of stress, since we can’t necessarily rid ourselves of stress completely. We will always be faced with stressors in our environment and MBSR cannot change the amount of stress or the stressors in our environment. Instead, it aims to change our relationship with stressors. It helps us manage our perceptions of stress and how we're responding to our environment rather than reacting to the stressor. This is a very important skill for stress management.
There are a number of health ailment disorders that are results of chronic stress. It has been shown that MBSR helps us manage symptoms of chronic pain, depression, and anxiety. Moreover, MBSR improves immune function.
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction and Mental Abilities
Studies focused on young adults have shown that practicing MBSR can actually enhance some cognitive processes, especially surrounding attention and executive functioning. On the other hand, research on the impact of MBSR on older adults is quite mixed. Of note, the research on this topic is still in its infancy and more research is needed to explore the effect of MBSR on cognitive function.
Barriers to Incorporating Mindfulness into your Everyday Life
Time.
It is not about finding the time to do the practice, it is about making the time
When it is something that we are not habitually used to doing, it's a little more difficult to make the time to do the activity, especially if it's not an exciting activity. Let's face it, sitting there and focusing on your breath is boring. So, the first step is recognizing that practicing mindfulness is something that you want to incorporate into your life. Mindfulness is a lifestyle change just like going to the gym or eating healthy. We have to internalize it as being important to our well-being and then making the time to do it.
Another important thing is consistency. There is no such thing as the perfect time of day to practice mindfulness. You just have to make the time, given your busy schedule. If you can do two minutes a day, do two minutes a day. If you could do five, do five. If you find that five minutes is easy for you, that you can get through those five minutes relatively easily, try 10 minutes the next time. It's not the amount of time that you're sitting; it's the consistency of the practice.
Bringing Mindfulness Practice into your Daily Life
The easiest and simplest mindfulness practice to bring into your life is the sitting practice. When you do a sitting practice, you’ll notice a lot of it is bringing awareness to thoughts, sensations, and emotions that are pleasant and unpleasant. Be more open to experiencing those emotions rather than reacting to them or trying to avoid them. This will help you to respond to daily stressors more appropriately.
If you do a sitting practice, you'll notice a lot of it is bringing awareness. So, try to keep your attention focused (e.g., on the breath), and notice when your attention drifts. Every time your attention drifts, bring it back (e.g., to the breath). As mentioned before, just to reiterate, part of mindfulness is bringing awareness to thoughts, sensations, and emotions that are pleasant and unpleasant and being open to experiencing those emotions. Even if an emotion or sensation is negative - rather than reacting to it or trying to avoid it - you’re creating space for the negative or unpleasant sensations. So, when you do that in your mindfulness practice, you are teaching yourself to be equipped with this skill and can bring it to your everyday life. In this way, rather than reacting to a stressor in your daily life, you may actually be able to respond to it more appropriately.
Learn more about Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction
If you want to learn more about MBSR, Dr. Fiocco recommends signing up for an 8-week program rather than simply practicing it on your own, because you’ll be better equipped to understand the principles and you’ll be taught how to incorporate the practice into your daily life. To learn more about MBSR program options, you can head to The Centre for Mindfulness Studies (click here) or the North York Seniors Centre (click here). They offer a number of MBSR courses and some of these courses may be covered by OHIP (you’ll need a referral from your doctor). Keep in mind that these programs can be quite costly, which may be a barrier for a lot of people.
About “Dr. Alexandra Fiocco”
Dr. Alexandra Fiocco is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Ryerson University, an Adjunct Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, and the Director of the Stress and Healthy Aging Research (StAR) Lab (click here). Her research interests center around healthy aging and brain health in later life. More specifically, she is interested in exploring the biological, psychological, and social factors that determine cognitive function (mental abilities) and well-being. She is also interested in researching prevention strategies that help enable healthy aging.
If you want to know more about mindfulness or have specific questions for Dr.Fiocco, you can email her at afiocco@psych.ryerson.ca. To learn about how to get involved with some of the exciting research being conducted in the StAR lab (one of their studies is on Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction), visit their website by clicking here.