I was reading a column this week by Amy Dickinson (“Ask Amy”) in which she responded to a letter from a woman who was having difficulty being around her son-in-law. In the letter, the writer stated “While I am visiting, I find his behavior so unpleasant that I find excuses to retire early. Is there any way for me to understand my son-in-law’s behavior and make peace with it?” Part of Amy’s response was ”Peace” (or acceptance) is a choice”. (The Daily Progress 6/23/24). I agree with her that acceptance is a choice. Acceptance is one of the foundational attitudes that underlies mindfulness practice. In this context, it means seeing things as they actually are in the present. We can cultivate acceptance by taking each moment as it comes and being with it fully, as it is. We try not to impose our ideas about what we should be feeling or thinking or seeing on our experience but just remind ourselves to be receptive and open to whatever we are feeling, thinking, or seeing, and to accept it because it is here right now.
All UVA Health Employees, including those from Northern Virginia Sites, Can Participate in Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees Courses for Free The Mindfulness Center offers both online six-week Introduction to Mindfulness…
Differential Roles of Awareness of Automaticity and Pain Acceptance in Opioid Misuse among Individuals with Chronic Low Back Pain. Individuals with chronic low back pain are commonly prescribed long-term opioid…
I have spent many years working with people with substance use disorders, including individuals with opioid use disorder. I am continuously amazed by the resilience of people who are in recovery. Many can point to the events or circumstances that led them to stop using drugs. It may have been the threat of losing their job, or getting arrested and sent to jail where they could not get drugs, or they may have gotten placed in a monitoring program where not losing their job or not going to jail was contingent on not using drugs. Fortunately, once they decide to stop, there are medications available to treat opioid use disorder that can dramatically increase the likelihood that people will not use these drugs, and that can also decrease their risk of dying of an overdose by 40 to 50%. Over the past three years, over 100,000 people a year have died of drug overdoses, most of these due to opioids. This is more than died due to motor vehicle accidents and gun violence combined. When an individual stops using illicit opioids, they have to learn how to live without these drugs, which can be very challenging. Often, their predominant way of dealing with difficulty in the past was to use drugs. When they stop using them, they have to find new ways of coping. Those who are successful frequently learn quickly, and often incorporate mindfulness into their daily lives.
The Next Introduction to Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees Course Will Be Starting Soon The second Introduction to Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees course will be starting in May. This is an…
Mindfulness Training Has a Long-term Impact on Neuroplasticity and Symptoms Among Patients with Panic Disorder This study from South Korea examined the long-term effects of an eight-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy…