Mindfulness is simply maintaining a nonjudgmental state of awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis. This practice originated from ancient Eastern religious traditions, such as Buddhism, and has slowly made its way into Western culture due to its multitude of health benefits. From a general standpoint, these benefits include reduced stress, improved physical health, and increased feelings of harmony. Not surprisingly then, mindfulness has now been studied in people with cancer as the diagnosis and treatment can contribute to severe emotional and physical distress.  

Here are 4 important ways, outside of reducing stress, in which mindfulness can play a significant role in cancer care: 

1. Pain Reduction – One study found a statistically significant and durable effect on pain intensity in 129 women with breast cancer randomly assigned to an eight-week mindfulness program compared to a waitlist control group. Secondary to this, indicators of quality of life improved and the use of pain medications decreased. 

2. Fatigue Reduction – A prospective study looking at cancer survivors with moderate-to-severe fatigue found that those randomized to the mindfulness group had significantly greater improvements in their functional scores, indicating less feelings of fatigue throughout the day. 

3. Sleep Improvements – Studies investigating the incorporation of mindfulness programs versus usual care have found positive effects of mindfulness on objective sleep measurements, duration and quality of sleep, as well as less bouts of waking throughout the night. 

4. Immune enhancement – The impact of mindfulness in modulating immune response has also been studied. Some of the shifts that have been observed are rapid recovery and activation of T cells, increases in Th1/Th2 ratios, and improved NK cell activity, which are all favourable in the context of anti-cancer immunity. 

For these reasons (and many more not listed), mindfulness-based practices are being increasingly utilized in integrative cancer care. At our centre, we offer both individual counselling sessions with a registered psychotherapist as well as group mindfulness classes. 

Author: Nadine Kexel, CCNM Integrative Cancer Centre resident