“Mindfulness practice saved my life.” When I first heard Jon Kabat-Zinn say this, I will admit to thinking this might be a touch of hyperbole. But I get it now. As a physician practicing women’s health for 28 years with a sudden injury requiring seven months in bed, there was plenty of time to consider where energy might be directed for integrative health and well-being. As mindfulness meditation practice was the underpinning of my healing, Jon’s words rang true. The journey of practice that is teaching MBSR and mentoring MBSR teachers continues to undergird healing and direct how to meet individual and institutional suffering. 

Always a beginner, I have practiced meditation in some form since 1979; insight/mindfulness practice since 1992; interpersonal mindfulness practice since 2006; and participated in regular silent teacher-lead retreats of 5-28 days since 2004. Learning as practice is continually on-going and includes MBSR teacher and MBSR teacher trainer certification through the Center for Mindfulness in Healthcare, Medicine and Society at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine (CFM) and the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, Interpersonal Mindfulness teacher, certified mindfulness-based birthing and parenting teacher, and mindfulness-based research intervention developer and teacher. ​I am deeply grateful for my many teachers, past and present, who skillfully embody and open-heartedly teach this practice including, over the years, my partner, mindfully-gifted children and grandchildren, and numerous students who teach me in-kind.

While practice is the pathway, it is important to understand the who, how, and why mindfulness serves mind-body healing when looking at how mindfulness might be supported in a wider context. Since 2005 I have been privileged to work with a wonderful team at Indiana University (IU) as a research intervention developer and teacher looking at mindfulness-based group work to ameliorate suffering in cancer survivors with cancer-related fatigue, fear of recurrence, and end of life communication between patients and their families. At IU, through the Healthy IU Workplace Wellness Program, I developed The Mindful Way to Stress Reduction and Personal Resiliency for faculty and staff. As an educator, I co-authored a chapter in Reflective Practice on mindful learners and educators in nursing education. And in the recent complexity of stressors in healthcare related to COVID-19, supporting healthcare providers through the Indiana State Medical Association with short mindfulness practices has been meaningful and humbling.

Teaching and teacher training is a practice of mutual learning through compassion, humor, care, and inclusivity. Exploring and deepening how mindfulness opens the door to reducing suffering and increasing joy in walking the entire path of life one moment at a time is where I continue to learn with gratitude.