Meditation initiative benefits healthcare workers
The Heal the Healers Now project of Delmarva is part of a nationwide initiative to bring the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique to doctors, nurses and medical providers who are battling the coronavirus pandemic.
Kim Bemis, head of the Transcendental Meditation program for Delmarva, said, "The TM program is an effortless, enjoyable, and easy-to-learn mental technique for deep relaxation and stress reduction. It has been successfully offered in hospitals and clinics as well as medical schools, academic and VA medical centers, military academies, substance abuse centers, prisons and other settings."
Most recently, the program was offered at Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital with significant reductions in physician burnout, insomnia and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Bemis said, "Even before the pandemic, a Harvard report cited physician burnout as ‘a public health crisis that urgently demands action.’ And today, the situation is far worse. This highly effective program can help our healthcare providers during this devastating public health crisis."
Laurie Vonasek, RN, MSN, an adjunct professor at Wesley College, said, "Practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique twice daily for the past three years has been transformative. I have increased focus, quieted my mind, decreased anxiety, slept better, increased efficiency, and I am slower to react to negative stimulus. I think before I react. TM has decreased the effects of stress. I am healthier and happier. I could not navigate life, especially now with all the uncertainty and pain related to COVID-19 without meditating. It has helped me to achieve balance and peace. Nurses by nature care for others before they care for themselves. It is time to help nurses heal.”
Dr. Uday Jani, a doctor of integrative medicine in Lewes, said, “The power of meditation to activate the body’s capacity for self-healing by reducing levels of stress-related hormones and strengthening the immune system has been well documented over the years. We are fortunate to be able to learn from master meditation teacher Kim Bemis, who draws on two decades of studying and living in the Himalayas to teach this remarkably effective technique in our community.”
For more information on learning the Transcendental Meditation program, or to donate to help make this program available to medical providers who need it, go to www.healthehealersnow.org or contact KimBemis@tm.org.
