Finding Balance: Caregiver Self-Care

With over 53 million caregivers in America, we are likely to face caregiver challenges at some point in our lives. As Rosalynn Carter reminded us: “There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.”
Caregiving can be thrust upon us, or it can build up over time. We may take on the role with love in our hearts, or experience anger, fear, or other uncomfortable feelings. No matter what our relationship is to the caregiving task, we are entitled to our feelings, and we need to protect ourselves with self-care. I'm making a case for finding balance by putting our needs first sometimes. We do it by grounding ourselves with compassion, enjoying sensory pleasures, and mindful moments.

In the past, I’ve been a caregiver to three family members. Many times, I thought I would break, but I didn’t. Today, I explore how I got through those challenging times, how I remind myself that I can’t live to care for others, and what reasonable self-care for the caregiver can look like. In this episode, I touch on:

• How I've added balance to my life as a family caregiver by carving out time for self-care
• Reaffirming the idea that you are the center of your life (even while caregiving)
• Using tools like listening, patience, mindfulness, and reducing reactivity
• Putting your caregiving in context and the importance of kicking shame and self-judgment to the curb
• Making time for mindful moments

Want to reengage with yourself and put creative self-care back on your to-do list? Head over to my website: lettheverseflow.com and sign up for my free newsletter, the Me-Time Mixtape. Three times per month, I’ll send you 3 essential, hand-curated links/resources on creative self-care tips, tools, and strategies.

Poem: Sit Down Awhile

Music: All music for my podcast is sourced and licensed for use via Soundstripe.)

Songs in this episode: Office Party 2 by Nu Alkemi$t; Slide by GEMM; Stillness by DeHartmann; Purple Baggin by Sam Barsh; Pyaar Kee Seemaen by Cast of Characters

Resources:
Rosalynn Carter Institute; Unwinding App: (Caregiver Stress course within the app)
Journal Prompts: Find them here.
Tiny Buddha article: Hope for the Grieving

Related Episodes: #9: Mindful Breathing; #20: Affirmation Meditation: Keep Your Dreams Alive; #22: Affirmation Meditation for Creative Flow; #23 Overcoming Overthinking; #24: Affirmation Meditation to Overcome Overthinking