Stress Eating and the Healthy Eating Meditation Practice

by Baxter

Breakfast of Champions by Melina Meza

Recently I had the good fortune to present an all-day workshop on Yoga for Healthy Eating at the Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco. The workshop was in many ways a distillation of all of the ideas and information we have presented here at YFHA over the last 2+ years. And as I prepared for the day, and while I was presenting the workshop, the stories my students and workshop attendees shared with me really brought home once again how powerful our daily modern stresses are in derailing our attempts at healthy eating.

As we have addressed here previously, the stress response, which usually is NOT to a true life-threatening emergency these days, causes an immediate impulse behavior that is essential in a true emergency, when you need to act, not mull over what to do. But because we are usually at the desk or behind the wheel and not actually fleeing or fighting and expending energy, the impulse tends to override our commitment and willpower to maintain healthy eating habits. So sometimes we grab a snack as our impulsive reaction.

On top of that, the stress reaction releases extra cortisol into our blood stream, which hangs around a lot longer than the fast acting adrenalin and CRH hormone. And cortisol tends to increase our appetite, even if it is nowhere near mealtime. So we have yet another urge to eat. And since the body releases energy-rich sugar molecules into our bloodstream in those first moments of our stress response - molecules that have been stored in the body for emergencies - we tend to be more likely to want to replace them by reaching for carbohydrates that are rich in similar sugar molecules when that post-event cortisol appetite strikes. So we make another unhealthy choice by going for the snack foods and sugar-rich soft drinks so readily available at work and at the store! What’s a determined yogi to do?

Nina has suggested that a regular stress-reduction asana practice—with an active portion (such as a few rounds of Sun Salutations to address held physical tension in the body), followed by several restorative poses or even a supported easy inversion—combined with meditation and breath awareness -- is a good option for beginning to deal with the overall stress in your life. And we have also talked about how the stress response causes that immediate impulsivity, which Kelly McGonigal, PhD says reduces your willpower in the moment of the stressful event. But she also notes that a regular meditation practice tends to build willpower, possibly offsetting the stress response impulsivity and getting you through those daily stressful bumps. According to one study, even 10 minutes a day starts to do the trick after you rack up as little as three hours of total meditation time over several weeks.

All of this made me think about the times when you return home from a stressful day, fatigued and not wanting to or having the energy to do your stress management practice. So I came up with a 20 minute practice to address the general effects of stress and to support our resolve and will power to eat more healthy, that just about anyone can do when you first get home.

Before I share this fairly simple practice, I want to reiterate our recommendations on what to do in the moment of the stress event. Consider any of the following:

• Get up and take a short, brisk walk.
• Try one of our short office yoga practices, which you can do at work or just about anywhere.
• Drink a big glass of water and sit quietly, observing your breath for five minutes before acting on the impulse to eat.
• If you really feel you need to eat something, be prepared with healthy whole-food snacks you bring to work each day, or have in your purse or backpack before you leave home for the day.

For the 20-minute practice, I’m proposing a two-part meditation. You can practice this when you get home or, honestly whenever it suits your schedule. But I suggest you do it every day (we’ve said before and I’ll say it again: your bad habits never change without work and practice!).

Part 1:  This is your Stress Reduction practice, a 10-minute simple, reclined meditation. Before practicing, set a timer so you don’t have to worry about what time it is, because that is not relaxing. For this practice, lie in Relaxation pose for 10 minutes, and simply focus on your easy, natural breath as it enters and exits your body. That’s it. Try to stay gently awake. You can use a blanket support under your spine and head, or just a pillow to lift the head slightly. The purpose of this first meditation is to trigger the Relaxation Response that Herbert Benson first described back in the 70’s.

Part 2: This is your Willpower Boosting practice, a 10-minute seated meditation practice. Come up from your reclining position and sit with or without support on the floor, or use a chair if you prefer. Set your timer again for 10 minutes. Now, establish a nice inner lift from your sitting bones up to the crown of your head. Then pick a simple word or phrase to use as your mental focus, and repeat it to yourself mentally on each exhalation. You might use the phrase “healthy eating” as your intention, or pick something that works better for you. When you notice that you’ve become distracted, immediately return to repeating your phrase. This second meditation is not about relaxing, but about staying focused and concentrated on your intention. That does not mean you might not still feel relaxed at the end, but that’s not the purpose. Remember, studies have shown that meditations like this not only make meditating easier over time, but also improve a wide range of self-control skills, which is what we are after!

So there you have it—the 20-minute, two-part Healthy Eating Meditation practice! Give it a go for the next month. And let us know what changes you notice. No time like the present to make the change you want to see in 2014!

Meditation: Effects on Gene Expression

by Ram

Yoga for Healthy Aging authors have written extensively on the power of meditation (dhyana) and its beneficial effects on so many aspects of life, including, but not limited to, disease and pain, sleep management, control of emotions, stress reduction, depression and weight-reduction goals. In all the above cases it seemed that meditation changed behavioral patterns and enhanced emotional stability. Articles by Baxter (How to Meditate, Thoughts On Dhyana ), Timothy (Starting a Meditation Practice), Brad (Stressed Mind, Stressed Cells), Nina (Meditation and Compassion)  and yours truly (Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations, Memory Loss: Meditation to the Rescue) have all provided lucid explanations of ways to meditate, the science of meditation and the effects of meditation on body and mind.

Vine and Wall by Melina Meza

In one of my recent posts, I also discussed meditation’s important role in slowing the progression of age-related cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Researchers had demonstrated that meditation reduced hippocampal (the hippocampus is one of the areas of the brain involved in memory) degeneration and improved functional connectivity in those areas of the brain that are affected by Alzheimer's disease (see Memory Loss: Meditation to the Rescue). In response to the above-mentioned article, one of our readers recently sent us the following question:

“What exactly is meditation? At the end of our yoga class my teacher puts us all in a brief meditation session. Each day is different, one day she puts a audio tape and tells us to meditate on it, another day she reads some verses from a book and asks us to meditate on them, a third day she tells us to meditate on a color. I just cannot comprehend these different methods. To me all these are nothing but distractions. So how do I meditate?”

In chapter 3, verse 2 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we are introduced to the topic of meditation (dhayana) as follows: “Tatra Pratyaya Ekatanata Dhyanam.” Swami Jnaneshvara () translates this as: “The repeated continuation or uninterrupted stream of that one point of idea/notion is called meditation.” To put it simply, when the mind remains undistracted (still) for a length of time, it is called meditation.

Needless to say, humans inherently fear stillness, as it brings them closer to their true divine nature, which they are not prepared to face. Novices in a meditation practice have a tough time closing their eyes and keeping still in mind and body. It is a very natural response. Hence, in a beginner’s class the teacher usually begins by telling the class to focus on an object, color, flower, and so on. This type of meditation not only allows beginners to focus strongly on one point but it helps to bring their attention back to that focal point when the mind wanders. Another practice might include focusing on some soft music or recitation, engaging the auditory sense. The ultimate goal of the meditation exercise is to be at ease, relaxed and at peace with our surroundings. It is important not to resist any disturbing or distracting influences that come in the way of meditation practice. Everything is a part of meditation, including noise, thoughts, emotions, and resistance from the mind.

Now that I’ve answered our reader’s question about how to meditate, I’m excited to share some news with you about the benefits of the practice. In a new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France, mediation seems to trigger very important genetic and physiological changes in the human body. The authors of the study report the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation. Specifically, the study shows that meditation reduces the expression of several genes associated with inflammation. For more on inflammation, see my article Chronic Inflammation and Yoga.

In this latest study, the researchers investigated the impact of a day of intensive mindfulness practice on the expression of genes involved in several physiological functions. Blood samples from 19 experienced meditators and a control group of 21 subjects with no meditation experience who engaged in leisure activities were analyzed for gene changes. The changes in the gene expression were compared before and after the meditation session. Notably, the experienced meditators showed a marked reduction in the levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation. There was no difference in the tested genes between the two groups of people at the start of the study, clearly suggesting that the pro-inflammatory gene changes were specifically associated with meditation. Interestingly, these same genes are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs. According to the researchers, the research findings set the foundation for future studies to further assess meditation strategies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions. I am very excited because if these studies prove successful, one can use stillness to curb almost all the present day inflammatory-associated maladies, such as, arthritis, thyroid disease, tendonitis, myositis, and neuropathies.

The health benefits from meditation are so strong that scientists are swearing by it and more doctors are recommending the practice to their patients. So it’s no wonder that meditation is going mainstream. I know if I had to choose between anti-inflammatory drugs or calmness of my mind to curb stress and inflammation, I would choose the latter. What about you?