TC North //July 7, 2015//
If you’re feeling stressed — or worse, burned out — you know how it can affect your job performance and your home life.
But relieving that stress is easier than you think. And research proves it.
A new study at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center supports the growing body of good research demonstrating that mindfulness training decreases the response to stress. Members of the medical school’s intensive care unit participated in an eight-week mindfulness-based training, which included meditation, breathing exercises, yoga and gentle stretching.
Study participants completed a questionnaire about the stress level before and after the eight-week training. Researchers also collected saliva samples to study the biomarkers of stress reactivity.
The findings were amazing.
At the end of the study, the participants reported no change in how much stress they had in their job. After all, they were still dealing with life-and-death situations and decisions. The measures of stress reactivity in the participant’s saliva, however, decreased 40 percent and a comparison control group showed no change at all.
The 40 percent decrease in the biomarkers of stress reactivity reflects a change in the sympathetic nervous system, which controls excitement (the flight-or-flight survival response). Another astonishing part of this finding is that the participants weren’t aware of this change, but their bodies certainly were!
Here’s a beginning breathing exercise to help enhance mindfulness. This breath meditation exercise will take you to the next level:
Level I+ Beginner Breath Relaxation: using all of your senses to enhance awareness
Developing mindfulness by paying attention to your breath gives you much greater control of your stress reactivity, just like the ICU study participants. Everyone can gain much greater control over their stress reactivity and, therefore, their emotions. How will you do it?