When a Professional Gets Burnt Out: Rediscovering What We Preach Part 2

Meditation and relaxation go hand in hand, however they are learned arts.  In our hectic world, many of us feel stressed out and over worked.  Meditation gives the mind a break and makes thoughts calmer and better focused.  Spending quiet time in meditation also teaches about overcoming stress and finding inner peace and balance.  Many individuals overcome negative thoughts through meditation and also, some individuals also utilize prayer during quiet time or meditation.

In a 2013 Huffington Post article, author Amanda Chan identified many benefits of meditation.  The benefits include:

Lowers stress.  A person not only feels less stressed but also decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Lets us know our true selves by having the time to objectively analyze ourselves.

Promotes better focus ~ with working adults as well as students, cognitive function is improved.

Allows for better performance, better ability to handle and recover from stress.

Changes the brain in a protective way – for more positive thoughts.

Works as the brain’s volume knob, keeping negativity at a minimum.

Improves focus on music by improving focus.

Promotes sleep through relaxation. 

Lowers depression

Boosts health by reducing the expression of genes linked with inflammation.

Meditation needs only to last 10 – 15 minutes to be effective.  Sitting in a comfortable position to meditate is best, although there is no prescribed position.   While being quiet in meditation, don’t try to eliminate thoughts or resist them.  Let them come and go freely. You may experience a dream-like state during meditation and not be conscious of noises or sounds.  Some people fall asleep while meditating, while others experience strong emotions.  Should you experience any strong thoughts or emotions, try to come back to breathing and focus on that.

The Cleveland Clinic has a unique take on mindfulness and meditation.  Code Lavender is a holistic care response serving both patients and providers in need of emotional or spiritual support.  Through the program, a provider who summons emotional support is met by a team of holistic nurses within 30 minutes of a call. The team provides Reiki* and massage, health snacks and water, and lavender arm bands to remind the individual to relax for the rest of the day. The Holistic Services Team also offers a variety of other methods, including spiritual support, mindfulness training, counseling and yoga. According to the Huffington Post, the Cleveland Clinic is one of a growing number of hospitals and health systems that are integrating holistic therapies into their services. A 2011 American Hospital Association report found that 42% of hospitals surveyed offer one or more Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapies, including acupuncture, homeotherapy, and herbal medicine—up from 37% in 2007.

I have included a sample meditation from Meditation Oasis.  It is an eight minute Mandela Meditation, with beautiful music and mandalas.

*Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction, relaxation and promoting healing.  It is a method of “laying on of hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen life energy force flows through us and is what causes to be alive. If the life energy force is low, a person is more likely to feel ill, stressed or unhappy.

References:

Ainsworth, B. et al. (2013) The effect of focused attention and open monitiroing meditation on attention network function in healthy volunteers.  Psychiatry Research, 210(3):1226-31.

Foureur, M. et al. (2013)  Enhancing the resilience of nurses and midwives: pilot of a mindfulness-based program for increased health, sense of coherence and decreased depression, anxiety and stress.  Contemporary Nurse, 45(1):114-25.

Goyal, M. et al. (2014) Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis.  JAMA Internal Medicine, Jan 6.

Singh, Y. et al. (2012) Immediate and long-term effects of meditation on acute stress reactivity, cognitive funcitions and intelligence.  Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 18(6): 46-53.

What Parents Need and What They Want in Childbirth Classes: Is there a disconnect?

My experience as a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator has given me the opportunity to teach in a variety of venues.  I began teaching at an adult school affiliated with a high school in a rural California, to a community college on the Atlantic coast of Florida, to private classes in Los Angeles, to volunteer teaching on an Air Force Base, to teaching for three hospitals, and finally back to private teaching now in Ohio.  From my Lamaze Seminar Trainer, Harriet Palmer, I learned that being able to empower women and families through research based information (or the truth) was the most valuable teaching tool.  And even though I had to leave one of the hospitals because I wanted to teach the truth and resisted censorship, I can still look myself in the mirror and be proud of the educator that I am.  I personally and professionally have fought against co-optation.

Birth professionals who have been active since the 60s and 70s will no doubt remember the writings of Eugene Declercq in the Birth & Family Journal (now the BIRTH journal) and Polly Perez and myself in Lamaze's Genesis, pointing out the side effects of co-optation....when former community based childbirth education classes become part of the hospital revenue stream.  The fear then was that childbirth education classes would be censored, restricted, condensed and basically not resemble anything close to childbirth education.  They would be, in a sense, what to expect from THE HOSPITAL while you are in labor.

The time arrived and co-optation did occur as predicted and in most (yes, I say most because there are still a few hospitals who value evidence-based uncensored childbirth education classes) cases, there have been censorship, restrictions, and condensed versions.  In most situations, labor and delivery nurses are asked to teach childbirth education classes and I must tell you that nursing school does not prepare you to teach childbirth classes.  While it does prepare you to do snippets of education at the bedside, childbirth education is another animal altogether.  And in many cases, these labor and delivery nurses are not required to become certified childbirth educators in order to teach classes.

Why does this all of this matter?  It matters for several reasons:

• Co-opted childbirth classes are not in the best interest of the expectant parents.
• Certification DOES matter.
• Teaching informed decision-making and evidence-based information impacts everyone.
• Birth matters to the baby.
• Birth matters to the mother/parents.

Midwives are particularly suited to add childbirth education to their repertoire of services as they have had the emergent and normal/physiologic side of childbirth in their education....nurses typically do not receive the normal/physiologic information in their classroom studies.  Midwives can take the time to teach and explain thus empowering their clients to achieve and enjoy this once in a lifetime birthing opportunity; to not be rushed through a process which can leave a lasting imprint on a woman's heart and soul.

Educating expectant parents of today takes more skill and cleverness, resourcefulness and constant marketing.  Today's parent needs to be exposed to something nearly 10 times before acting on it, as opposed to the 3-4 exposures for parents in the 1980s.  Educators must make their classes timely, evidence-based and truly innovative to meet the ever changing learning needs of parents.  Parents still need the information, the evidence and the facts, but they need all of this in a concise package with minimal fluff and tricks ~ otherwise they get very bored very fast.

Get certified.

Become well-versed in social media marketing to reach the parents of today.

Write your own curriculum - tedious, yes but more valuable than you can ever imagine!

Evaluate your curriculum including the dates of the evidence for topics as well as the teaching strategies.  

Remember we aren't in Kansas anymore Dorothy and the bottom line is we can't teach like we are!

Midwive's Diner!

If you have NOT seen this short video, you need to right now!  So cute and innovative!  Great analogy and wonderful introduction to midwifery care.  Kudos to the creators of Midwive's Diner!