Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation for Lymphoma

Many lymphoma patients find themselves battling a host of physical symptoms during the recovery process. But lymphoma can also take a heavy mental toll on patients as well. Meditation has always been a popular form of therapy for many different mental illnesses, but researchers believe that a certain form of meditation, mindfulness meditation, could really help lymphoma patients through their diagnosis and recovery.

In this article, we are going to take a look at what mindfulness meditation is, the steps that need to be taken to do it, and the benefits that it will ultimately provide to lymphoma patients.

What is mindfulness meditation?

When you first hear the word "meditation", you might picture a cross-legged old man with his eyes closed, chanting a certain phrase in a low hushed tone. While this may correspond to certain forms of meditation, mindfulness meditation is something different entirely. Mindfulness meditation attempts to guide patients through troublesome thoughts. The easiest way to explain mindfulness meditation is to give you a little test. Try to not think of a white elephant. Simple right? But the thing is, as soon as you read that sentence you'll immediately think of a white elephant. The more you try to not think of the white elephant, the harder it will be to control your thoughts picturing the elephant. This applies to any negative thoughts as well. If you try and resist or suppress thoughts of fear or anxiety about lymphoma and its symptoms, the thoughts will become more frequent and harder to control. Mindfulness meditation seeks to empower patients to have more control over their thoughts.

The best part about mindfulness is that it is so easy to practice. All it takes is anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes of practicing mindfulness. You can practice at work, school, when you wake up, before you go to sleep, etc. These few minutes of practice a day can work wonders for your mindset and mental health going forward, which can improve your lymphoma recovery process (or at the very least make it more bearable).

One of the things that lymphoma and other cancers have in common is that they take away a patient's control over their own body. This can lead to feelings of helplessness, and many patients struggle with losing their bodily autonomy. Mindfulness allows patients to take back part of their autonomy by training them to hone and control their thoughts and feelings. It also helps them really live in the moment and savor any positive aspects of their life that they may have missed. These little rays of positivity are extremely important in keeping lymphoma patients hopeful and motivated to tackle the disease and their treatment head on. Researchers believe that an introduction to mindfulness could lead to the reduced occurrence of depression and anxiety in lymphoma patients.

Read on to learn more about mindfulness meditation techniques and how they can benefit you.