Quoteworthy
Self-compassion is not kicking yourself when you’re down, which prolongs stress reactions, creates more suffering, and delays your ability to get back up. Instead, self-compassion is about treating yourself as you would treat a good friend in distress. It is about responding with caring support.
Jean Whitlock, Trinh Mai, Megan Call, and Jake Van Epps

Most Recent
Lifestyle Medicine: There's Never Been a Better Time to Take Care of Yourself

U of U Health Lifestyle Medicine Program physician leaders Rachel Goossen and Rich Doxey provide support for care teams that empowers patients to make positive changes to their daily habits and overall well-being.

Take a Break! The Case for Prioritizing Rest Breaks

Nurses are notorious for not taking breaks—the culture of their work environment doesn’t make it easy. Katrina Emery, a MICU charge nurse working on her doctor of nursing practice (DNP), sheds light on how to change culture to prioritize breaks to improve health and wellbeing.

A Guide to Walking Meditation

Hospitals and clinics can be frenetic environments. We know that performing optimally for the benefit of patients, families, and colleagues requires us to care for our basic needs and scatter moments of self-care throughout the day. One way to cultivate this awareness of the body and attend to its signals is through “walking meditation”—a focused awareness on the physical experience of walking.

Portrait of a Caregiver

The majority of long-term care needs are placed upon family members who often receive minimal support. Seeking to reduce the caregiver burden, College of Nursing Assistant Professor Jacqueline Eaton, shares an arts-based approach for engaging caregivers of people living with dementia through her research and ethnodramas.

Mindful Leadership: New Rules for Managing Stress

In health care, stress is a given. So how does a leader manage stress in this challenging environment? Director of Behavioral Health Adult Services Tracy Farley (above left) shares several techniques, including Code Lavenders: mindfulness exercises meant to help employees in high-stress situations.

Decluttering: A Clear Path Towards Wellness

Osher Center for Integrative Health wellness programs manager Britta Trepp and employee wellness team graduate assistant Rachel Krahenbuhl share recent research findings that suggest decluttering the spaces where we live and work can have a positive impact on our personal success and well-being.

Instilling Hope and Compassion with Patients

How can we put compassion for ourselves and others at the center of what we do? Second year medical student Tanner Nelson interviews pediatric ophthalmologist Griffin Jardine to share how he helps to install hope and compassion with his patients, and himself.

Prescribing Mindfulness in Clinical Settings

With so much going on around the world and in our daily lives, our brains are constantly in overdrive. Mindfulness educator and social worker Trinh Mai explores what practitioners across U of U Health and the VA are doing to help their patients and teammates take a mental break and respond courageously in these times.

No Really, How Are You?

Emergency Medicine physician Megan Fix shares her personal story of how the simple act of a colleague asking, “No really, how are you?” changed her life.

Setting the Stage for Psychological Safety: 6 Steps for Leaders

Creating psychological safety for your team is a process that takes time, vulnerability from you as a leader, and collaboration from others. Psychiatrists Jen O’Donohoe and Kristi Kleinschmit share 6 practical next steps for when psychological safety might be a little off on your team.

Why Practice Gratitude at Work

While Americans are less likely to express gratitude at work than anywhere else, it’s sorely needed – especially in health care. Associate professor/lecturer of social work Trinh Mai explains the importance of gratitude and shares tips for incorporating it into your routine.

When Emotions Run High, Here's How to Respond

Health care is full of high emotion—especially right now. Thankfully, there’s a simple framework we can follow to de-escalate with compassion. Hospitalist and UACT co-director Claire Ciarkowski introduces NURSE: a simple mnemonic for responding with empathy.