{"id":716,"date":"2009-07-22T12:28:36","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T12:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/07\/meditation-stress-fear-and-lovingkindness.html"},"modified":"2009-07-22T12:28:36","modified_gmt":"2009-07-22T12:28:36","slug":"meditation-stress-fear-and-lovingkindness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/07\/meditation-stress-fear-and-lovingkindness.html","title":{"rendered":"Meditation for Caregivers: Stress, Fear and Lovingkindness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sharon_salzberg.jpg\"<\/span>This is another post by Sharon Salzberg<\/a> for the One City Blog. Sharon is one of three Buddhist lineage<\/a> mentors for the Interdependence Project<\/a>. She is also one of the foremost (and most awesome) Buddhist meditation <\/a>teachers in America. She will next be teaching at the I.D. Project<\/a> on November 11, 2009 as part of our Fall Buddhist Study Course<\/a>. Check out other opportunities to study with her below.<\/p>\n

–Ethan Nichtern

Meditation, Stress-Relief<\/a><\/b><\/font>, Fear, <\/b><\/font>and Lovingkindness<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

As I have learned through my own years of experience, meditation<\/a> can help us to relax, defuse stress<\/a> and experience greater calm. It is also a way to explore the mind-body relationship, connect to our feelings, challenge our habits of fear and self-judgment, and discover a more sustained, genuine happiness<\/a>. The insight we gain in meditation practice<\/a> helps us see what in fact we cannot control, which translates into our ability to have healthier
\nboundaries about our work and our efforts to make this a better world. <\/p>\n


\nMeditation helps us see our own difficult mind states \u00ad such as anger<\/a> or fear or a sense of helplessness\u00ad with compassion<\/a> instead of self-judgment. It also provides a refuge during life’s storms by helping us connect compassionately with others, no matter the circumstances. Especially in times of uncertainty or pain, meditation broadens our perspective and deepens our courage. The spaciousness of mind and greater ease of heart that naturally arise through balanced awareness and compassion are fundamental components of a resilient spirit.<\/p>\n

A few years ago I was set to do a 5 week course on lovingkindness meditation<\/a> at the National Cathedral in Washington DC<\/a>. The program director, Grace, and I planned the course and decided to ask everyone attending to undertake a service project:–helping out in a soup kitchen, serving the homeless<\/a>, volunteering in a hospice \u00ad something along those lines. But once the notice about the course went out, people began calling Grace, saying things like
\n“I’d like to volunteer somewhere, but in addition to working I’m taking care of my mother with Alzheimer’s, can that count?” “I have young children, and am overwhelmed as it is; can I possibly count that as my service?”<\/p>\n

As Grace recounted these phone calls to me, I felt quite embarrassed at having missed how much care-giving so many do every day; no fanfare, no title, often no remuneration.<\/p>\n

Ever since then I’ve tried to be quite consciously inclusive when I consider who is a caregiver. In two forthcoming programs I’m doing, I’d like to invite anyone who considers themselves a caregiver to participate, regardless of role or title.<\/p>\n

One is a 3 day retreat<\/a> for caregivers at the Insight Meditation Society<\/a> in September, where we will practice meditation and yoga<\/a> and explore the nature of resilience.<\/p>\n

And the other is an evening and daylong in New York City<\/a> in October, with a friend of
\nmine, Cheri Maples, who is a former police officer in Madison and a student of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/a>. Cheri and I, along with the group, will explore the dimensions of the heart in service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is another post by Sharon Salzberg for the One City Blog. Sharon is one of three Buddhist lineage mentors for the Interdependence Project. She is also one of the foremost (and most awesome) Buddhist meditation teachers in America. She will next be teaching at the I.D. Project on November 11, 2009 as part of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-everybody-hurts"],"yoast_head":"\nMeditation for Caregivers: Stress, Fear and Lovingkindness - One City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/07\/meditation-stress-fear-and-lovingkindness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meditation for Caregivers: Stress, Fear and Lovingkindness - One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is another post by Sharon Salzberg for the One City Blog. Sharon is one of three Buddhist lineage mentors for the Interdependence Project. She is also one of the foremost (and most awesome) Buddhist meditation teachers in America. She will next be teaching at the I.D. Project on November 11, 2009 as part of…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/07\/meditation-stress-fear-and-lovingkindness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-07-22T12:28:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/files\/import\/salzberg.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ethan Nichtern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meditation for Caregivers: Stress, Fear and Lovingkindness - One City","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/07\/meditation-stress-fear-and-lovingkindness.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meditation for Caregivers: Stress, Fear and Lovingkindness - One City","og_description":"This is another post by Sharon Salzberg for the One City Blog. 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His writing has been featured in numerous print and online publications. He is the founding director of the Interdependence Project and the host of the I.D. Project\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s popular weekly podcast (available on iTunes). He is currently on the part-time faculty of Eugene Lang College at New School University in NYC, where he teaches Buddhism. 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