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My name is Amanda, I started the IHP program in 2018 and will be graduating this semester. I will be graduating with my IHP degree and Wellness Coaching Certificate.

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I chose Mindfulness Meditation (MM) because I think it is very interesting how your mindset drastically impact your reality. Taking time to slow down and be present with yourself opens the door to experiencing life in a whole new way. MM pertains to Lifestyle Medicine because is  easily accessible, inexpensive and a non-invasive way to combat stress.
Mindfulness has been practiced for thousands of years in yoga and various religious practices.

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Physical Activity, Mindfulness Meditation or Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback for Stress Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2015)

This study mentions the negative impacts of long-term chronic stress on the body. Things like, high blood pressure, dysregulated immune system.

27 Participants took workshops where they learned why mindfulness is helpful in addition to techniques like focusing on the breath, mindful walking and body scan. They were given CDs with guided meditations to take home and do daily for 5 weeks.

After the participants showed a reduction in stress and increase in well-being. Pre test showed a mean of 15.41 and post test showed a mean on 11.52. However, long term effects were not measured.

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Mindful Emotion Regulation: Exploring the Neurocognitive Mechanisms Behind Mindfulness (2015)

This article looked at how the brain is affected by MM by reviewing many different studies on the Psychological and Neural  mechanisms behind MM.

Conducting brain scans on experienced meditators shows that many areas of the brain are activated or enlarged. Areas that deal with emotional regulation and cognitive control are activated during meditation. Regularly practicing MM would suggest that when emotional thoughts interfere with rational thought, the anterior cingulate cortex can better regulate attention by altering the neural system to solve the problem with cognitive control as a primary response.

When an unpleasant image was shown to meditators and non-meditators, it was found that both groups experienced a similar level of arousal. However, the group of meditators were able to lower their arousal level better than the control group.

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Application of what I learned in the future

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Application of what I learned in the future

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Lifestyle Medicine is something that I am very passionate about. In the future, I would like to become a certified Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner to further my education as a Wellness Coach.

I plan on using MM in my daily life as a tool to manage my stressors. By becoming more familiar with this technique, I will be able to better share it with my future clients.

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Conclusion: what I learned, where I am headed

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Conclusion: what I learned, where I am headed

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This class helped solidify my belief that lifestyle habits are the root cause of almost all chronic disease. I loved learning science based facts about how lifestyle impacts emotional and physical wellbeing, as well as tools we can share with clients and use in our personal lives. The textbook offered great coaching tools and reminders. It is something that I will definitely refer back to and carry with me into my future.

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Grecucci, A., Pappaianni, E., Siugzdaite, R., Theuninck, A., & Job, R. (2015). Mindful Emotion Regulation: Exploring the Neurocognitive Mechanisms behind Mindfulness. BioMed Research International, 2015, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/670724

Zwan, J., Vente, W., Huizink, A., Bögels, S., & Bruin, E. (2015). Physical Activity, Mindfulness Meditation, or Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback for Stress Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback, 40(4), 257–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-015-9293-x