What is Mindfulness?​

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present. When you're mindful, you carefully observe your thoughts and feelings without judging them good or bad. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. It has been my experience being mindful actually changes my perception of time….   It feels like a short time has passed instead of what is indicated by the clock. 

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, who has studied mindfulness for more than 35 years, believes practicing mindfulness is actually a form of meditation. ...  Meditation begins and ends in the body. It involves taking the time to pay attention to where we are and what’s going on, and that starts with being aware of our body
Among mindful practices are; yoga, dance, creative projects, and drumming among others..    
  
​Group percussion is a mindful practice that combines physical, mental, and emotional engagement.  Another example of the mind-body connection.  ​

Why is Mindfulness Important?​

In the past year, I have begun to discover the underlying reason why group drumming delivers so many benefits to our emotional, physical and immunological conditions. While studying the effects of long term stress (LTS) and  trauma, I began to see the same conditions that were studied in the group drumming research papers.    Trauma and LTS affect our emotional state, immune system, inflammatory state, and brain size and structure, and were linked to higher risks for serious and chronic disease. 

Recently completed research works showed emotional trauma causing significant shifts away from a healthy, normal state, while group drumming significantly reversed these conditions for most of these areas. 

When we are highly stressed, our bodies remain in an inflammatory state, which begins to weaken our immune system and even degrades our cellular replication over time. These conditions lead to higher risks for developing serious and chronic disease, and ongoing emotional distress. 

Further investigation led to more published research work showing that mindfulness is a highly effective way to counteract the degradation to our cellular reproduction, and in turn reduce the risks of serious disease.  Finally, I came to learn that drumming is one of many mindful activities which leads to the physical and emotional benefits demonstrated in many studies.  Regular mindful practice reverses the inflammatory state, and actually has been proven to promote conditions in the body to reverse cellular degradation. This is a clear example of the body-mind connection. 

Additionally, studies have shown that our brain structure is affected by LTS as well.   The hippocampus shrinks in volume from LTS and trauma, while studies relying on MRI scans have shown hippocampal volume increases with regular mindful practice.  

Example studies have been presented below in a way to demonstrate the harm done by LTS and trauma and therapeutic effects of mindfulness on our emotional state, inflammatory state, brain size and structure, and risk of chronic disease.  Telomeres have been included, as these are direct indicators of whether cellular replication is improving or degrading.                                                 
RRR promotes group drumming as one form of mindful practice. Even if drumming is not your passion or joy, finding any mindful practice can improve your emotional and physical health significantly.

the mind-body connection

  Research works are arranged and paired by the conditions that have been studied to demonstrate how how Mindfulness and Long Term Stress act in direct opposition to each other. The category of telomeres has been added to reflect the state of cellular replication. 
​ ( note: the following section is best viewed on a wide screen, such as a lap top or a tablet. )​

with mindfulness

Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Medical and Premedical Students​
​Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials
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​Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density
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Loving-Kindness Meditation practice associated with longer telomeres in women​

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Mindfulness-based stress reduction: a non-pharmacological approach for chronic illnesses

mind-body condition

<  Emotional State  >
<  Immune System  >​

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<  Brain Structure and Volume  >
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<  Telomeres  >
<  Chronic Diseases  >

long term stress

Causal Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and the Onset of Major Depression​
Stress-Induced Immune Dysregulation: Implications for Wound Healing, Infectious Disease and Cancer
Magnetic resonance imaging study of hippocampus volume in chronic combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder  
Stress appraisals and cellular aging: A key role for anticipatory threat in the relationship between psychological stress and telomere length
Stress and the Individual
Mechanisms Leading to Disease​
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