Please contact us if you would like to help develop a program (to be released in print but also by podcast and video (DVD) that is designed by and for Nurses. You could also be from the Health Sciences of Kinesiology or Physical Therapy. We just ask that you have an intention to further the Philosophy of Yoga as much as you value the postures (asana’s) and the breathing integration (pranayama), and belief systems that align us with what is important for the planet and universe as a “whole”. (see EARTH Yoga)
We would like to film this by the summer of 2008 so please do not wait to reply. Please look back on the site for the announcements for upcoming retreats, ones that will be inclusive of filming clips for Yoga for Nurses.
BE well,
Dave
Grasping the Context of Yoga for Nurses.
It will be valuable for any and all to reflect on the eight limbs of yoga…and the “eight-fold path”. The concepts of “right thought, right action” really applies to all health care professionals, while nursing will have a unique concept to integrate when they study the teaching of yoga. “Right Patient, Right Drug, Right Dose”…essentially the 6 rights, can be expanded to the “eight rights”…an “eight-fold path for nurses” by integrating the “right thought, right action” that has historically been taught for years…with the “time-less” concepts and philosophy that is the under-pinning of Yoga. Yoga after all represents “union” or integration after all…nothing could be more sacred that the integration of Yoga art, philosophy and its science, with Nursing as Art, Science and Philosophy for living.
As any Nurse will tell you, they are most fulfill when Nursing is the definition for living. Any Yoga practitioner will be more fulfilled with intent to find yoga as a “means for living”…a way of life.
One who aspires to be a great person, will be able to see nursing as a great way to fulfill this great personhood. Further, any one who finds Yoga as an optimal way of living, will see that choosing nursing as a profession…is such a heightened state of being…the path to enlightenment of being more for humanity.
Here are the basic principles here…in which I can suggest you build on “being” the best nurse possible, through yogic principles of practice.
Belief Systems…the CNA Code of Ethics makes for a good start, while the “eight fold path” can be integrated and interpreted in the context of nursing.
Reflection and/or meditation is the inherent practice that is typically a natural eveolution once one becomes more aligned to all that Yoga can be.
Breath Work- this obviously benefits practitioner…as well as helps the nurse to be a the best teacher possible as we come to understand the many benefits of deep breathing, for nurse and patient alike, if even for the stress management part of it.
Body- Work- what is “beyond the postures” that are known as Asana’s…one can incorporate (and teach) self massage, the benefits of resistance, flexibility and cardio benefit that comes with a progressive Yoga practice we understand as Hatha Yoga.
Symbols of eight:
As you read the following, note that there are eight ethical principles outlined; there are eight limbs of yoga, the ‘eight’ fold path…you may think of tother symbolic items that incorporate or have aspects of eight…
if we were to look at this symbolism, as lessons from which to build our guiding principles, then you will be on the same page as I, in that regard.
CNA Code of Ethics
Obtained from the CNA website
Values
A value is something that is prized or held dear; something that is deeply cared about. This code is organized around eight primary values that are central to ethical nursing practice:
Safe, competent and ethical care
Nurses value the ability to provide safe, competent and ethical care that allows them to fulfill their ethical and professional obligations to the people they serve.
Health and well-being
Nurses value health promotion and well-being and assisting persons to achieve their optimum level of health in situations of normal health, illness, injury, disability or at the end of life.
Choice
Nurses respect and promote the autonomy of persons and help them to express their health needs and values, and also to obtain desired information and services so they can make informed decisions.
Dignity
Nurses recognize and respect the inherent worth of each person and advocate for respectful treatment of all persons.
Confidentiality
Nurses safeguard information learned in the context of a professional relationship, and ensure it is shared outside the health care team only with the person’s informed consent, or as may be legally required, or where the failure to disclose would cause significant harm.
Justice
Nurses uphold principles of equity and fairness to assist persons in receiving a share of health services and resources proportionate to their needs and in promoting social justice.
Accountability
Nurses are answerable for their practice, and they act in a manner consistent with their professional responsibilities and standards of practice.
Quality Practice Environments
Nurses value and advocate for practice environments that have the organizational structures and resources necessary to ensure safety, support and respect for all persons in the work setting.
The Eight Rights in Medication Administration
All Nurses are responsible for administering medications safely and appropriately. This means ensuring that the seven rights of medication administration (right drug, right client, right dose, right time, right route, right reason, and right documentation) are followed for each medication. The actual preparation of medications is part of this and could include selecting, calculating, crushing, breaking, mixing, labeling, drawing up, popping out, etc.
The eighth right, incorporating the Ethic of Choice…is the patients right of refusal.
YOGA FOR NURSES - The Integration of Nursing Philosophy with Eastern Thought
Nurses care about Values- this is inherent in the Code of Ethics outlined by the CNA.
YOGA- (which means “union” or integration) is inclusive of a belief system (or values)…and the connection (integration) of body, breath and beliefs.
Nurses integrate breath work for patients (post-op, L&D, pain management ) and incorporate body work, whether bath, back rub, or assistance with ROM and ambulation. Obviously in terms of personal benefits from stress, pain avoidance or relief…the breath and body works…works for the nurse also. “Reflective Practice” is important to Nursing Practice…Yoga Practice enhances this.
Here are some examples of belief systems to reflect on…and how they fit well with Nursing.
The Eight Fold Path
As the name indicates, there are eight elements in the Noble Eightfold Path, and these are divided into three basic categories as follows:
* Wisdom
1. Right view
2. Right intention
* Ethical conduct
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
* Mental discipline
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration
In all of the elements of the Noble Eightfold Path, the word “right” is a translation of the word samyañc (Sanskrit) or sammā (Pāli), which denotes completion, togetherness, and coherence, and which can also carry the sense of “perfect” or “ideal”.
Though the path is numbered one through eight, it is generally not considered to be a series of linear steps through which one must progress; rather, as the Buddhist monk and scholar Walpola Rahula points out, the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path “are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others.”
Ashtanga Yoga,The Eight-Limbs of Yoga
These eight steps of yoga indicate a logical pathway that leads to the attainment of physical, ethical, emotional, and psycho-spiritual health. Yoga does not seek to change the individual; rather, it allows the natural state of total health and integration in each of us to become a reality.
The eight limbs (asthanga) of Raja Yoga : The eight “limbs” or steps prescribed in the second pada of the Yoga Sutras are: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.
Ashtanga yoga consists of the following steps:
The first five are called external aids to Yoga
* Yama refers to the five abstentions.
* Ahimsa: non-violence, inflicting no injury or harm to others or even to one’s own self, it goes as far as nonviolence in thought, word and deed.
* Satya: truth in word & thought.
* Asteya: non-covetousness, to the extent that one should not even desire something that is not his own.
* Brahmacharya: control of our physical energies
* Aparigraha: abstain from attachment to possessions.
* Niyama refers to the five observances
* Shaucha: cleanliness of body & mind.
* Santosha: satisfaction; satisfied with what one has.
* Tapas: austerity and associated observances for body discipline & thereby mental control.
* Svadhyaya: introspection (reflection and/or self-evaluation)
* Ishvarapranidhana: surrender to (or worship of) “the Divine” or God.
* Asana: Discipline of the body: rules and postures to keep it disease-free and for preserving vital energy. Correct postures are a physical aid to meditation, for they control the limbs and nervous system and prevent them from producing disturbances. (Enhancing blood flow to muscles and internal organs)
* Pranayama: control of breath. Beneficial to health, steadies the body and is highly conductive to the concentration of the mind. (Editor’s note: we know as nurses, the benefits of optimal perfusion of 02)
* Pratyahara: withdrawal of senses from their external objects. (This is known as mindfulness.)
The last three levels are called internal aids to Yoga (antarangasadhana)
* Dharana: concentration of the citta upon a physical object, such as a flame of a lamp, the midpoint of the
eyebrows, or the image of a deity.
* Dhyana: steadfast meditation. Undisturbed flow of thought around the object of meditation (pratyayaikatanata). The act of meditation and the object of meditation remain distinct and separate.
* Samadhi: oneness with the object of meditation. There is no distinction between act of meditation and the object of meditation. Samadhi is of two kinds:
This state is of four kinds:
* Savitarka: the Citta is concentrated upon a gross object of meditation such as a flame of a lamp, the tip of the nose, or the image of a deity. This is the simplest and easiest starting point for most.
* Savichara: the Citta is concentrated upon a subtle object of meditation, such as the tanmatras.
* Sananda: the Citta is concentrated upon a still subtler object of meditation, like the senses.
* Sasmita: the Citta is concentrated upon the ego-substance with which the self is generally identified.
Belief systems (ethics), breath-work and bodywork are the primary foci of Yoga for Nurses.
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Source of the material above is from Wikipedia and is not all inclusive. An easy google search can provide an abundance of additional information.