Most people know that those who behave very aggressively ("tough guys") are armored due to a lot of personal pain issues - ie are overcompensating for a lot of unresolved fear & pain. On the other hand, people who are usually even-tempered, kind & considerate, are likely to be more emotionally balanced and healthy. So we health-care providers know this conceptually, like we know a lot of stuff "in our heads", but actually living this is ... different. Most of us have no practical training in connecting with our own values & embodying, living these vital guiding principles. Yet there is a widely available, evidence-based, easily approachable method for doing precisely this: mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). And there are 8-week workshops near you. In Halifax, Nova Scotia see: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/03/8-week-mindfulness-ce-course-for-health.html
It seems we have different priorities at different stages of life. Playing, fitting in, preparing for adult life, career- & nest-building, and then suddenly, retirement. But when do we deeply investigate who we really are, what's really going on, what's really meaningful in this fleeting life? When & where do we learn the skills to investigate these questions? Should not the answers to these fundamental questions guide our life? Should we not deal with these as early & as thoroughly as possible? To be led gently, skillfully, towards deep insight would seem to be a vitally important opportunity. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an evidence-based, secular path to connect to our own core values - the rudder & ballast of our life. Embracing our own depth is the gateway to a rich, meaningful, congruent life - often an urgent calling by middle-age. 8-week mindfulness courses are widely available near you. For one in Halifax, Nova Scotia see: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/03/8-week-mindfulness-ce-course-for-health.html
"Many
economists believe that health care costs will continue to rise. Even
more distressing, the Affordable Care Act will likely reinforce current
practice, which dictates surgical and pharmacological interventions that
can be expensive, inappropriate, burdened by side effects and, often,
ineffective.
Forty
years ago, as a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health, I
began to study inexpensive self-care strategies — then called
“alternative therapies” — that might address the underlying biological
and psychological imbalances that contribute to chronic conditions.
These included nutrition, exercise and “mind-body” techniques like
meditation, guided mental imagery and biofeedback.
Since
then, research has demonstrated that mind-body approaches reduce stress
and improve mood and immunity. They decrease blood pressure in
hypertensives, blood sugar in diabetics and pain. Dietary modification
can play a major role in preventing breast, prostate and colon cancer,
as well as in diabetes and heart disease. And exercise, which can help
prevent all of these, can also alleviate depression.
We
spend about twice as much as many other industrialized nations on
health care, often with inferior outcomes. Three-quarters of that
spending is on chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes,
cancer, arthritis, depression and chronic pain — exactly the ones for
which self-care is best suited. Comprehensive programs that offer
self-care in a supportive group are even more promising, for both
treatment and prevention. This approach is also proving effective for
psychological trauma.
What
was unexamined and alternative 40 years ago is now well researched. It
should be fundamental. If we are going to reduce our ruinous costs and improve our declining national health, we must make self-care and group
support central to all care."
It's very difficult for most of us to let go of working excessively hard, despite being well-aware that we're running a deficit. The return on our huge investment is inadequate. We also intuitively understand that helping patients should not cost us our health & happiness. If anything, healing work should make us healthier and more whole. Joel and Michelle Levey just finished facilitating the workshop: “Enhancing Care through Mindful Awareness, Compassion, & Healing Presence” in the tiny town of San Luca, Umbria, Italy. Based on 40+ years of training and teaching experience, they very skillfully eased 20 of us tired, stressed-out health-care professionals toward greater mindfulness, self-compassion, compassion towards others - all of which naturally enhances our personal wellness and healing presence. http://www.wisdomatwork.com/ The workshop was very nicely run by Ron Pilato and Ron Fouts of Pronto Seminars. http://italyseminars.com/ The beauty of the Italian vineyards & olive orchards, the warm, sunny weather, the Italian people who clearly love their land and are proud of the wonderful wine & foods they've prepared from this ancient, historic land all provide a richly nurturing venue - a true getaway - encouraging deep relaxation, self-reflection, self-care, and rejuvenation - ahhhh!
