As May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, Dr. Adam Jonas, internal medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente Everett Medical Center, is highlighting the importance of mindfulness in managing stress and anxiety and promoting overall mental well-being.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is about being present in the moment and paying focused attention. Dr. Jonas says, “Mindfulness supports a lot of aspects of health, but mental health is the most important – managing anxiety, depression and insomnia” .
Practicing mindfulness has also been shown to reduce stress. “It helps you with mood, a sense of calm and peacefulness, making you feel better,” Dr. Jonas adds. It can also help with certain physical conditions, such as hypertension.
It’s important to pay attention when we are stressed. The body responds to stress as though we are in danger, and produces hormones that speed up our heart, make us breathe faster, and give us a burst of energy. This is called the fight-or-flight stress response. If the stress is over quickly, our body goes back to normal and no harm is done. If stress happens too often or lasts too long, it can have negative health effects. Long-term stress can make us more likely to get sick, and it can make symptoms of some diseases, like hypertension, worse.
Dr. Jonas adds, “Ideally, mindfulness is part of everyone’s lifestyle, like getting exercise – it’s a foundational practice.”
Incorporating mindfulness into daily life
Dr. Jonas suggests individuals incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines through small, intentional actions. “Small moments of mindfulness can be very helpful,” he notes. “For example, eating is a time to practice mindfulness – paying attention to how things taste can increase our enjoyment of food and even help us listen more carefully to our hunger cues.”
“Waiting on the phone or brushing your teeth – these are great times to focus on mindfulness,” Dr. Jonas adds. Mindfulness can take many forms, like focusing on breathing or being more aware of your surroundings. “We encourage walking as a way to get exercise, for example, but while you’re out, it’s also beneficial to notice what plants are growing, to pay attention to sounds and be present without listening to things on your phone.”
Mindfulness also plays a role in promoting good sleep hygiene. “Focusing on a routine at the end of your day and being aware of what’s going on in your body is a great time to practice mindfulness,” Dr. Jonas says.
Tools for practicing mindfulness
Phone apps and other digital tools can help people get started practicing mindfulness. These tools are designed to help users incorporate mindfulness into their daily lives and manage stress effectively. Kaiser Permanente provides members free access to mindfulness resources, including the Calm app, which offers guided meditations and breathing exercises. To learn more about programs offered by Kaiser Permanente, visit kp.org.
