Personal and community resilience using mindfulness and compassion (Part I)

(In light of the recent Clayton fire, I'm reposting this blog because so many more in our community will now be experiencing traumatic response to the event. As well, those of us still recovering from the valley fire maybe re-traumatized.)


Is there anyone you know in our community that wasn't affected by the #ValleyFire in the Fall of 2015? Not only was most (if not all) of our community affected, but so many more beyond were touched by the intensity and immensity of the fire. The affected community seems to include the whole world when you consider acts of kindness and generosity.

From a mindfulness perspective, the broadness of impact points to one of the many reasons we bring a compassionate attitude to ourselves and others. If not a fire, then some other painful situation or loss will occur in everyone's life. No one is exempt. And while there are many differing degrees of impact for each community member here in Lake County, we all respond to disasters on a physical, emotional, spiritual and cognitive level.

As those that gave move on with their lives (generosity graciously appreciated!), there are those of us still dealing with the aftermath in some way or another. This many months after, we may be questioning our response and our ability to navigate through our lives at this time.

What determines our reaction? There are so many contributing factors including age, past trauma experience, the degree to which we experienced the disaster, our social supports, the tools we have for working with emotions, and more. While there isn't a one-response-fits-all formula, my recent work with the California H.O.P.E. team in Lake County helps me understand some common patterns of reaction. My experience and research with mindfulness and compassion practices helps me know that these tools, in particular, can assist us in recovering more resiliently, which aids our whole community in bouncing back from this disaster.

 Resilience is basically our ability to bounce back from a difficult event, or series of events. Since we all have the natural capacity for resilience (as every mammal does) the trick becomes how to best foster the conditions for it's optimum occurrence as we move through our recovery from the event.

One thing that can be helpful is a better understanding of common responses to disasters. And, we don't have to take our responses so personally--like there is something wrong with us--as most, if not all of us, respond similarly, though in varying degrees.

Not only myself, but many who I've been in contact with have experiences of one or more of the following:

• Chronic fatigue or sleep disturbances
• Being easily startled
• Clumsiness or increased accidents
• Weight change
• Headaches and other aches and pains
• Digestive problems
• Anxiety or fear
• Depression
• Guilt
• Apathy
• Grief
• Increased alertness
• Disorientation and confusion
• Poor concentration
• Difficulty setting priorities or making decisions
• Loss of objectivity
• Feeling challenged and involved
• Recurring dreams, nightmares or flashbacks
• Changes in activity level
• Increased alcohol and/or drug use
• Group identification/a sense of community camaraderie
• Difficulty communicating or listening
• Irritability, anger and/or frequent arguments
• Decline in job performance
• Sharpened perception
• Frequent crying
• Unselfish and helping behavior
• Difficulty sleeping
• Avoidance of triggering places or activities

Understanding these potential symptoms can help us let go of harsh and unnecessary judgments and expectations of ourselves and others. With mindfulness, we can take note of and give a caring response to ourselves, our loved ones and all those we come in contact with, as we are all in this together.

It is not uncommon to have periods of no symptoms followed by a cycle of symptoms. The important thing to understand is that there is not one single, simple, linear path through our individual (and collective) recovery from this trauma. This is where creating a "container" of safety and care for ourselves, whatever we're experiencing, can be beneficial and where a practice of mindfulness and compassion can companion and help us better undertake our journey as we find our way to our new normal.

Remembering, mindfulness is purposefully paying non-judgmental attention to our present moment experience with an attitude of curiosity, kindness, acceptance and allowance.

A practice of compassion-based mindfulness teaches us to accept our present moment experience as it is as we aspire to meet it non-judgmentally, with curiosity, kindness and compassion. We can embrace ourselves and our experience with an even greater sense of allowance and warmheartedness.

The next in this series will focus more on coping skills and how we can hold space for ourselves and our fellow community members, fostering a greater sense of community resiliency, but I want to leave you with a few special phrases for your loving kindness practice during this distinct and possibly vulnerable time. (A loving kindness practice can be as simple as bringing your attention to your heart area and silently repeating simple phrases of well wishing for yourself.):

• May I be well
• May I be peaceful and at ease in my mind and body
• May I feel safe
• May I be free from inner and outer harm
• May I meet my suffering with tenderness
  

We may need to offer ourselves and others kindness and reassurance more often in the days and months ahead. It is a small act of caring that costs very little and goes a long way.