My Mindfulness Journey…
I am Marygrace Lomboy
I am a nurse practitioner
I am a clinician who works with patients who are in hospice
I am honored to be by their side in their last months of life
I am learning every day from my dying patients
I appreciate each sacred breath that I have been given
I realize that we are not fully awake through most of our lives
I want to share the practice of mindfulness to live fully and completely
I am committed to help you decrease anxiety, and find peace in a sometimes chaotic world.
My mindfulness journey began in 2012. After my dad passed away, I only took one week off from work. I thought by going to work and becoming busy may help me move forward in my grief process. I had no idea what to expect, but figured I would just push ahead. I found that the busier I became, the more anxiety I was experiencing. I remember times where I was at the bedside of a hospice patient, a sudden wave of emotion would hit me when I least expected it. My reaction to this was to want to run out of the room—but I couldn’t, which lead to more anxiety. I was exhausted and anxious. My work in hospice has always been mission driven. I always felt like I was born to do this work. Now I was sad and anxious, thinking that I may need to leave the work that I loved. It was a vicious cycle—the more I thought about it, the more anxious and exhausted I became.
I started to go to a yoga class weekly and felt calmness there that I hadn’t found in a while. Prayer also helped, and I tapped into my spiritual practices daily. Then I stumbled upon mindfulness, and how the practice claimed to relieve anxiety and issues with grief, compassion fatigue and stress. I was intrigued. I signed myself up for an 8 week mindfulness based stress reduction program, and it was transformative. The practice was so simple, but not so easy. After some time, I started to notice something. Things began to shift. I became calmer in my own skin. I started to notice things like my thoughts and emotions, and I began to feel more space to breathe again and felt less anxiety. I began to sleep better and became more present for my hospice patients without having thoughts of running out of the room. I believe that I’ve become more effective now as a clinician with the practice of mindfulness, as I’m able to really “be with” my patients and become a witness to their suffering. I became a better listener to others and to myself.
I applied for a grant to become a mindfulness teacher, with the intention of helping my colleagues—physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and bereavement counselors with compassion fatigue, stress and burnout. I am committed to sharing this practice in an affordable, highly personalized way with communities, businesses—anyone who wants to live a more joy filled life. It is my passion to share what I’ve learned to assist people to live more peacefully, to be more present and to live with more kindness to themselves and others.