Caregiving attention on the present moment with kindness and curiosity and let difficult thoughts and emotions come and go without trying to change anything about the experience. Another group went through six weeks of guided sessions on progressive muscle relaxation, in which they learned to relax different groups of muscles in stages to make difficult emotions more tolerable. "The key difference between the two is mindfulness is just learning how to be with what is, without trying to change it, and bringing a compassionate, nonjudgmental stance to it," said Knowles, who is now a senior research fellow in the University of Washington School of Medicine and the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. "Progressive muscle relaxation is, 'How can we help you be in the present moment but make you feel better?'" A third group of study participants was assigned to a waitlist and did not receive either treatment. Those participants served as the study's control group – a benchmark to which to compare the progress made by the other groups. Learning Calculus While Running a Marathon Knowles, a certified mindfulness meditation
Grieving Spouses Should Focus on the Body Study Suggests
O'Connor has spent decades studying grief and its key components, including the craving for a lost loved one to return, which scholars refer to as yearning, and rumination – "the would've, could've, should've" of loss. "Because the would've, could've, should've have no real answers, you can just spin on those thoughts forever, so it can really get in the way of adapting," O'Connor said. These symptoms are stressful not only for the mind, she said, but the body, as well. Researchers have long known that bereavement and loss can lead to physical consequences, such as high blood pressure and even a higher risk of death. Finding suitable methods to address grief poses a unique challenge, O'Connor said, because learning those methods can add to stress. "We sometimes say grieving is like trying to learn calculus while running a marathon," she said. Using three questionnaires and a scale that O'Connor developed during her career of studying grief, the researchers measured whether grief severity, yearning and rumination improved in the mindfulness and relaxation groups compared to the waitlist group. They asked participants to read several statements – for example, "The feeling of wanting them back is so strong it is indescribable" – and indicate how often they feel that way on a five-point scale ranging from "never" to "always." Both the mindfulness and muscle relaxation resulted in clear improvements
By Kyle Mittan , University Communications, UA News
New research suggests that a simple relaxation technique is an effective coping strategy for grief after the loss of a loved one. Finding simple ways to relax the body might be effective in treating grief after the death of a loved one, according to new University of Arizona research. The unexpected finding comes from a new study that compared two methods for treating grief: one focused on the mind, the other on the body. The researchers looked at 95 widows and widowers who lost their spouses as recently as six months or within two years of the study beginning.
"What surprised us was that the ability to focus on the body and really relax the body turned out to be incredibly important in helping people
adjust," said Mary-Frances O'Connor, a UArizona associate professor of psychology and senior author of the study. The research was published August in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology by O'Connor and lead study author Lindsey Knowles, who did the work as a doctoral candidate in O'Connor's lab. One group of study participants was led through a six-week mindfulness training, in which they learned ways to focus their Mary-Frances O'Connor
facilitator, has long been interested in studying whether mindfulness could be used to address grief. She began working to answer that question when she arrived at O'Connor's lab in 2013.
Lindsey Knowles
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November 2021, Never Too Late | Page 13
Pima Council on Aging
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