How to Get Great Mindfulness Help for Anxiety with Change
Summer is coming to a close. Families are gearing up for the new school year, which includes every stage from preparing little ones for kindergarten to launching older kids off to college. Even if there are no longer kids in the picture that you need to help, this part of the summer season is often a transition time. We can feel the days shortening and the temperatures getting slightly cooler, especially in the northeast where I live. Here’s the thing. When we are in the midst of change and transition, we can often feel anxious about the past and some trepidation about the future. That’s normal.
Practicing mindfulness, both formally through meditation and informally by allowing ourselves to focus on the present, can be enormous in helping us to navigate transitions with less stress and more enjoyment.
As you may know, I’ve been exploring mindfulness beyond my customary way of being to include daily mindfulness meditation, journaling, reading, and formal learning. I’m grateful for the wonderful teachers and guides I’ve had so far that include Laurence Magro, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Amy Reyer, Ellen Langer, Tara Bennett-Goleman and Daniel Goleman. I’m so thankful for finding them at this juncture in my life.
Just the other day, I had one of those ah-ha moments. There’s another mindfulness teacher who has been helping me my entire life, but especially these past few years. It's my mom. She has vascular dementia. At this point, her memory of the past is fairly compromised. The future is no longer a real concept because her short-term memory has also been affected. She lives very much in the present. She finds joy in the present through playing piano, listening to music, singing, dancing, having conversations, being with people who care about her, exploring the garden, holding hands, enjoying a beautiful day, or being playful. When I’m with her, I enter her world wherever she is and we experience each moment for all that it is. She’s helped me to appreciate the now even more, to savor these precious moments with her. I slow myself down so that I can be here now.
These past few weeks I’ve missed being with you as I’ve been involved with family that needed my time and attention. I’m so happy to be back. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Come join the conversation! What discoveries have you made from those that help or guide you?
