Subject: Give her a piece of your mind
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Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 19:22:12 -0500

Give her a piece of your mind

Mindfulness sessions with a Guelph expert are being touted as an intelligent, in-the-moment way to heal both mind and body

JOANNE SHUTTLEWORTH

DAVE CARTER, GUELPH MERCURY

Guelph psychotherapist Barbara Wilkinson says mindfulness isn't a quick fix but rather a way to live in the here and now -- and in so doing, give your restless mind a break from the anxious thoughts, fears and stresses of yesterday and tomorrow.

GUELPH (Jan 27, 2006)

When Darlene Mathieu looks at herself in the mirror, she now sees a woman with a plan, with skills and who, at the heart of it all, is content with herself and her life.

That's a far cry from where the 47-year-old was two years ago. Anemic from not eating properly and so overcome with depression she could hardly get out of bed, Mathieu was a train wreck waiting to happen.

"Seriously, two years ago, if you saw me, you'd say 'Oh my God, that girl is a nervous wreck,' " the Guelph woman said.

But after practising something called "mindfulness'' for almost a year, Mathieu says she's invigorated. She's ambitious, has energy again and, perhaps most importantly, feels she's back in the driver's seat of her life.

"It's powerful," she said. "I didn't have much faith in it at first but once I tried it, well, I'm encouraging everyone I know to go."

Mathieu's transformation didn't come from a make-up bottle, a wardrobe overhaul or a new hairstyle but rather from some serious self-reflection and an attitude adjustment.

And that happened after she started attending mindfulness sessions with Barbara Wilkinson, a psychotherapist who practises in Guelph.

"Mindfulness is not a quick fix. It's about slowing down and paying attention to what you're doing," she said. "It's about being where we are when we're there."

That may sound like psycho-babble to some, magic to others, but a growing body of research suggests that when we take care of our minds, our bodies are better able to heal. And when we take care of our bodies, our minds are in better shape to cope with the stresses of day-to-day living.

Alexandra Gousse is a doctoral student at the University of Guelph who's been researching mindfulness and how it relates to physical health and behaviour. It comes from the Buddhist tradition of meditation and is gaining momentum as an addition to treatment programs for those suffering from depression, anger, stress and chronic pain among other ailments.

"Humans have highly specialized minds. We're very good at looking at our past and reviewing our memories. And we're good at looking to the future or anticipating events. What we're not so good at is being present in the here and now," Gousse said.

She offered the example of a person who is grieving. They feel sad, but they don't like feeling sad. So instead they clean the house, run errands, put in extra time at work and generally keep themselves so occupied that the feelings of sadness go away.

But they never go away completely, Gousse said. A sad person may become irritable and may have trouble sleeping and concentrating. They may put off paying the bills, which then pile up and create debt. And so on.

With mindfulness, the individual zeroes in on those emotions and yes, they feel sad. "But when you're in the moment, you know it won't last. Your day will go on, your life will go on. There's hope," Gousse said. "If you live your life only with an eye to the future, or only with an eye to the past, you're missing out."

Wilkinson was working in Vienna in the 1980s when she learned she had cervical cancer. She went the medical route and took all the orthodox treatments but also started practising mindfulness with a therapist. She has been cancer-free since 1990.

"I was aware of my body healing," Wilkinson said. "I could feel the heat of my blood coursing through my body. It was the most incredible experience. I knew I was creating the conditions for healing."

As she mastered it for herself, she began incorporating mindfulness into the classroom, where she worked with children with special needs.

Mindfulness is like meditation in that you slow down and focus on your breathing. By putting your mind through the paces -- Wilkinson has tapes to help those new to the concept -- and turning your mind's eye to your breath, your lungs, your heart beating and your muscles relaxing, the health benefits begin to compound.

Wilkinson got her masters degree in counselling while in Europe and continued to incorporate mindfulness into her private practice.

In February she'll begin sessions on mindful eating for healthy weight loss. "It's not so much about weight loss as examining why you eat," Wilkinson said.

"Eating is so often about comfort or about hiding anger.

Wilkinson said that on particularly stressful days she has to remind herself to step out of the frenzy and clear her head, even if only for a minute or two.

Mathieu describes it as "cleaning out the junk drawer in your head," instead of stuffing it with facts, fears, emotions and stress.

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