10 years later workshop continues as ongoing support group for care providers

by | Oct 15, 2012 | Education - Schools, Stories of Compassion, Ways to Play, Wisdom at Work |

 By Joel and Michelle Levey

Some years ago, we were invited to offer a workshop on meditation and medicine for the faculty of University of Washington Medical School. Nearly 70 physicians attended and stayed for the whole five-hour workshop.

We were so touched by their sincerity and wish to learn more about profoundly practical methods drawn from the contemplative sciences that we began to host a monthly “Meditation and Medicine Circle” for physicians, nurses, and other health caring professionals who were interested in learning methods that would ease their stress, deepen their wisdom, expand their compassion, and offer useful skills to teach to their patients to help with their healing journeys.

On a recent weekend, we attended a one-day retreat with members of the group – which has now been meeting regularly for nearly 10 years. The group is self-organizing now, and so many of the members are providing inspiration, direction, and loving support to this learning community as a whole.

It’s inspiring to see how naturally this has emerged, how deeply nourishing and supportive a force this is in the lives and work of those involved, and to envision how many tens of thousands of people in our larger community have been touched by the wisdom and compassion of those who have engaged in this exploration.

Dr. Joel & Michelle Levey are founders of Wisdom at Work and The International Center for Corporate Culture and Organizational Health at InnerWork Technologies, Inc.,