Here is an abbreviated example of a meditation that I often teach. I’ll begin with a brief relaxation exercise and then move right into the actual meditation. Enjoy!

~Relax your eyes closed, allowing them to roll slightly upward without straining them in any way.

~Relax your face, especially the muscles around the eyes. Part your lips slightly and relax your jaws. Your face is serene and expressionless.

~Relax your shoulders, neck and back – just let the muscles of your upper body go limp.

~Relax your arms and hands.

~Allow the full weight of your body to relax, so that you are fully supported by the chair and are sitting effortlessly.

~Your feet are relaxed and fully supported by the floor. Feel the contact that your feet are making with the floor.

~Now observe the rise and fall of each breath as you breathe “in” and breathe “out.”

~Repeat the word “in” as you breathe in and “out” as you breathe out.

~Breathing in and out. Breathing in and out.

~When your mind wanders, bring your attention back to the breath with a gentle and loving attitude.

~Breathing in and out – in and out.

~Always bringing your attention back to the breath.

~Watching the rise and fall of every breath.

~When sounds or distractions enter your consciousness, use them as cues to help you go deeper as you focus on breathing in and out.

~Always bring your attention back to the breath.

~Breathing in and out…..

~Good. When you are ready, begin visualizing yourself in the room at this moment and gradually begin opening your eyes. Take your time as you reenter.

~Now just take note of how you are feeling.

When you are practicing this on your own, the meditation is much simpler than what we just did. All you need to do is sit for a designated time (5, 10, or 15 minutes) and watch the rise and fall of your breath, gently bringing your attention back to the breath whenever you get distracted. That is all meditation really is.

Meditation is easy to learn…the challenge is in the follow through and incorporating the practice into your everyday life.

I suggest that you build time into you schedule once or twice daily, even if only for five minutes at a time.

The best times to practice meditation is first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Remember whatever you get from a meditation is more than likely going to enhance the quality of your everyday life.

Wishing you much success with your practice!

If you have any questions regarding your meditation practice please feel free to contact me here.

Getting a difficult medical diagnosis is challenging at best. Elizabeth Kubler Ross wrote extensively about the five stages of grief that accompanies the experience of loss. Although her work originally described the reaction to the death of a loved one, the same cycle applies to those experiencing health issues requiring surgical intervention.

Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s Five Stages of Grief:

• Denial: “This can’t be happening to me.”
• Anger: “Why is this happening? Who is to blame?”
• Bargaining: “Please God make this not happen and in return I will ____.”
• Depression: “I’m too sad or down to do anything.”
• Acceptance: “I’m at peace with what happened.”

This is a simplistic model of what any of us experience when we are struck with a tough reality that we need to integrate into our consciousness. The process of getting a difficult diagnosis or dealing with any loss issue is considerably messier and less predictable than the one Kubler Ross describes. Nevertheless all of these five stages appear eventually on the horizon of one’s experience.

Learning about a difficult medical diagnosis can be challenging, but like most things, being prepared makes the process a lot less daunting.

How to prepare for surgery and manage post-operatively:

• Keep a positive attitude. People who are facing surgery undoubtedly experience fear, worry and anxiety. Keeping a positive attitude can help lessen those emotions. Write a few affirmations pertaining to your surgery and repeat them often. Focus on a positive outcome. When your mind wanders away from a positive outcome, give it a gentle nudge back. Peggy Huddleston illuminates mind-body techniques that help patients mentally prepare for surgery and in turn, heal faster.

• Use meditation as an effective tool to mentally prepare for surgery and to handle difficult situations after surgery. When meditating focus your thoughts on breathing, calmness, and healing.

• Talk about your fears and apprehension with a relative or friend. Verbalizing your feelings can make a profound difference on your inner experience, even when nothing changes externally. A partner or friend you can talk with openly and honestly will diminish the intensity of complicated feelings around a surgery.

• Rely on your faith. If you are religious put your trust in God and leave the surgery in His/Her hands. Ask family members and friends to pray for you during the surgery and afterwards for a full and speedy recovery. Even if they do not share your religious beliefs you can still derive benefits from other’s prayers. Have faith in the surgeon’s ability as well as your body’s ability to heal.

• Consult with your physician regarding any concerns you have about your health condition or the surgery. He/she can answer any questions you may have and help to alleviate your fears. Your physician will understand your feelings and will be happy to reassure you in any way possible.

• Surround yourself with loving, supportive people. You may feel like keeping your upcoming surgery to yourself but it may actually be best to share the information with friends and co-workers. If they are aware of your health condition and surgery they will no doubt support, encourage you, and offer their assistance to help you and/or your family. Knowing that you have people who love and care for you can be the best preparation.

• Get informed. Learn everything you can about your health condition and the surgical procedure. Being informed is being prepared.

• Talk to other people that you trust who have had the same surgery. Glean from those conversations kernels of information that might be of value to you while keeping in mind that no two people experience a surgery in the same way.

What strategies do you employ to get through periods of grief and anxiety?

Today I went to the hospital because the visiting nurse alarmed me to the fact that a small infection formed at the peak corner of my new hip replacement scar. “No time to waste. You never know how fast an infection can travel. This requires urgent care.” She made a succession of anxiety riddled phone calls to my orthopedic surgeon, the surgeons’ two assistants, the on-call resident and finally my primary care physician. She was determined to resolve the infection in question swiftly.

At first, I felt safe with her determination to find an immediate solution to the problem. Then, as we waited for the return phone calls and she continued to apprise me of the meaning of a spread infection I gradually began to panic. Fortunately, my primary care physician agreed to see me immediately. My husband booked it on his way home from work and then off to the office we went.

“This is indeed an infection.” I was told. “But, not the sort that people with a hip replacement fear. See your surgeon first thing in the morning which he has already agreed to and we will sort this out. Another night of some pain, but nothing scary.” I remembered to breathe again and slowly began to feel contained within my own skin.

The next morning my daughter, my beautiful and compassionate day nurse for the next week or two, drove me to my appointment with the surgeon. He reigns over the orthopedic department at one of Boston’s finest hospitals, and was the mastermind behind the delicate placement of the titanium hip into the depths of my body.

At the information desk, I was told to take the elevator one flight down and go straight down the corridor to his office. My daughter drops me off because the valet parking is temporarily full. “I can manage getting to the doctor’s office,” I told Amy.  “Just meet me after you’ve given the car to the valet.”

Hobbling inside with my chrome walker, I felt confident that I could get myself to my doctor’s office without any difficulty. I blew a kiss and one step at a time, off I went. No problem getting to the elevator; a few steps more than anticipated, but I felt strong and able. The elevator doors opened, I got out and there it was “ambulatory care.”

The only problem was that to get to the actual floor where I would find my doctor’s office, I needed to descend about fifteen steep steps and no walker was getting down these steps. I asked a physician getting off the next elevator run, “How do I get to ambulatory care?” He looked at me quizzically and said, “It’s right down these steps.” As he we dashing off I said, “But I have this walker.” I stood in amazement.

Then I summoned the courage to let out a loud “excuse me…” and got the attention of a staff member down that long flight of stairs. “How do I get down?” He said, “It’s easy. Go back on the elevator to the second floor. Go down and across the corridor and take the south elevator to this floor. It’s over there.” He pointed at the place I should end up once I followed all of his other instructions.

I thanked him and in a moment of weakness, regression and self-pity I felt the warm tears streaming down my face. It just felt like there was too much to do when I could hardly walk even with the aid of the walker.

Within a minute or two I regained my composure and reminded myself that I could do this and besides, Amy would be there to laugh and cry about the injustice of those ill-placed steps and the insensitive doctor who couldn’t help a person with a walker. That is just what happened.

My doctor prescribed antibiotics and mitigated my fears imposed by the visiting nurse. After a grim 24 hours, my sense of hope and optimism again returned.

When have you felt helpless?

Did you know that April has been designated as National Stress Awareness Month? Most Americans feel stress in their everyday lives but do not pay much attention to its consequences. The impact plays havoc with our minds, bodies, relationships and overall health and well-being.

Health care professionals across the country annually come together to increase public awareness about the symptoms, causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic. The Health Resource Network (HRN) sponsors this national, cooperative effort to inform people about the dangers of stress and the strategies for developing greater resilience.

Some symptoms of stress:

• Anxiety
• Knot in the throat
• Stomach cramps
• Headaches
• Compulsive eating
• Irritability
• Anger
• Increased smoking or drinking
• Social withdrawal

Stress is a guarantee in our lives. Your reaction to stress is what makes the difference between health and disease. Training your brain and body to react to disappointment, loss and frustration in a resilient way creates a more balanced and happier existence.

Resilience is the ability to self-nurture, self-soothe, self-regulate. For some this ability comes naturally. The rest of us need to cultivate the skill of resiliency.

Some of the most potent ways to manage stress more effectively include:

• Abdominal breathing
• Meditation
• Self-hypnosis
• Getting together with supportive friends and family
• Exercise and healthy diet

The resilient person learns how to tolerate difficult emotions and reframes situations in a positive perspective. For example, “Since I lost my job during a difficult economy, this is my opportunity to work for myself which has always been my dream.” Or “Getting divorced and splitting up my family tears me apart, but this is my opportunity to find a loving relationship and get more of my needs met.”

For less daunting situations, resilience means while stuck in traffic, rather than getting agitated, deciding to listen to music, listen to books on tape, or just go with the flow and take the time to breathe deeply. These are all choices you make throughout your daily existence.

I challenge you to raise your stress awareness and bring more balance, happiness and peace of mind into your world this month.

What will you choose to do this month to lower your stress?

Everyone is talking about the disaster on Tuesday night that struck the capital of Haiti and the surrounding areas where approximately two million people live. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake essentially destroyed the capital. The death toll may reach tens of thousands of residents and those visiting the island nation. One geophysicist said the earthquake’s power rivaled that of several nuclear bombs.

Correspondents in Port Au Prince and its suburbs reported whole blocks of collapsed buildings, with bodies lining the road as Haiti awaits assistance. People are disoriented and desperately seeking medical attention, water, food, shelter and electricity.

This kind of tragedy evokes powerful emotions and a collective sense of loss, pain, and suffering. No one escapes the ripple effect produced by exposure to this massive destruction. “The reports and images that we’ve seen of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching,” President Obama said.

Earthquake devastation in Haiti

When we are faced with tragedy of this proportion and are unable to attend directly to the fears and cries of others, we experience a collective sense of helplessness. This helplessness can be expressed by our own feelings of anxiety, depression, withdrawal, shock, confusion or fear. Staying focused on problem solving or doing something, however small, is key to dealing with traumatic events, even when they don’t feel like our personal traumatic events. The immediacy of the media brings home the message to all of us: we are in this world together.

Talking about the earthquake with family and friends is also important.  It helps us to process the range of emotions we feel.

Taking action is the antidote to going numb and disconnecting from these events. There are many opportunities to help the victims of this disaster in Haiti. According to former president Clinton the most valuable way to help is by sending money. Every dollar makes a difference. Here is a link to some of the organizations that are involved in the relief efforts for Haiti; Impact Your World: How you can help.

What did you feel when you heard about the devastation in Haiti?