Ep.51 Mental Health Mini Series #4 Mindfulness

Can We Talk About This?

#4 of the Mental Health Mini Series focuses on mindfulness and explores the importance of being present in the moment. Your host, Amber-lee shares insights on the concept of mindfulness, its benefits, and guides listeners through two mindfulness exercises they can incorporate into their daily lives. The first exercise, '5-4-3-2-1 Senses Grounding,' helps listeners connect with their immediate environment using their senses, while the second exercise involves mindful eating that helps you practice being present. Mindfulness can reduce stress, improve self-awareness, and support your overall wellbeing, especially for busy mums, but anyone can do these simple exercises! Listeners are encouraged to practice mindfulness daily, when possible, and apply these techniques to their mental health toolbox.

5-4-3-2-1 Senses excercise begins at 10:43

Mindful Eating exercise begins at 16:32

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: While the content of this podcast is intended to provide support and guidance, it is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. The techniques and practices discussed here are general in nature and may not be suitable for everyone.

If you are experiencing significant distress, mental health concerns, or trauma, I encourage you to seek support from a qualified mental health professional. Additionally, if at any point during this episode you feel overwhelmed or triggered, please turn it off and talk to someone or do something that is helpful to you

Finding Support in Australia:

PANDA.org.au

1300 726 306

COPE.org.au

Beyond Blue 1300 224 636

Gidget Foundation

Black Dog Institute 1300 851 758

References:

Baer, R. A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 125–143. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg015

Leng LL, Yin XC, Ng SM. Mindfulness-based intervention for clinical and subthreshold perinatal depression and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial. Compr Psychiatry. 2023 Apr;122:152375. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2023.152375. Epub 2023 Feb 5. PMID: 36841089.

ACT Made Simple 2nd Edition by Russ Harris

TRANSCRIPT

Amber-lee (Host): Thanks for being here. Another mental health mini series episode. I'm so excited to share this one with you because today is all about mindfulness. And I promise mindfulness is not just a buzzword. Okay. So today I'm going to take you through two mindfulness exercises that are really easy to incorporate into your daily life as a busy mom who might struggle to be present, if you're anything like me. I love using mindfulness where I can in my life so I really wanted to share some techniques with you today. Firstly, I actually find it helpful to know what mindfulness is, how it's helpful. So I'll tell you a little bit about that. And then we'll get into the two exercises.

You can skip ahead if you want to as well. Mindfulness is actually just an ancient concept with a really wide range of spiritual and religious traditions dating back to at least 4, 000 years ago, or so we know. And Western mindfulness based approaches are mostly derived from Buddhism and many believe its basis is in meditation, but mindfulness can actually be used in many other ways.

So I'm not doing meditation today. I'm going to just purely focus on mindfulness.

There are lots of definitions, but to help kind of give an explanation of some of the practices you're going to be doing with me today, I wanted to give you a really good definition surrounding those practices. So, mindfulness is just all about living in the present moment. Accepting your current thoughts, feelings, what's happening around you, all without judgment.

It's a way to pay attention to the present what's happening inside you and outside of you with a kind and open attitude. So practicing mindfulness means you're aware of your thoughts, emotions, bodily feelings, and sensations and environment in a really focused and accepting way. It's about noticing what's going on around you right now. Without getting lost in the past or worrying about the future. I know moms sometimes we can be like, what if, what if, and where, and because we carry the mental load for our families, a lot of the time, that weight feels really heavy. And so we're often focusing on the past or worrying about the future and mindfulness helps us break away from those automatic reactions and habits that we might have leading to better control over our emotions and our attention, giving more self awareness and ultimately less stress. It's like training your brain to be more in tune with itself in the world around you, making it a really valuable tool for a healthier and happier life. You know, we live in a very fast pace society with heavy expectations on mothers. We often exist in systems that aren't designed for us or our children or our families to thrive. And one way that has helped me personally, along the way is mindfulness. I thought it might be helpful to give you like a kind of scenario, if you're having trouble placing it.

So maybe just imagine a new mom who's feeling Overwhelmed or anxious, or maybe a little bit sad after the birth of her baby. And this is a time, you know, when everything's changing her body, her relationships, her identity, her entire world, as she knows it. And it's only natural for her to experience these whirlwind of emotions.

But sometimes these feelings can be really tough to manage. And here's where mindfulness can make that difference. So by practicing mindfulness, this new mom can learn to focus on her present experiences with kindness and without judgment. So for example, when she's feeling these waves of anxiety or sadness, instead of trying to push those feelings away or criticize herself for having them, you know, maybe she's telling herself she should just be grateful because of X, Y, Z. She can just simply notice them. She can pay attention to her breath, the sensations in her body, or even the sound of her baby. And this helps her create a space of calm and acceptance around her feelings. It's kind of like dropping anchor. Right. And just being present, just acknowledging your emotions and feelings without letting them take over and really grounding yourself in the here and now, and by using this technique, just randomly throughout her day, she can find a way to navigate those emotional ups and downs of new motherhood. And it becomes a really helpful tool for not only reducing stress, anxiety, but for enhancing your overall wellbeing during a really crucial time. It's so crazy to me, right? That we have to practice being present. I mean that, what does that say about the society that we live in and how our lives are designed?

I wanted to share some of the benefits really briefly with you. I think it's really obvious after you practice this, I want you to pay attention to how you're feeling before. So right now, and then how you're feeling after you do these exercises. I wonder how you'll feel after you practice mindfulness. I'm really curious to know your thoughts.

So some of the benefits include things like a reduced. stress response. In previous episodes, we've talked about the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, that fight, flight, freeze, fawn response. And practicing mindfulness can actually lower your stress by reducing the activity in your amygdala. That's the emotional center of your brain that's responsible for the fight, flight, freeze, fawn. And when you practice mindfulness, you'll find that your body's stress response is lessened. It's, It lowers cortisol levels and it gives you that sense of feeling calm and you just have this more balanced emotional state.

It also improves your attention and focus which is really helpful and also gives you that sense of greater self awareness. It's funny, before I was practicing mindfulness, I had no idea how un self aware I actually was. But mindfulness can teach us that it's okay to experience a range of emotions, right? Because you're not judging them, you're not trying to push them away or avoid them, you're just simply accepting the emotion that you're in and the feelings that you're feeling and you recognize that they're temporary and that they kind of come and go. And you have this really non judgmental perspective, which can help make you That little bit more resilient when you face challenges.

There's lots of research on mindfulness. There's tons of like systematic reviews and meta analyses. They are, if you're unsure what they are, they're like top tier research. If they're, you know, if you think about a hierarchy and the different types of methods that people use in research, systematic reviews and meta analyses are top tier.

And what they found was mindfulness based interventions actually work better when they're combined with other therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, etc, etc. Those might just be words to you, but there is actually some scientific basis behind this. So sometimes mindfulness. And I think it's important to acknowledge that and we might need a little bit more support for our mental health. So please keep that in mind. All of these exercises that I do with you, they're just to simply help support you. Pack into your mental health toolbox and grab them when you need them. This definitely should not be replacing outside supports and resources. Okay, this is just one resource.

So I've got a really simple yet effective mindfulness activity to do now. It's called the 5, sensors grounding. That can be done in a few minutes. It doesn't require any special equipment or, or environment, you can just go be as you are right now and it's designed to bring your attention to the present moment, using the senses to anchor your thoughts and calm your mind. I recently actually did this exercise with, a young six year old boy who struggles with anxiety. And obviously I've got to, when you're working with kids, like you've got to make things into a game, you can't just be like, Hey, name five things, you know?

so we kind of, I set up this little game where he could really bring himself out of his head and back into his body. And it. We did, you know, finding three things around the room that were this color and blah, blah, blah. And he was so receptive to it. It's almost like his anxious state completely disappeared in that moment.

It didn't cure his anxiety that I just always want to reiterate that. And so I've seen this work, not only in myself, but I've seen it work on other people. I've even seen it work in children. So. I really, really love this exercise to help you get out of your head and back into your body. Okay, let's start.

So just in preparation, find a comfortable place to sit or stand where you can be undisturbed for a few minutes if possible. I know that we're all mums, so if you can't, that's okay too, okay?

(5-4-3-2-1 Senses Grounding Exercise) So I want you to now notice five things that that you can see. Look around you, bring your attention to five things that you can see. Pick something that you might not usually notice, like a shadow or a small crack in the [00:09:00] wall. Maybe there's colors or shapes or shadows or any other details that you can find and I want you to notice them and name them.

Five things you can see and I'll give you a minute to do that right now.

Now I want you to notice four things that you can feel. So this could be the texture of your clothing, the feel of the chair. Or floor beneath your feet. Maybe there's air on your skin. Or the weight of your baby or child in your arms. And just acknowledge each, each sensation as you notice it. So now I'm going to give you a minute to notice four things you can feel.

And now I'm going to give you a minute to notice three things you can hear.

Now I want you to identify two things you can smell. If you can't immediately smell anything, maybe move to a different spot or sniff something nearby like a pillow or your baby's skin or a cup of tea. Smells can be a really powerful way to ground yourself in the present moment. And so now I'm going to give you a minute to notice two things you can smell.

Now I want you to focus on one thing you can taste. This might be a bit tricky but that's okay, bear with me. Maybe take a sip of a drink that you have nearby. Maybe go and grab a piece of chewing gum. We'll just notice the taste currently that's in your mouth.

Now take a deep breath and let it out really slow. I'm going to do this one with you. Ready? Inhale,

exhale.

Just acknowledge how your body feels right now. How does your mind feel?

Just remind yourself that you can return to this exercise any time you feel overwhelmed or disconnected or just feeling like you need to be more present. This exercise is beneficial because it doesn't really require much time. So we've taken time to do it today, but you could really be doing this in 60 seconds.

It can be a really quick way to bring yourself back to the present, especially when you're feeling overwhelmed or anxious. And it helps in practicing mindfulness by engaging in your immediate environment. And remember, non judgmental is the only way.

Now, the second exercise I wanted to do with you does require a prop. Uh, so maybe pause the episode right now so you can go and grab it, we're going to be doing a mindful eating exercise. So it's just a way to help ground you using taste, and I usually like to use a grape. You can use dates or raisins, nuts, anything that you might have. So this exercise is from the father of Western mindfulness himself, John Kabat Zinn is his name. He used these mindfulness based practices and approaches decades and decades ago. I think it was roughly 40 years ago. So this is one of his exercises. You can use dates or raisins as I said.

I like to use a grape because I don't like dates or raisins, but you can really use anything that you want to. Okay, let's begin. So throughout this exercise, you might have certain thoughts and feelings that arise. Just let them come and go in their own good time. And keep your attention on the exercise. And if you realize that your attention has wandered, just briefly note what distracted you and then bring your attention back to what it is that you're eating.

(Mindful Eating exercise) Take hold of your food right now. I have a grape. What do you have?

I want you to look at it as if you're this curious human. Who's never seen such a thing before. And just notice the shape and the colour and the different shades of colour. Maybe there's parts where the light bounces off the surface. Just notice the weight of it in your hand right now, and feel the skin against your skin.

What's the texture like? What's the temperature like?

I want you to raise it to your nose and smell it. Notice the aroma.

Just raise it to your mouth and pause for a moment before biting into it. Just bring your attention to what's happening inside of your mouth.

Notice the salivation around your tongue and the urge to bite into it.

Now slowly bite it in half, noticing your teeth breaking through the skin and sinking into the flesh and the sound that makes and the sensation of sweetness on your tongue.

Notice your teeth meeting as you chew and you feel the food falling onto your tongue and the urge to chew it and swallow it. Don't swallow it yet.

Chew it slowly, noticing the taste and the texture. Notice the movement of your jaw and the sound that chewing makes, and the sensation of it breaking down. Notice how your tongue shapes the food.

Notice your urge to swallow. And as you swallow, Notice the movement in your throat and the sound it makes.

And after you've swallowed, pause and notice the way the taste gradually disappears from your tongue.

Notice your growing urge to eat the remaining half.

Now, as you eat the rest of your food in the same way, I'm going to sit here in silence and I want you to redo that on your own, looking at it like you're curious, the weight, the feel, the texture, the temperature, the smell. And as you bite into it, noticing what your mouth is doing, noticing the taste.

That concludes our mindfulness exercises for today. Remember you can come back to these at any time, or you can adapt these exercises in your own way. That's helpful to you in your daily life. Remember to take time to be present because your body will thank you for it. Thanks for joining me.

And until next time.