July 2021

Dear Kaibigan,

I spoke with a recently retired person who shared that their memory isn’t “what it used to be. I forget easily where I left my things or have to retrace in my mind what I did just to remember what I was going to do next”.  I heard worry in their tone and could see that they were concerned over their cognitive ability. Their worry that activated negative thoughts such as “I could’ve paid more attention to my health before retirement to prevent this” and “Is this a sign that something worse will happen?” fed into feeling anxious about their future while reprimanding themselves for not having done more in their past.

 

Negative thoughts can be quite powerful in their impact on our mood and our perspective of ourselves, others and our situation. Our negative thinking clouds our ability to see the good in our lives, the positive experiences, the caring relationships, and the details in our environment that we find delightful. Do you agonize over what might happen in the future? Does your negative thinking lead to self-criticism, cause you to fixate about a past you cannot change and an uncertain future you cannot predict or control? These intrusive thoughts derail you from living your life in the moment.

 

The ‘should have’ and ‘what if’ questions taunt us and can perpetuate negative thinking that results in anxiety. Here’s a different question for you, “How would you integrate into your day the uplifting principles of mindfulness to counter the negative thoughts?” Mindfulness teaches you to notice and accept your thoughts in a nonjudgmental way and to focus on the present moment. It can help us to manage our negative thinking that can trigger negative emotions by redirecting your mind to focus on what is happening within and around you in that moment in time. How so? Mindfulness asks you to use your five senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell – as a guide to notice the here and now.

 

Negative thoughts can force us to pay less attention to details in the moment so that our minds become hyper focused on what we need to do or say next. I know someone else who observed they talk fast using run on sentences so that they won’t forget what they want to share. They anxiously anticipate forgetting and their rapid speech keeps them from paying attention to the reactions of the person listening. Our minds naturally age as we age which means that our intellectual abilities can slow down or be affected in other ways later in life, although our negative thinking and perspective can remain as a fixed aspect of our minds’ way of processing our experiences. Many neurosciences research on mindfulness meditation have concluded, using neuroimaging, improvement in cognitive performance. Mindfulness slows our mind’s racing thoughts, increase attention to details, and quiets the negative thinking while promoting in our brains a positive perspective to perceived stress. Mindfulness can teach our brain to use neural pathways that shift from reliance on our left side of the brain, the logical and analytical side, to the right side which is responsible for creative and abstract thinking.

 

Mindfulness doesn’t eliminate upcoming stressors and can’t erase what has happened in your past. Difficult times and suffering can happen to each of us, and it is quite easy to be preoccupied with what went wrong and what could go wrong. Leaning on your senses does help your mind put aside the negative thoughts about your past and those associated with what may happen in the future. It allows your brain to notice what is happening in your current situation. What surrounds you. Who is with you. What your body is absorbing. Your senses are extraordinary in picking up what is going on in any moment. Paying close attention to them one at a time will help your brain to use its various regions that can help improve its ability to focus on details, process abstractly, produce ideas, and have greater empathy for you and your situation. How would it feel for you to view yourself and your situation from a place of positivity? How would it feel for you to have more compassion for yourself?

Our pasalubong for this month is to engage in a Five Senses Mindfulness exercise which you can do anywhere and at any time to coach your mind to notice the present moment and diminish negative thoughts about the past or future:

Instructions –

• Set aside at least two minutes for each sense.

• You can sit, stand or lay down in a comfortable position.

• Notice how your body is feeling right now. Where is there tension or tightness? Where is there feeling of lightness? Just notice. No need to change or do anything about it.

• Notice your thoughts. What are you thinking about? Just notice them. No need to change or do anything differently. Watch your thoughts flow in and out.

• Now use one or all the suggestions in the exercise below to explore your senses one at a time.

• You can begin with any of the senses and go in any order you want.

• Go through each sense to observe and notice what is around you.

Sight -

• Observe what is around you, noticing color, texture and shape.

• Look for things you would not usually take the time to notice, such as designs on your sheets, shadows of buildings, birds flying above, colors of plants and flowers, a crack in the sidewalk, or any other details that you usually gloss over.

• Count the number of red or blue vehicles you see as you walk.

• Notice the colors of the leaves on the trees or their bark.

• Name the items on your desk or in the room you are in.

 Sound -

• Listen to what is in the background.

• Notice the sound of voices and laughter. Distinguish the different types of voices and laughs. Are some deeper or louder than others? Does a voice have a happy tone or an angry tone? Does the laugh sound like it is coming from a child or an adult?

• Listen for the sounds of traffic and discern the sounds of honking versus the sounds of tires going over lines and bumps in the road. Is the sound coming from a car, a motorcycle, a truck, or another vehicle? Do you hear sirens or braking as vehicles slow down?

• Pay attention to the sounds of home or office appliances. Is the refrigerator making a humming or buzzing sound? Do you hear the gas from the stove or the ticking of a clock?

• If there is music that is playing around you, take the time to figure out what genre you are hearing. What are the instruments you hear? What are the lyrics?

• Listen to the animals nearby. Can you distinguish a dog barking or a bird chirping? Is there a squirrel running up a tree? A cat hissing or purring?

 Touch –

• Become aware of the differing feel of everyday items that surround you.

• Feel items that are cold and warm, and note how they make your hands feel.

• Touch items with various textures to notice how they feel. Are some bumpy, smooth or rough? Notice the difference among them.

• Pet an animal, and feel the sensations in your fingers and hands as they move across.

 Taste –

• Take a sip of a beverage and describe the feel of the liquid flowing over your tongue and filling to the roof of your mouth.

• Chew on a piece of gum, chocolate or candy and discern the flavor from when you first put it in your mouth until you are finished with it.

 Smell –

• Focus on your surroundings to discover the scents in the air.

• Sniff on items such as essential oils, perfume or lotion that have an appealing scent for you.

• Take a moment the next time you have a meal and before your first bite to differentiate the aromas of spices and flavors.

 Reflection time –

• Notice how your body is feeling right now after going through the Five Senses Mindfulness exercise.

• Where is there tension of tightness? Where is there feeling of lightness? Just notice. No need to change or do anything about it.

• What did you think about during the exercise?

• What happened to the thoughts that you had before you used your senses?

• What are your thoughts about now? No need to change or do anything differently. Watch your thoughts flow in and out.

 

Should you choose to start a mindfulness meditation, you can focus on one sense a day for at least two minutes and for at least three times on that day. You can also go through all five senses every day and choose to set aside 10 minutes in your day and do this multiple times during each day. Help your mind to take a break from your negative thoughts and help your body to be present in the moment by leaning on what you already have and what you take with you anywhere you go. Use your senses to create a mindfulness ritual that suits you.

 

Stay in the moment,

Angel, on behalf of The Giving Well