Support my attending the NYCCC Foundations Program
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Hello dear friends, family and fellow humans.
The New York Center for Contemplative Care offers a program called Foundations in Contemplative Care and this fall will be their 15th year offering. I have been interested in participating for roughly 4 years and this year was able to send in my application : ) This program offers a chance to look deep within ones own experience, alone, and also in the company of supportive community, thus cultivating resilience in responding to the suffering of the world.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia which is a deficiency of all types of blood cells caused by bone marrow failure. Over time, in facing this illness, I've found myself wanting to attend even more. I inquired last spring but with wise coaching from NYCCC and due to continued treatment I decided I wasn’t up for it last fall. I would have had to drive or fly to NYC once a month and find a place to stay for at least 2 nights for eight months. I was headlong into immune-suppression treatment and labs still showed low counts across the board so I was double vulnerable to travel. I started feeling it was probable that I would never be able to attend.
Since then I have continued to respond to treatment and feel better. It’s still a roller coaster ride in terms of progress but there’s definitely been progress with lab counts. AND something deeply tragic happened and as you well know is still happening…Covid-19. It’s turned the world even more upside-down. And because of this much learning and connecting has been moved online including the New York Center for Contemplative Care offerings. Strangely, Covid-19 has reopened the very good possibility of heading into this training.
I am excited and nervous. This is an intensive program. The founders of NYCCC have studied, have lived, end of life care for many, many years. Their website describes the program wonderfully. You can find it here: https://zencare.org/contemplative-care-training-program/foundations/
Eight years of work as a caregiver has led to this point in my life. I have loved being with elderly folks and those in delicate need for most of my life. Going headlong through the experience/s of this illness I’m discovering even more that we are all much more delicate than we realize and much more resilient as well.
In care giving, death has presented itself through my mother’s death and the death of three of my beloved clients. I was blessed to be present with three of these people as they were actively dying and passing on, including my mother. These experiences have opened me in ways that are hard to describe yet fairly plain and grounded. Being present with people who are dying feels paramount to me yet I have much to discover about myself and this world. I am confident this program will powerfully touch upon and aid me in how I respond to my own experience and the experience of others in these potentially complex settings.
I’ve listened to graduates of this program attempt to describe the nearly ineffable ways in which this program continues to affect their lives. On their website I read these words concerning the program “…supporting the integration of spiritual practice and care giving.” Spiritual practice is everything to me. For me being intimately and fully alive, fully human and facing death are meant to be one thing.
If you feel a connection to these aspirations and have the means I welcome your financial support. I appreciate it so very much.
The New York Center for Contemplative Care offers a program called Foundations in Contemplative Care and this fall will be their 15th year offering. I have been interested in participating for roughly 4 years and this year was able to send in my application : ) This program offers a chance to look deep within ones own experience, alone, and also in the company of supportive community, thus cultivating resilience in responding to the suffering of the world.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia which is a deficiency of all types of blood cells caused by bone marrow failure. Over time, in facing this illness, I've found myself wanting to attend even more. I inquired last spring but with wise coaching from NYCCC and due to continued treatment I decided I wasn’t up for it last fall. I would have had to drive or fly to NYC once a month and find a place to stay for at least 2 nights for eight months. I was headlong into immune-suppression treatment and labs still showed low counts across the board so I was double vulnerable to travel. I started feeling it was probable that I would never be able to attend.
Since then I have continued to respond to treatment and feel better. It’s still a roller coaster ride in terms of progress but there’s definitely been progress with lab counts. AND something deeply tragic happened and as you well know is still happening…Covid-19. It’s turned the world even more upside-down. And because of this much learning and connecting has been moved online including the New York Center for Contemplative Care offerings. Strangely, Covid-19 has reopened the very good possibility of heading into this training.
I am excited and nervous. This is an intensive program. The founders of NYCCC have studied, have lived, end of life care for many, many years. Their website describes the program wonderfully. You can find it here: https://zencare.org/contemplative-care-training-program/foundations/
Eight years of work as a caregiver has led to this point in my life. I have loved being with elderly folks and those in delicate need for most of my life. Going headlong through the experience/s of this illness I’m discovering even more that we are all much more delicate than we realize and much more resilient as well.
In care giving, death has presented itself through my mother’s death and the death of three of my beloved clients. I was blessed to be present with three of these people as they were actively dying and passing on, including my mother. These experiences have opened me in ways that are hard to describe yet fairly plain and grounded. Being present with people who are dying feels paramount to me yet I have much to discover about myself and this world. I am confident this program will powerfully touch upon and aid me in how I respond to my own experience and the experience of others in these potentially complex settings.
I’ve listened to graduates of this program attempt to describe the nearly ineffable ways in which this program continues to affect their lives. On their website I read these words concerning the program “…supporting the integration of spiritual practice and care giving.” Spiritual practice is everything to me. For me being intimately and fully alive, fully human and facing death are meant to be one thing.
If you feel a connection to these aspirations and have the means I welcome your financial support. I appreciate it so very much.
Organizer
Joanne Hart
Organizer
Worcester, MA