SMA Digest (Winter 2015) v.55, i.1 | Page 24

HEALTH CARE MINDFULNESS in medical practice By Maria Ryhorski O n a particularly challenging day in the operating room over five years ago, Dr. Anita Chakravarti realized it was time to make a change. For the previous eight years, the chronic pain she struggled with following a riding accident had taken a back seat to her responsibilities as a physician. That day, with a full slate, two medical learners on hand and a severe familiar pain in her neck, she realized it was time to look after herself – she knew that if she didn’t focus on her own health and well-being it would affect her work and the quality of her patients’ care. It took her another three years to realize how much damage she had incurred in her own health. The tendency among physicians to over