SEARCHHow to Change Text Size
Now with this responsive web design, you can easily change the text size to fit your eyesight needs.
If you browse on a desktop computer, a modern web browser will allow you to hold down the Ctrl key (Command key on a Macintosh) and press the + or - key to increase or decrease the text size, and 0 to go back to the default size.
On a smartphone or a tablet, you can simply pinch open on the screen to zoom in (i.e. to enlarge) and pinch close to zoom out (i.e. to reduce) everything.
You may also change the text size from the menu.
On the Page menu, select Zoom, then Larger.
Being in a busy city with a hustling way of living, we are easily getting exhausted and trapped in the episodes of unhappiness. We may not be really present for much of our lives and we may also lose touch with what is going on around us. Living on “automatic pilot” mode of mind, we may have difficulties in getting what we want and achieving what we desire. The more effort we pay to control our life which is apparently uncertain and unpredictable, the more negative feelings may be resulted, such as being depressed, helpless and restless. Increasing scientific studies have demonstrated that regular practice of mindfulness techniques not only enhances psychological well-being but also results in significant stress and pain reduction. Applications of mindfulness training in psychological interventions on various emotional disorders are also growing with promising outcomes.
Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally (Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2013). It enables us to keep in touch with our experiences in the present moment with openness and acceptance and it also allows us to develop more skilful choices and responses. Although mindfulness is a form of meditation originally developed in the Buddhist traditions of Asia, it involves a systematic training to increase self-awareness and to develop wisdom in our lives, based on our inner capacities for paying attention, awareness and insight, and hence could be practiced by people with various religious backgrounds.
When we enter a phase in our lives that we are vulnerable to emotional distress, we lose touch with what is going on around us. It is a sort of tunnel vision that we can only see part of the landscape and we do not notice the moment when a spiral of low mood is starting. Patterns of negative thoughts and reactions may be triggered when we are under stress and hence our emotions and interpersonal relationship may be affected. Mindfulness practice helps us to see more clearly the patterns of the mind; and to learn to recognise when our mood begins to go down. It frees us from the compulsive and reactive pattern of our minds and hence we can ‘nip it in the bud’ much earlier than before. The current research does suggest that mindfulness practices are useful in the treatment of pain, stress, anxiety, depressive relapse, among others and they can also enhance quality of living and sense of well-being. Mindfulness has also been investigated for its potential benefit for individuals who do not experience these disorders, as well, with positive results. Mindfulness practice improves the immune system and alters activation symmetries in the prefrontal cortex, a change previously associated with an increase in positive affect and a faster recovery from a negative experience.
The MBSR was founded by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 at the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical School. Since its inception, thousands of people have completed the eight-week MBSR and learned how to use their innate resources and abilities to respond more effectively to stress, pain and illness. Research shows that MBSR is enormously empowering for patients with chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, cancer and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as for psychological problems such as anxiety and panic.
MBCT was developed by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale, based on Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR programme. The MBCT programme was designed specifically to help people who had suffered repeated bouts of serious depression to overcome their illness. The programme brings together the latest understandings of modern science and forms of mediation that have been shown to be clinically effective within mainstream medicine and psychology. The UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has endorsed MBCT as an effective treatment for prevention of relapse. It has been clinical proven to halve the risk of depression and research has shown that people who have been clinically depressed three or more times (sometimes for 20 years or more) find that taking the programme and learning these skills help to reduce considerably their chances that depression will return.
(Special thanks to Dr. Cola Lo (Clinical Psychologist, Castle Peak Hospital) for authoring this article)
