Like lifting weights or running does for physical fitness, a daily routine of mindfulness will help strengthen mental fitness and coping mechanisms, making it easier to recognize and react to negative emotions so they don’t grow stronger, says Victor Won, deputy assistant chief of staff of Intelligence, general staff section, 1st Armored Division.
Won says it would be more effective for soldiers to learn and train mindfulness prior to deployment since the practice will offer soldiers the means to cope with their mental stress before getting into a high-stress environment.
The University of Pennsylvania has also been working, with army support, to examine and research the effects of meditation as a means to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Though the army obviously has many physical fitness programs in place, Won says it currently lacks a mental fitness program.
To read more about this, click here.
