stress

In this session, Mary Doane and a group of panelists turn towards parenting – a specific type of care relationship that brings unique challenges and joys. Our panelists will share their experiences of where they find integration and where doubt creeps in, along with considering whether mindfulness helps people be a better parent and how being a parent affects mindfulness practices.

The session was held on April 25th.

Drawing from her own experience as a Sandwich Generation Caregiver, Mary Doane shares how the use of mindfulness, compassion, and clear boundaries can shift how you feel about your role, how you act within it and how you care for yourself in addition to others. This session ran on April 27, 2022.

In this session, Mary Doane shares core emotional skills that support you to manage acute stress, achieve moments of calm in the midst of difficulty, and help you maintain your own emotional well-being. This session ran on May 14, 2021.

From a recent study conducted by the AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving,

“…there are more than 43.5 million adults in the United States who have provided unpaid care to an adult or child within the last year. 34.2 million of these Americans provide care to an adult age 50 or older. On average, a family caregiver will spend over 24 hours each week providing care to a loved one, although many report spending over 40 hours per week on caregiving duties.”

Caregiving, in any capacity, can be quite rewarding but it also comes with its own set of challenges. For some, caregiving can be stressful, overwhelming, strenuous and frustrating. Asccare.com lists a number of difficulties for you to pay close attention to, here are a few;

• Depression and isolation
• Sleep deprivation
• Emotional and physical stress
• Lack of privacy
• Being afraid to ask for help
• Financial strain
• Managing time

Coping with any one of these challenges can be trying though many of you face multiple challenges on a daily basis. Thankfully there are mindfulness-based tools and approaches to help you build emotional resilience to maintain delivery of high-quality and compassionate care to your loved ones.

Our Mindful Caregiving Education (MCE) introduces caregivers to mindfulness-based approaches and tools to help build their emotional resilience and work with stress. These approaches help caregivers successfully navigate the unique and challenging situations that can arise in caregiving. Through mindfulness-based education, you can build the skills needed to take on the common challenges of caregiving.

Zen Caregiving Project’s Mindful Family Caregiving, Four-Part Online Series, starting April 7, helps family caregivers find support and community while sharing resilience-building tools to improve the caregiving experience. This online series will help you:

• Increase the capacity to cope with discomfort and suffering
• Create a plan for maintaining self-care
• Establish healthy boundaries in relationships
• Deepen and sustain compassion for self and others

I invite you to take a moment and consider our Mindful Family Caregiving course and see if it fits with your schedule. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at education@zencaregiving.org

The holidays can be a joyous but stressful time (but it doesn’t have to be stressful). We offer 10 tips for caregivers to take care of themselves over the holidays.

1. Practice self-love

While the holidays can be stressful, it’s essential to take care of your physical and mental health. Keeping yourself healthy produces positive outcomes and improves the quality of care for those who depend on you.

2. Keep it simple

Remember, you have only so much energy and so many resources, don’t expend them at the expense of your own health. Keeping things simple and stress-free will save energy and your mental health.

3. No-stress meals

It’s ok to go out for meals or order in. The point is to enjoy the time together with those you love. If the time spent preparing a meal is more stressful than it’s worth, skip it.

4. Start a new tradition

Sometimes getting out and about isn’t possible due to personal responsibilities and time constraints. Invite people over to decorate, watch holiday movies at home, make yourself your favorite treat. You can develop new traditions that fit your life.

5. You can ask for help

Ask your friends and family to help with cleaning or groceries, shoveling the walk, tidying up. If resources allow, you can also order the things you need online or hire someone to help you.

6. Shop online

With so much going on, it’s challenging to find time to shop for gifts. Don’t be afraid to shop online for gifts and groceries, it’s a great time saver and keeps things relatively stress-free.

7. Brush off negativity

It’s the time for connecting with loved ones but also a time to keep our differences in check. Negative comments may come and go but don’t own them, brush them aside. Enjoy the time with those you love.

8. Let go of perfection

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. You have limited resources and limited bandwidth, work with what you have but leave perfection behind. The point is to enjoy the season.

9. Connect with caregivers

If you haven’t already, connect with caregivers in your community or find online communities to share your thoughts and gather tips. This is a great time to lean on these communities as you process the holidays.

10. Go with the flow

Take things as they come, there’s little need to stress about things that are beyond your control. You’ll feel much better physically and emotionally, but let go of the little things and allow yourself to enjoy the company of those you love.