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  • Driven to distraction 

    Mindfulness: how not to be driven to distraction in this modern world
    Monash University Posted by Monash University 

    11 AUG 2015


    Drs Craig Hassed and Richard Chambers of Monash University are lead educators on the free online course, “Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance.” Here, they discuss what mindfulness is and how it can help us use our attention in a more discerning way.

    Eating at your desk – an example of unmindful behaviour.

    Have you ever found yourself at the end of a car trip from point A to point B and don’t remember the journey? Have you ever eaten a meal without really tasting it? Do you ever get out of the shower and not remember if you used the shampoo? Have you ever been in conversation with someone and realised that you haven’t heard a word of what they said? Well, you know what it is to be unmindful.

    Being unmindful comes at a cost

    Being unmindful – distracted, inattentive, disengaged, unaware – comes at a cost. For example, it costs us time and energy, causes mistakes, impairs memory, reduces enjoyment, impairs communication, slows learning, and is associated with stress and poor mental health.

    In the modern world, the main reasons for being unmindful are, first, complex multitasking such as texting while driving. It’s dangerous. Next, there is what happens to us when we are hassled, hurried and going too fast. We feel stressed, and lose focus and efficiency.

    Then there is the situation where we slip into what is called “default mode” – where the mind has disconnected from what is happening and has gone into its own little imaginary world, which is often full of worry and rumination. We are living an imaginary future or reliving the past. In such a state, we are operating on automatic pilot.

    The increasing interest in mindfulness

    Given the speed of modern life – and the prevalence of poor mental health, multitasking and distraction these days – it is not surprising to see that an increasing number of individuals, as well as schools, universities, organisations, sporting teams and professional groups, are getting interested in mindfulness.

    Mindfulness is a simple skill – learning to use your attention in a more discerning way. For example, it helps us to focus; to stay on task; to communicate more effectively and empathically; to not get caught in cycles of rumination and worry; and to enjoy life more, including life’s simple pleasures.

    There is growing scientific evidence about the benefits of mindfulness, which has helped to attract increasing interest in it.

    Mindfulness is not just a form of meditation. It’s a way of living. It’s life’s most important life-skill, because if we can’t get the attention bit right, then it makes it hard to get anything else right.

    If you would like to discover more about what mindfulness is and to cultivate more of it in your life, join “Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance.” The course offers both background information and practical strategies for bringing mindfulness into your personal, study and/or professional life.

  • What Is Amaranth Good For?

    What Is Amaranth Good For?

    Amaranth Advantage
    Botanical name: Amaranthus

    Amaranth Nutrition Facts

    Cultivated by the Aztecs 8,000 years ago and still a native crop in Peru, the ancient history of amaranth can be traced to Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. Today, it’s grown in Africa, India, China, Russia, throughout South America, and emerging once again in North America.

    Somewhat of an unknown quantity to many, amaranth is tall – often six feet – with broad green leaves, bright red or gold flowers, and around 60 different species. The flowers are made up of miniscule, grain-like buds, one reason why this plant often falls into the “grain” category. But amaranth isn’t technically a grain like oats, wheat, or rice. It’s sometimes referred to as a “pseudo-cereal” because its nutritional profile is very similar.

    One of the most important aspects of this tiny grain is that it’s gluten-free. When ground, the flour is generally a pale ivory shade, although the red “buds” can be ground as well for a red-tinged and very healthful grain.

    Being extremely dense, amaranth is too heavy to be used by itself. It’s best used with other grains for a lighter texture, and with a proven combination of ingredients like guar gum to impersonate gluten.

    Cooking amaranth is comparable to cooking pasta or rice: boil plenty of water (six cups of water per one cup of amaranth), measure the grain into it, cook and stir for 15 to 20 minutes, drain, rinse, and eat.

    Amaranth can be used as an exceptional thickener for sauces, soups, stews, and even jellies. Eaten as a snack, amaranth can have a light, nutty, or peppery-crunchy texture and flavor. Best of all, amaranth is even more nutritious than its true-grain counterparts.

    Health Benefits of Amaranth

    One reason amaranth is emerging into the forefront among grains is because of its remarkable nutrition. It’s higher in minerals, such as calcium, iron, phosphorous, and carotenoids, than most vegetables. It has truly remarkable protein content: cup for cup, 28.1 grams of protein compared to the 26.3 grams in oats and 13.1 grams in rice.

    Amaranth is a great source of lysine, an important amino acid with protein content comparable to that of milk, more easily digested; neither can be said of other grains. To support this positive aspect of amaranth, it also contains primary proteins called albumin and globulins, which, in comparison with the prolamins in wheat, are more soluble and digestible.

    One cup of raw amaranth contains 15 milligrams of iron, while white rice contains only 1.5 milligrams. One cup of raw amaranth also contains 18 milligrams of fiber; in comparison, white rice contains 2.4 grams.

    At 105% of the daily value per serving, the manganese in amaranth is off the charts, yet it contains fewer carbohydrates. Amaranth contains more than three times the amount of calcium and it’s also high in magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Amaranth contains 6 to 10% oil, predominantly unsaturated, or around 77% unsaturated fatty acids, including linoleic acid, required for optimum nutrition. Not least in this list, amaranth is the only grain with documented vitamin C content.

    Amaranth Nutrition Facts

    Serving Size: 4.9 ounces (139 grams), raw
    Amt. Per
    Serving    		 % Daily
    Value*
    Calories 716
    Calories from Fat 113
    Total Fat 14 g 21%
    Saturated Fat 3 g 14%
    Trans Fat 0 g 0%
    Cholesterol 0 g 0%
    Sodium 8 mg 0%
    Total Carbohydrates 127 g 42%
    Dietary Fiber 13 g 52%
    Sugar 3 g
    Protein 26 g
    Vitamin A0% Vitamin C 15%
    Calcium31% Iron 82%

    *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie

    Studies Done on Amaranth

    A study on amaranth reported that its seeds contain not only important nutritional properties, but also phytochemical compounds like rutin and nicotiflorin, and peptides with the ability to help lower hypertension and incidences of cancer.

    Researchers suggested further investigation on the function of health-beneficial peptides in amaranth, particularly lunasin, which was previously identified in soybeans and thought to have cancer-preventing benefits, as well as lowering incidences of chronic diseases, such as inflammation, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.1

    As cardiovascular disease (CVD) is linked to high blood cholesterol (hyperlipidemia), hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, scientists reported that reducing saturated fat while increasing unsaturated fatty acids can prevent CVD. Amaranth was studied in relation to these findings and found it to be potentially beneficial for CVD patients.

    Test results also concluded that amaranth oil could be a functional food product for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases.2

    Amaranth Healthy Recipes:
    Tabbouleh-Style Amaranth Salad

    Arugula Healthy Recipes
    Ingredients:
    1½ cups cold water ½ cup uncooked whole-grain amaranth 2 cups diced unpeeled English cucumber ½ cup thinly sliced celery
    ½ cup finely chopped red onion ¼ cup chopped fresh mint ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
    2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice ¼ teaspoon salt
    ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper ½ cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 1 cup (4 ounces) feta cheese, crumbled Lemon wedges (optional)

    Procedures:

    1. Bring 1 1/2 cups cold water and amaranth to a boil in a medium saucepan; reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes or until water is almost absorbed (it will have the appearance of mush).
    2. While amaranth cooks, combine cucumber and the next 11 ingredients in a large bowl.
    3. Place amaranth in a sieve, and rinse under cold running water until room temperature; drain well, pressing with the back of a spoon. Add to cucumber mixture; toss to blend. Add cheese; toss gently. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

    Note: It’s important that the amaranth is placed in a fine mesh sieve. The grain is so tiny that it will slip through a traditional strainer. If one is not available, place the cooked amaranth on a large baking sheet, and spread it in a thin layer so it will cool without clumping together.

    http://foodfacts.mercola.com/amaranth.html

  • An Incredible Alternative to Mindfulness You Never Heard Of

    An Incredible Alternative to Mindfulness You Never Heard Of

    Emma M. Seppälä Ph.D. Emma M. Seppälä Ph.D.
    Does meditation make you anxious or mad? Here’s a science-backed alternative.

    Posted Apr 19, 2016

    We keep seeing more studies demonstrating how mindfulness meditation can change the brain, make us feel better, and generally improve our lives. That’s great. But what if it doesn’t work for you? Maybe the practices that were supposed to take you to a calm place made you feel anxious or irritable.

    Your skin crawls, you have ants in your pants, and you swing between anxiety attacks and rage. Not exactly Zen.


    Maybe your reaction was to start focusing on your to-do list and worrying that instead of getting things done, you were just sitting there doing nothing. You ended up getting frustrated, quitting, and buying another latte instead.
    Your meditator friends either look like they could smile through a sandstorm or are so neurotically self-aware that they drive you nuts with their “mindful” attitudes and “conscious” relating. Meanwhile, you’re so stressed you can’t sit and watch your thoughts. Or label them. Or “hold them with nonjudgmental awareness.”

    The good news is that you don’t have to do mindfulness meditation. There are other ways to reach inner peace.

    There has been so much attention on mindfulness and meditation that we’ve started to equate the two.

    One reason scientists are so interested in mindfulness meditation is that it is a cognitive exercise. Scientists like cognitive exercises.

    Here’s what I mean: you have to observe your thoughts (scientists love to observe) and label them (scientists love putting labels on things), in a nonjudgmental way (isn’t objectivity the epitome of good science!?). Mindfulness meditation is the most scientific spiritual practice ever.

    But we’re not all scientists, and what works for them won’t necessarily work for everyone. If mindfulness meditation hasn’t worked for you, don’t beat yourself up. There is no end of effective meditation strategies to calm the mind.

    I’ve worked with arguably some of the most stressed individuals in our society, like veterans returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their trauma is heavy, they have insomnia, anxiety, depression and some even live bunkered up in their basements.

    Sitting with their eyes closed and doing nothing is not something these people really get excited about. In fact, it could be anxiety-provoking.

    What tends to work for people who have been under incredibly high amounts or stress is shockingly simple: breathing. I gave a TEDx talk on this topic which led people to ask me how they can learn more.

    Yoga-based breathing exercises can help those of us who can’t be inactive because it is an active meditation.

    It requires that you do something, instead of trying not to do something. It also leads to immediate results. (Breathing can slow your heart rate in minutes, as opposed to mindfulness meditation, which takes repetition over time). In our study, veterans’ PTSD scores normalized within a week of practicing yogic breathing, and the benefits remain as much as 1 year later, suggesting permanent improvement. (The kind of breathing we researched is called Sudarshan Kriya which is taught through the International Association for Human Values and the Art of Living Foundation)

    So, should we all be doing these breathing exercises?

    Maybe. More importantly, my message to you is to explore your options. If mindfulness isn’t for you, that doesn’t mean meditation isn’t. There are so many forms of meditation. From breathing practices like the one we researched to mantra-based meditations to loving-kindness and compassion meditations. You just have to find the shoe that fits. 

    Breathing Tip:

    The breath can help you tap right into your parasympathetic nervous system—that’s the “rest and digest” part of your nervous system, the opposite of the “fight or flight.” When you breathe slowly and deeply, you start to calm down.

    In fact, research shows that when you breathe in, your heart rate speeds up and when you breathe out it slows down. So, a quick way to relax is to lengthen your exhales. No matter where you are—on your commute, a date, or an interview—just tapping into the power of your breath will trigger your relaxation response.

    You may even find that, after calming your nervous system with breathing, you actually are able to sit and do nothing more easily.

    For more on the link between breathing, happiness and resilience, check out The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success. 

    A version of this article originally appeared on MindBodyGreen

    http://www.psychologytoday.com

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