Inner Peace – Pass It On

What started as a personal pursuit for finding peace and comfort during a difficult time inspired a WakeMed clinical social worker to share her findings and newly acquired expertise with a special group of patients.

The WakeMed Center for Community Health and the WakeMed Community Case Management team support individuals facing homelessness as well as other social determinants of health — and they provide that support in special, thoughtful ways.

In her day-to-day work, Kristen Girardi, a licensed clinical social worker with WakeMed Community Case Management, helps WakeMed patients who face many instabilities in their lives. She ensures patients are connected to medical care, mental health care, food, housing, transportation and other services they need to stay well.

In her personal life, Girardi was navigating the deep, difficult emotions associated with a family tragedy. She began searching the web for a mindfulness practice as healthy respite for the stress, sadness and grief she was feeling. Girardi’s personal pursuit led to an innovative therapeutic offering for high-risk patients served by her team and the Center for Community Health.

“I came across Kristine Weber’s program Subtle® Yoga,” explains Girardi. According to the Subtle Yoga website, “Subtle Yoga incorporates six key processes: mindful movement, breathing practices, meditation, awareness of values/ethical engagement, spiritual development and service. Together, these practices promote attention, mindfulness, body awareness, self-regulation, resiliency, self-actualization, and pro-social behavior. Subtle Yoga calms the nervous system, improves breathing, increases the mind-body connection, and is trauma-informed. It is a holistic intervention which can complement and enhance traditional healthcare approaches through health promotion, prevention, treatment or aftercare/recovery from the individual through the population health level.”

“Our patients have experienced physical and/or emotional trauma. Subtle Yoga is more ‘innercise’ than exercise, involving slow, purposeful movement with pauses between movements in an attempt to rewire the body’s response to chronic pain and emotional trauma,” says Girardi. To Girardi, Subtle Yoga felt like a perfect complement to the services she was providing her patients and all patients at the WakeMed Center for Community Health.

Completing the year-long, 200-hour Subtle Yoga training is expensive. Girardi sought funding assistance through the WakeMed Foundation and was awarded a WakeMed Foundation Grant & Education Scholarship  a great help! That was in 2022 and 2023. This past year, Girardi also received a WakeMed Foundation — Enterprise Continuing Education award to complete a Duke Health and Well-Being program, Mindful Yoga for Chronic Pain.

Equipped with the education and inspiration to share her training, Girardi first tapped the WakeMed Center for Community Health’s Seeking Safety class attendees for her mindfulness class. 

“We have about 5 to 10 regular attendees — some are housed, some are unhoused; stress and anxiety are prevalent among participants; and some have physical limitations, which means we practice a lot of chair yoga — something everyone can do,” says Girardi.

Jacquie Tessier, a regular participant in Girdardi’s Mindful Yoga class, appreciates both the physical and mental benefits of the class. Tessier was referred to the WakeMed Center for Community Health for support with managing her heart condition. 

“We meet for between 45 and 60 minutes a week — it’s so calming and soothing and Kristen’s voice is so calming and soothing,” says Tessier. Tessier finds the breathing techniques that Girardi teaches particularly therapeutic and uses them at home, which Girardi hopes all of the class participants do to help manage the stresses associated with social determinants of health.

WakeMed is truly fortunate to have such an outstanding and compassionate caregiver in Kristen Girardi. Girardi hopes to one day provide the class to WakeMed staff to help ease some of the stress associated with caring for the health and well-being of the community.

Let’s all learn a lesson from Girardi — when you find a way to manifest peace and joy in your life, share it with others.

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WakeMed Center for Community Health

Led by a team of highly experienced WakeMed clinicians, the Center for Community Health provides coordinated, holistic care to some of the Raleigh area’s most vulnerable residents while engaging community partners to study, learn and work together to reduce health inequities. It serves as a safety net for those without another safety net.

About WakeMed Mental Health & Well-Being

WakeMed offers psychological services to adult and pediatric patients referred by our designated Primary Care providers. Patients are identified based on our Whole Health assessment, which takes place at the start of each patient visit. These patients may be eligible for Outpatient Behavioral Health services which include Adult and Pediatric Behavioral Health as well as Virtual Behavioral Health services.

Patients typically transition to another provider within the Behavioral Health Network as time progresses and the patient is stabilized.

About WakeMed Foundation

From new patient-centered technology to groundbreaking models of care, our work helps to bring new approaches and innovative solutions to the forefront — all with a focus on improving care and the patient experience.

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