In focus: complementary therapies - meditation and mindfulness

[OvacomeSupport]

Hello

This week in our series of posts on complementary therapies, we’re looking at meditation and mindfulness. These involve using the mind to promote relaxation, sleep and general wellbeing.

Mindfulness means being fully present in the moment rather than thinking about the past or the future. Meditation is a way of focusing the mind, which can with practice help you to maintain mindfulness when you aren’t actively meditating (headspace.com/mindfulness ).

There are various different types of meditation and mindfulness practices, but their general aim is to train the mind to focus on one thing. This could be the breath, sensations in the body, an object such as a candle or a flower, an image such as a forest or a lake or a word or phrase. While the mind is focused, you allow any thoughts, feelings or sensations to come and go without giving them your full attention or judging them.

Most meditation and mindfulness practices involve sitting still and staying quiet, but there are also walking meditations or other practices involving movement such as tai chi, which is a sequence of movements performed very slowly, or chanting.

With practice, meditation and mindfulness techniques can calm the mind and enable you to focus on the present moment. This can help to avoid becoming caught up in thoughts of things that have happened in the past or worries about what might happen in the future. It has also been found to help with aspects of life with cancer such as pain, anxiety and fatigue (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl..., although more research is needed to confirm any benefits.

Mindfulness is based on ancient spiritual traditions, for example Buddhist meditation, but most modern techniques, for example Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, don’t include any religious or spiritual aspects. You can choose whether or not to have a spiritual or religious approach.

Meditation and mindfulness techniques can be difficult to learn at first, and many people find that they become distracted, frustrated or sleepy. It takes time for the mind to adapt. You can start by practising for a short time and gradually build up to avoid getting discouraged. It’s important to practice regularly to feel the benefits.

You may find it helpful to start by learning with a meditation teacher, who can guide you through the practice and give you advice on your experiences. There may also be public classes in your area. Many cancer centres offer courses or regular sessions designed for people affected by cancer.

There are also online courses and classes and meditation and mindfulness apps such as Headspace (headspace.com/), Calm (calm.com/breathe?from=/) and Insight Timer (insighttimer.com/). You can use these instead of going to a class or as a way of maintaining your practice once you’ve learned the techniques from a teacher. You can find teachers and online courses at bemindful.co.uk/

Although meditation is generally thought to be safe, as with any complementary therapy it’s important to let your treating team know if you’re thinking of using it.

If you have a mental health condition, it’s important to speak to your doctor and meditation teacher before starting. This is because focusing on the present moment and observing your thoughts could worsen symptoms of anxiety, depression, mania or delusions.

Clearing your mind and focusing on the present moment could also mean that you see any anxious or depressed feelings or negative thoughts more clearly. This could be distressing or disorienting at first. If you find that you feel anxious after meditating, you should speak to your meditation teacher or doctor.

You can find more information about meditation and mindfulness at:

macmillan.org.uk/cancer-inf...

about-cancer.cancerresearch...

If you would like to share your experiences of meditation and mindfulness or have any tips, please comment on this post. If you would like information or support, please contact our Support Line on 0800 008 7054 or email [e-mail].

Best wishes

Julia (Support Services Officer)