Sometimes it’s crazy down here in South Florida. Between the traffic and the heat and the economic growth, frankly it can be overwhelming at times.
I speak from experience, and it doesn’t help that my own personality tends toward – let’s just say – excitability.
But in the time I’ve gotten to know Dr. Ashwin Mehta, Medical Director of Integrative Medicine at UHealth, I’ve started to learn about something called “mindfulness,” and it’s given me a sense of calm and centeredness amid the chaos.
“Mindfulness is one of the pillars of integrative medicine. Integrative medicine is a wellness model. We empower our clients and patients with the information they will need to cope with all kinds of treatments, including cancer treatments,” Mehta said on a recent show.
“We define mindfulness as any method or practice which brings our focus and attention into the present moment. It’s a skill.
“The mind is like a monkey,” he added. “It’s jumping around from branch to branch and from one thought to the next. Mindfulness is a way of calming that monkey mind down.”
And Mehta said the physical benefits of mindfulness are indisputable.
“What we understand now from the latest medical research is the people who practice mindfulness practices actually have stronger immune systems than the people who don’t. You can imagine how important that is in the context of cancer treatment,” he said.
Mindfulness, Mehta said, is really a family of techniques, including breathing, guided imagery, creative visualization, traditional forms of meditation, devotional practices, etc. Of those, he said breathing and posture are a great place to start aiming for improvement.
Another key concept in mindfulness, Mehta said, is the idea of “letting go.” That is, shifting your attention from the demands of life – even for a few minutes – to do something beneficial for yourself.
“We’re so focused on the doing in this day and age. We’re so focused on achievement in this day and age. Meditation and relaxation exercises all involve a surrender. A starting point is letting go,” he said.
Click here to listen to my full interview with Dr. Ashwin Mehta, M.D., Medical Director of Integrative Medicine at UHealth.
