The Power of The Present
After struggling for months with intense neurological pain that was turning my life upside down, I hit rock bottom. I was at the point where the only thing I felt was pain, and the only thing I did was try to ease the pain. My constant attempts to “fix” this new reality led to more frustration and anxiety when the attempts “failed”. These efforts caused me to lose touch with the present and any hope, or beauty that it had to offer. I began to realize that I was never going to be able to “fix” reality in a lasting manner. Each time I failed to alleviate the pain, I was digging myself into deeper despair. At the same time I came to this realization, I received another rare diagnosis. This recent diagnosis hit me like a wave, but it caused me to take a further step back and see the big picture. After many years of failed medical treatments, I recognized that even if certain treatments did help, the real way to change my life was going to have to come from within. It was a hard insight to accept, but I knew from personal experience that trying to fight reality wasn’t working.
All day, in attempts to rehabilitate myself I was constantly trying to use some mind-body technique to re-frame my perception of pain. One idea I had never entertained was the idea of not doing anything! I had never thought about not fighting the pain and instead letting everything be as is. Two weeks ago, that all changed as I decided to take on a more formal commitment to letting go. After hearing about Jon Kabat-Zinn’s 8-week Mindfulness Stress-Based Reduction Program (MSBR)*, I decided to enroll. I could not be happier that I did.
Now as I embark on week three of the program and take on the challenge of living in the moment, I have become curious. What does research show about the physiological effects of mindfulness? In the first few MBSR sessions, my instructor listed some of the benefits including “reducing blood pressure, helping manage anxiety, depression and stress and mitigating the pro-inflammatory cytokine process” that perpetuates so many diseases. But being a rather curious, science-oriented person, I wanted to dig deeper because what I am experiencing seems potentially life-changing.
Lack of a standard scale and the wide array of different types of mind-body techniques makes meta-analysis of interventions difficult. Yet many individual studies on meditation and mindfulness do exist. Most of them revolve around the effects on pain, or depression or stress levels. But many doctors and scientists are beginning to expand their research, examining the effects of meditation and mind-body practices on things such as cellular activity and even gene expression. Despite lack of coordination, independent research studies and compilations of data continue to point to the profound power of mind-body practices, from the whole-body down to the cellular level.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of the MSBR program, has compiled many research studies on the effects of MSBR on chronic pain conditions. The repeated positive results of such studies shine as rays of hope for any patient searching for an inexpensive, and safe way to significantly reduce pain and associated disability and psychological impact. In his book, Full Catastrophe Living, Zinn cites one study that demonstrated that independent of the type of pain condition, three-quarters of chronic pain patients saw a 33 percent or greater decrease on the Pain Rating Index (PRI). A further 61 percent of MSBR participants saw a 50 percent or greater reduction on the PRI after completing the MBSR program. These results are clinically significant and were achieved in just 8 weeks. On top of this, the study also demonstrated a 30 percent increase in patients’ abilities to carry out activities of daily living and a 55 percent reduction in depressive or negative mood states. These improvements held up and in some cases were even built upon at a four-year follow up period, demonstrating the potentially long-lasting, powerful impact of the MSBR program.
Another study divided pain clinic patients participating in a 10-week pain program into 2 groups. The control group was treated with “standard medical protocols (medication, injections, etc.) as well as supportive therapies such as physical therapy”. The treatment group received these treatments in addition to participating in the MSBR program. At the end of 10 weeks, the MSBR group reported a 36 percent improvement measured on the McGill-Melzack Pain Rating Index. The control group did not demonstrate improvement. Mood was the leading improved factor with an 87 percent increase in positive mood states reported by the MSBR group, but only a 22 percent improvement reported by the control group. Another measure of great importance was the 77 percent improvement in psychological distress that the meditators enjoyed. Unfortunately the non-meditators saw only an 11 percent decrease in psychological distress. What was especially interesting was that the control group reported feeling basically no improvement in pain levels despite intense physiotherapy. This further demonstrates the power of the mind in the mind-body connection.
Further studies have corroborated mindfulness as an effective technique for the treatment of pain conditions that cannot be medically explained, as well as functional syndromes including fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. In one randomized-control trial, patients who employed mindfulness demonstrated reduced disability and lowered hospital care costs. On the other hand, patients who were receiving only specialized care saw no statistically significant changes in their physical health. Furthermore, the outcomes of this randomized-control trial were sustained at a 15-month follow-up.
Far too many Americans suffer the consequences of stress. And being in a prolonged fight-or-flight is not just a transient issue, it can be dangerous. As a known risk factor for cardiac disease, anxiety, depression, immunological issues and a host of other diseases, stress impacts the inflammatory cycle, which can have very damaging effects on the body. In a Healthline article, the author, Dr. Matthew Thorpe, emphasizes the beneficial influence such awareness can have on reducing stress levels. He explains that formal meditation practices have been shown to mitigate pro-inflammatory markers (called cytokines) which are directly involved in perpetuating the inflammatory cycle. Thus pointing to the deep physiological impact of mindfulness and the direct influence of mindfulness on wellbeing.
More robust findings encourage further exploration and the addition of mind-body practices into the practice of mainstream medicine. A brief meta-analysis by Elisa Kozasa et al. printed in BioMed Research International found that mind-body practices “suggest numerous mechanisms of action at multiple levels including gene expression at the cellular level; interactions among central brain regions with neoplastic changes; and top-down and bottom-up feedback loops between the brain and the body, particularly via the nervous system, interoceptive communication and circulating neurohormones”. These finding suggest that mind-body practices and techniques can alter both the brain and body on cardiovascular, respiratory, hormonal, immunologic, neurologic, and gastrointestinal levels. Results of different mind-body practices have yielded a variety of benefits, from increased kinesthetic awareness to reduced anxiety. Yet as concluded by Kozasa and her team, more intimate study is needed. As further noted by the authors, determining the impact of distinctive types of mind-body practices is very relevant as it will allow for them to be expanded upon and made applicable to diverse populations.
Perhaps the most fascinating research, as briefly mentioned above, is that mindfulness has the ability to alter the expression of genes. In 2013, University of Wisconsin Center for Healthy Minds published the results of a study collaborated upon by scientists from Wisconsin, France and Spain which indicated that intensive mindfulness practice altered the human genome. This effect was observed in a group of experienced meditators after rigorous day-long “mindfulness practice”. The researchers noted that the meditators had decreased levels of RIPK2 and COX2 which are pro-inflammatory genes. Additionally, HDAC genes, which act by detaching acetyl groups from genes to effectively alter the transcription and expression of other genes, were affected in the meditation group. This demonstrates that mindfulness actually impacts epigenetic (which is concerned with the “turning on and off” of certain genes). This noteworthy discovery validates the notion that living in the present has the power to alter the human genome in real time and therefore could play a key role in the prevention and modification of human disease.
So, whether you want to reduce your stress level, improve your pain levels without the aid of pharmaceuticals and doctor visits, help dig yourself out of depression, directly influence your genetics or just promote your overall well-being and quality of life, consider taking on a mind-body practice and reaping the rewards of living moment-to-moment.
*For more information on MSBR courses, Google search “MSBR programs” in your area.