At the Sanctuary Mindfulness retreat, we acted mindfully nearly unendingly, in the previously articulated modes. This was & is excellent brain building & resulted in immense pain relief for me. In fact, I felt no pain, ever, no matter having incurred a critical traumatic brain injury, multiple removed ribs, numerous broken bones and 3 breaks to my pelvis.
“The study found that mindfulness meditation produced significant reductions in pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings, and also reduced brain activity patterns associated with pain and negative emotions”
There’s a multitude of mental health benefits which can arise from practicing mindfulness, which I learned of and spoke to when ghost writing blog posts for the blog associated with Dr. Lilian Cheung & Thich Nhat Hanh’s book: Savor: mindful eating, mindful life. This content was reinforced via forming the associated social media accounts. As a result of gaining knowledge of mindfulness’s immense benefits, I partook in recurrent mindfulness practices while living in SanFrancisco.
One of the few memories of such that’s arisen thus far (some memories arising presently offer me a sneak peak into my forgotten life in SanFrancisco!) was of me meditating on the # 9 bus, amidst homeless drug addicts. I was on my way to Delfina, the fine-dining restaurant I served at. My apartment lie on 1 side of the extensive mission district, affront a public rehab clinic, while Delfina lay on the opposing end of the mission district, across from Delores park.
I was confident of my safety living in this locaion as pre-disability I was mighty quick on my feet. Waitressing for 13 years ensured this, not to mention that I commuted everywhere on foot…hence the car accident…The immense awareness that has existed for me naturally lifelong too, was exemplified by my work at that time with Savor: mindful eating mindful life. The combined capabilities of being speedy on my feet as well as being very observant, were & are extremely valuable attributes of mine.
Both awareness as well as swiftness are now, and have been for sometime, re-arising!!
Inexpensive rent, in my experience involves caveats. Caveats that I can manage are well worth the savings, in my consideration! I was reminded by my Mom, that I saved prolifically (the ability to pick-up extra waitressing shifts is a fantastic opportunity to do so) before moving from Seattle, as originally I intended to solely write when residing in SanFrancisco. Supremely quickly, however, I realized that this fantasy of mine was just that & not at all practical.
As a result, I cognitively reorganized, while still upholding my priorities. I wanted to enact waitressing as little as possible, and write for clients whose work I believed in. I solely sought the $ I needed. Sure enough, as a result of the fine-dinning waitressing job I procured, I was able to write for clients whose work I believed in, while offering them a discounted price. The lucrative serving position I procured, resulted in me only needing to serve 3 nights a week to do so (all was still done on an immensely strict budget) as my time was devoted to exploring SanFrancisco!
My devotion to mindfulness, which was accentuated while living in SanFrancisco, incited my attendance of the Sanctuary. When recovering from my critical Traumatic Brain Injury too, mindfulness has been & continues to be my savior. This disability and the recovery it’s incited, continues to be enabled by this practice, which was the crux of the Sanctuary.