Mindfulness Mondays 15: Personal Time (Happy Labor Day!)
September 7, 2009 by dr. lam
I was listening to a lecture by a fellow plastic surgeon who called the recovery time following surgery, “personal time”. He exhorted his patients to try to spend that time with a positive, constructive activity that they could not otherwise do owing to the constraints of their busy schedule. In short, to turn a negative experience of “recovery” into a positive one of “me time” or “personal growth time”. I am on a flight right now as I write this across the Atlantic to Paris, and I am enjoying writing these thoughtful blogs. This is part of my “me time” getting to express my inner most thoughts and feelings to all of you.
I was working with a patient of mine who wanted injectable facial fillers but who was dreadfully nervous. She was extremely anxious about doing the procedure despite this being her second time around with me and her acknowledgment that it did not hurt the first time. I worked with her to meditate and to focus on a breathing exercise. I helped bring her to a favorite island resort through a visualization exercise. I allowed her to stay in the chair for as long as she needed to refresh herself thereafter. As she was walking out of my office, I asked her, “I think you needed that restful time, didn’t you?” She nodded in assent. I think it is great if we can turn a potentially negative experience into a rewarding one. My patient needed time to regroup, to focus, and to relax. We all do.
If you are a patient of mine with an upcoming surgery and need “personal time”, make that time constructive: learn a new language, meditate, focus on family time, read a book you always wanted to read, write your daily thoughts down, plan your next vacation, write your dreams down, or create a change in your paradigm of who you want to be. In essence, you are experiencing a kind of rebirth with me. This week whatever you are doing, get some personal time that can help you regain composure and restore your wattage to its brightest potential.
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7 Responses to “Mindfulness Mondays 15: Personal Time (Happy Labor Day!)”
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It totally skipped my mind to read your blog today, Dr. Lam…lol It felt like a Sunday or something. But then I remembered!
Very good idea there!
Dr. Lam, thanks for sharing your “me time” with us blog buddies.
yeah, i was thinking about skipping but just did not want to miss a monday to set our intention for the week.
Yeah, I can’t start the week without your blog’s set intention. Wouldn’t know how to go about the week.
Thanks, Dr. Lam!
I have a great deal of catching up to do in terms of your blog, Dr. Lam! It has been several months since I last wrote, and every time I do come back, I find something that enriches me further.
This evening, I read your Personal Time entry. It really did resonate with me on several levels. Many months ago, you kindly suggested that I begin to work on my inner self, specifically forgiveness and emotional healing following an IPL accident. I have been doing that. In your Labor Day blog, you advised your future surgical patients to use the downtime or convalescing period in a constructive manner, just as you suggested months ago that I invoke the Power of Now to make the best of what I had/have rather than relive in my mind state the pain of the traumatic incidents that changed so many aspects of my life. I’ve spent these months as positively as I can, healing on the inside, seeing my little girl grow and discover new things and making plans for my external restoration by you, of course. I’m not sure how I’ll pull it off but where there is a will, there is a way.
And when I do have surgery with you, I have already decided that I will spend my recovery period putting together the scrapbook I had begun before my child was born. It’s one of those things that is truly important but gets brushed aside time and again. It will be especially meaningful to my daughter to see those images of herself with her mother who, although changed on the outside, has remained steadfast in her devotion to the little one. I do hope, however, that my daughter has another chance to see how her mother used to look like only two years ago or at least something healthier than what she sees now.
Thank you so much, Dr. Lam. I am healing more and more every day on the inside. I would be ever so proud to have you be the surgeon who mends me on the outside.
thank you ms. g. that is beautiful! i look forward to being your surgeon. i wish for you a beautiful life!
Thank you for your kind wishes. I wish you much continued success, peace and happiness in all aspects of your life!
thank you!