Brava

August 2014

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34 BRAVA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2014 Nine years ago, 45-year-old Madisonian Nike Loomis was struggling with chronic daily back pain that disabled her so much she was not able to walk long distances and had to give up running. She was unable to work, and found it hard to care for her young kids. Today, she says, her life has changed so much, "I don't even recognize the person I was before." ŀ ESECRETTOHERTRˬNSFORMˬTIONWˬS RIGHTˬTHERǠNGERTIPSˬVˬILˬBLEˬTˬNY time, completely free of charge. Loomis credits a meditation practice and the mental skills she learned for the well- being she is experiencing today. Virtually pain free, she's back to running and operating her own successful personal training business, and mindfully parent- ing her two girls. She has broken the cycle of stress she experienced earlier in life. Mindfulness meditation is trending these days, embraced by athletes, rock stars and CEOs. But, in fact, it's an an- cient practice that's been around for THOUSˬNDSOFYEˬRSWITHPROVENBENEǠT Meditation creates space so you can see with greater clarity your present internal and external experiences and the ways to respond to deepen your connection with yourself and others. Mindfulness meditation is not a mys- tery, but a practice that trains the mind to be in the moment, connected to the here and now. So much of the day is often spent lost in thoughts about the past or future, responding to events on autopilot and missing the present moments of life. ŀ EIMˬGEOFˬBRIGHTBLUESKYISOF ten used to describe meditation. Picture yourself lying down, looking up at the sky and noticing billowing clouds passing BYŀ EYˬRECONSTˬNTLYCHˬNGINGSHˬPE moving through your line of sight, but YOUˬRENOTǠXˬTEDONˬNYOFTHEMIN stead paying attention in a neutral way to whatever is arising. Even though the images may seem eso- TERICITmSˬNYTHINGBUTǢUFF.EDITˬTION is not New Agey but a form of mental TRˬINING ŀ E MˬNY HEˬLTH BENEǠTS OF MEDITˬTIONˬRESCIENTIǠCFˬCT"TTHE68mS Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, Dr. Richard Davidson researches the effects of meditation and mindful living on the brain, physical and emotional health and on decision-making ability. His studies have found that meditation leads to such changes as lower cortisol levels and blood pressure, increases in immune system response, reduction in anxiety, boosts in levels of happiness and decreases in chronic pain. Meditation training increases gray matter in the areas of the brain associated with learning and memory, emotion reg- ulation and compassion, while shrinking THE REGIONS ˬSSOCIˬTED WITH STRESS ŀ E power of the mind to change the brain was found to occur in as little as a few weeks of daily meditation practice. Participants trained to meditate over an eight-week period experienced increased left pre- frontal cortex activation in their brain, an area associated with greater positive emotional states, deeper ability to con- centrate, and stronger resilience follow- ing a stressful challenge. *F-OOMISCˬNHˬVETHESEBENEǠTSSO CˬNˬLLOFUS8ITHˬLITTLEBITOFPRˬCTICE mindfulness meditation can make dif- ferences both personal and profound, in our lives and the lives of those we love. Indeed, the more serenity you cultivate within yourself, the more presence you have to give to your families, your com- munities and your world. Learn more about living mindfully at BRAVA's Sept. 18 THRIVE Connections luncheon where Mirgain will lead a discussion and interactive workshop called "How to Be the Best You: Learn to Thrive." For details, see p. 11. be mindful űźƐŤơŧőŞŧźƐƏŧŤźƭőƭźƕƐ BY DR. SHILAGH MIRGAIN

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