To alleviate Fibromyalgia pain and fatigue symptoms it is important to mitigate stress and anxiety.
Mindfulness –– generally defined as the practice of consciously focusing on the present moment (a form of meditation) — can ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia, according to new research. Clinical Rheumatology
There are many forms of meditation and the one that is most commonly referred to is mindfulness. This is a practice to enhance the ability to focus one’s attention away from the automatic responses we have to the myriad of thoughts and stimuli that drive our behaviours.
Mindfulness moderates the influence and concern about anxiety, suggesting mindfulness may alter how patients cope with fibromyalgia.
Learning the skills of meditation in one form or another can ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia (also known as central sensitisation syndrome.) And most importantly it doesn’t mean sitting in the lotus position for hours on end with eyes closed…there are many options.
The more skilled an individual is in focusing the attention on the present moment the less pain interferes with life. The benefits flow also to quality-of-life and mental health.
The science of medicine has not yet identified any one particular form of meditation compared to another. Mindfulness meditation, breathing meditations and mindful movement meditations such as, yoga, qi gong and tai chi have all been shown to be effective.
Tai chi has found to be more effective than aerobic exercise in modifying the experience of the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Educational Videos
How meditation influences the symptoms is becoming better understood but not completely so. For those that want to delve into the current understanding of how the brain generates pain here are some educational videos.
Stress and anxiety which are core symptoms are generated by an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system and meditation practices are the fastest way to bring balance into the system.
As with many other health conditions, consciously managing the mind-body connection enhances health.
The More Than Meditation course explores moderating stress and anxiety, neuroplasticity or “brain training” and addresses these issues in depth.