The Yoga of Collaboration in Nurses and Nursing
🫶🏼 Collaboration in Nursing: A Healing Union of Heart + Practice
✨ A Sacred Invitation
Recently, I was invited to speak to an erudite group of Oncology Nurse Practitioners and nurse leadership from Dartmouth Medical Center in New Hampshire.
The nurse planner asked me to help cultivate something deeply needed:
COLLABORATION + COMMUNITY
Ahhh… right up my alley. 🧘🏽♀️
As the founder of YogaNursing®, I teach that yoga — which means UNION — beautifully amplifies unity, community, and collaboration.
🌸 Gentle Yoga Therapy = Healing Collaboration
Gentle, therapeutic yoga enhances our relationships — in body, mind, and spirit. It opens a sacred space for deeper connection in nurses and nursing.
🧠 Definition of Collaboration:
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communion
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teamwork
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working together
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alliance
😔 The Opposite?
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dis-union
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separation
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division
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noncooperation
💡 How Do We Create This Unity?
I shared 2 core YogaNursing® practices with the Dartmouth NPs:
💠 1. The YogaNursing® Theory
“We cannot change the culture without changing the consciousness.”
This is the soul of YogaNursing®.
It’s about expanding our nursing mindset to transform stress, pain, and suffering into peace, health, and wisdom.
A heart + spirit-centered practice that inspires collaboration from the inside out. 🕊️
💠 2. The YogaNursing® Practice
Our session included gentle, medical yoga therapy with the Sacred Remedy Rx — the experiential heart of YogaNursing® Essentials.
But first, we had to STOP something…
🛑 Beware the JAB
I created a term in YogaNurse® called “The JAB.” It’s the #1 toxic behavior that destroys collaboration.
Here’s what it means:
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J – Judging
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A – Attacking
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B – Blaming
We all do it — often silently in our minds.
Until we expand our awareness, we stay stuck in JAB-thinking.
Once we notice it, we can gently ask:
“Hmmm… yeah, I’ve been doing the JAB. How can I make this better?”
🌿 The Rx for the JAB:
✨ Mindful Compassion + Loving Kindness
These qualities are nurtured through:
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meditation 🧘🏽♀️
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prayer 🙏🏼
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spiritual practice
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and the Sacred Remedy Rx ❤️
🧘🏾♂️ Another Healing Voice
A beautiful nurse blogger who shares this mindfulness-based approach is:
✨ Jerome Stone
He offers Meditation Resources for Everyone.
A Registered Nurse with over 30 years of experience, Jerome is a dedicated teacher of meditation.
🌈 Conscious Community = Collaboration
Gentle Medical Yoga Therapy + Mindful Meditation create what I call:
“Conscious Community”
It’s the fusion of:
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🌺 Ancient wisdom
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🧬 Modern science
The yin and yang.
A calm, experiential way to heal, unify, and collaborate.
🩺 Awaken Your Inner Nurse Healer
When you show up with compassion and loving kindness…
you inspire the same in your fellow nurses.
This is the truest collaboration — rooted in the loving heart and compassionate soul of nursing. 🤍
💌 My Heart Sees Your Heart
🙌🏼 Collaboration Means Sharing!
💞 If this post spoke to you, consider sharing it with your nurse friends.
Let’s keep building a sacred, united, conscious community.
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Enjoyed this post! I love your acronym JAB! I feel like your focus on JAB and internal self reflection is a important step in improving ourselves so that we can can give 100% in our collaboration efforts.
Hi Erica, the JAB grabbed a lot of readers…no judgement or blame, it is about becoming more ‘aware’ that we ALL do this, then release it into the heart of compassion. Best to you!!!
Wonderful post, Annette. Thank you for sharing such heartfelt wisdom. I love the acronym of the JAB and will be mindful to watch my own thought patterns. You know, that’s really what it comes down to doesn’t it? We can never truly know what another is thinking and feeling. We can only stay accountable for our own actions. When we come from a space of compassionate authenticity, we cannot help but act in collaboration. And as we know, with billions of people in this world, some will collaborate with us. Others may not. It’s about us being truly ourselves. Great article, thank you.
Yes, you totally get it. Keep on sharing your ‘heart.’
Today I’ve learnt a new word that I will use at work -when I hear judging, attacking and blaming. (Jab) You are right in that, compassion and love will cure the JAB.
I always enjoy your articles, they are very spiritual.
Thanks for sharing.
Joyce, the JAB is sneaky. Thanks for caring to comment + collaborate on creating compassion for ourselves and for our colleagues.
Appreciated your comments on collaboration and change. Insightful.
I truly appreciate your appreciation and sharing 🙂
The change within (a the local level) to embrace a mindful approach is the first step in building that conscious community (a the global level).
Fostering these relationships in my own company among the team has become one of our top priorities. We’ve appreciated the benefits 10 fold by removing that variable, and even throughout the hustle and bustle of our work days you can still palpate the bounding pulse of mindfulness in the offices.
A beautiful thing indeed. Great post Annette.
Kevin, kudos to you and your team! When we tap into the space of peace and unity, we do, as you say so eloquently, “palpate the bounding pulse of mindfulness” that is ever beating from the heart of collaboration.
Thinking outside the box! I think you may have given us some really great tips for bringing the team together so that they can collaborate. JAB is perfect. Thanks for this!!!
I think be aware of our human and judgemental nature is half of the battle. When we realize we do this and make a conscious effort to stop and “be more” it does allow for tremendous growth.
It’s hard to collaborate with someone if you’re constantly judging them.
Great information here.
This enlightening post made me think,”charity begins at home”. As a nurse I consider myself a healer, helper and fixer- of others. This potent focus on self and becoming aware of JAB is all about starting with self-love and self-care. My consciousness has changed because of Annette and her vision to change the consciousness of nurses. I highly value this important work because I know very well how needed it is. I am championing Annette’s message. I took her online and in-person Yoganurse training and only had one regret, that this visionary material was not available when I was a student. I highly recommend her training to all nurses.
This post is truly prophetic as we cannot be healer’s of others until we have healed ourselves and embracing our JAB, acknowledging our JAB, and understanding how our JAB influences our reactions and behaviors is the first step and perhaps the most pivotal step in self-care/self healing; Annette thank you for making this concept concrete and attainable for daily practice.
This post is EXTREME WISDOM. When I am aware of JAB in my life, it gives me that added “check” to lighten up on myself and others. This week I have noticed that when I am hard and critical on myself, it effects others in my life. When I release JAB, I am free to let go of the things that shackle me. It is part of the ABC’s. The Awareness of the JAB has been the first step for me in letting go. No sense in sucking on that same sour lemon! The awareness lets me become aware of the resentment that I may hold. When I am aware of the bad things that I am holding or about to hold, I can let them go and stop it immediately. This concept is so simple, so clear and concise. I wish I had been utilizing this many years ago. The awareness of it for me appears to be the key. What wonderful wisdom you have shared, Annette! I have already shared it with a very special person in my life, and that person immediately embraced it.
I’ve always been my toughest critic and was guilty of JAB(bing) myself and others. Through mindful meditation, gentle yoga and acceptance I have stopped JAB(bing) myself and others. Annette’s teaching with the acronym is awesome! It is easy to remember and that will make it easy to teach. And she is right- we do need to take care of us before we can lead, touch and heal others. And if we are judging accusing and blaming ourselves or others we have lost sight of focusing on the ONE thing we can change-us. All of my relationships have improved since I stopped judging and started accepting. What a beautiful way to live and love.
Feeling the love 🙂
Thanks Annette for this wisdom! I find myself doing this and I try to be aware of it and change my perspective and instead open my heart and use love as my means of connection to other nurses.