Fall into loving kindness

Fall into loving kindness...?

The jokes might get old but mindfulness never will. Mindfulness is a useful tool to combat anxiety, stress, and depression. One example of a mindfulness exercise is the Loving Kindness Meditation. This can help to cultivate kindness to yourself, and to others.

From the perspective of polyvagal theory, mindfulness exercises are just one way to activate the vagal 'brake'. Your vagus nerve slows your heart rate down when your body and mind might otherwise get stuck in the "fight or flight" response of the sympathetic nervous system. To stay too much in the sympathetic state can contribute to anxiety and panic attacks, and it can lead to higher levels of stress hormones, including cortisol and epinephrine. Increased levels of epinephrine damage blood vessels and arteries and raise blood pressure, and excessive cortisol levels result in an increased fat tissue.

I hope you find this useful. If you have any questions about this, please get in touch.

​Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC
Explore Transform LLC
 Counseling and Psychotherapy in Bergen County, New Jersey
 www.exploretransform.com
 +1 (201) 779-6917