Mind Body Techniques used by Dr Ivana
Positive Psychology - Positive Medicine
So what is positive psychology, and how can we use it for our health benefit?
Applying Positive Psychology within a medical model activates our positive, healthy psychological resources (our strengths) to reintegrate and rebalance the healthy self. That is Positive Medicine.
Our bodies constantly interact with the environment, and through this interaction, they change as an adaptation to suit it. During this process, millions of activities occur within our bodies and minds, which can lead to various physiological errors. This is a normal phenomenon. Our bodies continuously repair those “mistakes,” and this process of returning to a healthy state is known as homeostasis.
One develops a disease when the body fails to return to homeostasis for an extended period. At various stages of life, we may be more vulnerable to disease, particularly during hormonal changes and key life transitions such as puberty, pregnancy, and (peri)menopause. Perimenopause occurs alongside the aging process, which makes us especially susceptible. During these times of hormonal fluctuations, the task of returning to homeostasis becomes more difficult, particularly as we age. Understanding these processes and allowing the body to recalibrate naturally is fundamental to Positive Medicine.
Discovering small or large “nuggets” of mental and physical strength during tough times, exercising them, letting them flow, and engaging all other healthy functions of our bodies in a naturally holistic manner is what I term Positive Medicine. Positive Medicine represents Lifestyle Medicine at its finest. It is the art of skillfully harnessing the body’s natural wisdom for self-healing.
Positive Medicine represents natural health interventions at their best.
At the core of Positive Psychology is understanding and acknowledging our emotions, thoughts and actions and their role in our health. That is also called Emotional Awareness.
Positive psychology and emotional awareness involve recognising, reconnecting, and befriending our emotions, enhancing our awareness of their constant presence, and acknowledging their transitory nature, significance, and interplay with our thoughts and behaviours. This is an excellent starting point for restoring balance to our body and mind, guiding us towards ease and away from disease, particularly during the turbulent times of peri-menopause and menopause.
The clinical application of positive psychology relies on the well-known psychological tool called CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy).
I have developed a tailored six-week program for perimenopausal women who want to learn, understand, and apply the science of Positive Medicine—the interplay between our emotions, body sensations, and thoughts—in their lives while navigating the difficult transition of perimenopause and entering healthy menopause.
Positive Medicine serves as a tool to navigate life through perimenopause and into menopause, providing a sense of regaining control without the need for external products.
I prescribe Lifestyle tapping into your positive psychology skills.
Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness is a mind/body technique, but what does that mean?
Their many definitions of what mindfulness is - here are a few that might help explain this practice:
Mindfulness is being truly present and able to hold whatever emotion arises internally as a reaction to our thoughts and surroundings without losing oneself in that constantly changing flow of internal and external experiences.
Mindfulness is being fully aware of the flow of our internal physiology and psychology.
Mindfulness is awareness of our thoughts, emotions and body sensations inside oneself at the present moment and simultaneously holding an understanding of the external environment and an interaction between those two experiences.
Mindfulness is being consciously present in ‘Now’.
Mindfulness does not mean having an empty mind. Mindfulness is being aware of your fully active, sometimes hectic mind.
Science strongly supports the importance of daily mindfulness practice on our mental health.
Another more scientific synonym for mindfulness is emotional awarenes.
The opposite of mindfulness is an ‘Autopilot’ mode. There is nothing wrong when it happens sometimes. We, humans, can be capable of both states of mind. The problem arises when we spend 99% of our awake time in autopilot mode. This is a recipe for mental and physical disease. This is not a good starting point for health or any healing process.
Most of us who live in the developed Western world are primarily in autopilot mode. Regular mindfulness practice is essential in cultivating a focused, steady, and clear mind. Mindfulness is the clear path to a Healthy Mind. A healthy mind leads to a healthy body.
