Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Specialist
Karen Taylor, MD
Gynecologist located in Newport Beach, CA
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or mindfulness is a cutting-edge approach to help learn how to manage stress and reduce stress-related health risks and ultimately "quiet" your mind. Dr. Karen Taylor is a leading provider of MBSR therapy for women in Newport Beach, California, helping patients tap into their own natural ability to beat stress and improve their health and just as important their quality of life.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Q & A
What makes stress so unhealthy?
Chronic stress plays a major role in many diseases and medical issues such as obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Plus, persistent stress has been shown to lower the body’s natural immunity, making us more prone to develop illnesses like pneumonia, flu, and other infections. Chronic stress can also take a toll on emotional health and well-being, contributing to feelings of anxiety and depression as well as interfering with the ability to be productive at work, and to maintain personal and family relationships and find joy.
What causes chronic stress?
Stress can be caused by a lot of factors, including issues at home, work, school, in the news and in our relationships. Ironically, acute and chronic diseases can also cause stress levels to mount, and those increasing stress levels, in turn, can make the existing disease or its symptoms worse. Learning to manage stress is one of the most important things we can do to ward off diseases and to reduce the symptoms and effects of existing diseases.
What is mindfulness based stress reduction?
Mindfulness based stress reduction, or MBSR, is stress management techniques that help you calm your mind and focus only on things that are happening in the present moment. MBSR teaches people to become more “tuned in” to their environment and the triggers that can cause or contribute to stress so they can recognize and mitigate those triggers before the stress reaction has a chance to occur. In addition to managing stress, MBSR can be very beneficial for reducing habits that can develop as a result of stress, including smoking and binge eating, and it can also help relieve symptoms in patients with chronic pain syndromes.
What techniques are used in MBSR?
MBSR relies on an array of techniques that can be customized based on each patient’s needs and preferences. Techniques may include yoga, meditation, group therapy sessions and other approaches to help patients tap into their body’s natural ability to “de-stress” and heal.