Ultra-processed foods - a massive problem with simple solutions

Food processing of itself is not necessarily a problem. Simple cooking qualifies as food processing. However, the degree to which our foods are processed is certainly a big problem. Ultra-processed foods are disastrous – for our health and for our environment – and yet they make up 42% of the Australian diet. You are probably eating more of them than you realize.

But good news. There are simple solutions. So this week we identify the problem and list how you can avoid one of the biggest and most obvious current threats to your health and the environment; but first with Spring in Australia well underway

Thought for the day

Evocative Japanese tree-related words

Yūgen (幽玄), which refers to 

A feeling or mood in which one intuits 

The universe possesses a mysterious and elusive beauty

Shinrin-yoku (森林浴), which quite literally means 

Bathing in the ambient atmosphere of a forest

Komorebi (木漏日), which translates as 

The interplay between light and leaves 

When sunlight shines through an arbour of trees

Consider this. Not only is cooking food processing; drying foods, grinding foods, mixing foods – all are food processing. Most of what most people eat is processed to some degree, but Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are something else!

What are Ultra-processed foods?

These are foods that come ready to eat with added ingredients not commonly found in your kitchen or even an artisan restaurant. They are likely to include cosmetic additives and emulsifiers to change colour, texture and storage life. They will have been highly processed.

UPFs are often rich in sugar, soy, grains and meats that have been broken down and processed. 

Commonly they will lack “intact” ingredients like vegetables, fruit and legumes.

UPFs are produced by large scale food corporations and fast food companies. They are heavily marketed, made available widely and are usually cheap. All of this conspires to make them over consumed.

Examples of UPFs 

Sugary drinks, confectionery, mass-produced breads, margarine, packet chips and other snack foods, fried chips, sweetened dairy products, processed meats, chicken nuggets, and frozen desserts. 

The most commonly eaten UPFs in the UK are:

• Industrialised bread (11 %)

• Pre-packaged meals (7.7%)

• Breakfast cereals (4.4%)

• Sausages and other reconstituted meat products (3.8 per cent)

These are closely followed by the expected confectionery (3.5%, biscuits (3.5%), pasties, buns and cakes (3.3%) and industrial chips (2.8%). 

Soft drinks, fruit drinks and fruit juices make up 2.5% of the average calorie intake. Salty snacks, including Britain’s favourite crisps, make up 2% of our calories, as do sauces, dressings and the Sunday favourite gravy (2.1%).

How prevalent are UPFs?

As stated, UPFs currently make up a whopping 42% of the Australian diet. In the USA it is 58%, UK 56%, Spain 32%, France 27%. 

Supermarkets are full of UPFs. 

Most fast foods ARE UPFs.

In Australia, for those on middle to higher incomes, the figure drops to 20% but for middle to low income people the figure is growing by 10% each year. 

Australia reflects a common pattern – amongst our UPF consumers, the 20% who eat the most actually have 80% UPFs in their diet, while the lowest 20% have “only” 17%. 

Children, adolescents and those on lower incomes are recognised as the highest consumers.

What is the problem?

Research into the impacts of UPFs is still in early days, but what is known is the over consumption of ultra-processing actually displaces – as in replaces – the nutritional qualities of fresh healthy foods.

Worse, UPFs are associated with higher risks of obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease, frailty, depression and death. 

All the chronic degenerative diseases are linked to nutritional problems, and UPFs have to be one of the major identifiable risk factors.

Additives in UPFs carry risks in their own right. They can seriously and adversely affect our gut bacteria, increase inflammation and meta-inflammation and disrupt our hormones.

Then there is the environment. 

UPFs are commonly highly packaged, often in plastics and these plastics are one of the highest sources of marine plastic pollution.

To top it all off, UPFs seem to be quite addictive for many consumers!

Why have we not heard more about this?


“Nutritionism”. Or “nutritional reductionism”. 

Over the last century, nutritional science has focussed upon so-called “good” and “bad” ingredients; reducing nutritional conversations to focus upon the quantities of individual ingredients like how much protein or calcium is in a given product.  Seems to make sense. Identify the unhealthy elements and remove them; add more of the good stuff. 

Problem is, this approach neglects other characteristics of foods - and how they work together; and it minimises the adverse effects of processing.

Not surprisingly the food industry has massively promoted and supported this reductionist approach. 

It has allowed them to hide a good deal for many years. However, as we in the public become more food aware, the companies have used this same approach to reformulate their UPFs. 

By claiming a product has one feature such as “low salt” or “whole grain” for example, they overlook the impact of ultra-processing and falsely claim the new product to be “healthy”. 

Also, they fortify UPFs by adding individual ingredients like Omega 3 oils or popular ingredients like zinc or a particular herb and feature these ingredients prominently on labels which become essentially misleading.

What to do?

Personally it is easy. 

Do all possible to avoid UPFs. 

Best advice? 

Make most of your own meals at home and make them from raw or minimally processed ingredients. 

Be very selective when buying breads. It is possible to purchase good quality, low-processed breads, but so many qualify as UPFs and are bad news. 

Read your labels – although some UPFs manage to even avoid these! Read the ingredient list rather than the nutritional profile.

Also remember –, if you are well it is what you eat mostly that is important. What you eat occasionally (within reason) is not such a big deal. Look after your home kitchen well, and then if you go out, be somewhat selective, but relax and enjoy. 

On the other hand, if you are dealing with significant illness, what you eat all the time is important. Then when you have recovered, you can relax as above.

Collectively

We are way past the time when we can afford to be passive. 

The health of our community and the health of our planet demands we become more socially active. 

We need to consider how we can make our voices heard. 

We do need to share this sort of information with our families, friends and colleagues. 

We do need to write to and lobby our politicians and decision makers, pushing for new laws and regulations that will tax UPFs, introduce marketing restrictions and remove these products from schools.

The food industry heavily lobbies against such changes. Yet the UK and Mexico now have a sugar tax. Politicians need to know they have strong support from us, the people who vote them into office and empower them to make good choices.

More details?


Check this really excellent talk from Assoc Prof Gyorgy Scrinis, School of Agriculture and Food, University of Melbourne. This provided the basis for this post and would be ideal to share with anyone interested to watch something very measured, very well presented on this topic – highly, highly recommended!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQn4TzEV7rU

Or this article on The Conversation 

For nutritional information, there is good detail for everyone in my book You Can Conquer Cancer, or you can search what interests you on this blog, for example – Is soy safe? 1 and 2, Coconut oil, Magnesium, Nutritional research and so on.

Self-compassion – the key to a good relationship with your self

Good relationships with others start with a good relationship with one’s self.

For decades my good friend Christine Longaker has taught from experience – along with the support of some exceptional teachers of her own. More recently, her whole world fell apart. Out of this excruciating experience Christine came to realization that if we do want to feel warm and secure within our own hearts, then self-compassion is essential. 

Now it is a pleasure to recommend an online Self-compassion program Christine will present, and virtue of a guest blog, to share something of her own inner journey, but first

       Thought for the day

By 3 methods we may learn wisdom:

First be reflection, which is the noblest.

Second by imitation, which is the easiest.

Third is by experience, which is the most painful.

                             Confucious

Christine writes…

I called it ‘the year of losing everything.’ (Well, almost everything.) Within 18 months, 7 people close to me died, including both my parents and my dear partner Paul. In the year before his death Paul experienced a few strokes and we were hit with many very powerful difficulties I had to handle alone. Frankly, I went into shock. 

But it did not stop there. In the year following Paul’s death, I lost almost everything I called ‘life’: my home, car and possessions, career, financial security, and country of residence. One tumultuous year stretched into five, and I repeatedly found myself with no place to live, storing a few paltry boxes in yet another attic and still unable to grieve. 

Even with decades of experience with meditation and compassion and having taught these to medical professionals for 35 years, strangely I now felt empty-handed. I had been totally cleared out.

Finally, while preparing a talk for a large hospice in Ireland, I realized that I was experiencing a 'surfeit of suffering' and that what I needed was to have compassion for myself. 

Sounds simple, right? 

But honestly, I did not know where to begin.

I needed more than a method for comforting myself. 

For me, compassion means that when our hearts are touched upon seeing suffering, we do what we can to alleviate it.

I knew I needed to understand the origins of my pain so I could come to terms with my history and forgive myself for my patterns. 

And, I needed a self-compassion process that would lead me toward getting free of suffering once and for all. 

That is why my very personal research into developing self-compassion has three dimensions...

1. Opening your mind

I started gathering insights that helped open my mind from a variety of sources: insight meditation teacher Tara Brach, Buddhist teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Irish author and poet John O'Donohue, and Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. 

2. Changing your feelings 

Sitting every morning looking toward the sunrise over the ocean and Bere Island in Southwest Ireland, my heart kept posing the questions: In the midst of massive losses, how can I truly feel I am loved? Why can't I forgive myself? How can I befriend my body? Is it even possible to stop beating myself up, and feel genuine compassion for my predicament? 

Gradually, insights came that helped me develop meditations which effectively changed my feelings.

As I applied these methods to my heart I felt more ease and flow in my life – and my body. 

I was able to understand and accept my patterns; and, even when my inner critic re-surfaced, I could smile and decide: ‘I’m not going there.’ 

What touched me the most was realizing that as I came to truly understand and feel compassion for myself, I found space in my tender heart for all the people I used to judge. Just like me, they also have a secret history of pain and suffering, and they equally deserve compassion and love. 

It would be nice if I could say that everything is now ‘done and dusted.’ Actually, there is still a process unfolding, and yet I am feeling more trust and security than I ever have in my life.

3. Lightening your life 

This includes two levels: setting down our burdens, and then, stepping into freedom – walking into the brilliant warmth and infinite goodness of our true nature. Ultimately, self-compassion is learning to abide in our skylike and loving essence, arriving at what the Buddha called an ‘unshakable freedom of heart.’

Lately I have been giving workshops and meditations on easing grief, and anxiety, with self-compassion, reducing burnout and building resilience, improving self-esteem, and approaching forgiveness. Self-compassion helps with illness, chronic pain, addiction and injuries. Research shows self-compassion to be the most important factor for preventing PTSD in combat veterans. 

Now with humanity facing the fallout and multi-layered threats from the pandemic, I am offering a course for my friends in Australia and New Zealand titled: ‘From Adversity to Aliveness: the power of self-compassion to heal and free your heart’. 

With unique applications of compassion, insight and mindfulness, it is possible to dismantle the sources of our harmful patterns and false beliefs. 

We can create a new, empowered relationship with our “inner critic”. 

We learn strengths that help us understand and heal suffering, and together we will practice exceptional guided meditations designed to change the way we feel about ourselves. 

We are given practical skills for bringing the mindful presence of meditation into daily life. 

All of these become stepping-stones to enhanced resilience, ease and joy.

From Adversity to Aliveness 

Four 3-hour modules; live on Sundays: Nov. 1, 15, 29, and Dec. 13.

Time: 6 - 9pm AEST, and Europe: 8am - 11am CET. 

Full fee: AUS $80; Concession: AUS $50. 

To register CLICK HERE

 

For Christine’s website CLICK HERE

Stress management in the time of COVID-19 – a holistic approach

Any stress we feel is a product of the load we are under – what is going on outside of us - and our capacity to bear that load – what is going on inside of us. And while we cannot always change the load – what we have to deal with –  we can always do something about how we respond to that load. So this week, 3 approaches to managing major stresses that make for a comprehensive whole, but first

       Thought for the day

Silence is the absolute poise or balance 

Of body, mind and spirit.

The person who preserves their selfhood

Is ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence…

What are the fruits of silence? 

They are self-control, true courage or endurance,

Patience, dignity and reverence.

Silence is the cornerstone of character.

                                           Ohiyesa

Firstly, while stress does get a good deal of bad press, it can be good for us. When we are challenged but feel on top of the load; that level of stress can actually feel satisfying. However, pushed beyond our reasonable limits for any length of time and stress soon begins to break us down physically, become emotionally debilitating and mentally shattering.

Now clearly the pandemic continues to push many beyond reasonable limits and distress is rampant. It is imposing really tough conditions on many; many of whom can do little to change what is going on “out there”. 

So here we are considering what is within our own control; what we can do to change the way even apparently over-whelming stresses affect us internally - three approaches that collectively provide a reliable solution.

1. From the perspective of the body

When we feel over-loaded by stress, it triggers marked physical changes in our bodies. 

The one we might notice first is muscular tension; we tense up. 

At the same time, a whole raft of biochemical and physiological changes unfold, triggered by what we all probably know as the Fight of Flight response. 

When these changes persist over time, they are associated with many illnesses, most notably all the chronic degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, MS and so on.

Keeping this simple, one very effective way to release the adverse physical consequences of stress, is to reverse the physical tension, That tension is closely allied to the biochemical and physiological changes that result in illness. Hence the power – and logic – of deep physical relaxation being associated with any mind-based stress management program.

We recommend Deep Relaxation based upon the Progressive Muscle Relaxation exercise. It is simple to learn, thorough in its capacity to help us relax deeply and had been proven effective over a very long time.

2. From the perspective of the mind

“It is all in the mind”. 

Not a completely unreasonable statement. 

We know most stress is a product of how we think – more accurately how we think about what is going on around us and within us. 

Put simply again, much of our stress is a consequence of how we react to our circumstances. 

And this provides another obvious and logical way to short circuit stress – take the reaction out.

So this is the domain of mindfulness practice. 

We learn to focus our mind, focus our attention onto whatever we are doing – without reaction, judgement or commentary. And almost paradoxically, by taking the reaction out in a way that may seem at first as if we are being passive or non- responsive, by taking the reaction out, our minds become calmer and clearer and as such become better able to respond appropriately.

So while mindfulness takes the reaction out of the way we respond to people and events, it does not “flatten” us. Quite the contrary. It leaves us more open to take in what is really going on, to think clearly, to feel more directly, to respond more honestly as well as more thoughtfully. Much more likely to make good decisions, and we are much more likely to be enjoyable to be around.

3. From the perspective of wisdom

This too is simple. 

We all know 3 obvious things about our lives. 

Firstly, everything is constantly changing. 

That is indisputable. 

Sometimes good – even the worst of things eventually change, sometimes bad – even the best of things eventually change, but either way, indisputable.

Then secondly, everything is inter-dependent. 

Maybe not so obvious at first but clearly we do not exist in a vacuum. We are dependent upon the air we breathe, the food we eat – and who supplies it, what we drink – and who supplies it, the people around us and so on and so on. We are inter-dependent.

Finally – a little more complex but keeping it simple - we have many facets to our nature as does everyone else and everything else. That person we might hate is not just one thing, not just “a bastard”. That person at work is not just “the receptionist”. Nothing is singular in its nature, everything is complex – multi-faceted.

So here is the point

Our sense of self, our ego has this strong sense of me and mine. It has the strong sense of being an individual surrounded by other people and other things. Me and others. Me and it. Me and the world around about me.

Now the world is a big place. 

Often kind, yet often threatening indeed. 

And a pandemic is highly threatening. 

So even at the best of times, our sense of self, our ego can feel severely challenged. 

Challenged by the fact everything is changing all the time, challenged by feeling isolated. 

So what does it do?



Well, all too often our ego, driven by the need to feel safe and comfortable within itself, tries to avoid the facts. Rather than working out how to live knowing everything is and will change, everything is inter-dependent and multi-faceted, it does the opposite. 

Common strategies are to seek distraction with a passion. Keeping really busy seems to work well. Having someone to blame, even beating ourselves up. All common strategies. Others attempt to build a sense of security based on the notion of “permanence”. I have a permanent job, a permanent address. A permanent relationship… as if they will last forever.

Problem is we all know the reality in our hearts. 

So as a radical way of alleviating stress, we could make the bold choice to address the way we view life. This would involve facing the initial pain of appreciating everything and everyone DOES change. Worse, facing the pain that someday all those we love and value will die. We will die. 

But through the other side of this pain comes an even fuller the realisation of just how precious life is, and yet, how fragile it is. We could also learn to really appreciate how everyone thing and everyone is dependent upon everyone else and everything else. This builds a profound level of appreciation and heartfelt gratitude. And respect. And care.

Similarly, when considering any person or any possibility we could function from an awareness of how multi-faceted everything is and realise when faced with any person or any situation, there are always more possibilities than we first think. So we remain open, curious, calm and clear. Our minds in the best possible state to get the most out of every moment in life – and to be of the most help to as many people as possible.

Then further to all this, based on this view of life,  we realise how crucial it is to make the most of each moment. If ever we needed an incentive to practice mindfulness, this is it. 

Be inspired. Learn to practice mindfulness and meditation formally, then take the view that comes from these practices into daily life. This actually works. Takes some practice. Takes some effort, but it works.

Bon chance 

RESOURCES

Seems to make sense to mention the free App Ruth and I have helped put together – Allevi8 – contains all the key relaxation, mindfulness, contemplation, guided imagery and meditation practices that have been touched on above. The App features specifically designed practices with one section focussing upon stress management, another finding meaning amidst adversity.

Simply go to your App store and search Allevi8. It is totally free, but we welcome the notion of “paying it forward” – making a free will donation so we can keep things going and others can access the App for free.

Will COVID-19 create more dementia? Dementia, Alzheimer's and the latest research

There are problems enough, but will COVID-19 lead to an upsurge in dementia and if so, what can be done about it? 

Here is the challenge. Given ICU can be a great place to be when you really need, recent research confirms what many have observed. One in four people had cognitive impairment a year after release from an ICU that was similar in severity to having mild Alzheimer’s, and 1-in-3 had cognitive impairment similar to that seen with moderate traumatic brain injury. 

So if someone ends up in ICU with COVID-19, and one imagines even more so if on a ventilator, the risks of developing dementia would be real. But there is hope, so this week we examine what mindfulness and meditation in particular have to offer – to anyone at risk of dementia, to those already affected by it, and their caregivers, but first

        Thought for the day

Meditation is all about the pursuit of nothingness. 

It is like the ultimate rest. 

It is better than the best sleep you have ever had.

It is a quieting of the mind. 

It sharpens everything, 

Especially your appreciation of your surroundings.

It keeps life fresh.

Hugh Jackman - long term meditator

The context

The world population is aging and the prevalence of dementia is increasing. By 2050, those aged 60 years and older are expected to make up a quarter of the population. With that, the number of people with dementia is increasing. Unfortunately, there is no current medical cure for dementia. The progression of symptoms with no hope of improvement is difficult to cope with, both for patients and their caregivers. 

Mindfulness training has shown to improve psychological well-being in a variety of mental health conditions. Research has shown preliminary but promising results for mindfulness-based interventions to benefit people with dementia and caregivers. So what follows are summaries quoting fairly directly from 4 key research papers that investigated what might be possible. The results are encouraging…

1. Review : Mindfulness, meditation, cognition and stress in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia, mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive decline – 2018. 

This study investigated how the use of meditation as a behavioural intervention can reduce stress and enhance cognition, which in turn ameliorates some dementia symptoms. Ten papers were identified and reviewed. 

There was a broad use of measures across all studies, with cognitive assessment, quality of life and perceived stress being the most common. Three studies used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure functional changes to brain regions during meditation. 

The interventions fell into the following three categories: mindfulness, most commonly mindfulness-based stress reduction(MBSR) (six studies); Kirtan Kriya meditation (three studies); and mindfulness-based Alzheimer's stimulation (one study). Three of these studies were randomised controlled trials. 

All studies reported significant findings or trends towards significance in a broad range of measures, including a reduction of cognitive decline, reduction in perceived stress, increase in quality of life, as well as increases in functional connectivity, percent volume brain change and cerebral blood flow in areas of the cortex. 

Russell-Williams J, Jaroudi W et al. Mindfulness and meditation: treating cognitive impairment and reducing stress in dementia. Rev Neurosci. 2018;29(7):791-804. doi:10.1515/revneuro-2017-0066

2. Do adults with MCI have the capacity to learn mindfulness meditation? - 2019

High levels of chronic stress negatively impact the hippocampus and are associated with increased incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease(AD). While mindfulness meditation may mitigate the effects of chronic stress, it is uncertain if adults with MCI have the capacity to learn mindfulness meditation.

Chronic stress negatively impacts the hippocampus, and high levels of chronic stress are associated with an increased incidence of MCI and AD. [6–8] Adults who are prone to high levels of psychological distress are more likely to develop dementia.[9] Animal research demonstrates that high levels of cortisol (the “stress hormone”) can damage the hippocampus[10], a key structure involved in memory processing that atrophies with Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, other stress-reducing interventions, such as meditation and yoga, might be helpful for adults with MCI.

Previous studies have shown that the hippocampus is selectively activated during meditation,[15–17] and experienced meditators have larger volumes and gray matter concentration in their hippocampi compared to matched controls.[18] In addition, research has shown that an eight-week MBSR class may increase gray matter density in the hippocampi of adults.[19] MBSR is thus a stress-reducing intervention that impacts the hippocampus and could potentially interrupt the progression of MCI through these effects. 

The period of time when an individual has MCI is transient and offers a rare window of opportunity prior to the development of dementia; finding an intervention that could help patients at this point of time could be invaluable. Since adults with MCI still have brain plasticity,[20] we hypothesized that adults with MCI would be able to learn and benefit from mindfulness meditation and yoga. 

What did the research find? Most adults with MCI were able to learn mindfulness meditation and had improved MCI acceptance, self-efficacy, and social engagement. So in summary, cognitive reserve may be enhanced through a mindfulness meditation program even in patients with MCI.

Wells RE, Kerr C, Dossett ML, et al. Can Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment Build Cognitive Reserve and Learn Mindfulness Meditation? Qualitative Theme Analyses from a Small Pilot Study. J Alzheimers Dis. 2019;70(3):825-842. doi:10.3233/JAD-190191

3. Review of already well researched mindfulness techniques - 2018

Although there is a wide variety of interventions that include components of mindfulness (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), this review focuses on the two programs with the largest evidence base, the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). These group-based programs have been studied in healthy populations and in those with mental or physical disorders, showing satisfactory to good efficacy (Chiesa and Serretti, 2009; Hofmann et al., 2010; Hempel et al., 2014).

Although current research supports the rationale for MBI with persons with dementia and their caregivers, only few RCTs have been conducted and more research is necessary

What can be said is participants receiving MBSR showed greater improvement in memory, but not cognitive control. Moreover, the MBSR group improved on measures of worry, depression, and anxiety, and decreased cortisol level for those with high baseline cortisol.

Studies with persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Severe Cognitive Impairment (SCD) have looked at the effect of Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBI). This is informative for dementia research, since individuals with MCI have an increased annual conversion rate of 5–17% to Alzheimer’s disease (Cheng et al., 2017), and approximately 60% over a 15-year period of persons with SCD will continue to develop Alzheimer’s disease (Reisberg et al., 2008).

Studies with persons with MCI or subjective memory complaints have looked at the effect of MBI. One pilot study found a trend toward improvement of cognition, quality of life, and well-being for people in the mindfulness condition (Wells et al., 2013). A RCT showed that the participants in the MBI group showed less memory deterioration and greater decrease in depressive symptoms compared to the control group (Larouche et al., 2016).

Although these studies demonstrate feasibility of MBSR with older adults with SCD and MCI, and preliminary evidence for memory improvement, more research is necessary to investigate whether MBI can influence cognitive decline.

Berk L, Warmenhoven F, van Os J, van Boxtel M. Mindfulness Training for People With Dementia and Their Caregivers: Rationale, Current Research, and Future Directions. Front Psychol. 2018;9:982. Published 2018 Jun 13. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00982

4. Mindfulness practice can improve health outcomes of MCI - 2017.

Growing evidence has linked mindfulness to cognitive and psychological improvements that could be relevant for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This Australian study reported long-term mindfulness practice may be associated with cognitive and functional improvements for older adults with MCI. The researchers concluded mindfulness training could be a potential efficacious non-pharmacological therapeutic intervention for MCI.

Wong WP, Coles J, Chambers R, Wu DB, Hassed C. The Effects of Mindfulness on Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Alzheimers Dis Rep. 2017;1(1):181-193. Published 2017 Dec 2. doi:10.3233/ADR-170031

Finally, what might be possible?

It does need to be said that dementia is now well identified as another of the chronic degenerative diseases - like cancer, heart disease and MS. All these other known chronic degenerative diseases have been shown to be prevented by Lifestyle interventions. Once present, their symptoms have all been shown to be significantly lessened by Lifestyle interventions; and all have shown some signs – ranging up to major – of reversal through Lifestyle interventions. So why not dementia???

And what are Lifestyle interventions? The things you can do for yourself – like what you eat and drink, your exercise levels, relaxation, mindfulness and meditation. Many believe the mind-based interventions are key, both due to their direct effects and because the mind decides what we do with our lifestyle. Get the mind into a good state and everything else follows – we eat better, drink more wisely, are more inclined to exercise and so on.

RELATED BLOGS

Here are the links to 3 consecutive blogs that clarify just what dementia and Alzheimer’s are Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia), what the risks are and how prevention is possible; maybe even some recovery. Plus an intruiging post on the link between Alzheimers and impotence

1. Dementia, Alzheimer’s and other related conditions explained

2. The causes explained

3. One dozen proven things you can do to prevent dementia

4. Alzheimers and impotence – what is the link? Why is it so significant?

Purpose Built App – Allevi8

The new, free mindfulness/meditation based App I have been involved in developing – Allevi8 – has been specifically designed to assist people affected by chronic degenerative disease. We targeted 5 main issues – stress and mental health, emotional health, pain management, healing and finding meaning amidst adversity.

So while many others recognise the need for help with these areas – especially now in the era of the pandemic – it provide free access to specific techniques for people facing chronic degenerative disease. Dementia is one of those conditions.

Allevi8 is available via a simple search in your App store. Also, we do have a meditation session via Zoom that goes out live each Monday. This session is well attended and many report how helpful it is to receive practice tips and meditate in a like-minded community each week. To join us, simply download Allevi8 and the link will be sent by email. All of this is free, however, you might like to consider paying it forward – there is a secure donation facility on the App under “Gift”.

Two-types-of-Mindfulness

 Currently, mindfulness is all the rage in meditation land as it is easy to teach, easy to learn, easy to integrate into our lives, easy to research – and it delivers on its promises – it works! 

Yet when it comes to the actual practice of mindfulness, did you know there are two types, and why it is important to practice one before the other? So this week, some practice tips along with explanation of the two types of mindfulness (drawn from the content of my recent book, Blue Sky Mind - the Art of Meditation), but first

Thought for the day

The general idea is that if you open yourself up 

To what the given situation is, 

Then you see its completely naked quality. 

You do not have to put up a defence mechanism anymore, 

Because you see through it 

And you know exactly what to do. 

You just deal with things, 

Rather than defending yourself.

Chogyam Trungpa

Mindfulness can be defined as the awareness that comes from paying attention to our present moment experience, deliberately and non-judgementally. So how does it work in practice? There are two ways we can pay attention to our present moment experience — with focussed mindfulness and with open mindfulness.

1. Focussed mindfulness - This is where we choose to pay attention to just one thing. 

This way of deliberately focusing our attention gives us a way to block out other thoughts and distractions and helps to settle a restless mind. It is easy to learn, easy to practise, and translates easily into daily life.

Common things to focus upon include the breath, the sounds around about us, the sensations in our body and our thoughts as they travel through our mind.

With focussed mindfulness we need to concentrate and maintain our focus. This takes energy. If we do find our mind becoming distracted or wandering, we need to notice that and bring our attention back to our chosen point of concentration. And while this does take some energy, some effort; focussed mindfulness is the best way to begin learning mindfulness and practising it formally. 

2. Open mindfulness –  This is where we do not focus our attention on one particular thing, but remain more open and pay attention to whatever it is that does happen to come into our awareness.

So in this version of mindfulness we simply aim to remain open and curious. This can be likened to a wise old woman sitting back and watching children play. There is an ease and a comfort with what the children are doing, perhaps even an inner knowing that it is just games they are playing. Maybe too a level of care to notice if anyone does need help, yet no particular need to interfere or change anything; just a deep contentment to observe the children at play.

To accomplish open mindfulness as a part of our meditation, we start by sitting and relaxing, then if our attention goes to some sounds from outside, we simply notice them, free of any judgement or commentary. We leave the sounds as they are.

Then if our attention is taken by some sensations in our body, we simply notice those. Maybe then thoughts fill our awareness and again, the aim is to simply notice them; let go of any afterthought, any commentary, any judgement. Simply notice whatever it is that does come into our awareness, and leave it as it is. Open mindfulness.

Open mindfulness requires less effort than focussed mindfulness, but when we do it the potential to become distracted is greater. So it makes good sense to learn, practise and become reasonably adept with focussed mindfulness first because this is how we learn the technique of mindfulness and develop our basic skills. 

Focussed mindfulness definitely requires effort, the effort to focus our attention and learn a new technique. However, as we develop some capacity with this version of mindfulness, we move on into open mindfulness. And good news. Once we have some experience with it, open mindfulness requires little effort. In fact, when open mindfulness is flowing well, it is completely effortless. 

In open mindfulness there is nothing specific we need to focus upon. It is inherently relaxing. There is just one significant potential difficulty. When compared to focussed mindfulness, with open mindfulness it is relatively easy to become caught up or distracted by whatever it is that does come into our awareness. So the key to open mindfulness is learning and developing the capacity to remain undistracted. 

While we are in the process of developing our capacity with open mindfulness, we need to take account of the fact that as life goes on we may well experience times where our thoughts and emotions do distract us seriously. At such times, without beating ourselves up with feelings of guilt or shame, we may well benefit from devoting our regular practice to a more focussed form of mindfulness. Then, as we do come to feel more settled, we can expand out into open mindfulness once more. 

So to finish, more good news. Whether it be focussed or open mindfulness we are practicing, once we have learnt how to relax our body, settle our mind, sit still and remain undistracted, then we truly are making some progress. And the best bit? As we do remain undistracted, that deeper stillness of meditation begins to unfold; to become more apparent. Open mindfulness makes for a natural prelude to the deeper experience of real meditation.

May your mindfulness lead you into meditation…