Practicing everyday mindfulness can boost mental health

Making time for social connections also contributes to better well-being, says UCI Health expert

IN THE NEWS: Improving one’s mental health can be as simple as stopping for a moment and noticing how a breeze makes the trees sway.

Incorporating such mindfulness practices throughout the day allows people to be more centered and present, according to Dr. Robert McCarron, a psychiatrist with UCI Health. He recently shared several mental health tips with U.S. News & World Report.

“Mindfulness can help to divert attention away from any anxieties. The mind has trouble experiencing two emotions or situations at the exact same time.”

“Taking a moment to feel the breeze, fully enjoy and appreciate the food that you're eating and actively focus on the conversation that you're having with a loved one can significantly reduce unhappy feelings and lead to better mental health.”

Despite the popularity of the 3-3-3 rule, a grounding technique in which one focuses on three things they can see, hear and body parts they can physically move, he prefers a simpler exercise of setting a timer for 60 seconds and tuning in.

"During those 60 seconds, feel your breath, hear your breath and experience your breath. What does it feel like as you're breathing in? What does it feel like when you're breathing out? What is that experience like for you? When the alarm goes off, that's the end of the exercise.”

McCarron is a psychiatrist with UCI Health Psychiatry Services who has been named a Physician of Excellence by the Orange County Medical Association. His clinical interests include unexplained pain management and depression and anxiety in primary care.

McCarron is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior at UC Irvine School of Medicine, the director of education at the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, part of UCI Health, and the co-director, Health Education to Advance Leaders in Integrative Medicine (HEAL-IM) at the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences at UC Irvine.

He is also associate dean of continuing education and the founding director of the Train New Trainers (TNT) Primary Care Fellowships at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. These one-year programs are designed to equip primary care providers with core competencies in adult psychiatry, pediatric psychiatry and substance use disorder behavioral health.