MINDFULNESS: A VITAL ELEMENT IN TREATMENT OF PCOS

We are living in times where stress has become an integral part of our lives. Especially for women who want to have it all – balancing work, parenting, studying, socializing and lots of other activities that we incorporate in our lives which can become stressful. People are often seen juggling between work and family, working hard and taking up more than one can handle. To add to this, living in a technology-run world (read smartphones, television, computers, even smartwatches) consume most of our time and attention.

Therefore, it is necessary to use a little (or a lot) more of mindfulness.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is not about sitting in a quiet, dark room and chanting “OM”. Neither does it require to lit incense candles and create a zen environment. It is much more than all of these.

Mindfulness means paying close attention to our thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations without making any judgement about oneself. It is not about focusing on the future neither it is about dwelling in the past. It is all about the PRESENT – the here and now. It is about experiencing every moment, second, minute of what is happening to you and your body.

For example, when you sit to eat your next meal, try to focus on the type of food, the smell, the texture, the taste. Try asking yourself; what does it smell like? Am I hungry enough to continue eating? Am I already full?

Of course, mindfulness is not just about food but about our everyday scenario. The emotions we go through, our feelings are sometimes missed in a hurried lifestyle that we lead.

Mindfulness is extremely important for the treatment of PCOS. Women suffering from PCOS, experience a roller-coaster of emotions and have different feelings and thoughts in their minds. Mindfulness helps them alleviate stress by creating a state of relaxation in the brain. This response causes changes in brain structure and activity, improves mood, sensory awareness, and increases focus.

This is not a philosophical study, but well-proven by scientific research and facts.

Research shows that mindfulness helps women with PCOS in the following way:

• Balances blood glucose

The psychological distress which is caused by PCOS is a contributing factor to the impaired blood glucose. Mindfulness helps restore harmony to the blood glucose levels by reducing the effect of stress on the hormones.

• Improves sleep quality

Erratic hormones due to PCOS can make it difficult for one to sleep. A good night’s sleep is essential to nourish the body and the mind. Insomnia can have toxic effects on the overall health and well-being. Research suggests that stress management techniques like mindfulness help reduce pre-sleep anxiety and worry and helps one relax and fall into a soothing slumber.

• Food for your mood

Women suffering from PCOS have myriad of mood swings and mood disorders. This results in anxiety, depression and other debilitating emotions and feelings. Research shows that mindfulness helps alleviate mood-related problems that are triggered by PCOS.

How do we incorporate mindfulness in our day to day life?

The best thing about mindfulness is that one can practice it at any moment in your day, it’s just about bringing your focus and attention to everyone and everything around you.

The beauty of mindfulness is that it helps you reach untapped parts of the brain, unlocking happiness, creativity, appreciation, gratitude and compassion.

Mindfulness is developed by an accurate and focused registering of the events taking place in the 6 sensory organs without any reaction to the events. It is about the bare attention and careful observation of all mental and physical activity, to know one’s own mental processes as thoroughly as possible.

There are 4 main objects of observation in training for mindfulness:

1. body processes (natural events such as breathing, walking, pain, or discomfort)
2. emotions or feelings
3. thoughts (the present condition of consciousness)
4. mental contents (objects of consciousness).

Practising Mindfulness:

One of the best things about mindfulness is that it can be done at any moment of the day. It’s just about bringing your attention and awareness to everything and everyone around you. To get you started on the right foot, here are a few things to be ‘mindful’ about:

• Focus on your breathing. Pay close attention to the inhalation and exhalation process. You may be interrupted by thoughts of the past or future but try to keep your focus on the breathing.

• Once you are able to get your focus on one thing, try practising it on simpler things like walking, eating, etc. Thoughts will enter your mind but try to bring back your focus on the task/emotions/feelings that you are experiencing at that moment.

• Take it slow – unlearn the modern scourge of ‘multi-tasking’.

• Be patient with yourself – mindfulness is a technique that takes time and practice to learn. Do not give up by saying ‘mindfulness is not for me’.

Mindfulness isn’t just about sitting cross-legged or dedicating huge amount of your time to it. Instead, it’s about incorporating it into your everyday rituals and allowing yourself to fully tune into your thoughts, emotions and feelings.

If you have PCOS, this practice offers up a simple way to deal with much of the emotional turmoil the condition is known to spark and can even help control your blood sugar levels!

The best part is –  it’s free, accessible and you can start practising it right now.