Mental fitness

Don’t underestimate the importance of mental conditioning — and one of the best ways to do this is to meditate, or to practice mindfulness. The millennia-old practice of mindfulness meditation is not just for Buddhists. Recent clinical research studies have shown that it has very good clinical effectiveness in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and stress. It can significantly help reduce symptoms and promote healthier thought patterns for those in early recovery from trauma.

Mindfulness is now very popular and is used widely outside of the medical field – by businesspeople, athletes and anyone who desires to increase their mental or physical health and to improve their overall peak performance. Start with short periods of 10 minutes of practice a day. As you practice regularly, it becomes easier to keep the attention focused on breathing. Eventually, awareness of the breath can be extended into awareness of thoughts, feelings, and actions. The evidence base for mindfulness in the treatment of mental health problems is now well established.

Mindfulness is:

• A universal human capacity that can foster clear thinking and open heartedness. When applied to meditation practice, it requires no religious or cultural belief system.
• An intentional, accepting, and non-judgemental focus of one's attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment. It can be learned through training in meditational practices.
• A form of non-judgemental, present-moment awareness, in which each thought, feeling or sensation that arises is acknowledged and accepted as it is.
• A means of paying attention in a particular way – on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally.

As well as reducing depression and anxiety, research additionally supports the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation in reducing trauma symptoms as well as cravings for substances or behaviours that people may have become addicted to. Incorporating mindfulness into physical fitness helps individuals to develop not only their physical health but also their mental wellbeing. Heightened levels of awareness, increased self-discipline, social inclusion, improvements in mood and camaraderie are all benefits of practicing mindfulness.

Meditation may benefit both your physical fitness and lifestyle through:

Focus: This is frequently cited as the key to success. Meditation helps to increase levels of focus, attention, and concentration.

Stress reduction: The most widespread application of meditation in modern life is stress reduction. Stress is something of a double-edged sword — an appropriate amount of stress can motivate a person to train harder to gain a competitive edge. Conversely though, too much stress can cause anxiety and regular stress can cause harm to a person’s physical health. Prolonged stress has been evidenced to cause a multitude of health problems such as gastritis, autoimmune diseases, ulcers and even heart disease.

Anger management: Meditation practice increases awareness and can help you keep your temper in check before it even gets a chance to flare up.

Improved sleep quality: Muscles rebuild themselves and grow when the body is at rest. As an adult, we know that you need a recommended 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every day. Adequate sleep is vital for muscle repair and if you are not resting enough, it’s hard to get stronger. Meditation calms the mind and improves the quality of sleep — and the better your quality of sleep, the faster your recovery time.

Your mind is the most powerful weapon you possess in overcoming the rigours of everyday life. When you dedicate a little extra effort to mental training regularly, the benefits will extend into a broad range of other aspects of your life.

Lee Hawker-Lecesne MBPsS is lead therapist and addiction counsellor at The Cabin (thecabin.com)