Diabetes As a “Daily Life” Practice. By Brooke Cassoff
Diabetes As a “Daily Life” Practice
by Brooke Cassoff
Where is your mind right now? If you’re like most people (including me!), then you may notice that your mind is swirling with thoughts about things you still need to do, anticipating future events, or dwelling on experiences from the past. In fact, researchers estimate that the average human mind spends from a third to half its waking hours wandering. Most importantly, these same researchers have found that people are substantially less happy when their minds are wandering than when they’re not.
Think about your own experiences for a moment…how does it feel when your mind is caught up in thoughts, ruminations, or plans? And how does it feel when your mind is fully focused on and absorbed in the task or experience at hand? Quite different, right? If you’ve joined a DiabetesSangha practice or practiced meditation before, you’re likely already familiar with the ways that formal mindfulness practice- the intentional commitment of time to engage in meditation practices in order to connect more deeply with our present-moment experiences- can help us to notice when our thoughts have inevitably meandered away to the past or future. Formal meditation provides us with the space to practice bringing our minds back to the experience of the present moment with kindness and understanding. It also plays a critical role in rewiring the neural pathways in our brains in ways that can strengthen our attention, enhance our sense of connectedness (to others and to our present-moment experiences), and support our physical and emotional well-being.
However, if you’re like most people (once again, including yours truly!), you are living a lot of life between each of your formal mindfulness practices. This is where informal mindfulness practices can be of great support. Informal practices involve integrating mindfulness into our existing activities and routines of daily life. As someone who has been living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) for 17 years and practicing mindfulness for almost as long, using diabetes as a “daily life practice” has been transformative not only in supporting my present-moment awareness, but also in changing the way I relate to the often stressful or unpleasant aspects of life with diabetes.
Bringing mindful awareness to the everyday activities of our diabetes care can be a valuable way to continue to strengthen our attention and awareness “off the cushion” and also to be more fully present for each precious moment of our lives. After all, this moment is the only moment we ever truly have.
Here are just a few ideas for how we can use our experiences with diabetes as a form of daily life practice. What others may you want to try?:
While waiting for your glucometer to show our BG reading, take a few deep, conscious breaths, allow your muscles to relax, and perhaps take a moment to notice any thoughts or emotions that are arising.
When your CGM alarms, imagine it as a meditation bell. Use the alarm as a cue to come back to the here and now. Take a few breaths and make a decision regarding how you can best care for yourself in this moment.
While on a walk or doing another form of movement to bring a high blood sugar back into range, notice five things you see around you, four things you can touch around you, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.
While waiting to meet with your doctor or while on-hold on the phone with a diabetes-related service provider, feel into the parts of your body that are in connection with the chair or ground underneath you. Allow the weight of your body to soften into the support of the chair or earth and give your attention to the experience of breathing in and out.
During your next pump site change or while preparing an insulin injection, take a moment to call to mind and appreciate a few of the other human beings that have played a role in your ability to take care of yourself and your life with diabetes. The engineers and designers that created your diabetes technology, the scientists, lab workers, cleaning staff, and others that play a part in producing your insulin and ensuring that it is safe to use, the shipping and delivery personnel that make it possible for you to access all of your supplies- these are people that you may never know or meet, that are strangers to you, but that have dedicated precious time, effort, and care to support your life and well-being.
Though none of us chose this condition, as people affected by diabetes, we have an incredible opportunity to use our diabetes-related experiences to deepen our connection to the present moment and to gain invaluable insights about ourselves…right here, right now. When we choose to use diabetes as a daily life practice, it becomes our superpower- allowing us to transform the mundane, annoying, and sometimes painfully difficult experiences into golden opportunities to cultivate the presence of mind and heart that can enhance our lives as well as the lives of others. Give it a try and let me know what you discover!
