The Mindful Leader Talk Maria D. Baez

In this podcast, you will learn about topics such as:
Mindfulness effects on the human cognitive, nervous, and immunesystems
Managing work stress for employees
Emotions and leadership interconnectivity
Habits to cope with occupational stress
Mindful habits to enhance the leader role
Mindful team synergy 
 
Email maria@mbaezconsulting.com
Website www.mbaezconsulting.com 
 
Kalimba Relaxation Music by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5711-kalimba-relaxation-musicLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3635-deliberate-thought
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Today's episode is about The myths and paradigms about mindfulness: what is not mindfulness! Several articles about the definition and origin of Mindfulness indicate that this term has been used for hundreds of years, but not before the late 19th century was explicitly connected with meditation practice.
In 1881, Professor Thomas William Rhys Davids translated the word Satis from the Pali language into the English language as Mindfulness. Although it refers to memory, it is used independently as thought, the activity of the mind, and the constant presence of what the mind is generating.
Thus, the term mindfulness already existed in the Buddhist context before reaching western culture. According to the meaning that the Buddhist culture gives to the term Satis, it is remembering, but it refers to memory when used with meditation.
One of the most profound myths and paradigms about the term mindfulness is to relate it in one way or another to the concept of religion, spirituality, or some religious sect.
However, thanks to the work done by Dr. John Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine and founder of Mindfulness-based stress reduction, since 1976, the approach to Mindfulness has changed.
Although Dr. Kabat-Zinn incorporated various meditation techniques from Buddhist translations into his Mindfulness-based stress reduction program, he uses Mindfulness as a secular practice applied to science through scientific lenses.
According to a mindfulness-based stress reduction program at the University of Massachusetts, Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, more than 22,000 individuals have been treated for and received some form of therapy-based Mindfulness as cognitive therapy to treat depression. Many studies confirm and recognize the benefits individuals obtain both in the psychological and physical fields; therefore, they disconnect the term mindfulness from its religious roots.
But, what does Mindfulness means? In general, mindfulness practices are very likely to deliberately involve the effort to stabilize attention on specific physical sensations and emotional stimuli, reestablish and sustain the present moment and keep the mind away from wandering.
This deep commitment to the here and now is combined with an attitude of acceptance and openness. To allow thoughts and emotions to come and go without applying a cognitive assessment.
Focused attention on what the breath is helps us create awareness of what we are thinking and the sensations we are having in our physical body in the present moment.
The psychologist and science journalist from Harvard University, Daniel Coleman, said Mindfulness refers to what moves inside your mind where you notice that it is wandering. So it's like monitoring what you do and where your mind is going. And meditation is one of the ways to train mindfulness attention. He also cites that among the most notorious benefits of mindfulness practices are to lower the stress levels produced by the hormone cortisol, promote and enhance the immune system's response, elevate mood, sharpen focus, delivered attention, and help us recover more quickly from any stressful situation.
After reading one of John Kabat-Zinn's books, "Mindfulness for Beginners: Claiming the Present Moment and Your Life." I learned that Mindfulness is not a cold, hard practice, clinical or analytical therapy of one having to pursue something; I also learned that meditation means peace of mind, relaxation through the direct appreciation of our breath. 
To practice Mindfulness, instead of doing it simply as a technique, a therapy, or as one more task that one has to perform within our hectic day, I would say that the first thing to do is understand the concept as a way of being.
 
Mindfulness is living, recognizing that life is changeable, that the awareness we put in the present moment is what makes life worth living, moment after moment after moment. Mindfulness is a powerful vehicle to carry out that transformation and poss

Did you know if there are effects of mindfulness on the human cognitive, nervous, and immune systems? 
 
The cognitive system is the source of all mental processes and products, arising from complex neural activity in the brain.
 
A cognitive system is a group of interactive and interrelated processes that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. Its job is to execute how information is treated and manipulated through thought, knowledge, and memory within the brain. It is how we understand, plan, decide, solve problems, analyze, synthesize, evaluate and judge information after perceiving it. Still, it also dictates our actions and behaviors.
 
The nervous system is the body's central control, regulation, and communication system. It is the center of all mental activity, including thinking, learning, and memory.
 
The immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that fight infection, harmful substances, germs, and cellular changes to protect the physical body against disease.
 
By assimilating the definition of the cognitive, nervous, and immune systems, we can realize that the practice of mindfulness is implicitly within all these systems.
 
Based on scientific research, there are four mechanisms by which we can have evidence of the effects produced by mindfulness practices. There is the regulation of attention, the awakening of the body, emotional regulation, and the change of self-perspective.
 
Theoretical accounts describe mindfulness practices such as focused attention, self-compassion, self-awareness, physical impulse control, clarity of thought, and emotional control.
 
Studies related to the effects of mindfulness practice in humans show that mindfulness practice can provide new solutions to current problems. And handle potential future issues that result from demographic and technological changes by which all human beings go through today.
 
An article produced by the Department of Health and Human Services USA called "Mindfulness Meditation and the Immune System: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials" confirmed mindfulness practices as a mental core training for developing a mindful daily life. The effects of mindfulness meditation on the immune system were measured considering parameters with a specific focus on outcomes. 
 
The findings suggest the possible effects of mindfulness meditation on specific markers of inflammation, cell-mediated immunity, and biological aging.
 
Thus, Mindfulness mediation can be healthy for immune system dynamics. In addition, it can help improve self-reported measures of disease symptomatology, the effect that mindfulness meditation has on the biological mechanisms underlying aging.
 
Through a psychological process called intention of self-attention, mindfulness practices can help us to make conscious decisions and be present in a particular moment.
 
As a result, we can become aware of what is happening within us, with focused attention to what it is without presenting a judgment or qualification of what is happening to us at that precise moment; and so, we can reduce the problems related to our physical, mental, and emotional health. 
 
This is pretty much it.  Thank you for listening! and stay in tune for the next topic in two weeks “Occupational stress, the physical body, and mindfulness from the chiropractic's perspective”.
 
Music for this podcast:  
 
Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3635-deliberate-thought License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license   and   Kalimba
 
Relaxation Music by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5711-kalimba-relaxation-music License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license 



 

It is common knowledge that chronic stress can wreak havoc on the body. Back pain, muscle tension, tension headaches, fatigue, and neck pain are some of the symptoms people experience when under stress.
 
Over time, stress weakens the immune system and makes the body more vulnerable to disease. Based on researchers, chiropractic treatments help relieve the uncomfortable symptoms of chronic stress. Additionally, regular chiropractic adjustments can calm the nervous system and decrease the fight-or-flight response most people experience when stressed. Much research on human health confirms that the pressures of the work environment, job tasks, demands, and relationships with coworkers or bosses can increase people's susceptibility to health problems. In addition, they will increase the risk of job stress, especially when working in a fast-paced environment.
 
And to corroborate the issue of occupational stress, the physical body, and mindfulness, today we have an exceptional guest, Dr. Cappel.
 
MARIA: Hello Dr. Maxine! I am so,  how can I tell it thrill to be here with you today to know more about your practices and what you do? Dr. Maxine is a chiropractor, third generation of chiropractitioners. Tell us a little bit more about you and what you do.
 
DR MAXINE: Thank you, Maria, for having me here. This is very exciting. So as you mentioned, I am a third generation chiropractor, and I'm the sixth in my family. Wow, that's an unusual distinction because my grandfather was a chiropractor back in 1914, when the practice of chiropractic was only 19 years old. My family were actually pioneers in the chiropractic profession. And, you probably won't meet another third generation chiropractor, maybe not for a very long time. So it makes me quite unusual. And you might say, it's my family legacy. And chiropractic is in my bones.
 
MARIA: Wow, that's beautiful, beautiful. And that seems we are sharing, basically, or information related to occupational stress. I have the first question for you.  What ways does the mind affects your physical body?,
 
DR MAXINE: Your mind is completely connected to your physical body. So your thoughts are probably the main way that you develop vertebral subluxation. So I just need to explain what that means. Yes. So chiropractic works on the basic fundamental principle that the nervous system controls and coordinates every function in your body, from your heart beating regular to your breathing, easy to your digestion going normally, and your bowels going every day, through your hormonal balance and your periods coming right or wrong to your blood pressure to your heart, B to your everything about you. So if your nervous system isn't clear, then there's going to be problems expressed physically continue. So one of the basic tenets of chiropractic is that how do you interrupt or interfere with the clear functioning of the nervous system? Well, there are three main ways. The first way historically by the developers of chiropractic back in 1895, is through emotional stress. This, and I'll come back to that. And the second way that people develop interference to their nervous system is through chemical toxicity. And the third way that people develop interference in nervous system is through physical means of physical problems. Wow. So and I could explain all that. But the first one, emotional trauma, or not even emotional trauma, just emotional stress is probably the biggest way to provide interference to nerve system. And if your nervous system isn't working, right, there's interference to its functioning. And there's interference to the messages getting from the brain to all the parts of your body, from the brain to your heart, your digestive system to your lungs, to your ovaries, or your prostate, or the blood vessels, or the muscles in your legs or, or to your shoulders, or anything that you can think of in your body, also, including your inflammatory system. If there's some interference to th

In this episode, we talk about what habits are, what they represent in our lives, and how to consciously lay the foundation to create the best day of your life with the example of a morning plan to set up a mindful day.

This enlightening episode explores Buckminster Fuller’s insights on life’s nine environments. Join Dr. María D. Báez on this cosmic disco adventure, dancing through social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, professional, financial, cultural, technological, and physical realms. Unlock secrets to balance, resilience, and joy.