ur Daily BREATH Cope; don t mope. A newsletter published by PULMONARY REHABILITATION Inter-Community Hospital VOLUME XXII NUMBER 5 MAY 2018

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1 ur Daily BREATH A newsletter published by PULMONARY REHABILITATION Inter-Community Hospital Cope; don t mope. VOLUME XXII NUMBER 5 MAY 2018 Message from Nance... It s MAY! It s Springtime and everything is blooming. The leaves on my deciduous trees are returning. It appears to be a re-birth! I am starting to think of planting a vegetable garden. While I was contemplating this adventure and, what it would entail, I thought of my MOM. She wasn t the true (literal) gardener in the family, that was my Dad. She was the gardener of our lives. We were her seeds and we are all different. She made sure that we were fed, clothed and nurtured. She provided an environment for each of us to grow and flourish. She didn t always have the perfect weather but we felt A MOTHER S LOVE is like a garden. Her children are the seeds and as they grow; she tends to them...fulfilling all their needs...there is beauty, a Mother s love is there. Amanda Bradley her constant light and love. There s nothing like...a MOTHER S LOVE! Mothers can be referred to as the gardeners of us all. I didn t realize or appreciate until I was much older what a terrific gardener she was; always tending to her garden, she had quite the green thumb! Thank you, MOM. Here s wishing all mothers, all over the world, a terrific day wherever you are. Know that when you become a MOTHER, it is for a lifetime, and as children and adults, we couldn t have made it without you! Thank you to all MOMS for tending to the many gardens of life with your LOVE. Happy Springtime! Be well, remember to breathe and move...nance Our next Breath Savers meeting will be THURSDAY, May 17, Lunch will be provided at noon for $7. You may bring your own lunch if you prefer. The menu will be: Greek salad, chicken Caesar salad, bread sticks and fruit kabobs for dessert. Our program is FREE and starts at 1 p.m. We have the pleasure of having Jeffrey Williams, certified life coach, as our speaker. The topic will be 7 Levels of Energy. Come learn about the levels of energy. It should be an interesting and eye opening afternoon. Please come and bring a friend. RSVP early as we anticipate a full house. Please let us know if you are joining us for lunch, no later than Tuesday, May 15, 2018, by calling (626) See you there! Doors will open at 11 a.m. Come early and get a seat. Our last Breath Savers meeting was GREAT! Mark Enrico, Supervisor of Outpatient Cardiopulmonary Department, gave us a wonderful interactive, clear presentation on Benefits of Exercise. Even though we all know that exercise is good for us, Mark defined exercise and its types. He then went over the benefits of each and ended with exercise guidelines. It was very informative and clear with Mark fielding questions throughout the presentation. In fact, some of the information will be used in our pulmonary rehabilitation classes. Thank you, Mark, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to give such a well-prepared program. Everyone went home with a better understanding of exercise and its benefits. Also, a BIG thank you to Jan Diebold, Renat Leon and Beverly Miller for providing the beautiful Springtime centerpieces. The group loved them. What a great way to give back to Breath Savers. Thank you! WHALE WATCHING & DOLPHIN CRUISE: TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018 Seats still available but going fast! Make reservations now!! Deadline May 11. (See page 4 for details.) BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: ARACELI FARIAS, President of Breath Savers, has the opportunity to move her family to TEXAS. We are saddened by the news but also very HAPPY for her and her family. She will be MISSED GREATLY. Through her leadership and hard work, she has brought Breath Savers to a new level. Thank you Araceli. Her last day will be June 15, Come to the next Breath Savers meeting May 17 to say goodbye and to send her off with love that she has given us. For more details, contact Nance at (626) OUR SO SMART PULMONARY REHAB GRADUATES: Robert Muench, Barbara Clemens, James Derosier, Elise Hanawalt, Charlotte Robles, William Wilson DONATIONS TO BREATH SAVERS: Elizabeth Gilson, Rose Hackman GET WELL WISHES AND PRAYERS TO: Anthony Williams, Blanca Siebels, Carlos Maldonado, Renee Alexanian, Anita Knight

2 What is Mindfulness? Are you supposed to clear your mind, or focus on one thing? Here s the Mindful definition of Mindfulness. Mindfulness. It s a pretty straightforward word. It suggests that the mind is fully attending to what s happening, to what you re doing, to the space you re moving through. That might seem trivial, except for the annoying fact that we so often veer from the matter at hand. Our mind takes flight, we lose touch with our body, and pretty soon we re engrossed in obsessive thoughts about something that just happened or fretting about the future. And that makes us anxious. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what s going on around us. Yet no matter how far we drift away, mindfulness is right there to snap us back to where we are and what we re doing and feeling. If you want to know what mindfulness is, it s best to try it for a while. Since it s hard to nail down in words, you will find slight variations in the meaning in books, websites, audio, and video. Here s an all-purpose definition that treats mindfulness as a quality that every human being already possesses, rather than something we have to conjure up: Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what s going on around us. While mindfulness is innate, it can be cultivated through proven techniques, particularly seated, walking, standing, and moving meditation (it s also possible lying down but often leads to sleep); short pauses we insert into everyday life; and merging meditation practice with other activities, such as yoga or sports. When we meditate it doesn t help to fixate on the benefits, but rather to just do the practice, and yet there are benefits or no one would do it. When we re mindful, we reduce stress, enhance performance, gain insight and awareness through observing our own mind, and increase our attention to others well-being. Mindfulness meditation gives us a time in our lives when we can suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness to ourselves and others. A Few Things to Know About Mindfulness 1) Mindfulness is not obscure or exotic. It s familiar to us because it s what we already do, how we already are. It takes many shapes and goes by many names. 2) Mindfulness is not a special added thing we do. We already have the capacity to be present, and it doesn t require us to change who we are. But we can cultivate these innate qualities with simple practices that are scientifically demonstrated to benefit ourselves, our loved ones, our friends and neighbors, the people we work with, and the institutions and organizations we take part in 3) You don t need to change. Solutions that ask us to change who we are or become something we re not have failed us over and over again. Mindfulness recognizes and cultivates the best of who we are as human beings. 4) Mindfulness has the potential to become a transformative social phenomenon. Here s why: Anyone can do it. Mindfulness practice cultivates universal human qualities and does not require anyone to change their beliefs. Everyone can benefit and it s easy to learn. It s a way of living. Mindfulness is more than just a practice. It brings awareness and caring into everything we do and it cuts down needless stress. Even a little makes our lives better. It s evidence-based. We don t have to take mindfulness on faith. Both science and experience demonstrate its positive benefits for our health, happiness, work, and relationships. It sparks innovation. As we deal with our world s increasing complexity and uncertainty, mindfulness can lead us to effective, resilient, low-cost responses to seemingly intransigent problems. 2

3 Meditation Is Not All in Your Head When we think about meditating (with a capital M), we can get hung up on thinking about our thoughts: we re going to do something about what s happening in our heads. It s as if these bodies we have are just inconvenient sacks for our brains to lug around. Having it all remain in your head, though, lacks a feeling of good old gravity. Meditation begins and ends in the body. It involves taking the time to pay attention to where we are and what s going on, and that starts with being aware of our body. That approach can make it seem like floating as though we don t have to walk. We can just waft. But meditation begins and ends in the body. It involves taking the time to pay attention to where we are and what s going on, and that starts with being aware of our body. That very act can be calming, since our body has internal rhythms that help it relax if we give it a chance. How to Sit Here s a posture practice that can be used as the beginning stage of a period of meditation practice or simply as something to do for a minute, maybe to stabilize yourself and find a moment of relaxation before going back into the fray. If you have injuries or other physical difficulties, you can modify this to suit your situation. 1) Take your seat. Whatever you re sitting on a chair, a meditation cushion, a park bench find a spot that gives you a stable, solid seat, not perching or hanging back. 2) Notice what your legs are doing. If on a cushion on the floor, cross your legs comfortably in front of you. (If you already do some kind of seated yoga posture, go ahead.) If on a chair, it s good if the bottoms of your feet are touching the floor. 3) Straighten but don t stiffen your upper body. The spine has natural curvature. Let it be there. Your head and shoulders can comfortably rest on top of your vertebrae. 4) Situate your upper arms parallel to your upper body. Then let your hands drop onto the tops of your legs. With your upper arms at your sides, your hands will land in the right spot. Too far forward will make you hunch. Too far back will make you stiff. You re tuning the strings of your body not too tight and not too loose. 5) Drop your chin a little and let your gaze fall gently downward. You may let your eyelids lower. If you feel the need, you may lower them completely, but it s not necessary to close your eyes when meditating. You can simply let what appears before your eyes be there without focusing on it. 6) Be there for a few moments. Relax. Now get up and go about your day. And if the next thing on the agenda is doing some mindfulness practice by paying attention to your breath or the sensations in your body, you ve started off on the right foot and hands and arms and everything else. 7) Begin again. When your posture is established, feel your breath or some say follow it as it goes out and as it goes in. (Some versions of the practice put more emphasis on the outbreath, and for the inbreath you simply leave a spacious pause.) Inevitably, your attention will leave the breath and wander to other places. When you get around to noticing this in a few seconds, a minute, five minutes return your attention to the breath. Don t bother judging yourself or obsessing over the content of the thoughts. Come back. You go away, you come back. That s it. That s the practice. It s often been said that it s very simple, but it s not necessarily easy. The work is to just keep doing it. Results will accrue. 3 By Mindful Staff October 8, 2014

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8 210 W. San Bernardino Road P.O. Box 6108 Covina, CA ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED Date: THURSDAY, May 17 Time: 12 p.m. lunch RSVP for lunch at (626) p.m. program Program: Place: 7 Levels of Energy Presented by: Jeffrey Williams Inter-Community Hospital Conference Center MAY 5 MAY 1 MAY 13 MAY 28 SENIOR EDITOR: ASSISTANTS: CIRCULATION: ADVISOR: In memory of Carole Wilson Rita Sullivan Lucy Brejcha Araceli Farias Rita Sullivan Nancy Anderson Items printed in Our Daily Breath newsletter are from sources we believe to be reliable, but of course, they cannot nor are they intended to replace the care and advice of your own personal physician. Inter-Community Hospital and the Our Daily Breath newsletter assume no responsibility for any medical treatment undertaken by any individual, and we suggest you check with your physician for applications of any techniques into your personal program.