Practicing Mindfulness in the Face of Tragedy

Loss happens. No matter how careful we are about lifestyle choices, no matter how many insurance policies we maintain, our ability to protect ourselves and those we love is limited. And when a great and tragic loss rocks our world, the fragility of everything we care about becomes crystal clear.

Dark Times Threaten Our Mental and Physical Health

When tragedy strikes, our personal well-being is probably the farthest thing from our minds. But there’s probably no time when our health is more at risk than when grief and distress are clouding our thoughts. Medical research has shown that grief and anxiety not only drain our energy, but also puts extreme stress upon our cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Emotional stress can bring on migraines and exacerbate chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Emotional malaise can drive people to the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and psychosomatic symptoms have also been shown to plague individuals suffering from personal sorrow.

What is Mindfulness?

There is no easy answer when it comes to facing personal tragedy and loss. But there is a means that can help us sail across the ocean of grief with as little personal distress as possible. Professional grief counseling, like that offered by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory, is often helpful, but you don’t need to pay a professional to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is an ancient concept, closely linked to meditation, but it has never been more relevant than today. Basically, mindfulness means being present, here and now, at this very moment. Mindfulness can be thought of as a kind of psychological focus upon what we are thinking and feeling at this instant in time which, in fact, is the only time when our life happens.

Why is Mindfulness Difficult During Times of Grief?

We’ve been trained to look forward, to think about the future, to worry about the consequences of the moment rather than to exist in the moment itself. We also fuss about the past: Was I right to have said that? Should I have made the choice I did? Why did my parents treat me that way? Memories good and bad flock into our minds every second of the day, and we tend to let them occupy our attention. And when a personal tragedy strikes, memories from the past and worries for the future threaten to overwhelm us if we let them. But that’s where mindfulness comes in.

How Can Mindfulness Help?

When we are truly mindful, we shut out the past and the future and concentrate completely upon this present moment. Emotions are certainly there, and it’s our responsibility to realize that they are present. This recognition leads us to greater self-knowledge. We also have the opportunity to make the present moment as full and as relevant as we possibly can. We can embrace love and kindness from others most fully at this moment, and display it and accept it most fully. rnWhether we struggle with a closely personal loss or with public calamities and disasters that currently haunt the global community, when we are mindful we focus upon the joy and richness of life at this very moment.