Clean and Effective Ways to Clear Your Mind of Stress

In recent years mindfulness and meditation have risen to prominence as effective tools for stress reduction and management, so it is no surprise that health and medical institutions are incorporating these practices into their wellness programs.

In recent years mindfulness and meditation have risen to prominence as effective tools for stress reduction and management, so it is no surprise that health and medical institutions are incorporating these practices into their wellness programs.

In early February, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City hosted a wellness event as part of the Building Resilience Program. The program is an institution-wide initiative created to support staff in their health and well-being. It is part of a larger Employee Wellness Program at MSKCC.

Speaker Jess Geevarghese, MSW, MBA focused on using breath and meditation as a tool for health care providers in the audience to manage stress in what is often exhaustive and draining work.

Geevarghese is not only interested in the world of spiritual care and holistic health, but she is also a trained 500-hour yoga instructor who teaches privately.

Geevarghese used the metaphor of an airplane’s emergency instructions that urge people first to  put the oxygen masks on themselves before helping others to emphasize the  importance of self-care, especially for caregivers and healthcare providers.

However, she stressed how important self-care was for everyone living with the stresses of everyday life.

“Stress is not a bad thing, “ Geevarghese said. “When our ancestors were running from tigers, the physiological stress response was important for survival.”

But now deadlines, patients, relationships, meetings and work have taken on the shape of tigers in our modern-day lives. So, how do we manage these tigers so we are not absorbing the ill effects of daily stress?

Geevarghese, who practices breath awareness and meditation in her own life, suggested simple daily exercises that can help reduce stress and give our minds a much-needed break.

Starting with a breathing exercise, Geevarghese told the audience to think about the concept of breath.

“It is the first thing you did in this world and it is the last thing you will ever do,” she said.

When meditating, focus on your breath, she recommended, as breathing is what grounds us.

As we did the breathing exercise, it was easy to feel how breath can almost literally anchor you to the present moment, when you focus on nothing else but that. Stress is all around us, and it is hard to not feel. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual struggle, as we move through life not pausing or resting.  Meditation through breath awareness pulls you into the present.

Geevarghese asked the audience, “Do you remember a time when your mind was calm?” Unsurprisingly, the general consensus was “no.” From the minute we wake up to the time we go to sleep, and even in our dreams, our minds are constantly thinking, working and going. How can we quiet our minds? It can seem like an impossible feat.

Geevarghese suggested that even practicing short amounts of meditation can help give the mind a much-needed rest. Throughout the presentation, Geevarghese created moments where the audience was invited to do group meditation and breathing exercises. One of the exercises involved listening to the sounds created by a Tibetan singing bowl. The audience was asked to listen to the sound of one note until it faded away into silence. As a substitute, Geevarghese encouraged playing calming music and focusing in on the complexities of the notes during meditation.

Geevarghese first introduced me to breathing when I started working under her supervision out of college. I was a non-believer and naysayer until I actually tried it one day. There is a sense of independence to have your mind and body in the present, with no thoughts other than colors, taste, smells, sights, and the feelings that are before you.

And for most people such as the audience and myself, primarily made up of people who look to science for answers, we are skeptics and the words “evidence-based practice” mean graphs, studies and results.

Knowing the audience, Geevarghese spoke of research that is conducted on meditation and mindfulness, a type of meditation, out of Harvard.

Sarah Lazar, Ph.D., conducts meditation research at the Lazar Lab for Meditation Neuroscience Research. Her lab focuses on using neuroimaging techniques such as MRI to study the cognitive and emotional changes that occur during meditation and yoga practice.

According to an 8-week meditation study Lazar conducted, meditation produced changes in time to the brain’s gray matter. This result suggests that meditation is associated not only with peacefulness and relaxation, but also with positive cognitive and psychological benefits for the mind and the body.

With more than 150 people in the audience, Geevarghese introduced practical tools we can all do in bed, on the subway, during lunch, or in any 1-2 minute increment of time we have. And we can all find a couple minutes to ourselves no matter how busy and stressed we may be. You deserve that time for yourself.

Key takeaways included:

1. Make sure your spine is straight and long when you meditate. That can be sitting up or lying on your back. Be cautious of falling asleep if you choose to lie down especially if at work or in public.

2. Be patient and kind to yourself. Doing a 3-minute meditation is actually a long time for your brain and you may have to work up to that. It involves continued and daily practice to build up that kind of stamina. Start off with 1-2 minutes, and don’t be so critical of your progress.

3. Finding a buddy. Whether that is a co-worker, classmates, friend, partner, kids or another family member, to help keep you accountable.

And as her own form of self-care, Geevarghese will be on sabbatical for the next three months in the South of France. She hopes to teach and do yoga, improve her French, and reflect on the next steps in her journey. To follow Geevarghese’s daily tips, motivational words, or to ask about bookings, follow her on Twitter.