Our goals are to:
- increase coping skills and resiliency for health professionals;
- enhance and foster empathy and compassion in our medical providers thereby reducing and preventing burnout;
- address the isolation within the healthcare community (inter- and intra-systemic) by providing opportunities for collaboration and cooperation.
To achieve these goals, we introduce evidence-based mindfulness skills relevant to health professionals drawn from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and related models. Our retreats focus on all types of health professionals.
Attendees of our retreats and group sessions will practice mindfulness skills and learn:
- self-care skills that reduce stress and compassion fatigue, enhance self-compassion and positive emotions;
- clinical communication skills that focus on improving empathy and attention and emotional regulation;
- effective cooperative problem solving with patients and co-workers.
Through this approach, we believe Mindful Medicine participants will be able to provide a higher standard of care in the communities they serve.
Statement of Solidarity
Wherever we fall on the race spectrum—we are all reacting to conditions of emotional overwhelm amidst the recent terrible racial injustices, with the murder of George Floyd as a tipping point. Many Americans are now recognizing the horrible racism suffered by so many for so long. Together we stand with Black, indigenous people and other people of color to promote health equality, access, and equity in relationships with health providers.
More than at any other time in our lives, discernment and wisdom is needed to move forward towards a world where health, justice and freedom is equally available to all people. For too long in our communities, there has existed racism, inequality and violence towards our brothers and sisters of color. The silence of not seeing or addressing these injustices is no longer an option. In all relationships there will be ruptures, yet the strength of a relationship is measured in the ability to, and quality of, repair. It’s time to stand up and start the long needed repair for our society. Mindful Medicine wants to make sure we are a part of the process of repairing the damage done by centuries of racism, inequality, silence and exclusion.
We want to build stronger relationships based upon listening and learning from those who have suffered far too long. From this listening and learning we hope to grow in a fashion that is more inclusive for our entire community. We want to apply our skills of mindfulness, compassion and self-compassion to repair our communities so that we are all safe, connected, nourished and experience a shared humanity.
We strive to strengthen interactions that include everyone, drawing strength from us all, honoring our diversity, and practicing anti-racism in medicine together.
Our Community Partners
- Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple