Let sleeping dogs lie
MINDFUL MOMENTS # 140
Is there something to be said for letting sleeping dogs lie? In our modern era of information-gathering, it seems we are constantly seeking answers.
Over this last year of my medical training, I’ve realised that the training of being a junior doctor prepares you for hospital medicine, not for General Practice. In General Practice, there are fewer diagnostic tools and less certainty. Dis-ease is often transient; ill health is abundant but often without overt limitations on functioning.
There is no doubt that we are in the era of over-medicalising the normal human experience. We replace our own intuited wisdom with objective testing and a hunger for labels. We seek to diagnose every anomaly that presents itself in our body; we request scans in lieu of accepting uncertainty.
This isn’t unique to medicine. In the rest of our lives, we want explanations for our emotions; we want to find peak self-awareness through our practices of yoga, meditation and therapy. If you’ve ever done therapy, you may recognise the anomalous feeling of tugging on a single piece of thread, only to watch how, as we do so, we disrupt the whole fabric of our lives. This may be a necessary or welcome relief. There are smaller threads, too, that we may pull on without much distortion or disruption.
We have this phrase in medicine of ‘incidental findings’. It means when we’ve done a scan for something, but unwittingly uncovered something else. An example would be doing a CT head after an injury, only to discover a benign cyst on the brain. More often and not, these findings have no health implications and do not need to be dealt with further.
Would we be better off not knowing? Can ignorance be bliss?
On the whole, I feel that any learning about ourselve can help us to release stagnant emotions or memories that have been holding us back. But our experience of incidental findings within medicine can serve to gently remind us that some things may be better left untouched; some stones better left unturned. I suppose what I’m saying is that we don’t need to actively engage with every positive finding - if it has no further health implications; I suppose what I’m saying is that the things you learn about yourself on your journey of self-discovery and self-discovery - particularly the bad and the ugly - do not need to then take on some new and profound power over your life. Maybe the sleeping dog, although briefly woken, can simply fall back asleep.
Mindful moment: Mindfulness, yoga and meditation can help us to cultivate this ability to step back from our emotions. We notice that we are the awareness of our thoughts and feelings, and we don’t have to grab onto each one as it passes by. Some may linger to be more closely observed, but once they have served their purpose, we let them go and take a step back.
YOGA
Mindful Movement with Laura
Join us every Saturday from 11am-12.15 at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Hove for an all-levels vinyasa yoga flow class, meditation and mindfulness (mats provided or bring your own). £6 per class or £24 for 5.
Upcoming classes:
January 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th
Mindful movement: Christmas can bring with it all sorts of surprising, unexpected or unexplained emotions. Generally, there is more to “trigger” us: old patterns with family; memories of loved ones; the lack of routine (and sleep) that can come as a result of more socialising. Make the time to move those emotions out of the body, whether through walking or running, or by doing some simple breathwork. My favourite to come back to is the 3,4,5 breathing pattern: inhale for 3, hold for 4, exhale for 5. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed.
REFLECT
“There’s no worry so great that it can’t be made small by the sweep of wild geese across an endless sky”
- William Sieghart, The Poetry Pharmacy (commentary on Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese)
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Welcome to the Community.
I'm Laura, a yoga teacher and NHS doctor. With this weekly newsletter I aim to help you incorporate mindful moments into your week. I want you to feel inspired, empowered and creative. I promise to always be authentic; to only include content that speaks to me and which, therefore, I hope will do the same for you.
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