Mind-body connection:

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Maryanne, a seasoned therapist trained in mindfulness-based stress reduction, has developed a unique holistic approach to mental health. She employs stress reduction strategies in her therapy sessions, each tailored to manage a variety of mental health issues.

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The benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction are profound -

-Helps to prevent harmful ruminating - Several studies have shown that mindfulness reduces rumination and depressive symptoms. (Chambers et al. (2008).

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-Stress reduction: Many studies have shown that practicing mindfulness reduces stress. Hoffman et al. conducted a meta-analysis of 39 studies and concluded that mindfulness-based therapy may help alter affective and cognitive processes underlie multiple clinical issues.

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-Increases overall happiness: Hoffman et al. also found that mindfulness meditation increases positive affect and decreases anxiety and negative affect.

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-Better emotional regulation - (Farb et al., 2010) study suggested that mindfulness meditation shifts people's ability to use emotional regulation strategies in a way that enables them to experience emotion selectively and that the feelings they experience may be processed differently in the brain (Farb et al., 2010; Williams, 2010).

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-Boosts to working memory: Improvements in working memory are another benefit of mindfulness. Hha et al. found that working memory capacity increased with meditation practice, and meditation practice also relates to self-reported positive affect and less negative affect.

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-Focus - Another study examined how mindfulness meditation helped people focus attention and suppress distracting information. Mindfulness meditation practice and self-reported mindfulness directly correlated with cognitive flexibility and attentional functioning (Moore & Malinowski, 2009).

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-Less emotional reactivity: Research also supports that mindfulness meditation decreases emotional reactivity and helps better manage challenging situations. (Ortner et al., 2007).

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-More cognitive flexibility: Another line of research suggests that mindfulness meditation may help people become less reactive and give them greater cognitive flexibility. Mindfulness meditation develops the skill of self-observation, which neurologically disengages the automatic pathways created by prior learning and enables present-moment input to be integrated in a new way (Siegel, 2007a).

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-Adaptive responses to stress: Meditation also activates the brain region associated with more adaptive responses to stressful or negative situations (Cahn & Polich, 2006; Davidson et al., 2003). Activation of this region corresponds with faster recovery after being negatively provoked (Davidson, 2000; Davidson et al., 2000).

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-Relationship satisfaction - Several studies found that a person's ability to be mindful can help predict relationship satisfaction — the ability to respond well to relationship stress and the skill of communicating one's emotions to a partner. Mindfulness protects against the emotionally stressful effects of relationship conflict (Barnes et al., 2007), is positively associated with the ability to express oneself in various social situations (Dekeyser el al., 2008) and predicts relationship satisfaction (Barnes et al., 2007; Wachs & Cordova, 2007).

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-Other benefits - Mindfulness has been shown to enhance self-insight, morality, intuition and fear modulation, all functions associated with the brain's middle prefrontal lobe area (Carmody & Baer, 2008).

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-Health Benefits - Mindfulness meditation has numerous health benefits, including increased immune functioning (Davidson et al., 2003; see Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004) and improvement in well-being (Carmody & Baer, 2008).

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-Information processing speed: Mindfulness meditation also has positive cognitive functioning effects that can benefit our information processing speed (Moore & Malinowski, 2009).

 

Breath Work:

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When stress threatens to overwhelm you, it is easy to feel like you are losing control. Focusing on breathing can allow the body to reset and recover from stress's harmful effects. Maryanne incorporates these techniques into her therapy sessions, guiding her clients through mindfulness-based stress reduction and breathwork practices to offer a beacon of hope and optimism for those struggling with stress and anxiety.

 

Benefits of Breathwork:

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For instance, stress reduction can be as simple as taking a few minutes each day to focus on your breath, while breathwork techniques can involve specific breathing patterns and exercises. These practices have been shown to promote both psychological and physical benefits, including:

-Increased sense of peace—Breathwork practices not only enhance feelings of comfort, relaxation, and vitality but also promote cognitive alertness. They decrease symptoms of emotional dysregulation, anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion, fostering a sense of tranquillity.

Reduces the stress hormone - Cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress and associated with depression and anxiety, is significantly reduced through breathwork, providing a sense of relief and well-being.

-Improves sleep - Breathwork has been shown to promote improved sleep.(need reference)

Increases overall positive affect - Because breathwork decreases negativity and helps to manage stress, anxiety and depression, it has beneficial effects on social connectedness and self-esteem (Fincham, G.W., Strauss, C., Montero-Marin, J. et al.)

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Physical health benefits of breath work may include:

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• Balanced blood pressure

• More time in deep sleep

• Stronger respiratory function

• Better immune system

• Release of stress hormones

 

Emotional benefits may include:

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• Fewer feelings of depression and anxiety

• Better mental focus

• Decrease in addictive behaviours

• Allowing emotional scars to heal

• Better outlook on life

• Contentment and joy

• Reduction of PTSD and feelings of trauma