Bunjil Holistic Health

Stress and chronic stress is a highly prevelant global health problem in todays modern society. With there being a large number of outside stressor and constant bombardment from our electronic devices, it can be hard to silence our mind and be present in the moment. This constant stress can caused disregulation in the way the body works causing issues with brain function, immune function, cardiovascular function and gastrointestinal function (Bains & Sharkey, 2022; Brzozowski et al., 2016; Huerta-Franco, 2013; Madison & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2019; Maleki et al., 2012; Matthews et al., 2004).

Mindfulness is a term used to describe the ability to hold attention and awareness in the current moment without laxity or excitation. It is a practice that can allows a person to be aware of their experiences, thoughts and emotions without judgement. This may be part of its positive effects on mental health with its ability to help people with tendacies to avoid, suppress or over express distressing emotions.

Research has found that the use of mindfulness based interventions have been moderatley effective in reducing; stressed, anxious and depressive symptoms in individuals (Baer, 2009; dos Santos et al., 2016; Garland et al., 2017; Khoury et al., 2015; Malinowski, 2013). So for individuals suffering from constant life stressors incorporating mindfulness practices into everyday life could be helpful in managing stress.

Some forms of mindfulness practices could include mindfulness meditation, midnful breathing and sensory exercises. Below are some basic mindfulness practices that can be a good strating point:

• 4,7,8 breathing. Breath in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds and breath out for 8 seconds to bring awareness back to your breathing when you feel stress taking over.
• 5 senses exercise. Using the five senses count backwards from five; 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste

Youtube and Spotify are great places to start in terms of mindfulness meditations and other forms of mindfulness scripts to help in relaxing the mind and body.

References

Baer, R. A. (2009). Self-Focused Attention and Mechanisms of Change in Mindfulness-Based Treatment. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 38(sup1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506070902980703

Bains, J. S., & Sharkey, K. A. (2022). Stress and immunity—The circuit makes the difference. Nature Immunology, 23(8), 1137–1139. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-022-01276-1

Brzozowski, B., Mazur-Bialy, A., Pajdo, R., Kwiecien, S., Bilski, J., Zwolinska-Wcislo, M., Mach, T., & Brzozowski, T. (2016). Mechanisms by which Stress Affects the Experimental and Clinical Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Role of Brain-Gut Axis. Current Neuropharmacology, 14(8), 892–900. https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159X14666160404124127

dos Santos, T. M., Kozasa, E. H., Carmagnani, I. S., Tanaka, L. H., Lacerda, S. S., & Nogueira-Martins, L. A. (2016). Positive Effects of a Stress Reduction Program Based on Mindfulness Meditation in Brazilian Nursing Professionals: Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation. EXPLORE, 12(2), 90–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2015.12.005

Garland, E. L., Hanley, A. W., Baker, A. K., & Howard, M. O. (2017). Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Mindfulness as a Treatment for Chronic Stress: An RDoC Perspective. Chronic Stress, 1, 247054701771191. https://doi.org/10.1177/2470547017711912

Huerta-Franco, M.-R. (2013). Effects of occupational stress on the gastrointestinal tract. World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology, 4(4), 108. https://doi.org/10.4291/wjgp.v4.i4.108

Khoury, B., Sharma, M., Rush, S. E., & Fournier, C. (2015). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 78(6), 519–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.03.009

Madison, A., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2019). Stress, depression, diet, and the gut microbiota: Human–bacteria interactions at the core of psychoneuroimmunology and nutrition. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 28, 105–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.01.011

Maleki, N., Becerra, L., & Borsook, D. (2012). Migraine: Maladaptive Brain Responses to Stress: October 2012. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 52, 102–106. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2012.02241.x

Malinowski, P. (2013). Neural mechanisms of attentional control in mindfulness meditation. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2013.00008

Matthews, K. A., Katholi, C. R., McCreath, H., Whooley, M. A., Williams, D. R., Zhu, S., & Markovitz, J. H. (2004). Blood Pressure Reactivity to Psychological Stress Predicts Hypertension in the CARDIA Study. Circulation, 110(1), 74–78. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.0000133415.37578.E4