empowering your mind 123
When you practice this way of being in the moment, it releases you
from the tortuous loop that your negative thoughts can often create by
igniting negative feelings. Whereas, when you are present with your
negative thought and realize that it is a negative thought and that this,
too, will pass, you diffuse it and prevent it from hijacking your feelings
into an obsessive or depressive emotional feeding frenzy. Scientifi c
research has shown that mindfulness training literally changes your
brain. A mindfulness practice alters the basic metabolism in your brain
circuits that is known to underlie emotional responses; it reduces
activity in circuits linked with negativity, while increasing activity in
circuits linked with positivity. It epitomizes empowerment when you
realize that by choosing to practice mindfulness meditation, you are
creating new neuronal circuitry that will continue to facilitate the
changes you desire in your thinking and feeling, which, of course, will
infl uence your actions and affect your results.
If you have never tried to meditate, the following brief descrip-
tion will get you started before you buy other books (found in the
resources) that are devoted solely to teaching mindfulness medita-
tion. I must admit that I have taken the MBSR course at least three
times and continue to fi nd it an invaluable experience to reinforce
and deepen my practice.
At the Rice Diet Program, we teach participants about the many
benefi ts of meditation. It is an effective tool in stress management.
It calms our restless minds and allows us to see things more as they
really are. The practice often helps us appreciate our bodies more.
And ultimately, it brings us to the present moment, the only moment
in which we are living, the only moment in which we can be truly
aware of our thoughts and feelings. Read through the instructions
once on how to practice this meditation, go to a quiet place, and set
a timer for how long you desire to practice (so that you won ’ t be dis-
tracted by a concern about passing time). My husband, our primary
meditation instructor, shares his approach to the practice below.
Day 14: Meditation Practice
The three main formal meditation exercises at the Rice Diet
Program are all based on what Thich Nhat Hanh calls conscious