EDU: Blessed Relief (Topic Two, Big Mind, Big Medicine - Part 1)

[Guest guest]

Big Mind, Big Medicine

Try to be mindful, and let things take their natural course. Then your mind

will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds

of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will

clearly see the nature of all things come and go, but you will be still..

Ajahn Chah, A still Forest Pool

Big Mind, Big Medicine had a lot of concepts in it that grabbed my

attention, so I decided to separate it into two parts.

This first part will focus on two concepts; " Everything Changes " , and the

" Heart of Mindfulness "

We all understand the concept that 'Everything Changes'. Sometimes I think

we are all experts in this area after getting diagnosed with Stills or a

chronic illness or having a family member diagnosed with a chronic illness.

After multiple examples about changes in our lives from something as small

as being next to a family with a baby on an airplane that is driving us nuts

(and we have no control over), to extreme changes in our lives like we deal

with and really taking the time to really think about how much in life

changes on a daily basis.

However, after reading about mindfulness and how small changes can impact

us, I have a new appreciation for what we can and can't control and a better

understanding of how to work through letting things go.

For instance, let's take a simple example of someone in front of us at the

grocery store. Let's say it is an elderly person that is taking forever to

count out money to pay for groceries and your back is killing you and all

your joints are achy. I have had this happen many times and most of the time

it can make me pretty grumpy. It shouldn't but it does, especially if I am

in a lot of pain. Since we moved to TN, it really makes me grumpy because

everything moves even slower here for some reason. After reading about

mindfulness, I had this happen to me and I though, I immediately started to

get grumpy (hey, old habits die hard!) - And when I started to get grumpy I

noticed my pain level was getting higher! Then I remembered what I read and

thought I'd give mindfulness (which I will talk about in a minute) a shot

and try not to be upset since I had no control over the situation. So I

focused on my pain and muscles, and then started to focus on trying to relax

my muscles all the time not thinking about the fact that I had to wait. I

started to listen to the music in the store and it brought back childhood

memories, which in turned helped me relax my muscles in my back and lower

the pain a little bit. Before I knew it, I was up at the cashier and out of

the store. I found it wasn't hard at all, and was much easier on my body to

relax through the situation then to get tense and upset (which would then

last for 5-10 minutes after getting in the car and going home). Granted,

this is a really simple example, but I have put this to practice for other

things and find it helps. It can be harder to get use to doing for other

things and takes practice, but it does help.

So what is Mindfulness and the Heart of Medicine?

To put it simply, it is to simply " Be Here Now, Be Someplace Else, later.

Smile " .

It sounds so easy right? But how many times have you been someplace without

your spouse, child, etc and though " I wish so-and-so could see this, 'then

it would be perfect'? Why can't it just be perfect now? We are we so use to

wanting more, wanting to share everything with everyone, that we have not

learned how to Be in the Moment. Just let our minds be at rest. Let's say

you are by yourself, watching the sun rise over the mountains, how long

could you sit there quietly, by yourself? No Camera, No Phone, No Talking

and just Be? Would you go crazy? Could you sit and just enjoy the silence

and let your mind not wander? Most of us (including me) would have a

thousand thoughts go through our minds a minute. We would want to try to

make notes to ourselves as to who we would want to share the experience

with. How we wish we could have had a camera. Etc. We just are not good at

just being.

Mindfulness is simply enjoying the moment for what it is, clearing our

minds, being comfortable with ourselves. It is a way to meditate (Focus on

your body and moment of where we are (not prayer) that can be done in as

little as 2 minutes or as long as you want. 2-3 minutes can be effective for

practice).

Being aware of the sounds around you.

Being aware of all the sensations in your body (pain and anything else -

tingling, etc)

Being aware of your breathing.

When I started to practice Mindfulness, my counselor would ask me where I

was hurting before I would started to do a short Mindfulness session with

her. Then when I did a three to five minute session of meditation focusing

on Mindfulness, I would be able to see that when I was focused that I almost

always had pain in more areas than I was aware of because I was more in tune

with my body when I was mindful of what my body was feeling.

I found this to be a good tool for me, because I to be careful on how much I

do each day. So if I use mindfulness to determine how much pain I have every

90 minutes or so, I can determine if I am overdoing it during the day and

stop before I crash and make myself worse that night (which I often do if I

go by the pain that I think I have, not realizing all the underling pain

that it there). (I will tell you that I am still overdoing it some days

because I haven't broken old habits 100% yet - It takes time)

In the past, I was always afraid of the word 'meditate', because of the way

I was raised. Now I know that the word simply means to focus on a topic. In

'Big Mind, Big Medicine', it is to focus on what you can control, let go of

what you can't control and to learn how you can have an impact on your own

body through short mindfulness sessions that you focus your thoughts on your

pain and determine how much you should continue to do throughout the day.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Hugs to all,

Alli