Letter from the President and CEO March 2024
“When this ultimate crisis comes... when there is no way out - that is the very moment when we explode from within and the totally other emerges: the sudden surfacing of a strength, a security of unknown origin, welling up from beyond reason, rational expectation, and hope.”
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Dear Reader,
Writing about renewal as spring emerges is not innovative or original. Sages, artists, and scholars have marked this season with creative and eloquent musings for millennia, articulating the common human experience of restoration and awakening. Nevertheless, as we continue to experience warmer days and new growth sprouting from leafless limbs, it is hard not to take note and pause to reflect. This season helps us to recognize an essential capacity that each of us carries within us - the capacity for renewal.
The inevitable difficulties of life can be overwhelming. Even in the absence of serious, acute issues, the demands of daily life can build towards feelings of burnout, chronic stress, and dissatisfaction. In a culture where productivity, accomplishment, and economic security are prioritized above all, it can be difficult to recognize the need to engage in rejuvenating self-care practices - not only as a reactive response to stress, but as an integral component of our daily routines. Furthermore, self-care is often framed as a luxury for those who have excess time and resources.
Frequently, those who are in most need of self-care are those who care for others. For example, healthcare workers are currently experiencing a major mental health crisis, with 56% of nurses and 47% of doctors reporting burnout according to a recent study. According to another study, 60% of caregivers for those living with dementia develop a depressive or anxiety disorder within two years of caregiving. In other words, whether you are a professional or informal caregiver, the emotional, physical, and economic toll of stress is immense, and this effect ripples into the social fabric of our community.
The Institute is committed to enhancing the well-being of those we serve, including those who care for others. We do this to help people across all walks of life move closer to a state of thriving and flourishing. The skills and tools we disseminate through our Centers of Excellence are simple but effective evidence-based techniques that have been proven to help counter the sympathetic, “fight or flight,” chronic stress response with an increased parasympathetic, “rest and digest,” relaxation response.
Of course, one of the common refrains we hear is, “Well, that all sounds nice, but I don’t have time to care for myself. I can’t be selfish when I am busy earning a living, or caring for my family.” While this attitude may seem noble, I encourage you to recognize that we cannot be effective, sustainable forces for good if we are constantly coming from a place of strain, burden, and overwhelm. Physical, emotional, and spiritual health can and should be recognized as a birthright that we have the built-in capacity to express fully. It is my view that seemingly individual expressions of wholeness uplift the collective, living spirit.
So, as spring arrives, take the opportunity to reflect upon self-care. What makes you feel rejuvenated? What attitudes are not contributing to a sense of thriving, and how might you reframe them or let them go? What practices, such as prayer or mindful breathing, help you feel renewed? Can you carve out 5 minutes today, or even right now, to take a few deep breaths before moving to your next obligation?
With Peace,
Stuart
Stuart C. Nelson
President and CEO