BEYOND BLACK AND WHITE: TRANSLATING A TREND

By Victoria Moore
Victoria writes about all things fashion-related and is a Stage IIA Breast Cancer survivor

 Looking for a job is never easy, especially when you've just spent four years of your life battling Stage II A Breast Cancer and other health issues, but the thing that's made it particularly hard for me is navigating around the challenges of resumes, interviews and employment inquiries in clothes that make me look professional and stylish yet remain comfortable and polished throughout the day.
   To get the crisp, fresh allure I was seeking when I had to go to an interview with a staffing agency last month I selected a trend that's always appealed to me-black and white. Reminiscent of art deco, film noir and the Mod gear from the 1960's, it took me back to the 1980's when I worked as a salesperson at The Limited in the Century City Plaza. While working there we were required to buy and wear their clothes on the sales floor during our shift. I didn't make a lot of money then, but I still needed the job, so I had to find a way to conform and keep my managers happy. I decided to create a formula of black and white separates that I could mix and match easily.

The Formula:
   Small, but versatile, I remember buying a white mini skirt, a black mini skirt, a white shirt, a black shirt and a pair of black slim fitting pants. All of the pieces were made out of cotton so I didn't have to take anything to the dry cleaners or worry about being uncomfortable when I wore them. I wouldn't say this was my finest fashion moment but at least it taught me how to create a uniform from one store's offerings that worked on and off the clock. At the time the only clothing problems I had to worry about was how to find something in my size and something I could afford. When I approached the black and white color scheme this time I had to figure out how to coordinate an outfit that wouldn't show all of my surgical and procedural scars and make me look as in control as possible.

   "People of all ages and circumstances of life are aware of appearance in perception of self and their relations with other people," wrote Abilene M. Hoffman, Ph.D. in Clothing For The Handicapped, the Aged, and Other People With Special Needs. Before, when I chose black and white I wanted to get the approval from my supervisors at The Limited, but this time I wanted to appear competent and prepared for a general office position by an organization that I hadn't worked with in over five years. The ability to project my most positive and best self after my stint with Breast Cancer has been a fraught with frustrating obstacles and disappointing outcomes, as my job search stretches out longer than I anticipated.

Doing My Homework:
   With this in mind I studied my fashion magazines for the season's trends and become inspired by a layout feature called mono pattern in the May 2014 issue of the Japanese version of NYLON. The placement coordinator told me, over the phone, to "dress as if I were going on a job interview" when I asked what I should wear to meet with her. I didn't want to limit myself just in case I changed my mind, so I pulled my black Calvin Klein dress out of my closet, along with my off-white and black striped sweater set by Ann Taylor, my black Ann Taylor Loft pants and my black and white pinstriped blazer by Norma Kamali.

   For a time, right after I started my chemo treatments, my skin turned sallow and I had dark bags under my eyes that were more prominent when I wore black near my face so I stopped wearing it and chose brighter colors and prints instead. I've since made my peace with black because it doesn't make me look sick any longer, and I've finished chemo, so I've learned how to coordinate around it without losing my individuality. Besides I've also had to compromise and accept the corporate policy some retail stores adhere to when I've interviewed with them and contemplated being employed by them in the future.

    Ideally the black dress any well-dressed woman counts as her "LBD" ("little black dress"), for various occasions should be as simply designed as possible so that it can be dressed up or dressed down accordingly. Before I bought my Calvin Klein dress at Ross I used to wear a black silk crepe 1960's dress I found at the Daniel Freeman Thrift Auxilary for $5.00 to all of my professional engagements. I finally had to retire it for awhile and look for an updated modern version with the same lines. That's when I found the Calvin Klein waiting for me on the Sale rack for about $20.00.

Shopping For Inspiration:
   On the day I had a doctor's appointment with my Oncologist, the creation of this outfit was on my mind, because I hadn't pulled everything together yet, so I decided to walk down to the Ross and Fallas on LaCienega Blvd. to see if I could find something inspiring. After an hour of filling up my shopping cart, from the suit, dress and cardigan rack, with about seven black, black and white and navy-blue and white polka-dotted dresses, a navy-blue pantsuit and a black and white long-sleeved Calvin Klein cardigan, I went to the fitting room to try them on.

   "Garments considered for purchase should always be tried on for fit, comfort and general appearance," wrote Hoffman. Women who've had a mastectomy and are wearing a prosthetic bra or have had reconstruction specifically need to follow this advice because they might have to make adjustments. Since I bought my black dress prior to my mastectomy, it fit differently following surgery, so I have to wear a black stretch camisole underneath it to fill it out.Initially I was frustrated about the way my dress fit, but once I tried on the camisole with it and saw that the alteration wasn't noticeable, I was happy with the addition.

   The dresses I'd selected were the same style as my Calvin Klein so I passed on them, and the suit was too big and casual so I passed on that too. I was left with the cardigan, and at $19.99, with a silhouette that flowed easily around my body, I felt it would be a perfect accompaniment to my dress. Earlier, while in the shoe section, I'd tried on a pair of white pointy toed Nine West flats accented with beige bow detailing. They cost about $17.99 and were the only shoes I saw that day that were in my budget. I tried them on again, and after visualizing them with my dress, I left the shopping area with them in my cart.

   When I got to the check-out counter I told the cashier, "I'm going to wear this black and white cardigan over a black Calvin Klein dress I bought at Ross about five years ago then I'm going to put on a pair of black tights to make these shoes pop. To tie it all together I'm going to go over to Fallas to buy some gold or pearl jewelry to wear with for extra pizazz."

   "You sound like you have it all planned out," she said.

     At Fallas I immediately went to their jewelry section and bought two gigantic pearl bracelets for $1.99 each, a black and silver pearl bracelet for $1.99, a black and brown pearl bracelet for $1.99 and a black rhinestone hair clip for $.99.

 Trying Everything On:
   That afternoon, after I got home with my haul, I still wasn't sure if my idea would work until I tried everything on in front of my full-length mirror. To complete the outfit I added a short strand of pearls my grandmother had given me for my birthday one year, the two gigantic pearl bracelets I bought at Fallas, black tights, the white and beige flats, a black leather purse and a beige suede briefcase to the black dress and the black and white cardigan. Although it looked wonderfully elegant I realized that since I had to take two buses to get to my appointment with the agency, and the intake process would take from two to three hours, I needed to wear something equally attractive but more practical for the day ahead.

   I knew I didn't want to make the same mistakes I'd made while working at The Limited, by turning black and white into a formulaic uniform, so I decided to give it a slight retro masculine/feminine feel by wearing my black and white pinstriped blazer over my off-white and black striped sweater set and a pair of black pants. I then added the strand of pearls and bracelets for glamour. Mindful of my body flaws again, I chose the sweater set because it wasn't too snug and was made out of 100% silk. The shell is a tank and the cardigan is long-sleeved so I knew I'd be comfortable en route to my appointment when worn underneath my blazer.

   At the end of my day I couldn't say that my appearance guaranteed a dream offer, through the agency, but the compliment by the placement coordinator that "I looked beautiful and exactly how I should look on the first day of any assignment" definitely gave me confidence and filled me with gratitude that someone appreciated that I'd chosen the right colors.

THE CANCER EXPERIENCE: THE DOCTOR, THE PATIENT, THE JOURNEY

From PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
by Roy B. Sessions, M.D.

Referral to the Oncologist Once Cancer is Suspected: Scary

Waiting for the diagnostic process to begin can be a period of torment.

Published on June 28, 2014 by Roy B. Sessions, M.D. in The Cancer Experience

 

To see article, visit:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-cancer-experience/201406/referral-the-oncologist-once-cancer-is-suspected-scary

NEW TREATMENT OPTION FOR YOUNG WOMEN WITH HORMONE-SENSITIVE BREAST CANCER

Article from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health
NCI Press Release
Posted June 1, 2014

New treatment option for young women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer

HEART OF THE MATTER: TREATING THE DISEASE INSTEAD OF THE PERSON

NPR Blog
by Leana Wen
to view in original source visit: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/25/324005981/heart-of-the-matter-treating-the-disease-instead-of-the-person

June 25, 201411:05 AM ET

 

A 56-year-old man is having lunch with his wife at a seafood restaurant just outside Boston when he develops crushing chest pain. He refuses an ambulance, so the man's wife drives him to the ER.
What happens next says a lot about the difference that being a doctor or a patient can make in how one feels about the health care system.

First, how did the patient and his wife see the trip to the hospital?

When the man arrives in the ER, he is told to take off his shirt. He lies in the hallway, in pain, naked from the waist up. Strangers surround him. They don't introduce themselves, and they talk over him, at each other.

Pagers ring and there's a lot of beeping. Someone else must be really sick, he thinks; that must be why no one is paying attention.

After a few minutes, he signs some forms and finds himself being wheeled into an elevator. Masked figures enter. He feels a cool liquid flowing into his veins. The lights go out.

He wakes up hooked up to machines, uncertain what has happened. It takes several hours for the staff to find his wife, who is still waiting in the ER lobby and has no idea why her husband is in intensive care.

They are both surprised when they find out, two days later, that he's had a heart attack. As soon as they get home, they file a complaint with the hospital about their terrible experience.
Now, how did the staff at the hospital see it?

A triage nurse greets the patient immediately upon his arrival and finds out that he has chest pain. Within three minutes, he gets an electrocardiogram that shows he is having a heart attack. The ER doctor activates the special heart attack pager, which immediately summons the emergency cardiology team.

The doctors and nurses arrive and bring the patient up to the catheterization suite. There, the attending cardiologist threads a catheter through an artery in his groin and pushes it all the way to his heart, where the doctor sees on an X-ray machine that a vessel is blocked. She inflates a small balloon in the catheter, opening the artery and restoring the flow of blood to the man's heart.

All told, it took only 22 minutes from the time the man entered the hospital for the cardiology team to clear the blockage. The cardiology team is proud that they beat the national average for what they call door-to-balloon time by 42 minutes. The faster a blockage can be cleared, the better the odds are for a full recovery.

The patient gets well without complications. Two weeks later, he's back at work and exercising again. The ER and cardiology teams consider the man's case a resounding success.

Why then are there such different views of the same ER visit? Who's right? The doctors who believe they delivered exemplary care, or the patient and his wife who feel he was treated badly?

As an emergency physician and advocate for my patients, I frequently hear clashing stories like these. When I review the cases, I find that the doctors and nurses are often surprised by the patient's complaint because they did everything by the book and made no medical mistakes.

Indeed, in this case, every measure of sound medical care was met: prompt diagnosis, speedy and effective treatment and an uneventful, full recovery.

The objective measures that health care workers focus on are necessary, but they're not enough by themselves. Every provider in this man's case had good intentions and was working hard to respond to the medical emergency. But in their rush to open the blocked heart artery, they treated him as a disease to be cured, not a person to be cared for.

Would it have alleviated the patient's anxiety for the doctors and nurses to introduce themselves, and to ask if he wanted his wife by his side? Would it have helped to assure him that all the activity was happening around him because everyone was trying to take care of him?
I think those simple courtesies would have made a difference.

These instructions aren't on typical checklists for treatment of heart attack, yet they are part of caring for people as human beings. In modern medicine, we are fortunate to have incredible high-tech options available, but we must not forget the low-tech approaches that can improve communication and quality of care.

Patients and family members can also speak up when they are confused and scared. It's possible that doctors explained what was happening, but not clearly enough.

What if the patient said he didn't understand what was going on? What problems could have been avoided if the patient and his wife didn't wait until after he was discharged to raise their concerns?
The two viewpoints of this ER visit end with one thing in common. Just as the providers were surprised by the patient's complaint, the patient and his wife were taken aback when the team that I was part of presented them with their doctors' point of view.

"We had no idea they were trying so hard," the man said. "It's too bad we didn't know that at the time."

Wen is an attending physician and director of patient-centered care research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University. She is the author of "When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Care," and founder of Who's My Doctor, a project to encourage transparency in medicine. On Twitter: DrLeanaWen

LIVING WITH CANCER: CHRONIC, NOT CURED

By SUSAN GUBAR    

June 5, 2014 12:26 pm  

Posted on The New York Times 'Well' Blog.  To view blog in original source, visit Living With Cancer     

 

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Susan Gubar is a distinguished emerita professor of English at Indiana University and the author of “Memoir of a Debulked Woman,” which explores her experience with ovarian cancer. 

 

At the end of yoga sessions for cancer patients, we are told to say to ourselves, “I am whole, healed and healthy in this and every moment.” Perversely, since in yoga we express aspirations as if they were already so, the sentence reminds me of people who congratulate me on being “cancer free.” Stable disease often goes unrecognized.

 

Perhaps the concept of chronic cancer has been hard to comprehend because public discussion tends to focus on the initial diagnosis of breast cancer. Early detection of breast cancer yields good survival rates and many patients can consider themselves cured. Often we assume a clear-cut partition between survivors and the terminally ill.

    

In her book “Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person: A Memoir in Comics,” Miriam Engelberg divides a circle into two uneven segments to illustrate a divide in the breast cancer community. The larger part of the circle is labeled “Primary Diagnosis Only,” and a cartoon bubble exclaims, “I’m O.K. — Really!” The small section is labeled “Gone Metastatic,” with the caption “Damn!”

 

From the time she got her initial diagnosis in 2001 until her death in 2006, the same year her book was published, Ms. Engelberg resisted pressure to become “someone nobler and more courageous than I was.” She followed “the path of shallowness” by producing a series of droll comics on the “insanely cheerful” chemotherapy booklets and radiation technicians she encountered. She mocked her own self-absorption, trepidation and irritation as well as the social quandaries that arose as she, like her cartoon surrogate, plummeted from cancer survivor to terminal patient.

 

But for some of us, there is a middle stage in this journey. Because of advances in cancer research and the efforts of dedicated oncologists, a large population today deals with disease kept in abeyance. The cancer has returned and has been controlled, but it will never go away completely. Like me, these people cope with cancer that is treatable for some unforeseeable amount of time. Chronic cancer means you will die from it — unless you are first hit by the proverbial bus — but not now, not necessarily soon.

 

The word “chronic” resides between the category of cured and the category of terminal. It refers to disease that is not spreading, malignancy that can be arrested but not eradicated. At times, the term may seem incommensurate with repetitive and arduous regimens aimed at an (eventually) fatal disease. For unlike diabetes or asthma, cancer does not respond predictably to treatment.

  

Still, quite a few patients with some types of leukemia or lymphoma, prostate or ovarian cancer live for years. While in the 1970s 10 percent of women with metastatic breast cancer survived five or more years, today up to 40 percent do. Chronic disease may lack the drama of diagnosis and early treatment; even friends can get bored by mounting details. Its evolution does not conform to the feel-good stories of recovery that most of us want to read. But neither does it adhere to the frightfully degenerative plot of quickly advancing tumors.

 

On a number of websites, people with chronic cancer discuss the succession of therapies in which they enlist. When one drug fails, another combination of drugs begins. Complex dosing schedules, multiple tests and hospitalizations take their toll. No matter how grateful these patients are for their continuing existence, it requires not the spurt of sprinters but the stamina and sometimes the loneliness of long distance runners.

 

Ms. Engelberg’s “path of shallowness” can alleviate strain, especially from disabling byproducts of persistent maintenance: sadness, anxiety, anger and then remorse about all those roiling emotions. When repetitive and arduous regimens weary the spirit, it may be impossible to value the preciousness of life, to adopt a healthy lifestyle, to visualize one’s harmony with the universe, to attain loving kindness, to stay positive, to meditate to a state of mindfulness, to greet each day as a prized gift, to enlist the power of now. The social pressure to be upbeat can get anyone down.

 

The shallow path enables the cartoon character Miriam to circumvent the guilt trips induced by a gaggle of past and present cancer gurus. Instead of going inward, she often distracts herself: zoning out on “Judge Judy” or attaining “trivia nirvana” through crossword puzzles or joking about the need for a support group to cope with the jolly advice of her support group. Eventually she decides to make cartooning her “spiritual practice.”

 

If I am low during a yoga session, if the warrior, the goddess and the star feel impossibly strenuous, I take the shallow path with the supine pigeon and a revision of my wonderful instructor’s final words: “I am as whole, healed and healthy as I can be in this and every moment.”

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HOW SHOPPING THERAPY HELPED ME GET THROUGH A DIFFICULT TIME

By Victoria Moore

"How we look is important to many of us. But our character and personality are just as important and are part of our attractiveness to other people."-Macmillan Cancer Support (The Pressure On How You Look)

   The other day I had to go to the library, GNC and the drug store. Normally I would've been excited and overjoyed to hit the streets but since this was the first day I was leaving the house after my breast reconstruction procedure on May 23, I was filled with dread. I was still very sore and nervous about seeing the results.  Once I removed most of the bandages to take a quick bath, I wasn't surprised by the sadness that overtook me when I finally saw it. At this point I wondered how I was going to get through the day.

   Finally, after bathing and asking my mother to help dress and bandage my reconstruction area, I looked at my freshly made-up face and mentally prepared to dress. Due to my soreness and fatigue, I didn't have the strength to style my hair, so I decided to copy an Audrey Hepburn look I love, with a red,white and blue vintage cotton bucket hat and green, black and rhinestone shades. They perfectly set off the navy-blue sailor top and wide-legged green pants I'd chosen. This top is one of my favorites, whenever I have to conceal unsightly bandages, drains or new scars, and this time I wore it over an off-white Laura Ashley t-shirt with a new gold logo Betsey (Betsey Johnson) necklace I'd just bought at Ross.

   While I was running my errands, I thought about the outfit I'd coordinated to wear for my appointment with my counselor at the Department of Rehabilitation the next day, which consisted of my black vintage Don Loper blazer over my blue and white striped Ralph Lauren button-down shirt and a pair of brown Ann Taylor Loft cropped pants. The pants are a little big on me so I usually wear them with a pair of black suspenders I bought at The Surplus Store on Venice Blvd.  By adding a brown multicolored floral tie, black and white bow print ankle socks and brown two-tone bucks, I thought the outfit had a masculine flair that needed a feminine touch so I hoped to find something to lighten it up.

   After getting my vitamins I went over to Style Xpress to see if they had anything that would work. I found a beige and brown Chanel-type knock-off bracelet for $1.95 and brown woven hairband for $1.95, which I ended up wearing over my black velour headband for when I planned to put my hair in an 'up do' on the morning of my appointment.

   Stressful, but illuminating, the meeting with my counselor and an employment coordinator made me even more aware of how much shopping within "my new normal" was essential to my mental health. It allows me to leave the safety zone I surround myself with at home and visit an environment I can enjoy whether I buy anything or not.  Located about five minutes away, by foot, I took a pleasant walk to my favorite Goodwill Industries Thrift Store.  They were having a 50% off sale on their purses, which made me extremely happy, since I've always loved purses and cringe over the high price tags attached to contemporary "it bags."

   About a week ago, I saw a gorgeous brown fringed and white leather bag by Tod for $2,425 in the June 2014 issue of Marie Claire magazine that would've looked perfect with the outfit I wore to the Department of Rehabilitation. It was way out of my price range, except in my dreams, but it did inspire me to buy a black leather purse for my mother, and a green floral bag, a white multicolored embroidered bag and a miniature floral bag for myself. The total came to less than $30, even when I added a white men's t-shirt for $1.99 to the pile. I don't know if I'll feel as hip carrying these bags as I would with the brown and white Tod's but I'll definitely be delighted over how their bright and sunny designs add a splash of color to whatever I'm wearing with them.

   Prior to my diagnosis with Stage II A Breast Cancer in 2010 I had periods where I didn't care about my appearance as much as I do now and I let others tell me to "dress down".  I'm embarrassed to say I went along so I wouldn't rock the boat, until I had an epiphany, during my last procedure.  I realized I didn't dress to impress others but to go into battle. My clothes have become my uniform, and I'm a soldier who's still fighting a war against prejudice and pain. Despite the progress we've made, as a human race, I still encounter my fair share of abuse because I'm an African-American woman of a certain age who doesn't look it, and I'm still struggling with health issues. I know I can't control others, nor do I want to, but through clothes and style I can control myself and regardless of any negativity or discouraging vibes I can continue to move forward with my head held high.

   In the past four years I've noticed a downward trend toward "sloppy dressing" and "disposable clothing" that has contributed to a lack of common courtesy and customer service in some of the retail stores I've visited. This didn't bother me that much before I got cancer, but when I didn't receive any help as a customer following my diagnosis except at the cash register, it did bother me. So what did I do about it? I used the skills I learned as a salesperson and a manager to help myself make my shopping expeditions worthwhile.

   Since I'm a Los Angeles-based fashion/feature writer too, I've had to learn how to coordinate as well so that I'm consistently well dressed when I'm out looking for stories. One day I might see a new store, and go in to meet the owner, and another day I might meet a stylist, model or designer at the bus stop and strike up a conversation that leads to an exchange of cards and information. In other words, whenever you see me in the city, I'm on the job and working my beat.

   Life doesn't stop for anyone, any time or anywhere, even when cancer enters the picture, and you can't stop growing because of it. The easiest way to keep doing that, and remain part of the world around you is to go out and buy something that'll make you feel attractive and remind you that you deserve a little treat now and then.

Enjoying the Shopping Experience Despite the Obstacles
Pre-shopping Preparations to do Before You Go Shopping:
1) Do a wardrobe inventory of everything you own by taking everything out of your closets and list them on a piece of paper by category. If you can't do it by yourself have someone help you.

2) Try everything on in front of a full-length mirror and determine how it makes you look and feel at the moment. Make a note of that on your wardrobe inventory list.

3) Study each season's trends in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and other top fashion magazines, then make notes about looks that you like and tear out photos of the designs that appeal to you.

4) Determine where you have to wear the clothes you need (i.e., at home, at work, doctor's appointments, medical procedures, chemo suite, hospital stay, exercise, etc.)

5) Make a wish list of what you want then determine your budget.

Shopping On the Days You Feel Like Going Out:
1) Take a shopping companion/stylist with you to help you carry things around the store, put items in the fitting room and try them on.

2) Find a store where you can be a "regular" and feel comfortable shopping so that you don't feel awkward asking for help when and if your appearance changes due to chemo, surgery or procedures.

3) On days you just feel like browsing, find a nice mall or shopping area and look at their window displays. One of my favorite places is Santa Monica Place where I used to love going on Sunday mornings. It made me feel better and more inspired to look at the display windows for Kitson, Coach, LeSportsac, Tory Burch, Kate Spade, Bloomingdale's and other stores before I walked to my Creative Arts Class at the Realm Studio. (Sponsored by Elizabeth's Canvas and CSC.)

Stores:
1) Style Xpress (3875 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA. 90232, 310-202-0480).
2) Goodwill National Store 32 (8905 Venice Blvd., West Los Angeles, CA. 310-845-9327).

Why Children Need Mindfulness Just As Much As Adults Do

By Carolyn Gregoire
The Huffington Post, Posted:  05/22/2014 3:33pm EDT    Updated:  05/22/2014 3:59 pm EDT  

 

In the growing conversation around mindfulness, we're constantly hearing about meditation in the workplace and tech CEOs who swear by the practice. But less attention is being paid to the quietly growing movement for mindfulness in the family, and the use of meditation to optimize the health, well-being and happiness of children. 

It's not just adults that can stand to benefit from cultivating a focused awareness on the present moment. Research is beginning to shed light on the power of mindfulness as an intervention for a number of behavioral challenges that children face. We're also starting to recognize that mindfulness practices could be beneficial for children for the same reasons it helps adults, contributing to reduced stress, improved sleep quality and heightened focus.

At increasingly younger ages, kids are facing higher levels of stress, and it may be taking a significant toll on their health. Stressful events in childhood can increase the risk of developing health problems as an adult, but the impact may hit much earlier. A recent University of Florida study found that stressful events can impact a child's health and well-being almost immediately, and can contribute to the development of physical and mental health problems and learning disabilities.

Sonia Sequeira, Ph.D., Translational Research Assistant Manager at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has been practicing yoga and meditation for nearly 20 years, and has practiced with her own children for years. Now in her work as a mindfulness researcher, she's brought contemplative practices to children ages 3-18 who are struggling with autism, cancer, and other physical and mental health problems. Currently, she's using meditation and chanting to help relieve pain in children with cancer.

It may seem like a tall order to ask your kid to meditate -- given that it can be a struggle just to get a child to sit down or eat breakfast -- but Sequeira insists that in her years of working with children, she's found just the opposite.

 "There's an initial resistance, which I think is cultural, and usually it occurs in the presence of the parent," Sequeira told The Huffington Post. "But it extinguishes very quickly. Teaching mindfulness to children has always been the easiest for me because there's no set patterns, or at least they're not set in stone yet. With adults its much more difficult."

Learning mindfulness practices -- including meditation, breathing exercises, yoga asana (postures) and chanting -- can have a significant long-term affect on a child's development.

"[In my research], what really mattered was finding practical tools that were not an on-off or intermittent practice for children, but something they could really grow with and that could affect their physiology as they grow from their young childhood into adolescence," says Sequeira.

Here's proof that children need mindfulness just as much as adults do.

Mindfulness can help kids to thrive at school.

Most of the research on mindfulness for children has been conducted in the school setting. Recent studies have shown school mindfulness programs to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety among secondary-school children for up to six months after the program. Such programs can also help students focus during exams, as well as reducing stress and boosting happiness among high school students.

Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of The Mindful Child, is one of increasingly many parents fighting for a "mindful revolution in education," explaining mindfulness programs can aid kids in developing good habits that will help make them happier and more compassionate.

More and more of these programs are beginning to crop up. The Mindful Moment program in Maryland high schools has students start and end each day with a 15-minute yoga and meditation session, and provides a mindfulness room available for personal use throughout the day. The program aims to reduce stress among students and teachers, and to increase four-year graduation rates.

 

It can be an effective intervention for autism.

Recent research, conducted by Sequeira and colleagues and published in the journal Autism Research and Treatment, has suggested that meditation has a great deal of potential as a treatment option for children with autism.

"Meditation is one of a few interventions that have been shown to effectively strengthen self-control and character development simultaneously," the researchers write in a report. "There is much to be gained by exploring meditation as a strategy to override impaired brain synchronicity and debilitating symptoms arising in early years of persons with autism."

In autism and many other psychological imbalances, the connecting thread is a lack of rhythm, says Sequeira. There's a challenge of balancing the inner and outer world, and this can distort relationships and interactions with others. In the case of autism, environmental cues become so augmented that the child shuts down from the world to protect themselves. Mantra meditation in particular (a type of meditation that involves the repetition of a word or sound) can help restore a sense of rhythm.

"When you create internal rhythm, there's a harmonizing and balancing effect," explains Sequeira. "It facilitates communication, incubation of thoughts... it tells you that you're in a safe environment and there's no threat." "It truly is a top-to-bottom response, and with the children, it restores a natural ability to respond inside to rhythm."

Children with autism respond well to mantra because it facilitates response, she says.

It can help kids with ADD and ADHD.

Being mindful is, at its core, the ability to sustain a focused awareness on the present moment, and practicing mindfulness has been proven to help boost our powers of focus and attention. And it may be just as effective for children as it is for adults.

A 2011 study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies demonstrated the effectiveness of an eight-week mindfulness program for children ages 8-12 with ADHD, along with a mindful parenting program for their parents. The researchers found that the program reduced parent-reported ADHD behavior. It also increased mindful awareness among both parents and children, and reduced parental stress.

Such programs may be a highly effective intervention either alongside or in the place of traditional ADD and ADHD medications, which come with side effects and may lose their effectiveness over time.

“There are no long-term, lasting benefits from taking A.D.H.D. medications,” James M. Swanson, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, told the New York Times. “But mindfulness seems to be training the same areas of the brain that have reduced activity in A.D.H.D... “That’s why mindfulness might be so important. It seems to get at the causes.”

It can help children with cancer and other serious health conditions.

Sequeira has been hard at work for over a year now on a pilot program bringing mantra meditation to children with cancer as a way to reduce pain. While the study is still underway and the results have not yet been finalized, she's seen an overwhelming positive reaction from both the children and their parents.

"Frequently the children remark that they want to continue beyond the time that's scheduled, even beyond the point where they had heightened pain," says Sequeira. "They wanted us to stay there chanting with them for a while. Parents from all over the world speaking different languages are united by mantra that doesn't have a language meaning but that touches their heart. They felt an enormous sense of peace and did feel that they were contributing to the healing of their children."

The kids Sequeira works with at Sloan-Kettering also use what she calls a "worrywart waste basket," in which they make a practice of writing down their concerns on a piece of paper and throwing them away. "They know to do that, and to chant and resolve some of the tension that arises," says Sequeira.

A mindful family upbringing encourages children to self-actualize.

Mindful parenting, as defined by Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction founder Jon Kabat-Zinn, consists of "paying attention to your child and your parenting in a particular way: intentionally, here and now, and non-judgmentally." As Sequeira puts it, creating a mindful family is about "healing the environment and healing the relationships."

To begin to create a more mindful family and incorporate mindfulness into their children's lives, parents can start with a daily meditation, yoga or breathing practice. Family dinners can also become mindful by not allowing phones at the table and having a moment of gratitude for the food. Even simple things like positive affirmations and encouraging children to think before they speak can foster an environment of calmness, presence and compassion.

"A child is imprinted with many influences... and all of this shapes a personality" says Sequeira. "When there's a mindfulness approach to living, it ultimately becomes the personality of the child to truly manifest and become who they are -- not trying to become a doctor or a lawyer, but trying to discover their gifts. At the same time, it allows the parents to wean themselves from this very analytical, competitive, linear thinking in life, trying to carry children towards certain goals, which ultimately is stressful for the parent."

This "group healing," says Sequeira, will hopefully one day become the basis for a more mindful society.

 

To see article in its original source, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/22/why-children-need-mindful_n_5354143.html