From healio.com
BALTIMORE — Practicing meditation and mindfulness can reduce diabetes distress and improve diet, HbA1c, sleep and overall quality of life for people with diabetes, according to two speakers.
During a presentation at the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists annual meeting, Peter Friedfeld and Brooke Cassoff, CHWC, co-founders and facilitators at Diabetes Sangha, an online group dedicated to meditation and mindfulness practices for people with diabetes, described how the practices can be incorporated into diabetes self-management and how diabetes care and education specialists can teach the principles to people with diabetes.
“Mindfulness really involves simply observing our experiences from moment to moment, whatever they may be, and observing those experiences with a sense of care and non-judgement and being attentive to them as they change and flow over time,” Cassoff said. “Mindfulness can also take many different forms. Mindfulness is not simply about sitting still. Mindfulness can be done through movement, through walking, there are many different styles of mindfulness that can be tried.”
Benefits of mindfulness
There are several ways mindfulness practice can help people with diabetes overcome challenges. Importantly, the practice allows people with diabetes to accept the present state of their lives.
“So much of our lives is about how we can’t eat this or can’t do this at the moment because we have a low blood sugar,” Friedfeld said. “Mindfulness practice works by allowing us to accept the present moment as it is.”
Mindfulness can also help people with diabetes to better understand the root of stress, anxiety and depression; observe their own experience without judgement; let go of impossible expectations; cultivate non-reactivity when facing emotional volatility with diabetes self-management; and connect with others when experiencing social stigma or isolation.
“Mindfulness really helps us be connected with our sense of common humanity; knowing that, just like me, every human being experiences difficulties, stress, ups and downs,” Cassoff said. “And just like me, each human being longs to be happy, healthy and safe.”
Several studies show that meditation is associated with reduced diabetes distress, anxiety and depression; improved eating patterns; a stronger feeling of being “in touch with one’s sensations;” improved social connections; lower HbA1c; better sleep; improved quality of life; and improved psychological well-being in people with diabetes. Cassoff noted two ways that particularly affect people with diabetes in which meditation positively affects the brain.
“We know based on research that consistent meditation leads to structural changes in the brain, in particular it leads to increased neuroplasticity,” Cassoff said. “For many years, it was believed that the human brain ceases to change or develop at a certain age. What we know today is that, actually, our brains are constantly learning and constantly rewiring to create new neuro connections and pathways based on the experiences that we have.”
Cassoff said meditation can help orient one’s brain in ways that allow a person with diabetes to accept the present and be more self-supportive. Additionally, Cassoff said, meditation has been associated with decreased size and activity of the amygdala, which can improve regulation of emotional responses.
By adopting meditation, Friedfeld said, people with diabetes can establish a sense of safety, learn acceptance, stay calm during stressful situations, develop physical and emotional resilience, work through difficult times, address pain in healthy ways and treat themselves and others with compassion and kindness.
Incorporating mindfulness into practice
There are several ways people with diabetes can practice mindfulness, including performing breathwork and practicing compassion, kindness and gratitude throughout the day. Mindfulness can also be incorporated into activities such as eating, walking, yoga and other movement practices.
Friedfeld said diabetes care and education specialists can take several steps to incorporate meditation into their own practice.
“Consider explaining these concepts to those whom you are working with, your patients and those you can for,” Friedfeld said. “Explain how this is available to them. Also connect to online resources. We are so fortunate to have a wealth of resources we can use to understand these practices and get engaged with them. Share these specifics practices with people with diabetes.”
Friedfeld said diabetes care and education specialists can also join a community-based meditation group and pursue a certification for meditation facilitation.
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