Written by Dr. Katie Ehlman, Director of Gerontology and Director, Center for Healthy Aging and Wellness
The theme for the second issue of the bOLDer Bulletin is self-care. This is timely as we are approaching a new year, and some of us may be focusing on self-care resolutions. Self-care is multi-dimensional. We might measure self-care by the strength in our yoga or medication practices, our work-life balance or social time with friends and family. These routines are beneficial to our mind, body and spirit and are always encouraged. I’d like to pause and take a moment to consider adding an element of self-care discussed by Harvard Psychiatrist, Chris Germer, in a recent podcast. Germer emphasizes love and compassion. I wonder how we can take these ideas and intentionally fold them into our self-care routines? I say this knowing it is difficult to measure these constructs. I can do a 30-minute nightly yoga routine and feel my strength and flexibly improve over time. However, self-love and compassion are concepts that are more difficult to measure. In his podcast, Germer encourages us to find meaning in the dualities of life.
Specifically, he states that "when love meets suffering and stays loving, then we have compassion." All humans experience love and suffering at some level. Our instincts are to walk away from the suffering, with good reason. Who wants to suffer? But we might think of reframing suffering in our self-care work in order to find a deeper compassion. Many have experienced the duality of love and suffering as caregivers, as health care professionals and as humans who have been touched by grief.
As we think of self-care, can we work to hold a space for love in the presence of suffering and find true compassion for ourselves and for those around us?
