This month, to honor the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, Tricycle has been hosting a special discussion with NYZCCC founders Koshin Paley Ellison and Robert Chodo Campbell and encouraging Tricycle Community Members to donate $5 to the center. It has been a great discussion with contributions from many incredible individuals, including a diverse array of professional caregivers.

Recently a community member wrote,

I’m a nurse who just started working in the ER. It is so fast paced in my ER, I feel lost and overwhelmed in my daily job. How can I bring peace or Buddhist practice to my daily work routine and also help others suffering/pain at the same time? I became a nurse to heal the sick, but am finding a serious neglect in the compassionate care side of nursing. We all get caught up in the busy-ness of the ER, that we nurses do not stop and just talk to the patient, it is trying to keep up with the demand from the patient population that allows for quality nurse/patient time. I love that time I get to spend with them, but rarely have time for it.

to which Robert Chodo Campbell responds,

You raise an important question indeed. How do we bring our practice to our daily work? First, I think we are better equipped for the chaos when we truly see that our work is our practice and vice-versa. Often times when I think my head is going to explode with all the busy-ness I have to remind my self “this is it, perfect and complete just as it is.”
Take a deep breath and then the next step. We can offer so much to a patient in a split second even if it’s just a smile or a slight touch that says “I see you.” And then of course there is the larger question, “how do we get all the nurses and healthcare providers to see the importance of taking a deep breath”
Very simple incredibly difficult!

Have any thoughts or advice about bringing practice to work that you would like to share? Join the discussion here!

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