Nurture the Nurse

For our last week of clinical this semester, we did a special clinical called, "Nurture the Nurse" with the holistic health nurse in the College of Nursing. I was excited that I didn't have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and that we were required to come at 8:00 a.m. in comfy clothes with a pillow & a blanket. How much more awesome could a class be? It was seriously one of the best/most useful classes I've taken so far. We spent the entire 3 1/2 hours learning about various types of relaxation techniques in order to reduce stress so that we, as nurses, can teach our patients these same strategies. Interesting side note: studies show that nursing students have as much stress as medical school students. CRAZY.

Some of the techniques we learned were: body scan, yoga, tai chi, progressive relaxation, positive affirmations, guided imagery, art therapy, and music therapy. My teacher Glenda is awesome and by the end I felt so happy, relaxed, and optimistic about the future. Probably my favorite technique was positive affirmations. This specific technique helps you to overcome any negative feelings and allow your mind to win over matter. Here's what you're supposed to do:

• write down a statement in the present tense of something you want to work on accomplishing (ex: "I'm happy, healthy, and beautiful"). This is a statement of how you want to be, what you want to become.
• Read it daily (for at least 30 days) and remind yourself every morning what it is you want to become.
• Believe it, really think deeply about this behavior or state of being and believe you can accomplish it.
• Feel it.

By the end of 30 days of this repeated belief in an idea, it becomes more of a reality. It is amazing how powerful the human brain is and how effectively we can control our outlook. One of the other girls in my class made a comment about how this "positive affirmation" of self is exactly like faith in the Lord and I thought that was such an interesting look at it. I'm excited to start trying this new technique of positive affirmations in my own life to see how it works. Most of the time, I'm very hard on myself and very critical of my endeavors, but I left class today feeling on top of the world. I really did feel as though I could do anything and I can really change the way that I am just by changing my outlook on life. It was an amazing experience, and I really feel recharged and ready for anything.