Have you just been diagnosed with PCOS?
Perhaps you’re experiencing one or more of the challenges that this common syndrome can bring?
When it feels like your whole life is coming apart at the seams, you might wonder if you will ever be happy again. I know, I’ve been there, too. One of the best ways to navigate stressful times like these is to start a mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness is simply the practice of paying attention to this moment purposefully, with kindness, and with curiosity. When we become bogged down and long for the past or stress about the future, we are focused on events other than those in the present. Practising mindfulness keeps us grounded in the present moment, allowing us to experience greater happiness, gratitude, and peace.
Does that sound too good to be true? Even impossible?
People have been practising mindfulness for thousands of years to bring a sense of peace and purpose to their lives and reduce the stress that weighs heavily on their shoulders and minds. And you can join their ranks by starting right now, this moment.
Why does this matter?
With stress comes a likely aggravation of PCOS signs and symptoms.
Mindfulness meditation, then, is an invaluable tool.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, says, “If you are breathing, there’s more right with you than wrong with you.”
Practising mindfulness is simple, but it’s not easy. This is true because we are a society driven by a constant pursuit of improvement. Always striving to do better, to be better. A quick glance at the thousands of available self-help books and a brief dive into our digital world reveal that we lack the ability to simply be. Yet, just being is an integral part of our design. It is like our reset, heal and recover button. Mindfulness meditation gives you the chance to push it.
How do you start a mindfulness practice?
Close your eyes and breathe. You’ve already started! Now try this.
Take a minute to close your eyes and focus on your breath. Feel the sensations in your body. Notice: Is your breathing rapid or slow, shallow or deep? All you need to do is notice – there’s no need to do anything about what you discover. For example, if you notice that your shoulders are pulled up close to your ears, you don’t need to do anything about that (though you may automatically change your posture). You notice.
The aim of mindfulness is to repeatedly bring your mind back to the present moment and experience it without judgment. You recognise what is happening in your environment at this moment, and just be with it as it is, without trying to change it.
You may wonder how this practice could possibly make life easier right now when you feel like you will never get past the worry, fear and grief of what you’ve lost. And PCOS throws up so many worries and losses…
Fear of not being able to become a Mum and a future life without children. There is much grief that comes with that.
The perceived loss of your life, coupled with the concerns that you’ll experience a future alone and remain unloved…
That you aren’t feminine…
That you don’t fit the society’s ideals…
While these are either likely or completely untrue, they are very real and, as such, impact your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.
But back to mindfulness…
There are many benefits to this practice. And as you allow yourself to be, your stress will reduce, your mind will expand, and coping will become infinitely easier.
There are several ways that practising mindfulness can help you each and every day, regardless of the PCOS challenges you are facing.
Accepting what is
Whether you like it or not, you need to accept your life as it is right now. If you continue to struggle against it, it will only increase the pain. Acceptance is the foundation. Throughout this site, you will find ways to improve your health and potentially transform your PCOS; acceptance is the first step. Mindfulness meditation for PCOS helps us learn to be with what is, right now, and in this moment, so that we can accept it and move on.
Letting go of the suffering of the past
Much of the suffering we experience in life stems from dwelling on the past. We long to regain what we once had, we regret the choices we made, or we become trapped by an event. These perspectives don’t aid our future because the past no longer exists. There is nothing we can do to change the actual events, except to alter the way we perceive them, feel about them, and what we learn from them. Instead, we can practice living mindfully, which means focusing our attention on the present moment to enjoy the pleasures of life.
Experience gratitude
You may have read that and wondered what you had to be grateful for right now. Your life is in shambles, and you don’t even know where to start to put it back together. But even in the direst circumstances, there are things to be grateful for. It’s a beautiful, sunny day. You can hear the birds singing. Today has been easier than yesterday. You enjoyed the food you had today. You have a comfortable, safe place to sleep tonight. You are breathing.
There are wonderful journals that can help us remain focused on gratitude. When we live in the present moment, we start to change our brains. To create the pathways that enhance our health. Over time, with regular practice, we begin to appreciate the wonderful things we have in our lives, rather than focusing on the future and worrying about what we might or might not have then.
Set down “thinking mode”
Right now, the last thing we need to do is think. Thinking tends to complicate everything, and we need some time apart from our analytical brains. Inevitably, when we think, we begin living in the past or in the future instead of the present moment. After we have accepted and made peace with the pain and grief, there will be time to think and plan for what we need to do next to rebuild our lives. But for now, mindfulness offers us a way to be, allowing us to accept and let go of what was or could be.
Lowers stress and improves well-being
It stands to reason that when we aren’t thinking about the past or worrying about the future, we feel less stressed. Research studies have consistently shown that practising mindfulness lowers stress and improves our outlook on life.
Develop self-compassion
I’m looking at you! As women with PCOS, this is one aspect we need to nurture. We often blame and judge ourselves, making us feel less than. Practising mindfulness meditation encourages us to be kinder and gentler with ourselves and to embrace our supposed imperfections because we begin to understand that perfection is a construct, not our reality.
Let go of fear
Fear comes from not knowing. Not knowing what will happen next or in the more distant future. But do we ever honestly know what will happen next? Of course not. We are transparent about our future goals. We make plans and dream about what life will be like. But no one ever really knows what will happen next.
Develop resilience
Once we accept that we can embrace the present moment, we begin to develop resilience in the face of adversity. Mindfulness teaches us that all things are impermanent. This has incredible benefits: All things rise and fall. Things may feel that they are “falling apart” now, as they may do at some point in the future. However, the flux of life gives us hope that what we are experiencing is normal (and in the sense of PCOS, flux is indeed normal) and can be navigated safely and peacefully. Interestingly, with regular mindfulness meditation, your perception of falling apart will change, too.
Let go of your attachment to absolute expectations
One of the biggest reasons for our unhappiness is the expectations we set for ourselves. We expect our lives to unfold in a specific way, and when they don’t? It can be downright difficult! Letting go of these attachments allows us the space to be happier in the present moment, regardless of our external environment.
Begin responding, not reacting
Folks with PCOS have been shown to have greater “difficulty coping with stress, more anger symptoms, were significantly more likely to withhold feelings of anger and had more quality of life problems related to the symptoms of their condition.”
The expression of anger is usually a reaction, rather than a response. It’s exhausting and unhelpful. Yet through practising mindfulness, we become aware of a choice: Reaction versus response. This is hugely liberating and empowering, helping lower anger and stress.
Practising mindfulness offers many benefits in both challenging and everyday situations. It requires only our presence and practice. The changes could transform your life.
From PCOS to perfect health, with love,
Dr. Rebecca Harwin
The PCOS Expert
Chiropractor & Bestselling Author of
Conquer Your PCOS Naturally
www.ConquerYourPCOSNaturally.com
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