Wina Maria Diana, a practicing psychotherapist in Severn, Maryland, developed RA six years ago after her son was born. She joined Dr. Pradhan’s mindfulness-based stress reduction study on the recommendation of her rheumatologist. After five years, she’s still meditating, and she enthusiastically recommends it to all her friends and to the people she counsels in her psychotherapy practice.

“It’s so much more basic than people think,” she says. “It’s not about candles and chanting. It’s really just a very simple way of being with yourself, of being in the present.

“The concept of being in the present is so powerful for me. It has made a huge difference in the way I react, even when I’m in the worst flareup pain. I’m sure the pain is just as intense, but it’s just so much easier to face when you are with it. You’re not thinking, ‘Is it going to be like this all night? What am I going to do?’ Instead, you are very present, and it’s very reassuring. If you are just present, there is a sense of peacefulness that makes everything better.”