Sometimes, answers are evasive or just don’t exist. It can feel like torture not knowing what’s coming. 

You watch carefully for changes in your loved one’s health. A new symptom may chip away at hope and add to the complicated soup of ways to provide comfort and support.

It can be a bumpy road of searching for a diagnosis, waiting for test results, a prognosis, a timeline, possible treatments, both prescribed and discovered online, through friends with friends who have gone through something similar, and an array of practitioners. A mad search for answers that might provide more questions and confusion. It is exhausting.

What’s the best way to manage this spiral of searching and waiting?

There are many, but here’s one to try:

Pause.

Put one hand to your heart and your other to your belly.

Inhale deep into your belly. Let your breath expand up into your heart space. 

Bring to mind a feeling that lifts you. Love, connection, peace.

Slowly exhale, emptying out your belly. Make that out-breath extend longer than your inhalation. Send that beautiful feeling out into the world.

Repeat several times.

No matter what, if you are able to connect with peace, even for a brief moment, whatever comes next will be easier to navigate. Recognize all you are doing for your loved one and the ways you are showing up with care and compassion.