Mindfulness

Mindfulness and meditation have grown increasingly popular in modern Western society. One of my lecturers made the sports analogy that meditation is like training, while mindfulness is the big game; you have to train to play well during the game i.e. practising meditation will help you become more mindful. Mindfulness is about being in the present moment, being aware of what you're doing, and acknowledging and accepting your thoughts and feelings without judgment. So what exactly has this meant for me in the context of eczema?

1. It has helped me be less reactive to my feelings

Instead of automatically feeling like shit when my eczema flares and succumbing to the inevitable flood of negative, anxious thoughts, I can put some distance between myself and the horrible feelings. So I may notice that I am feeling anxious and go "right, that's fine" and also notice my physiological reactions (lump in throat, rapid breathing, etc). By breaking it down, I can stop myself from thinking automatically that I'm absolutely consumed by anxiety and then feeling horrible from that. I like to think about it like how I deal with a scary scene in a movie - I find it less frightening when I think about how the producers used elements of music, sound effects, camera angles and lightning to create the scene, instead of automatically engaging in the scene as a whole and feeling absolutely terrified (I'm not good with horror).

2. It has helped me be less obsessive about my eczema

When I find my thoughts are veering down the path of agonising over eczema, I am able to tune in and realise what's going on and consciously go, "well, hang on, I don't want to stew over this. I'm going to decide to think about something else". While it's almost pointless to try and block these thoughts (since that just makes us what to think about it more), it's easier to just take note of the thoughts but not engage with them - like seeing trains of thought (haha) chugging by but choosing not to get on, so to speak. I find that this has been particularly helpful in other areas of my life as well - making the choice not to over-analyse something that someone said actually makes my life a lot easier

Also, acceptance is a big component of mindfulness - so accepting that my eczema may be a chronic condition that will worsen now and again, instead of responding with crazy anxiety every time that happens. This, I'm still working on :)

3. It has helped reduce my habitual scratching 

It helps me be less automatic in my reactions so I can 'think before I scratch', so to speak. This can then have an effect on my night time scratching, which has been extremely hard to deal with since I'm, you know, unconscious. But by being  more controlled and less reactive during the day, I find that this extend to how I behave at night.

4. It helps with relaxation 

Because there's alot of concentration on breathing and paying attention to how you breathe during meditation, it helps me practice deep breathing which I can then use when I notice that I'm anxious and breathing too fast, or when I'm trying to get to sleep but a million thoughts are running through my mind.

Of course, I'm never 100% mindful, and I still do feel anxious and obsess over eczema, and I definitely over-scratch when I'm stress-studying. However, meditation has certainly helped me to not only cope better with eczema but also my anxiety in general. For those who are interested, I would suggest the Smiling Mind app. It's really easy to use and starts off with short practices that ease you into meditation. Being mindful takes time; meditation may feel boring and pointless at first, but with more practice, you will be able to notice the benefits. Of course, meditation isn't for everyone and in that instance, there are plenty of other things you can do to be mindful, like yoga, quiet walks, drawing etc. It's all about being able to concentrate on one activity and noticing everything about doing that activity, instead of trying to multi-task or having your mind drift off to something else.

Anyway, this has been a relatively brief intro mindfulness from a non-expert, but hope it helps :)