Today, mindfulness expert Greg Robison presents to the AmeriCorps team on one of the core practices of self-care- Mediation and Mindfulness. After two months of service, the team are already showing some signs of stress. Its normal and to be expected, being tired, frustrated and challenged by some of the situations and some of the students who don’t do what they are told, etc etc. That is part and parcel of the work we do, but what do we do about it? Burnout is an occupational hazard of people in service and so mindfulness is a way of allowing our bodies to catch up and our minds to slow down. Or as Greg explains it, Mediation is moving out of the thinking mode to the sensing mode.
We are expected to multi-task and we are expected to change our best laid plans when the weather changes or the bus runs late. At every turn, the things that we think we can control run on a schedule different to ours. So we have to cope and we have to adjust. But that takes a toll on our nerves and on our patience. We need to sometimes get off the merry go round and sit, breathe, smell the roses, and let our bodies back into the conversation.