By: Aimee Shramko
Posted: August 6, 2025
Imagine if you were given a free pass to forget about life’s problems and past challenges to focus only on what is present for you at the moment – even if only for a few minutes. Could that short time spent in focused awareness actually improve your well-being?
It is said that ruminating on the past can lead to depression and stressing about the future can produce anxiety. So what does that leave? The practice of mindfulness involves choosing to focus on the present moment. It doesn’t ask that you attempt to quiet your mind because by design, our brains are meant to be active. It does, however, encourage you to relax, focus, and breathe, thus calming the mind and body.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MSBR) has been found to improve physical symptoms such as chronic pain, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, and insomnia. It has also been shown to decrease emotional and psychological distress such as depression and anxiety. It does require repetition for it to become second nature, which is why each session is referred to as a “practice” as if you were learning piano or another skill requiring focus and maintenance.
You may have learned about the power of mindfulness in one of your OLLI classes. Dr. Rosemarie Dombrowski, (1) Dr. Nika Gueci, and Dr. Jamie Valderama are just three of our ASU professors who have endorsed the value of practicing mindfulness in their lectures. Having taken classes from all three of them, I found their teaching supplemented and enhanced the basics I’d already started to adopt through necessity.
My journey with mindfulness began in 2016. I’d just lost my father and, as an only child, I had suddenly found myself responsible for the complete care and well-being of my 88-year-old mother. She was suffering from vascular dementia and had lost her hearing. She’d stopped eating, wasn’t sleeping, and was pushing the boundaries of care that her assisted living facility could provide.
New to Phoenix, my late husband and I had been consumed with caring for both of my parents. We were depending on a variety of work-from-home, short-term, freelance marketing gigs to support ourselves. As a result, we hadn’t made many friends in the Valley, and were feeling lost without our ballast of support from familiar people and surroundings.
A social worker with Hospice of the Valley (HOV) came to interview us while we were in the throes of this period of grief and transition. Assessing our situation, she could tell we were obviously struggling and suggested we might benefit from mindfulness, a practice proven to reduce stress and promote well-being as one source of comfort.
At the time, Hospice of the Valley was offering free sessions to the public in partnership with the Phoenix Art Museum. No experience with meditation or prior knowledge was necessary to participate. We were new to mindfulness and a bit wary at the thought of being out of our comfort zones, but we were desperate for anything that provided no-cost stress relief.
Since it was April and not too hot, the sessions were held in the sculpture garden, which sounded appealing and harmless enough. We decided to give it a try one afternoon and were graciously welcomed to join the group of people seated in a circle under the shade trees.
“Let go of everything it took to get here, as you settle into your seats. Find a comfortable, but upright position. Let your feet touch the ground and connect with the earth. Close your eyes if you’re comfortable with that, or lower your gaze (to reduce visual stimulation). As you begin to relax, notice that you are breathing. As you focus your awareness on your breath, be reassured that you are doing it perfectly well. There is no need to alter your breathing in any way.”
Want to give it a try? Click below and scroll to “Sitting with Awareness of Breathing”, a three minute meditation with guidance by Dr. Maribeth Gallagher, Dementia Program Director for Hospice of the Valley. (2)
These soothing suggestions were offered as guidance at the start of our practice to both reassure the newcomers and prepare the participants for the next 30 minutes of practicing living in the present moment. We were encouraged to embrace whatever was present for us be it physical pain, anxiety, or hesitation about the upcoming practice. Since then I’ve learned that staying in the present moment, even for as a short period of time as three minutes, can alleviate worry, calm the nervous system, and begin to reduce cortisol levels.
During the next half hour, our guide, Dr. Gillian Hamilton, Medical Director, Supportive Care for Dementia, at Hospice of the Valley, read a well-known meditation script called “Mountain Meditation”. Developed and popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of MBSR, it uses the image of a mountain as a metaphor for cultivating stillness, stability, and inner strength in the face of adversity.
The mountain symbolizes “being grounded and unmoved, regardless of the external conditions such as weather, seasons or storms.” (3) It promotes resilience as participants are guided to “become or embody the mountain” thus being rooted, dignified, and in possession of agency. Feelings, thoughts, and sensations become temporary, fleeting, and therefore less important, as if mere changes in the weather or the passing of clouds. As the mountain, you are free to observe life happening around you with a bit of detachment remaining calm, ever-present, and unchanging.
Following the practice, I noticed I was breathing more deeply. I felt calmer and more in control. I was relaxed and my mind seemed somehow more in sync with my body. The other practitioners lingered after the session, seeming to want to stay in the peaceful state brought about by the meditation and the lovely sculpture garden. Looking over at my husband, I smiled and sighed as he nodded affirmation. I knew we’d be back next week!
Shortly thereafter, Hospice of the Valley offered an eight-week class called Mindfulness for Caregivers led by Dr. Maribeth Gallagher, Dementia Program Director for Hospice of the Valley. I eagerly enrolled and joined roughly twenty other women who were experiencing stress due to the responsibilities of caring for their spouses or parents. I learned about the STOP technique, a mindfulness practice that helps you pause, become aware of your present moment experience, and make conscious choices. It's a simple, yet powerful tool to reduce stress and cultivate greater self-awareness. The acronym S.T.O.P. stands for Stop, Take a breath, Observe, and Proceed. (4) Using the wisdom of that simple exercise helped me avoid snapping at my mother who repeatedly asked where my father was and why hadn’t he come to pick her up and take her home.
Mom passed away in 2018, but I continued to attend the mindfulness group finding that the support I received and the lessons shared lifted me through many difficult days of grieving. Forever grateful to Hospice of the Valley, I consider Dr. Gillian Hamilton and Dr. Maribeth Gallagher to be members of my “circle of support”.
Interested in trying an in-person mindfulness practice? Consider registering for the Special Interest Group, “Being Present – Mindfulness Practice for Stress Reduction”. It's new for the fall semester, offered in partnership with Hospice of the Valley, facilitated by me, and led by Dr. Gillian Hamilton, MD.
Link to SIG registration: SIG Registration Site
We’ll meet monthly beginning Saturday, September 13th at 1pm. Dr. Hamiliton will guide the sessions, answer questions, and help us incorporate mindfulness into our daily lives. During the course of the semester, we’ll also learn about Mindful Walking and Mindful Eating.
Our meetings will take place at the relatively new Dementia Care and Education Campus (an innovation of Hospice of the Valley) in the heart of Central Phoenix/Arcadia at 44th St. and Indian School. Further information and parking directions will be sent to registrants.
Questions for me? Please send them to asuolliblog@gmail.com.
I leave you with an example of the types of poems and reading that will be incorporated into our practice - enjoy!
Inner Peace Poem
(Author Unknown)
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without alcohol,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
...Then You Are Probably...........
The Family Dog!
Photo Credits:
- Agnes Pelton, Winter, 1933
- Phoenix Art Museum
- Agnes Pelton, The Ray-Serene, 1925
- Agnes Pelton, Flowering, 1929
Resources:
- In her Poetic Mindfulness class, Dr. Dombrowski introduced the neuro-hack called “emptying the cup”. In being more mindful of the space around you (be it in a drawer or in your mind), you can begin to disengage from things or ideas such as recurring worries and stressors that no longer serve a positive purpose in your life. Emptying the cup allows you to make room for those things that are more meaningful and interesting.
- https://hov.org/our-care/mindfulness/mindfulness-practices/
- Google AI “Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mountain Meditation”
- Google AI description supplement by Hospice of the Valley learning materials
