How does mindfulness help with cancer?
Mindfulness can be a powerful tool to reduce stress and improve patients’ outlook after being diagnosed with cancer. During an initial cancer diagnosis, many patients will feel an array of different emotions. Some may experience a sense of shock, fear, or sadness.
For survivors of breast cancer, studies show that practicing this type of meditation may offer some relief from the depression, fatigue, anxiety and stress that often sets in after treatment ends. UCLA-led research found that just six weeks of mindfulness meditation significantly reduced depression symptoms in survivors of breast cancer. And the effects lasted more than six months after meditation stopped.
What is mindfulness meditation?
Like all meditation, mindfulness meditation is a way to train your mind. Some meditation requires you to clear your mind entirely of thought. But the goal of mindfulness meditation is to focus intently on the feelings, thoughts and sensations you are having at that moment. Then you use that awareness to openly accept those feelings without any interpretation or judgement.
Consistent practice may help balance your emotions and train you to be mindful even when you are not meditating. It can be a valuable coping strategy for dealing with stress, anxiety and depression.
Mindfulness meditation is currently the most widely studied type of meditation. It’s also the form most used in medical settings.
Mindfulness meditation benefits after breast cancer treatment
During cancer treatment, women often experience constant change and feelings of uncertainty. When treatment ends, survivors may experience fear of recurrence, loneliness, concerns about physical appearance or anger at the disruption cancer caused to their life. Left unaddressed, serious anxiety, depression or other psychological distress may leave women unable to tend to their health.
Mindfulness meditation can help survivors acknowledge and accept difficult emotional experiences and embrace change – bringing a sense of control and allowing healing to begin.
For breast cancer survivors, the benefits include:
- Improved sleep (and less fatigue), by helping you settle your mind at bedtime
- Increased focus, allowing you to pay attention to the matter at hand and suppress distracting information
- More emotional control, so that you can disengage from emotionally upsetting thoughts and focus better on processing new thoughts
- Stress reduction, as you learn to incorporate mindfulness throughout the day
- Symptom relief for depression and anxiety, especially in survivors under the age of 50, who are more likely to have persistent mental distress after treatment
How to do mindfulness meditation
To get the full effects, experts suggest meditating daily, even if only for a few minutes.
While many people do it on their own, guided meditations may help bring your focus back to the present moment when needed. Wendy can help you to learn this valuable practice.
