How mindfulness meditation can extend and revitalize your life.

If you’re reading my blog, there’s a good

chance that you’re not fully aware of what is happening right now and you are distracted by a torrent of thoughts and feelings.  Researchers from Harvard University have found that people spend 46.9% of their waking time thinking about something other than what they’re doing and that this generally leads to a state of unhappiness.  Furthermore, painful and unpleasant emotional states like dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety and depression can contribute to and accelerate the speed of cognitive decline.  It’s no wonder then that you may be searching for a way to help you improve your life satisfaction and enhance your cognitive abilities.  Fortunately, the simple skill of paying attention to and noticing your breath will help to restore you and may even extend your life. 

Research has found that learning and practicing mindfulness meditation (i.e., observing your breath and simply noticing your thoughts, emotions and sensations with curiosity and non-judgmentally) can lower your levels of stress, increase telomerase activity (i.e., your telomeres play a key role in the aging of your cells), enhance cognitive abilities like your memory and ability to focus and may even extend your lifespan by warding off the physiological effects of aging.^{1, 2, 3}  
  
This is significant news since research from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study has found that having early life experiences like physical, emotional or sexual abuse, having parents who divorced, abused alcohol and drugs or family mental illness significantly increases the likelihood that you will experience emotional and cognitive impairments, adopt heath risk behaviors, chronic disease and lead to premature death.⁴ 

To learn mindfulness meditation is simple but not easy.   Several resources exist, however; to support you and provide guidance as you cultivate a consistent practice.  The Center for Mindfulness, developed by Jon Kabat Zinn, offers an 8-week MBSR training program.  You can also find MBSR programs locally or online.  

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.

1. Epel, E, Daubenmier, J, Moskowitz, JT, Folkman, S, and Blackburn, E. “Can meditation slow rate of cellular aging? Cognitive stress, mindfulness, and telomeres.” Annals NY Academy of Science. (2009). 1172: 34–53. doi:  10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04414.Jacobs, TL, Epel, ES, Lin, J, Blackburn, EH, Wolkowitz, OM, Bridwell, DA et al. “Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators.” Psychoneuroendocrinology. (2011). 36(5) 664–681. 
2. Hölzel, BK, Carmody, J, Vangel, M, Congleton, C, Yerramsetti, SM, Gard, T, and Lazar, SW. “Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density.”  Psychiatry Research.  (2011). 191(1):36-43. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006. 
3. Kim, S, Bi, X, Czarny-Ratajczak, M, Dai, J, Welsh, DA, Myers, L, et al. “Telomere maintenance genes SIRT1 and XRCC6 impact age-related decline in telomere length but only SIRT1 is associated with human longevity.” (2012). Biogerontology.  13(2):119-31. doi: 10.1007/s10522-011-9360-5. 
4. Teicher, MH, Anderson, CM and Polcari, A. “Childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced volume in the hippocampal subfields CA3, dentate gyrus, and subiculum.” Proceedings in the National Academy of Science U S A. (2012). 109(9) 563-572. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1115396109.

The information, published and/or made available through the www.fullofradiance.com website, is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a physician-patient relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information in this post for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.  Any action on the reader’s part in response to the information provided in this blog is at the reader’s discretion.

How externalizing your awareness can rein in your mind's stories

If you experience bouts of anxiety, worry and

depression or you obsess with unproductive and painful thoughts, you’ll likely benefit by learning to cultivate and externalize your awareness.  You may believe that suppressing what your mind tells you or replacing your mind’s stories with better thoughts or self-affirmations will lead you to live your life in alignment with your values.  Long-term; however, trying to not to think about your mind’s many stories is not effective and very often increases your suffering.  

Research suggests that instead of helping you to experience more vitality, attempting to control your mind and get rid of the many painful thoughts and emotions that you experience will actually increase your pain (i.e., the rebound effect).¹ Rather than attempting to control your mind and attempting to suppress your painful private experiences, learning to monitor your thoughts and simply notice the frequency, duration and situations in which they occur is both simple and effective as it will allow  you to focus on creating a life of meaning and purpose.  

To separate your actions from your unproductive private experiences and help you to get into your life, you can self-monitor by physicalizing each occurrence of a painful thought or feeling with a tally counter.  Using this simple object will help you to interrupt any covert behavioral patterns that lead to your suffering, realign and proceed in the direction of what you value (e.g., being a loving parent, using your creativity in your work, helping other people in your community, being healthy in order to play with your children).  

While at first this may lead you to experience more discomfort as you realize how your control strategies have been ineffective in eliminating your pain, over the long term you will create a rich and meaningful life that measures up to your life’s purpose as you continue to self-monitor,  expand and externalize your awareness. 

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.  

1. Abramowitz , JS, Tolin, DF and Street, GP.   “Paradoxical effects of thought suppression: a meta-analysis of controlled studies.” (2001). Clinical Psychology Review, 21(5) 683-703.

 
The information, published and/or made available through the www.drjosesandoval.com website, is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a physician-patient relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information in this post for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.  Any action on the reader’s part in response to the information provided in this blog is at the reader’s discretion.

What are you feeding your "pets"?

Several health conditions and psychological symptoms originate in your gut.  Around the world, millions of people believe that you are what you eat.  A more accurate description; however, would be you are what your "pets"eat.  Consider that you are, in fact, only 10% human as your gut microbiome is home to trillions microorganisms (collectively known as your microbiome), with its own DNA.  The collective mass of microorganisms in your gut outnumber the total number of cells in your body by at least 10 to 1.  Your microbiome weighs on average of 3-6 pounds.  These microorganisms include bacteria, yeast, fungi, mold and parasites. The balance of these little “pets” goes a long way in determining your health.

Your gut is also where your enteric nervous system, or “second brain,” resides and is home to an abundance of neurons and produces an array of neurotransmitters.  Although capable of functioning independently, your enteric nervous system and central nervous system “talk” (i.e., via the vagus nerve) to one another all the time.  In fact, about 90% of your body’s serotonin (a feel good neurotransmitter) and 50% of your dopamine is produced in your enteric nervous system by your gut microbiome.¹

People who experience various digestive disorders and psychological syndromes including food allergies and intolerances, frequent gas and bloating, diarrhea and constipation, symptoms of anxiety or depression, schizophrenia and ADHD or who suffer from auto immune conditions frequently  have an imbalance of gut microorganisms; a condition known as gut dysbiosis.^2,3,4

Many lifestyle factors affect how your gut functions and the health of your gut microbiome.  The SAD (standard American diet) Western Diet  that is full of refined sugars and processed foods, stress, insufficient sleep, pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and birth control pills negatively impact the health of the friendly probiotic bacteria in your gut.

Animal studies have found that the administration of antibiotics leads to a significant increase in fearful behavior.  Conversely, the addition of probiotic supplements has been found to decrease such anxious behavior.⁵ Human studies have also found that the administration of beneficial probiotic supplements significantly reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression.³

Therefore, it is important to make sure that you include probiotic rich fermented foods and prebiotic sources of food in your diet in order to ensure optimal health and prevent many physical and mental health problems.⁶  Traditionally fermented foods, like sauerkraut, kim chi, drinks like kefir and kvass are rich sources of friendly bacteria and yeast and help to support your immune system because they contain many B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, digestive enzymes, lactase and lactic acid, and other immune chemicals that fight off harmful bacteria and cancer cells.   

Prebiotic foods  are foods that encourage the growth of beneficial  gut microorganisms and include raw onions, raw garlic, leeks, dandelion root, Jerusalem artichokes,  asparagus, Brussel sprouts, and fiber rich seeds like hemp, flax and chia.  Once these prebiotics reach your colon, they stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria - probiotics that occur naturally in the human gastrointestinal tract - and other beneficial microorganisms. They also increase the absorption of calcium in your bones and teeth.

To support your overall health and well-being, strive to eat multiple servings of probiotic and prebiotic rich foods every week.  You may also benefit from a quality probiotic supplement such as the spore based MEGA Sporebiotic or a soil based one such as Prescript Assist.

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.  

1.  Michael Gershon (1999).  The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understandingof Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine. 
2.  Messaoudi, M, Lalonde, R, Violle, N,  Javelot, H, Desor, D, Nejdi, A,  et al.  “Assessment of psychotropic-like properties of a probiotic formulation (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175) in rats and human subjects.”  (2011). British Journal of Nutrition. 105, 755–764. 
3. Neufeld, KA and Foster, JA.   “Effects of gut microbiota on the brain: Implications for psychiatry.”  (2009).   Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. 34(3); 230-1. 
4. Natasha Campbell-McBride, M.D. (2010).  Gut and PsychologySyndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D.,Depression, Schizophrenia. 
5. Bravo, JA, Forsythe, P, Chew, MV, Escaravage, E,  Savignac, HM, Dinan, TG, et al.  “Ingestion of Lactobacillus strain regulates emotional behavior and central GABA receptor expression in a mouse via the vagus nerve.” (2011). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108, 16050–16055. 
6.  Jeff D Leach. (2012) Honor Thy Symbionts. 

The information, published and/or made available through the www.fullofradiance.com website, is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a physician-patient relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information in this post for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.  Any action on the reader’s part in response to the information provided in this blog is at the reader’s discretion.