Mindfulness Part One

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. - Jon Kabat-Zinn Founder of the Mindfulness Movement

I recently attended a class called "Mindfulness for the Spa Professional". The keynote speaker was a very well known expert in the skin care industry named Rebecca Gadberry. Having known her from the Cosmetic Chemistry class that she had taught at UCLA, I was very excited to see her speak on the subject of mindfulness.

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is being fully present in the moment that you are in right now, not thinking about the past or the future. It is experiencing the moment that you are in right now without putting any label or judgement on what is happening. Being human beings, we love label things as "good" or "bad" which is really just our perception. Mindfulness is about the singular experience of being curious about one thing, similar to the experience of making the bed in the morning without thinking about all of the other things you may have to do later that day; you are concentrating only on making the bed. It sounds simple but in practice it is very difficult to do successfully.

The latest research shows that practicing mindfulness can actually affect the physiology of our bodies. The brain's prefrontal cortex is responsible for attention span, social interactions and motivation. The hippocampus, located at the back of the brain, is responsible for learning and memory. The hippocampus is attached to the amygdala of the brain which is affected by emotions and stress. When we are exposed to stress our amygdala expands, secretes stress hormones, like cortisol, into our bodies and thins out the creative parts of the brain.

Stress can have many negative affects on us like having less ability to focus, less creative thoughts, feelings of depression, anxiety, being overwhelmed, high blood pressure and breakouts. This also includes biological low level affects like telomere shortening which can shorten your lifespan.

The good news is that there are very simple basic things that we can do in order to reverse these negative affects. One such measure is slow and deep breathing. We tend to take very short shallow breaths throughout the day. Taking six-count breaths: four counts on the inhale, pause at the top, then exhaling for six counts. Do this for one minute. It's okay if you don't execute the breathing perfectly, and your mind may start to wander, but just let your thoughts go and bring your attention back to the breath every time you feel yourself starting to lose focus. Strengthening your mind is like strengthening a muscle, think of these breathing exercises as training. I think of softening my chest in order to breathe deeply into the belly area on the inhale, and then I feel everything soften on the exhale, letting go of any of the tightness in my body.

I feel it is part of my job and responsibility be present for my clients when they come in to see me. Is that always easy? Of course not, but what I have learned over the years of being a licensed skin care therapist is that being present and mindful is a skill that can improve the more you work at it.

On of my favorite techniques that I have been implementing into my daily routine is a powerful exercise called the G.L.A.D Technique from www.healthyplace.com. You could write these down in a journal at the end of the night, you could say them into a voice memo on your phone, or you could just say them to yourself after you lay down to go to sleep.

• G: One thing you are Grateful for that is relevant to your day.
• L: One thing you Learned today. By being curious it allows you to see that each day is full of new things.
• A: One small Accomplishment and it doesn't have to be huge, like "I chose to drink an extra 16 oz of water today." Yay! Go you!
• D: One thing of delight that toucheD you today, anything that that made you laugh or smile.

Integrating mindfulness practice into your every day activities can allow for you to enjoy life to its fullest, and improve your health both inside and out!