How Meditation Transforms Your Diabetes Management

Diabetes does not leave. It’s the last person at the party, but that person happens to stay forever. It’s always there. The way we live our life often reflects directly onto how we manage our diabetes. The whole body is connected and our blood sugar is a huge indicator of its health. Meditation is in vogue. I read online daily about how someone has changed their life with meditation. It’s powerful. And yeah, it has effects on the diabetes life too.

Here’s a look at the four things I’ve witnessed since jumping on the bandwagon:

1) You now have the power to pause.

Space enters between an event and our reaction. Instead of immediately jacking 5 units of insulin into my body after a surprise 300 sugar, I can assess where I would like my blood sugar to be in two hours. It helps take my reactions from immediate to long-term gratification.

Tip: Valuable read about this pausing, and the accessing of infinite potentiality by Deepak Chopra: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

2) Trends become your friends and the body becomes your ally.

When you’re mindful of your brain’s activity and can consciously watch your thoughts, sensing your blood sugar’s direction becomes intuitive. When I start to go low or even trend downward, I feel my mind switch into fear and anxiety mode. I can sense that better than any physical sign. Yet, if I have 17 different things on my mind and am running around like chicken with its head cut off, I lose the blood sugar intuitive sense.

3) Carb counting is a little easier.

It’s the end of the workday. You mindlessly roam into your kitchen to scavenge the cabinets. You eat something. Then begin cooking dinner. Then you eat dinner. Sure, you remember to take insulin for dinner but why is your blood sugar high later? Oh yeah, that snack before. I do this. Mindless eating can be the mysterious disruption to many an a1c. Meditation provides you with the heightened ability to watch yourself. You don’t lose track of the food you eat, because you knew you ate it.

Tip: Here’s a cool book by Brian Wansink about mindless eating called Slim By Design.

4) Less stress means less time on the roller coaster.

Stress is mysterious. We’ve always been told that it makes our blood sugar higher. Sometimes I see it. Sometimes I don’t. Back in high school before football games, my blood sugar would spike to 400 right before kickoff. Then I’d be low by halftime. This kind of cortisol roller coaster is something we want to avoid at all costs. Taking down your daily stress by eliminating just a few of those ruminating thoughts, gives us a better chance to stay steady.

Looking for a way to get started with meditation? Maybe a little intimidated by the whole thing? Headspace has your back with straight-forward methods to make it happen. Check it out to get started!