Corrections_Today_March_April_2023_Vol.85_No.2

■ WELL-BEING

How we think Mindfulness The second approach to improving personal resilience is about how we think. Mindfulness has gained popularity in recent years as a means of lowering stress. Mindfulness is paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and without judgment. It is being in the moment and not in the past or future. Ruminating about the past or worrying about the future takes away the pleasure of the current experience and usually involves negative thoughts. When you focus on your present activity, whether it’s eating, walking, cooking, or taking a shower, those negative thoughts melt away. Mark Twain put it, “I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” And Thornton Wilder is quoted as saying, “My advice to you is not to enquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate.”

“in and out, in and out” with each cycle. While doing this, you can mentally scan your body for any tension breathing in relaxation and breathing out tension. A variation of this is the heart-focused mindfulness that involves taking slow deep breathes in 10 second cycles and focusing on your chest area and experience gratitude or love emanating out from your heart. This practice has had amazing positive results (McCraty, 2015). Visualization Visualization is a technique anyone can use and has been utilized by mental health therapists for decades. It involves sitting comfortably in a quiet/safe place and picturing in your mind some place you have been or imagine would be safe and peaceful. It could have been on a vacation, seen in a movie or heard someone talking about. Mentally put yourself there and experience what it feels like with all your senses. What do you see, hear, feel and sense in your body? Experience this for five or ten minutes. Really take in what it feels like. When you have a strong sense of the experience, mentally return to your present place. Practice this a number of times and it will become natural and easily accessed. You can return to this safe place anytime you want if it is just to relax or if you are feeling stressed and want to calm yourself. Simply revisiting this safe place in your mind can calm you in a matter of seconds. Optimistic thinking Attitudes are important. We all know people with positive attitudes and people with negative attitudes. There is, in fact, a part of the psychology field focused on positive psychology. For years it has documented the benefits of a positive attitude and the negative consequences of a negative attitude. Optimistic thinking promotes well-being, vitality, high morale, a sense of mastery and high self-regard. The world can be a negative cruel place and at the same time be wonderful and abundant. What you look for you will often find. Optimistic thinkers don’t deny the negativity in the world, they just choose to put more energy in seeing the positive. A useful technique is reframing, which involves looking at our negative thinking and restating it in less negative or in more positive terms, i.e., looking for the lessons learned and growth experienced from the situation. An example of this is a study where “children

Nonjudgmental awareness reduces stress, boosts immune function, reduces chronic pain, lowers blood pressure and reduces risk of heart disease.

Mindfulness involves being aware of your body and senses. Savor the present moment. Nonjudgmental awareness reduces stress, boosts immune function, reduces chronic pain, lowers blood pressure and reduces risk of heart disease. Mindful people are happier, more exuberant, more empathetic, serene, have higher self-esteem and lower depression, less binge eating and attention problems (Lyubomirsky, 2007). It seems clear there are many benefits to staff for practicing mindfulness in their activities on and off the job. At any moment you can focus your attention on your breath, or you can make it a practice to sit comfortably and take slow deep breathes, letting your stomach expand and say to yourself

26 — March/April 2023 Corrections Today