Meditate on the Compassion of…Martin Luther King’s Dream!

Today, in celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King (his birthday was actually January 15th), I'd like to post a full transcript of his famous speech, known as the "I Have a Dream Speech." Its words are so moving and to me, celebrate the compassion that we often speak on on this site. On this site, I occasionally I like to highlight works of "compassion in action." I can think of no person more deserving of such recognition as Dr. King. In memory of all that Dr. King did to bring our country to the [...]

2014-08-25T17:43:20-06:00By |Compassion, Meditation|0 Comments
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Compassion in Action: Teen Nick Halo Awards Score!

This blog is devoted to the discussion of compassion as it relates to meditation. However, as has been the case in the past, there are times when acts of compassion or organizations dedicated to the promotion of compassionate action warrant inclusion within this site. Last night while trying to find a soccer game on television, I stumbled upon the 2011 Teen Nick Halo Awards. What? That's what I said. Some of you may know what this is, which puts you (at least) a step ahead of me. The Teen Nick Halo Awards is a yearly program that honors teens and [...]

2011-11-09T12:34:15-07:00By |Compassion|0 Comments
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Compassion Fatigue in Nursing? There’s No Such Thing! Five Reminders…

BOLD STATEMENT: there’s no such thing as compassion fatigue! What?   Have you heard all of the talk in healthcare and in the literature about "compassion fatigue?" I just did a Google® search for the keywords "compassion fatigue in nurses" and came up with 104,000 links, up from 46,700 links just last spring! What?! You’d think that we’re all suffering from burnout, which can’t be possible…or, is it? The notion that being compassionate can cause fatigue gives me cause to pause, how about you? Can compassion really lead to fatigue? Can caring so much for another cause burnout? Perhaps the [...]

2019-02-26T10:55:35-07:00By |Nursing|4 Comments
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Politics Getting to You? Meditate on Compassion – Four Steps…

Can meditation on compassion change the way that we view politics? Regardless of our political inclinations or leanings, we are all subject to the political fracas that erupts years before Presidential elections, and that is almost ongoing in the general and special elections within the local political arena. Do you ever get the impression that many of these politicians, regardless of their party, don't have any idea of how badly we all want things to change for the benefit of everyone? For instance, I don't think that any of us want Medicare to disappear, leaving the elderly in dire straits. [...]

2014-08-25T17:45:31-06:00By |Compassion, Meditation|1 Comment
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Meditation Isn’t About Arriving Somewhere; You’re Already There!

A colloquialism favored in the state of Maine is that you can't get there from here, or - spoken as a Mainer  "you can't get they-ah from he-ah." But, why talk about Maine when the topics of this blog are mindfulness, awareness and compassion at the bedside? (with bits of the mundane daily stuff tossed in for grins) The "from here" that we work with when beginning meditation is our ordinary - some might say deluded - mind. And, the "there" that we're working to achieve to some degree is a state free from delusions, free from distractions. The premise of [...]

2011-09-06T17:45:45-06:00By |Meditation|0 Comments
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How to Overcome Distraction While Practicing Compassionate Meditation

Recently, while doing a meditation practice based on compassion, I found - much to my dismay - that my focus was anywhere but on my practice. What made it even worse (and even embarrassing) was that I was doing the practice for a friend of mine who had experienced a significant medical emergency. In a previous post in this site, Forget About Yourself, Meditate for the Sake of Others!, we discussed using our meditation as an opportunity to meditate for the benefit of others. But, what about when we are meditating for the benefit of others and can't even bring [...]

2014-08-25T17:46:09-06:00By |Compassion, Meditation|4 Comments
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Minding the Bedside, Watching the Clouds. It’s All Meditation!!

In previous posts we've discussed how to work with the breath as an anchor for taming the mind, bringing our attention into the present, and maintaining an attention of moment-to-moment awareness. We've also covered how to work with thoughts, sensations, emotions, and...even sleepiness!! When caring for others, in this case, at the bedside, as a healthcare professional, we can use all of the methods that we've learned to ground out attention in the moment, for those we care for. Minding the bedside aware and compassionately comes from realizing the changing nature of our thoughts and from turning and returning the [...]

2014-09-08T23:42:42-06:00By |Nursing|2 Comments
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Meditation in the Workplace…Meditating at the Bedside?

The topic of bringing our meditation practice into our workplace, whether as a nurse or as a supermarket cashier, requires of us an understanding of what we mean when we use the word, "meditate." For many people, meditation brings up images of monks or solitary souls seated on a cushion, mumbling "om" with incense and candles. Sure, that can be meditation, but more often than not, this isn't the case. And, in the case of how we bring our meditation practice to the bedside, these images don't represent what a meditative presence truly embodies when caring for another. As was [...]

2014-09-08T23:41:58-06:00By |Nursing|3 Comments
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