Meditation for Hospice, and for Everyone Else

I recently collected a couple of meditation CDs that someone had left in the family room at one of our hospice inpatient units, presumably for patient and family use. I was working on collecting suitable guided meditation audio for this express purpose, so I wanted to listen to what we already had on-site.

Imagine my surprise when I heard the following words:

In order for you to overcome your illness, cancer, it is important for you to express your emotions. Trapped negative emotions create stress in your body, and suppress your immune system…Picture your body now completely free of cancer, and in perfect health…your immune system is alive and radiant and brimming with life…your immune system is strong and powerful…letting your mind completely relax as you get more and more used to the idea of your body being completely free of cancer and your immune system powerfully strong.

Needless to say, I did not return this CD to our hospice after I listened to it.

Thankfully I happened upon Meditation Oasis, a project of Mary and Richard Maddux. They distribute free guided meditation podcasts on a variety of topics. As I began listening to assess their suitability for hospice, I came across meditations on deep rest, coping with pain, processing grief, and flowing with change. I heard no claims of healing the body or curing disease, just suggestions for coping with difficult emotions within a framework of acceptance.

When I contacted Mary for permission to burn the podcasts onto CDs to distribute to our patients and families, she told me that she used to be a hospice social worker. Ah, yes, I thought. That makes perfect sense.

Although many of these meditations are hospice-appropriate, most of them are on general topics suitable for anyone who is looking for help with stress relief.  Just click on the link above, or search on iTunes.

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