14 - Mindfulness in Daily Life

mindfulness

It’s knowing that you are exactly where you should be this moment and appreciating this moment, engaging in activities with full focus of attention

Mindfulness doesn’t just mean “noticing things”

It’s about being present with experience in a way that’s much more vivid, immediate, and real

Even “negative emotions” are perceived as juicy experiences that are “OK”

Research has indicated that the emotion that confers the greatest health benefits may be

awe

Participants who scored high on awe had the lowest levels of interleukin-6, which is tied to inflammation

Mindfulness is similar in certain ways to Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow

found that happiness depends on the ability to immerse oneself in the flow of focused activity

flow

a state devoid of emotional static, save for a highly motivating feeling of mild ecstasy. This feeling seems to be a by-product of the attentional focus that is a prerequisite of flow and is associated with a lessening of cortical arousal.

keys to finding flow

have a clear set of goals

structure tasks so that they are challenging but not too challenging

choose activities that are active rather than passive

engage in social interactions

neuroimaging research on flow

fmri study

Subjective ratings of flow experience are significantly associated with:

Increased activation in:

→ Inferior frontal gyrus: deeper sense of cognitive control

→ Putamen: motor planning

Decreased activation of multiple regions of frontal cortex, in particular, the medial prefrontal cortex (self-referential processing)

Decreased activation of the amygdala (negative arousal)

Increased electrodermal activity: increased overall sympathetic arousal –

despite decreased emotional arousal

other research findings regarding flow

Fronto-insular cortex may initiate control signals that disengage activity of task irrelevant DMN regions

This shift in engagement is accompanied by a shift from internally to externally focused attention

associated with activation of reward-related brain strucutres (striatum)

Lastly, description of the flow experience as a merging of actions and awareness seem to parallel deep meditative states experienced by long-term meditation practitioners that are associated with high levels of gamma-wave activity

gamma waves

type of very high-frequency brain wave

Size of the gamma wave is related to the number of neurons firing in sync

Greater synchrony between various sections of the brain indicates greater integration of cognitive and affective functions and less dissociation

MIT neuroscientists found that exposing mice to strobe lights and clicking sounds at frequencies that stimulate gamma waves

reduced levels of beta-amyloid associated with Alzheimer’s and improved cognitive function

fMRI research indicates that compassion practice is associated with

Heart rate elevation

Neuro-cardiac coupling: coupling of activity in the insula with heart rate 

Moreover, these effects were significantly more pronounced in expert meditators than in novices

EEG studies by Richard Davidson found that meditation practice is associated

with increased left prefrontal activity

left prefrontal cortex brain activity is known to be associated with positive outlook and feelings of happiness and well-being

elderly Tibetan monk in one of his studies showed much greater predominance of activity in the left prefrontal than any of the other people previously tested

Paul Ekman found enhanced ability to

identify microexpressions in meditators

The two experienced Western meditators whom Ekman tested achieved results that were far better than those of 5000 participants previously tested

The ability to recognize such fleeting facial expressions has been associated with a capacity for empathy and insight, as well as openness to new experiences, intellectual curiosity, and general reliability and efficiency

research issues in meditators

lack of appropriate controls

it’s not clear precisely which meditation practice(s) may be contributing to those effects