{"id":75621,"date":"2023-05-08T08:32:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T13:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/?p=75621"},"modified":"2024-04-06T04:53:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T04:53:34","slug":"mechanisms-of-mindfulness-community-members-lead-healthier-lives","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/news\/mechanisms-of-mindfulness-community-members-lead-healthier-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Mechanisms of Mindfulness: Community Members Lead Healthier Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-69688 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/pepperdine-graphic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/camayak-mindful.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pepperdine-graphic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/camayak-mindful.jpg 712w, https:\/\/pepperdine-graphic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/camayak-mindful-300x455.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pepperdine-graphic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/camayak-mindful-99x150.jpg 99w\" alt=\"\" width=\"712\" height=\"1080\" data-uniq-id=\"00fa7\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a0Art by Skyler Hawkins<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Life is full of ups and downs, but learning how to cope with these inevitable changes allows people to lead more mindful and peaceful lives.<\/p>\n<p>Mindfulness is a person\u2019s ability to be fully present in the moment and not let what is going on around them become overwhelming, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/what-is-mindfulness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mindful.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Living in the moment, focusing on breathing and trying different meditations are all healthy ways to practice mindfulness, according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/consumer-health\/in-depth\/mindfulness-exercises\/art-20046356\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mayo Clinic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jason Wong, associate director of the<a href=\"https:\/\/community.pepperdine.edu\/counselingcenter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0Counseling Center<\/a>, said he practices mindfulness and lowers his stress levels through cycling and running, eating healthy foods, spending time with friends and getting good quality sleep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I\u2019m feeling anxious, sometimes I feel like the thoughts could overwhelm me,\u201d Wong said. \u201cIt\u2019s doing things like this that allow me to redirect my focus onto something else while letting these other thoughts flow through my mind and realign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stress impacts many people on a daily basis and can inhibit them from being their best selves. Roughly three out of four people experience stress that impacts their physical and mental health, according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.therecoveryvillage.com\/mental-health\/stress\/stress-statistics\/#:~:text=According%20to%20The%20American%20Institute,that%20impacts%20their%20mental%20health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Institute of Stress.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Being mindful helps reduce activity in the part of the brain called the amygdala, according to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/how-to-manage-stress-with-mindfulness-and-meditation\/#:~:text=Mindfulness%20practice%20reduces%20activity%20in,level%20of%20stress%20is%20reduced.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0Mindful.org<\/a>. Because the amygdala helps control emotions, calming it can reduce a person\u2019s overall level of stress.<\/p>\n<p>Many people, including students and professors, said they find different ways to lower their stress levels, such as walking or listening to music.<\/p>\n<p>Different aspects of health are connected, Wong said, and having a variety of coping mechanisms increases resilience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEffective stress management helps you break the hold stress has on your life, so you can be happier, healthier and more productive,\u201d according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.helpguide.org\/articles\/stress\/stress-management.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Help Guide<\/a>, which is a nonprofit mental health site.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/seaver.pepperdine.edu\/academics\/ge\/program\/great_books.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Great Books<\/a>\u00a0Professor Tuan Hoang said the main ways he focuses on being mindful are through dancing, breathing intentionally, watching shows, going for walks and taking naps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese ways help to minimize stress for me because they engage my body and give me something different to do from sitting, reading and grading,\u201d Hoang said. \u201cEven just being outdoors in a different environment is good for my body because it gives me a break from sitting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Making sure his body doesn\u2019t stay in one position for too long, Hoang said, helps to keep his body engaged and active.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving a routine that engages my body and mind helps me cope with the stress in my life,\u201d Hoang said.<\/p>\n<p>Listening to music and getting a good amount of sleep are ways first-year Kaitlyn Gerrick said she handles her stress because they make her feel relaxed.<\/p>\n<p>Gerrick said reducing stress allows people to put their best foot forward every day.<\/p>\n<p>Senior Alyssa Hornback said exercise helps her physically destress, talking with friends allows her to receive validation and be open about what is on her mind, and spending time with God gives her peace and reorients her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinding a variety of outlets to minimize stress is important in order to cope with stress in a healthy manner,\u201d Hornback said.<\/p>\n<p>If people do not find healthy ways to cope, Hornback said,<s><\/s>\u00a0they may pursue unhealthy practices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important to find ways to manage stress because we\u2019re complicated people and every aspect of health impacts one another,\u201d Wong said. \u201cThey all act as a spiderweb; a single strand of a spiderweb is not that strong but when you create many strands it becomes stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Original post \u00a0by\u00a0<span class=\"entry-author\"><a class=\"entry-author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/pepperdine-graphic.com\/author\/alicia-dofelmier\/\" rel=\"author\"><span class=\"entry-author-name\">Alicia Dofelmier<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Art by Skyler Hawkins &nbsp; Life is full of ups and downs, but learning how to cope with these inevitable changes allows people to lead more mindful and peaceful lives. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":75622,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[139,166],"tags":[136,137,138,611,143,120,147,175,167],"class_list":["post-75621","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-life-blog","category-wellness","tag-ais","tag-american-institute-of-stress","tag-anxiety","tag-community","tag-mental-health","tag-stress","tag-stress-management","tag-stress-reduction","tag-wellness","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mechanisms of Mindfulness: Community Members Lead Healthier Lives - The American Institute of Stress<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/news\/mechanisms-of-mindfulness-community-members-lead-healthier-lives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mechanisms of Mindfulness: Community Members Lead Healthier Lives - The American Institute of Stress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0Art by Skyler Hawkins &nbsp; Life is full of ups and downs, but learning how to cope with these inevitable changes allows people to lead more mindful and peaceful lives. 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