If you live with epilepsy, you know that managing seizures is about more than medical treatments. Stress, sleep, mood, and daily habits play roles in how you feel, which sometimes can influence when seizures happen.
Mindfulness is a positive part of that equation. It’s the intentional practice of being aware of your surroundings and internal state without judging or reacting to it. It’s not a treatment for epilepsy. But it can be a powerful tool to help manage stress, improve your quality of life, and possibly reduce seizure triggers.
The Connection Between Stress and Seizures
Stress is one of the most common triggers for seizures. When you’re stressed, your body releases stress hormones. These chemicals can affect how your brain cells communicate, which can be extra problematic when you have epilepsy.
“When we’re under stress, whether it’s related to work, family, finances, or emotional issues, it releases chemicals in our system. And when they work on the brain, they tend to increase the chances of triggering seizures in individuals with epilepsy,” says Mohamad Koubeissi, MD, director of the Epilepsy Center at George Washington University.
In addition to releasing chemicals that affect your brain, experiencing stress involves the same parts of the brain where seizures start. Ongoing stress and anxiety can mess with your sleep, which can raise your risk of having a seizure.
What’s more, studies show that chronic stress may lower your brain’s “seizure threshold.” This means that over time, it takes less to trigger a seizure.
How Mindfulness Works
Mindfulness meditation is thousands of years old. It comes from Eastern traditions, especially Buddhism. Mindfulness is focusing on what’s happening right now, right in front of you. When you practice it, you notice your body and state in the present moment and gently bring your focus back to those things if your mind wanders.
You can practice mindfulness in simple ways, like sitting quietly for a few minutes, paying attention to your breathing, or noticing sensations in your body.
The practice of mindfulness may sound like simply “paying attention,” but over time it can have real effects on your brain and body. Mindfulness practices help turn off your body’s “fight or flight” response and instead activate your “rest and digest” system.
“What it does is downregulate your stress response,” says Koubeissi. “Mindfulness reduces the amount of stress-related chemicals your body makes, which reduces your triggers for seizures.”
Mindfulness is a way to anchor yourself in the present moment, which can slow down or even stop racing thoughts. One specific way this helps in epilepsy is by reducing “anticipatory anxiety.” Living with epilepsy can be unpredictable. It’s common to worry about when your next seizure will happen and how it might affect your life.
“When you sit and you focus on your breathing, for example, it tethers you to the present moment and stops what some Zen masters call the ‘monkey mind,’” says Koubeissi.
Over time, mindfulness can change how your brain works. It helps quiet your brain networks involved in worry and overthinking and strengthens the parts of your brain that help you stay in control. In other words, it gives your decision-making centers more control over emotional and reactive parts of your brain.
Mindfulness Effects on Your Brain
Researchers have studied the effect of mindfulness on people with epilepsy in clinical studies. While research is ongoing, there are promising results.
“These studies have demonstrated consistently that mindfulness improves quality of life scores, improves depression and anxiety symptoms, and improves perceived seizure control or frequency in some cohorts,” says Koubeissi. “It's not only about removing triggers by reducing stress, it's about improving your quality of life in general.”
Mindfulness may also affect your brain activity. Studies using electroencephalogram (EEG) to monitor brain waves show that people who have practiced mindful meditation for a long time have stronger “alpha” and “theta” brain waves. These are patterns linked with relaxed, focused attention.
In other words, says Koubeissi, even though experts don’t know exactly how, mindfulness seems to help your brain stay more balanced and steady and less likely to tip into the unstable state that causes seizure.
Simple Mindfulness Practices to Try
Different studies use different lengths and frequencies of mindfulness sessions. Some studies show improvements with weekly sessions over several weeks. Others find benefits from just five to 10 minutes a day.
Koubeissi says although any amount can be beneficial, in his personal practice he aims for at least 20 minutes a day.
“In my personal experience, as a meditator myself, I don't think 10 minutes suffices because the first 10 minutes, you're still calming down your monkey mind, waiting for your thoughts to settle,” he says. “You need at least another 10 minutes to go into the here and now experientially, and feel it inside.”
If you’re curious about mindfulness, here are a few techniques you can practice:
Focused breathing
Sit comfortably and bring your attention to your breath. Notice the feeling of air moving in and out. When your mind wanders (and it will), gently bring it back.
Body scan
Slowly bring your attention to different parts of your body — from your toes to your head. Notice sensations without trying to change them.
Guided meditation
Apps like Headspace or Calm can walk you through short meditation sessions, which can be especially helpful if you’re new to mindfulness.
Show Sources
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SOURCES:
Mohamad Koubeissi, MD, professor and chair, neurology, and director, Epilepsy Center, George Washington University.
Seizure: “Stress as a seizure precipitant: Identification, associated factors, and treatment options.”
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center: "Epilepsy and Anxiety.”
Global Advances in Health and Medicine: “A Perspective on the Similarities and Differences Between Mindfulness and Relaxation.”
International Journal of Psychophysiology: “Mindfulness meditation is associated with global EEG spectral changes in theta, alpha, and beta amplitudes.”
Epilepsy Currents: “Pay Attention: Mindfulness in Epilepsy.”
Mayo Clinic: “Mindfulness Exercises.”