Mindfulness

Coping with Lymphoma

Mindfulness

“Awareness, paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present, noticing and being aware of our thoughts, where we are, what we’re doing, and what is around us in the present moment. If thoughts about the past or the future arise, gently bringing the mind back to the present moment is also a part of the practice of mindfulness.

*The following content was contributed by mindfulness expert and Lymphoma Research Foundation supporter, Jackie Quan.

The practice of mindfulness is learning how to bring your attention to the present repeatedly, over and over again. In this way, you can learn to sense where your thoughts are going, where your mind is going, and learn how to dampen stress or worry by redirecting your thoughts. This helps you to choose thoughts and behaviors that are more productive for your overall wellbeing. This practice can be an important coping tool and also helps promote resilience and contentment or happiness.

Learning and starting the practice of mindfulness is a journey. It may take some individuals longer to learn than others and this is ok. Practice can start with just a couple of minutes, then gradually increasing over time to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes or even longer.

Each person’s experience with cancer is different, and how they, and their family and caregivers, cope with the physical and emotional impact of having this disease is unique to their situation. Processing many emotions such as fear, worry, anger or sadness can be difficult and at times feel impossible.

The practice of mindfulness has helped many with such issues by helping to dampen or stop our worrying. Mindfulness practice has been studied among thousands of researchers and has been demonstrated to help many people with stress, anxiety and depression.  Mindfulness practice has been studied in cancer, among hundreds of researchers, for many years and has shown it may have benefit with stress, anxiety, and sleep.

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Pulse is a publication of the Lymphoma Research Foundation, providing the latest updates on the Foundation and its focus on lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) research, awareness, and education