01.18.19
Can you use your mind to attack your MS, just as you use things such as medications and physical therapy? Some people who believe in the benefits of mindfulness think you can, at least to some extent.
Mindfulness is defined as “the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us,” according to mindful.org. It uses a combination of things like yoga, meditation, music, stretching, and group support to reduce stress.
For a number of years, Maryanna Klatt, PhD, and others at The Ohio State University have been using mindfulness techniques to help people with MS. The idea is that by lowering a person’s stress, their quality of life will be raised. The Mindfulness in Motion program was first tried several years ago on a group of surgical intensive care nurses. (There’s plenty of stress in that line of work.) An article in NARCOMS Now magazine reported that following the eight-week program, “nurses who participated had lower levels of salivary amylase, an enzyme in the saliva associated with prolonged stress. Along with lower levels of these stress chemicals, the nurses had increased job satisfaction and less ’emotional exhaustion.’”
Mindfulness in Motion and MS
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