Have you considered how mindfulness exercises and autoimmunity are related? Join me as I discuss mindfulness- what it is, how it can be practiced and the various mindfulness exercises that can help with autoimmunity. Discover how mindfulness can help improve your autoimmune disorder and help on your healing journey.
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Podcast Transcript
?Hello, this is Anna Laura Brown, host of the Autoimmune Rehab Podcast, where we explore ideas, solutions, and helpful hints to help you in your autoimmune healing journey. We strive to transform your health and inspire helping you so that we can help you with your emotional healing and self-care, and some of your physical healing.
Things like diets, that kind of thing, which you know, you would find on. Podcast on autoimmune wellness. Find all the episodes with show notes@autoimmunerehab.com. And now without any further delay, let’s get started. This episode is sponsored by doTERRA essential Oils and Wellness products. Curious how essential oils can help you boost your immunity and help you sleep better and more.
Go to annalaura brown.com/essential oils. Let’s talk about it and request your free samples.
Hello ladies, and welcome to this episode of the Autoimmune Rehab Podcast front where you can find and listen to all the recordings and get in touch with me@autoimmunerehab.com. This episode is sponsored by doTERRA Oils. If you have tried essential oils yet, if you have tried essential oils but you haven’t tried doTERRA, you really are missing out.
Try them today and discover what you’ve been missing. I also offer free samples to those in the United States and free consultations worldwide. So if you are interested in learning more about how doTERRA essential oils can enhance your health and wellbeing, go to discover oils now.com or visit the link description for free consultation.
Okay, and now let’s get started with today’s episode. Okay, ladies. So today’s episode of Autoimmune Rehab, we are going to be talking about something that I think is somewhat of a buzzword and that a lot of us have heard about, but we may not know exactly what it means. We may not understand exactly how it impacts our life and exactly how it can help you with autoimmunity.
So this is gonna be the concept of mindfulness, and we’re gonna be talking about mindfulness. . We also will launch into some different mindfulness exercises and how those different exercises and activities can help us with our autoimmunity, as well as have a discussion about the different kinds of mindfulness, um, what it actually really is, and not just what people think it is, but what it really is, different ways to practice it, how mindfulness differs from meditation.
And how it can help you with your autoimmune condition. Okay, so to start with, let’s answer the question. What is mindfulness? Well, there are two different definitions according to the Oxford Dictionary of what mindfulness is. The first is the following. The quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.
And number two, a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations used as a therapeutic technique. So I found this pretty interesting because number one is obviously a little bit more vague and you know, can be used in the context of a lot of things, whereas the second definition, more or less describes.
The definition that is commonly used to describe what your mental state or your awareness is in while you’re meditating. And later on in a few minutes we will discuss, you know, the differences and similarities between mindfulness and mindfulness exercises and meditation. Okay. So, Now that we have that out of the way, and we have a little bit of a definition of what mindfulness is, let’s talk about some of the different mindfulness exercises and some of the different ways to practice mindfulness.
So the first way to practice mindfulness is really like the second definition says, is to meditate. You know, meditation is a form of mindfulness. . And so you know, that can be the first practice. The second way to practice mindfulness could be something along the lines of a lot of different breathing exercises, and sometimes people would like to combine meditation with breathing exercises.
Now, if you wanna have a really good example of a breathing exercise that you can try and you haven’t heard the episode yet, you can go back and listen to the episode that I did that was with the reflexologist, where we went through and we talked about reflexology. A few things like that. But then we also discussed that, at the end of that episode, she did an exercise on breathing, and I will include a direct link to that episode in the show notes so that you could go back and listen to that episode and get some ideas for breathing exercises.
Otherwise, you know, you could just go to Google or YouTube or even, you know, search for other podcasts and find some different breathing exercises and there are a lot of them out there. Also, I’ve noticed that a lot of the different apps. and programs that focus on or have different meditations, also include breathing exercises.
Or at the end of the day, you could do a really simple breathing exercise that you could make up yourself. And one of the ways that you could do that would be to just sit still with your eyes closed, relaxed, and then just breathe in and out 10 different times. So for example, like this,
Okay. So that’s one way to practice mindfulness and to have, you know, to go through this whole process of mind of a mindfulness exercise. Then another way to practice mindfulness would be through something like journaling. And There’s a magazine that I actually found out about, I found it on display at Whole Foods, and I’ve actually bought a couple of issues so far.
I haven’t actually subscribed yet, but they have some different kinds of journals and things that come out and they offer different themes and things like that. But this particular issue that I’m looking at, That was from, I believe it looks like September, 2022. So it’s a couple months old now. As of the date of this recording, it’s called the Breathe Mindfulness Journey, and it has on it different things.
So it has exercises for personal growth, pause and reflect, and build better habits. And then it’s got also a brainstorming list here on a hundred plus ways to find Peace. So if you do it correctly, journaling can also become a form of mindfulness and. I also find it a little bit ironic that here in Salt Lake City, Utah, where I’m from, there is a place called the Mindful Living Center.
So as you can imagine, they offer a lot of different health and wellness treatments, including things like yoga and sound bath classes. And that’s actually something I’d love to talk about on this podcast coming up. So, Stay tuned. Maybe I can get a lady who teaches the Sound Bath classes or you know, maybe somebody else who does sound bath classes to come on the podcast and interview her.
That would be amazing. That’s not something I’ve even attempted yet, but it’s something I definitely like to talk about. And you know, that’s, Sound baths or form meditation could also be a mindfulness exercise that you could consider. But anyhow, and then they have things like salt baths and massages and Himalayan salt rooms and meditation rooms and things like that.
And their name is literally mindful living. But anyhow, so this magazine, back to what I was saying, is actually called Breathe and. Is another name for what was called the original Mindfulness magazine, and this particular. , um, uh, issue, like I said, it’s called the Breathe Mindfulness Journal, and it has a lot of different things.
So, for example, it has a list of mindful moments and gives some different suggestions of different times throughout the day when you could practice mindfulness. So some of the ideas that are on her, it says, for example, run a warm bath at a time when you’re unlikely to be disturbed.
Get into a comfortable, po sitting position in the water. If you prefer to, you can recline, take three deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth to focus on your mind and calm your body. So that would be like breathing and then it has some additional steps here. . And then it has different questions for you to journal on and to come up with the answers.
And some of these are really good and are ones you may wanna write these down and then go find the answers. And this could in and of itself become a mindfulness exercise or a form of a mindfulness practice for you. And the first one is, why do you want to practice mindfulness? What time of day do you plan to practice?
and what markers can you build in the day to remind you to spend a moment being mindful? What positive changes do you notice after a mindful meditation? And what resources online or at local wellbeing centers can you access to enhance your experience of mindfulness? And then throughout it, they have additional exercises based on all different kinds of things.
And like I said, different journaling exercises and things like that. But in some ways, A mindfulness practice also could consist of you just getting a journal that has blank pieces of paper and writing it down. Another idea that could be similar is something, doing something like the morning pages. So this is a journaling technique that I have heard about that uh, basically what you do is in the morning, which is the name, morning pages, you just write down everything that comes to you.
and you just write it down to get it out and you may or may not necessarily save it, but it’s just a way to get things out. And some people will have limits and say like, you can’t write more than five pages. Some people will say, you have to write at least one page. That kind of thing. There’s different ways to practice it.
If you’re curious about that, you could just go in and Google the term morning pages and see what comes up. So that could be another example of a mindfulness practice or mindfulness exercise for you to consider. So anyhow, if you want some really, uh, detailed exercises and things like that, again, like I said, the magazine is called Breathe, otherwise known as the original mindfulness magazine.
So you could see that. Another exercise that they have here at the back of this particular issue is doing a body scan. So I’ve heard of a body scan being a really good mindfulness practice as well, and that’s a form of a meditation, but it’s basically where you start at different parts of your body. So for example, you start at the top of your body and your head and you focus on, you know, all the different things related to your head, how it feels, trying to help it improve better, maybe exercises, that kind of thing.
And then just kind of slowly go down until you. Sections of your body until you hover your feet. Then of course, yoga is also considered a mindfulness practice, and if you want some more information about how yoga can help and benefit your autoimmunity. I also did an interview with a lady who has been teaching yoga classes and doing yoga for autoimmunity for over 20 years, and so her episode is available on the podcast.
Like I said, you can find that episode as well@autoimmunerehab.com. So that would be another thing to do, or, you know, doing yoga either at home these days there’s unlimited resources. I know even my gym has yoga classes and I’ve started going to those about once every two weeks and find that that really helps, even though I’m not able to do all of the moves because of the amount of time you have to spend on your knees.
And I’m still recovering from my knee surgery. But I found, you know, that it still helps for me to get out there and do the stretching and engage in the mindfulness practice of doing yoga. So, you know, those are just some of the different ways of creating mindfulness. Really, at the end of the day. There are really unlimited ways that you could practice mindfulness.
The main idea is that you, you know, are mindfully aware, if you will, of your surroundings during that time. You are doing some kind of self-care relaxation. It may or may not involve meditation. Like I said, it may involve journaling. It may involve movement. Some kinds may, you know, involve just all different kinds of things.
And I’m sure if you wanted to really get a comprehensive list of all the different activities and practices and exercises that could be considered mindfulness, you could probably Google that. I’m not gonna cover every single concept and idea that could exist. These are just to give you some ideas. Okay?
So then a little bit, let’s talk about. The practice of meditation and how meditation is similar to mindfulness, as well as how it is different. So as you heard with the two definitions that I read directly from Google, one of the definitions seems to imply that mindfulness and meditation, you know, they sound really similar.
Like they’re also the same thing. So you know, in a sense you could say that meditation, like I said, is a form of mindfulness. And in that sense it’s the same. how meditation is different from mindfulness though, is that, or is mindfulness different from meditation rather? You could probably put it either way, that mindfulness is not only about meditation.
Mindfulness can, and really ideally, and for a lot of us should encompass all aspects of our life. We should be spending a lot of our time focused on, you know, mindfully doing, Find that one of the challenges and problems with our North American culture primarily, if you will, it’s a lot of the people in Europe and Asia and other countries and cultures throughout the world don’t have as big as big of a problem.
But for a lot of us is that we just kind of. Sensely go throughout our day like robots with everything that we do at work and everything else, and we’re not really pained, mindful, concentrated, or good at everything that we do in all of our actions. So that leads me to another concept, and that is the concept of mindfulness and food.
Now, this is something that I know a lot of us are probably not aware of. It’s not something that I had really even. Occurred to me until I actually enrolled in the thyroid health course with Andrea Beman. Now Andrea Bemans, for anybody who has attended the Institute of Integrative Nutrition for their health coaching program, which is where I went to, and I graduated from there in the summer of 2015.
Yeah, she’s a guest author and trainer lecturer. She also, you know, has written a book called The Healthy Happy Thyroid that I can link to in the show notes. But yeah, and in part of what she talks about in that online course about how to help heal yourself and help heal your thyroid is the concept of mindfulness and food.
And basically what this is, is when you are cooking and preparing your. Or even when you’re doing your shopping and your meal planning and preparation and you’re deciding what you’re going to eat for the coming week, or you know, even the coming day that you are practicing mindfulness with that activity and you are really thinking about, you know, is this really the food that I want to eat?
Is this really the food that I’m going to enjoy? Is this food really going to, uh, benefit my overall health and wellbeing? and you know, really put mindfulness and some serious thought into your food and your preparation. And then to sit there and look at your food before you start eating it and really, you know, be grateful for the food and.
Um, if it’s part of your belief system, say a prayer over the food to bless the food, to help your body absorb it, and to, you know, in other words, just really be mindfully and cautiously aware of what it is you’re eating, why you’re eating it, and if it’s good and healthy for your body, that kind of thing.
And she says that by doing this process, you can really make it so that your body will accept the food better. You will digest the food better. You will have. A lot fewer issues with heartburn after eating and other kinds of challenges around food. And she says that this can be one of the reasons that a lot of people develop a lot of allergies and food sensitivities or you know, that we people end up having really severe digestive issues, is that we’re not being mindful.
About our food and the food that we eat. And I really do think to a large degree that she’s really onto something there. So, you know, this is something that I have really strived to be more aware of and have, you know, tried to really focus on, especially when I’m getting ready to build my menu plans and do my shopping, things like that.
Tune into my body through mindfulness and say, you know what body, what do I want to eat in the next week? And what do I really feel like would be good and helpful and beneficial for me? And not just what do I think I’m gonna eat because of what’s easiest to cook or because of what is the cheapest or because of.
What is the quickest or because of what I think are my favorite recipes and what I’ve been eating for years, all that kind of thing. So that’s just another concept for you to think about. And especially if it comes to autoimmunity. If you have OIDs or Graves disease, which are the thyroid autoimmune disorders, or you know, really any other kind of autoimmune disorder, you really wanna think about, you know, what are your mindsets and actions around food.
And you know, this isn’t something that. Like I said, a lot of us are focused on, but it’s really something that we really should be focusing more on. So let’s talk then a little bit briefly about how mindfulness exercises and having mindfulness practice can help everyone. And then I will conclude this podcast episode by talking about why it’s really a must for those with autoimmune conditions.
And you’ve probably already gotten a little bit of this from it already, but it can help everyone because a lot of us these days are rushing around too much. We’re too stressed out. We’re not taking the time to mindfully consider what it is we’re doing throughout our day and whether it’s our food or our exercise or our self-care, that kind of thing.
We just, we’re almost acting like robots rather than real human beings. . And so by being more mindful, we can have less stress and be healthier. So why is it a must for autoimmune conditions? Well, , they say that stress can be one of the root causes and the things that lead to autoimmune conditions and quite frankly, do a lot of other health challenges as well.
And. So practicing mindfulness is really a must. If you want to help heal your autoimmune condition, you know, you need to be mindful about what it is you’re doing to your body. What kinds of things are you putting in your body? What are you? And with that, I don’t just mean food, I also mean, you know, things like supplements and.
Uh, drinks and or, you know, things that you put on your skin, skincare products and other things that, you know, go in and out your body that can. Create toxins and things like that that can make autoimmune conditions worse. So, you know, at its core, mindfulness also focuses on the fact that our body really knows what we need.
And you know, anybody who’s ever said anything or is familiar with any kind of muscle testing will know that that’s true as well. And so mindfulness really is a must with autoimmune conditions as well, because the reality is that autoimmune conditions are really tricky and it’s not something that most doctors do.
Are well informed on, and it’s not something that really any doctor is gonna be able to heal a hundred percent. And, uh, you are the only one that’s really gonna know innately what it is that you need to do to heal from your condition. And so learning how to practice mindfulness and how to do some of these exercises to help you have less.
To help you have less anxiety in your life and to help you heal from your autoimmune condition and to help your body and your mind and spirit to become more one, and to help yourself know and understand what it is that you need to do for your autoimmune condition is just really a must. So as to action steps for today’s listening, today’s podcast, there’s a couple of recommendations that I have.
For you to help you start implementing mindfulness, especially if this is something that you haven’t really done. In the past. So the first thing is to make a plan, you know, to decide when it is gonna be easier for you to engage in some kind of mindfulness. And for a lot of us, I know that it’s gonna be easier to think of it in terms of doing a practice with things like meditation or journaling, things like that.
And so start deciding, you know, what action step are you gonna take on a daily basis to engage in some sort of a mindfulness exercise or mindfulness practice, and. Then, you know, make a plan and start doing it and decide, you know, how are you gonna do the meditation? Are you gonna find one online? Do you have a certain app that you’re going to use?
Are you going to go attend a class somewhere? That kind of thing. And how are you gonna engage in journaling or, you know, mindfulness about your food? Things like that. And as you know, I’ve pointed out. Over time, it’s a good idea to try to be engaged more and more mindfulness multiple times throughout the day.
But in the beginning, you know, if this is something that’s new to you, you’ll wanna develop at least some kind of a mindfulness exercise that you can do on a daily basis. So that would be my challenge for you as we conclude this podcast is for you to decide. Well, you can do mindfulness exercises every day.
And you know, like I said, you can shake it up, do some different ideas, and get busy. And get busy practicing mindfulness and see how it changes your life. And if you would like to get in touch with me for some brainstorming ideas, like I said, I do offer free discovery sessions or consultations, however you wanna put it, and we can have a conversation about that.
And see if it’s a fit for us to work together. So take care ladies. Have a great day and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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