Mindfulness is as Much about Your Heart as it is Your Head

As many of you know, I am passionate about bringing Mindfulness into health care. But why mindfulness? After all, there are many transformative practices out there.

Mindfulness, like no other practice I know, is relevant, practical and applicable to any stressful or difficult situation, with any age group, and in any environment.

Will Mindfulness fix everything that’s broken in our health care system? No.

But it is because of the exploding amount of research among all health care disciplines, that I’m so hopeful about the future of health care and the role of mindfulness in transforming it.

Stress and illness are related. And Mindfulness research demonstrates that not only does it improve mental and chronic health conditions, it generates more compassion and resilience for health professionals like yourself.

It changes how we think and respond to the challenging situations we face, personally and professionally.

My Story with Mindfulness

My mindfulness meditation practice began 19 years ago as part of my graduate studies in Holistic Nursing. I had no idea then, that my simple sitting practice in a crowded and noisy New York City apartment would lead to my mission to transform health care with mindfulness as a core and instrumental component.

Initially, all I wanted was the college credit! But soon after, I found mindfulness practice helping me come to terms with my life that rapidly turned upside down. A death of a loved one, loss of work and a move back to my mother’s home.

Then I noticed it benefiting my work as a Nurse Manager in a very busy pain management clinic. As someone with very high standards and a short fuse, when something frustrated me or caught me off guard, I was sharp and confrontational.

But one day, in the moment of a quick and unthoughtful response, I heard myself saying, “I’m so sorry. That didn’t come out so well. Could we start over?”

Soon, I experienced the practice of mindfulness making me a better listener and my typical quick and self-righteous responses didn’t get triggered as much. If it did, I could see right through it and switch to a more collaborative approach.

No matter who I was working with, overwhelmed and stressed colleagues, anxious and worried patients and/or upset families, a new tack and tactfulness emerged.

And I thought, “Hey, if this is really helping me, would this be helpful to other nurses facing similar stressors and frustrations?

That’s when I decided to deepen my understanding of mindfulness as a practice, the science behind it and teach it to other health professionals.

What’s your experience in managing the common stressors and chaos you face everyday? Is it affecting your sleep, health, mood, relationships or whittling away your love of nursing?

As a nurse, you have such a strong desire to help others, but who helps you take care of yourself?

If you relate to wanting less moments of “Irk! Erg! Ugh!” and greater sense of care and control over how stress impacts you, consider my program Room to Breathe: Rewiring for Ease.

Room to Breathe: Rewiring for Ease Program teaches you the technology of mindfulness practice without pressure. After all, a course on reducing stress shouldn’t be stressful.

And you don’t have to go to a monastery or do radical yoga poses (unless you want to!) to learn this practice. You can learn it from the comfort of your living room, your work office and even when you’re traveling.

Room to Breathe comes with:

• 7 live tele-classes, all recorded in case you miss a class or want to listen again
• 7 practice audio and video meditations,
• 8 chapter guidebook
• 16 CEs! for Nurses
• Connection with your fellow students
• Support and guidance throughout the 7 weeks and beyondWhile Mindfulness Practice can’t fix all the problems facing us in health care,it can keep us inspired while we solve them.

Here is what nurses say after they took Room to Breathe: Rewiring for Ease.

“What’s different about myself after taking Room to Breathe? How I talk to myself when I make a mistake – I’m much less critical and judging. Also how
I react to stressful situations – taking the time to pause, breathe, and respond, rather than reacting. I’m so much less stressed.”

“That it’s not the stress itself, but the way you perceive stress that causes anxiety. And to focus on your breath or your mindfulness and not the goal (of becoming less stressed, etc.) That really made a big difference.”

“I notice now that focusing on the moment, even just once a day, connects me with my joy and changes the way I see things.”

Join the growing numbers of nurses (and other health professionals) in reducing stress and overwhelm for a new kind of health care.

To your health and more!

Jackie