The Gift of Compassion

When I fell on a hike last month dislocating and fracturing my right shoulder, I experienced many acts of compassion: The good samaritan who helped me to my car, drove me to the emergency room, and stayed with me until my husband arrived; The nurses and physicians in the ER who reduced my shoulder after…

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My Compassionate Reminder in the ER

Diane Sieg in the ER

I never imagined I would end up in the ER on my beach vacation. I am healthy, active, without risk factors, and if you work in healthcare, you know it takes a lot for any of us to admit we need help. But after experiencing mild chest pain all afternoon that increased to a pain…

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Practice CPR for YOUR New Normal

Dignity HealthSign

I was thrilled to speak in person at Dignity Hospital last month for Hospital Week! While I have been grateful to present on Zoom for the last 16 months, it pales in comparison to the energy, spontaneity, and sharing an in-person experience provides. It was a great trip on many levels, and quite different from…

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9 CPR Practices for Self-Leadership

Healthcare workers

Self-Leadership is the relationship you have with yourself. It is how you talk to, prioritize, and treat yourself, especially in times of challenge and stress. It is deeper than self-care because when we take full responsibility for the decisions we make to honor our bodies, energy, and time, we empower ourselves to feel and do our…

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Care for COVID with Compassion

Compassion Woman with her hands over her heart

Compassion, the practice of kindness, is contagious and has many immediate benefits including reducing your own suffering by improving your outlook and perspective and increasing your feeling of connection.  The specific value for healthcare organizations is well documented in Compassionomics by Dr. Stephen Trzeciak and Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli. Here are 5 ways you can take…

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7 Acts of Loving-Kindness

Compassion is practicing loving-kindness toward ourselves and others. It is contagious because when we treat ourselves and others kindly, we can be unexpectedly showered with loving-kindness as well. Here are some simple acts of loving-kindness I was fortunate enough to receive during a busy speaking schedule: My client arranged for a late check-out of my…

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5 Lessons I Learned from the Dalai Lama

Last month, the Dalai Lama came to the University of Colorado Boulder to speak to a sold-out crowd of over 18,000. It was my first live experience with his holiness and even though it was a large venue, it felt very intimate. Despite sound issues and him speaking in Tibetan and English, I was completely…

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7 Acts of Loving-Kindness

I chose compassion, an intention from Your Mindful Year for my personal theme last month, knowing I would be challenged with a full traveling schedule. Compassion is practicing loving-kindness toward ourselves and others. Because what we focus on expands, while my intention was to treat myself kindly, I was unexpectedly showered with loving kindness from…

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The Compassion to Care

Last month I had one of the highlights of my speaking career by opening the Emergency Nurses Association Conference in Indianapolis for 2500 nurses. I felt I had really come home, not only because I worked as an emergency room nurse for 23 years, but because I also grew up in Indianapolis. In contrast, we…

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Practice Compassion

Compassion is the desire to alleviate suffering by expressing fundamental loving kindness toward yourself and others. We need compassion because life is hard, unfair, and impermanent—for all of us. There are now studies confirming practicing compassion improves health, well-being, and relationships. Compassion makes us feel good by activating pleasure circuits in the brain. It can…

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