The eternally elusive present: paying attention to it through breathing exercises

Stay present and take a mini-vacation through a short mindful meditation.

It is natural that head trauma from a serious accident would show up on neuroimaging. But did you know that psychological trauma can also manifest as damage to areas of the brain?

Specifically, the volume of the hippocampus (involved in memory) is reduced, which may limit proper assessment and categorization of trauma survivors’ experiences. They also observed increased activation in the amygdala, an area involved in fight, flight, and freeze responses to stress, and decreased activity in Broca’s area, involved in language production, which may explain the difficulties survivors sometimes face. You may have. Describe and communicate your experiences.

Mindful meditation and breathing exercises are one way to try to live in the moment despite traumatic memories and anxious expectations of what might happen in the immediate future. How and why does it work?

Think of your brain as a “prediction machine.” Create a map of “now” By envisioning what will happen next.There aren’t that many plan but Are expected The next action immediately after that. Violations of this predictive framework are due to traumatic memories or “triggers,” i.e., environmental stimuli that remind us of the traumatic event (e.g., a car backfiring that sounds like a gunshot or a firework that sounds like a bomb). Even so, a startle response may occur. (It will come off).

When traumatic memories surface, they are not always neatly compartmentalized by their original time and place. One may feel like it is happening now. When a person relives the memory, they may want to fight, run away, or freeze in place (Young et al., 2011). Or you may become very anxious that the thought of hearing loud noises will trigger a planned shopping trip. Or you might experience people being crushed in a store, numb to something that hasn’t happened yet.

Breathing exercises have been shown to be effective for people struggling with anxiety, panic, and traumatic memories (Fincham et al., 2023). When you focus on inhaling, silently and slowly counting to 4, and then exhaling (perhaps slowly counting to 5 or 6), your brain enters a highly integrated state. Predict The next moment. This is because when it comes to breathing, it can literally be done while you are sleeping, so it is the method of least resistance. With breathwork, you simply do it consciously and mindfully. The focus is on breathing, the experience of the diaphragm expanding and contracting, and sensing what is happening around you at the moment (e.g. the sound of a car passing by, the clock ticking on the wall). , you can notice the sound of someone doing something (like there’s something in the next room), let go of that thought).

3 tips for meditation beginners.

Mindful meditation calls for careful attention to the moment-to-moment flow of both internal and external experience. This recognition has the following characteristics:

1. There is receptive For experience, non-judgmental (i.e. eliminate the inner critic) and don’t interfere (Write down your thoughts, feelings, and observations and let them go, continuing to focus on your breathing).
2. self-compassion is very important. It’s not about doing breathing exercises “perfectly,” nor is it about realizing when you’re doing something wrong. Expect your mind to drift off. This does not indicate that you are confused. Change your focus repeatedly, without criticism or judgment. When your mind wanders (and it will continue to do so), gently and thoughtfully bring your attention back to your breath. Intrusive thoughts can be labeled as “thinking” or “worrying.”
3. Be generous and kind to yourself. Resist the common coping styles of blaming and self-criticism (you know this if you tend to do those things often). Now is the time to relax and take a break from blame and “beating yourself up.”

The great thing about breathwork is that you can do it for 1, 3, or 5 minutes at any time during the day (before you do a task, at work, during a break, when you get home, etc.). Mindful meditation can be practiced anywhere and can be a relaxing way to take a break from a stressful day or to ground yourself before changing jobs or roles (such as traveling from work to home). It’s possible. try it.

References