Imagine you’ve just come out of an observed clinical encounter with a patient. You are eager to hear the positive feedback and constructive criticism from a supervisor. You sit down with your staff and they say: “You did a great job, but -” How would you feel? Let’s imagine instead they say: “You did aContinue reading “The power of using “and” in the place of “but””
Category Archives: Blog
The power of awe (and why we should schedule time to feel it) – a suggested podcast
In a podcast published in March of last year from “The science of happiness”, guest Chris Duffy goes through a practice that helps people tap into a sense of awe. Awe is an emotion often described as a combination of fear and surprise, with a component of wonder or amazement. Awe is often conjured byContinue reading “The power of awe (and why we should schedule time to feel it) – a suggested podcast”
Working through change
The Mindful Medical Learner · Fall to Winter Transition – Guided Meditation Seasonal change can have substantial impacts on our mood and wellbeing. Shorter days with less sunlight and colder weather may lead to feelings of low mood and energy that deserve attention. Light helps to regulate our circadian rhythm, and less vitamin D canContinue reading “Working through change”
Building lasting habits
Working towards happy, healthy habits that stick is challenging. The habits we might seek out for ourselves – eating better, exercising regularly, making more time for wellness – are difficult to invest in because they are largely difficult to maintain on an everyday basis. If you’re thinking about turning a goal into a habit, thinkContinue reading “Building lasting habits”
Engaging Mindfully with Our Partners: Relationship Satisfaction and Well-Being
Now more than ever, with a global pandemic keeping many physically apart, staying connected to the special people in our lives is important. Ensuring our relationships are getting the right kind of attention while managing multiple external commitments can be challenging, especially now that the rhythm of our usual routines has been disrupted by theContinue reading “Engaging Mindfully with Our Partners: Relationship Satisfaction and Well-Being”
Why making self-forgiveness a part of your life will make you a better physician
“Your task is not to seek for love,but merely to seek and findall the barriers within yourselfthat you have built against it.” ~ Rumi Medical students have a tendency to be perfectionists. However, mistakes are an unavoidable and critical component of our training. If mistakes are inevitable, it follows that we must learn to be more forgiving to ourselves.Continue reading “Why making self-forgiveness a part of your life will make you a better physician”
Mindful Political Engagement
It is a common misconception that to be mindful is to never feel outrage, or never have strong responses to what is going on around us; and if one does get upset or angry, that is evidence that they are not mindful. This notion fails to capture what being mindful actually means. Mindfulness is notContinue reading “Mindful Political Engagement”
Starting the day with Mindfulness
It’s 6:00 AM. Your alarm clock starts ringing and you grab your phone to turn it off. Immediately, you begin to scroll through Instagram, then Facebook, then all the rest of your social media accounts. Soon enough, you’re checking your emails, and you happen to glance at the time. 6:34 AM. Oh gosh, going toContinue reading “Starting the day with Mindfulness”
The Power of Walking
“Meditation isn’t for me; I could never sit still for so long”. Sound familiar? Well, the good news is, you don’t have to. Formal seated meditation is only one way to practice mindfulness. When you’re engaged in a seated meditation, you’re making it easier to focus the attention – generally the eyes are closed, andContinue reading “The Power of Walking”
Gratitude: Bringing Awareness to the Positives in Life
It’s been a long day at the hospital, and you’re finally getting home. You’re tired, you barely have the energy to shower and eat. Your mind keeps wandering back to that procedure you weren’t able to complete, that plan you didn’t flesh out as well as you wanted to, the wrong answer you gave toContinue reading “Gratitude: Bringing Awareness to the Positives in Life”
Becoming Mindful of our own Biases
Implicit bias can be thought of as the space that exists between our unconscious attitudes and assumptions and our conscious belief systems. In medicine, this unconscious bias can be a powerful determinant of the quality of care that we provide to a given patient. As medical trainees, we receive countless lectures on the importance ofContinue reading “Becoming Mindful of our own Biases”
The Power of Rest
What does it mean to rest? The word rest is defined as a stop in work in order to rebuild strength, or variations along that theme. Resting can look different for each of us, and we may have different thresholds for what we consider restful and relaxing activities. At its core, though, resting can beContinue reading “The Power of Rest”
Loving Kindness Meditation: building a stronger sense of self and fighting emotional fatigue
The concept of “self” is critical to our wellbeing. We feel it when we are not truly ourselves, we’re off somehow. I recognize that feeling in myself when I’ve become pre-occupied with upcoming project deadlines or when I stop paying as much attention to my true interests and needs. And I think there’s an importantContinue reading “Loving Kindness Meditation: building a stronger sense of self and fighting emotional fatigue”
What does self-care look like?
Healthcare professionals are often faced with difficult situations and multiple stressors, which can impact their well-being. An essential skill to develop in order to preserve a certain level of wellness is self-care. Self-care is defined as activities performed independently by an individual to promote and maintain personal well-being (Sanchez-Reilly et al.) The evidence on self-careContinue reading “What does self-care look like?”
The role of the healthcare provider in teaching mindfulness techniques
The scope of work carried out by primary care providers is far-reaching, including initial steps of diagnosis, subsequent treatment planning, and follow-up of active disease. Preventative medicine is also an important part of the job and it encompasses screening modalities and patient education, a large part of which involves counselling on lifestyle modifications such asContinue reading “The role of the healthcare provider in teaching mindfulness techniques”
The power behind “I can do this” – Part Two
So tell us, how was your week of positive self-statements? Did you notice a difference? Did you perform better during the day, or notice being in a better mood? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear about your experience with self-talk! Now, let’s delve a bit deeper. As seen in our previousContinue reading “The power behind “I can do this” – Part Two”
The power behind “I can do this” – Part One
No, you’re not crazy. You’re not the only one who talks to themselves, who has a constant internal monologue running throughout the day. Everyone has that little voice inside their heads, whether you notice it often, or not. Mindfulness can help us become more aware of that inner speech, with less judgment and with aContinue reading “The power behind “I can do this” – Part One”
Why is Mindfulness so Challenging for Healthcare Workers?
So maybe you’re curious about establishing a mindfulness practice. As with acquiring any new skill, there’s a bit of a learning curve involved, and it has more to do with you than with the practise of meditation itself. One of the most common concerns about learning to meditate for the first time is “how doContinue reading “Why is Mindfulness so Challenging for Healthcare Workers?”
Welcome to McGill Med Mindfulness
Welcome to McGill Medicine Mindfulness! We are super excited to start sharing with you everything about mindfulness, how it is used in healthcare, and how it can help each and every one of us. Let’s start with a quick dive into the summary of an article written by Matias P. Raski, a medical student atContinue reading “Welcome to McGill Med Mindfulness”
The Mindful Medical Learner 