Offering Care for the Caregiver: Phoenix Shambhala Center Lessons Learned by Amy Kemp

Offering Care for the Caregiver: Phoenix Shambhala Center Lessons Learned by Amy Kemp

It was a beautiful October day in Phoenix. The sky was clear and the morning air had a crisp chill; this is when all Arizonans remember why they live here. A group of sangha friends pulled up to a conference hotel nestled against a craggy mountain. In Arizona, these lonesome mountains are sometimes called sky islands. Named so because of their unexpected rise from the surrounding landscape.

We carry the Shambhala Sun banner, gomdens and resource materials about Enlightened Society into a large exhibitors hall. As we enter – past textbook merchants and venders of pristine and slightly ominous medical devices – some may wonder what we are doing there. I know.

The Phoenix Shambhala Center was delighted to be invited to offer resources and meditation instruction at an international conference of health professionals working with trauma. We were the Care for the Caregiver section of the exhibitions; asked to offer any help for managing stress and regaining joy. Here we present some of the lessons learned in hope that this type of offering expands.

Getting Ready

Our experience in the Phoenix Shambhala Center is of offering conversation, community and teaching from our Center. It was a new perspective to consider how to show up at a conference venue.

We were not entirely sure of the space arrangements, so we did not know how feasible offering meditation instruction would be. Not to mention the fact that it would likely be noisy and privacy would be limited. Because of this, our overall focus was on providing materials so that conference attendees could access information on Shambhala and find their local Center or Group.

This is a listing of the materials:

• Resource document with online offerings and suggested books (attached)
• Our Phoenix flier which describes Shambhala International
• Shambhala Retreat Center flier
• Ten copies each of “Turning the Mind into An Ally”, “Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior”, and “When Things Fall Apart” for sale.
• Brocade and banners to decorate the space
• Six Gomdens and Zabutans and a screen for privacy
• Posters and standups with images and quotes (thanks to Affinity Groups and Awake in the World)
• Signup sheet for Shambhala Affinity Groups

We made a schedule and asked for volunteers from our Phoenix sangha to staff the booth and offer meditation instruction. The conference was three days long and most of the time was during regular business hours, so this was a challenge and generous offering on the part of many.

Others who must be thanked include:

• Rebecca McAllister and Adela Sandness who helped us understand how Affinity Groups could be utilized and provided the images for most of the posters
• Eve Vrla of the Phoenix Sangha who offered her graphic design for the Shambhala Mediation Banner, resource handout and Phoenix fliers.
• Kaleigh Isaacs at Shambhala Online who gave us permission to stream Awake in the World, though we were unable to do so at the venue.
• Steve Koper, Mary Ann Gillispie, Muffie Noble, Barbara Gill-Forney, Thomas Joyce who gave their time to be at the sessions.

Lessons Learned

Our Nova Scotia?

Because we knew that most attendees were not residents of Phoenix, we focused most of our preparation efforts on making our space inviting and awake. And providing materials that could assist in finding Shambhala Centers or Groups around the world and orienting those who were curious to books and online resources to understand Shambhala and meditation.

The Doctors Need This!

Through the three days of the conference, about ten people received meditation instruction and hundreds saw a smiling face and took a flier home. A very popular flier was the “Shambhala Retreat Center” flier. Many people who were not able to stop and talk did take that flier. For this type of group – those in a highly stressful and demanding caring profession – retreat may be a very salient starting point.

I was startled that almost everyone I talked with noted someone else who really could use meditation: my daughter, my wife, the doctors! This seemed initially disheartening as we had come to the conference for them! Some may have been more comfortable talking about others’ needs rather than their own. Or their habit of caring for others before themselves kicked in. No matter what, there was a great deal of interest.e

I am Glad you are Here.

Without question, this was a refreshing and positive experience for the Phoenix Shambhala Center and we hope the same for the conference attendees. There are many conferences in Phoenix in the winter, and we are considering offering the same type of resources to othe groups. Being a small Center – unlikely and unable to comfortably offer a large public event – we enjoyed this opportunity to bring some of our gifts out to the larger world without the need for tremendous financial or logistical support.

Many conference participants took the time to say “I am glad you are here”. We were too.