Holiday Self-Care – A Work in Progress

I’ve been writing about Holiday self-care all week on our social media. (Do you follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram?) I’ve shared all kinds of tips, tools and resources to reduce stress, and I’ve emphasized the importance of focusing on self-care during the Holidays. After all, it’s what Courage to Caregivers is all about!
 
I’ve also found myself talking about self-care – it’s not hard in the circles I keep these days – both with others in the “helping” business and with myself. I pride myself on the fact that I need to practice what I preach – many of you are good at holding me accountable to that, too!
 
In all these conversations - I’ve had some interesting revelations.
 
You may recall last week’s topic was mindfulness – I always like to connect our past theme to the current. Connecting mindfulness to this week’s focus on self-care, I have a confession: While I LOVE that our breathing meditation is a fan favorite – it’s working for our participants by reducing caregiver stress, and the evidence-based research is clear that meditation reduces stress, improves sleep, improves attention, helps banish negative feelings, improves physical and mental health, and has many, many more benefits – I always feel as if I'm not doing it quite right.
 
Now, I can hear all of you saying … "give it time" … "I can help you" … "don't give up" … but I'm not giving up on mindfulness or meditation or ME. I just need to be honest with myself and with you. Because maybe you've felt the same way, too? And maybe it’s all about getting self-care “right”?
 
And THEN … I just happened to be sitting in (yet another) therapy waiting room with my son, and this article drew my attention. Coincidence? HAH! Maybe, just maybe, it will resonate with you, too?
 
The article could be MY story, too. Messy … complicated … work in progress. I am reminded I don’t have to have it all right all the time. It’s OK to not be OK. I accept it, I own it, and a new version of me IS emerging, every day.
 
Being a work in progress is really a gift to yourself. No matter what you celebrate this Holiday Season, make time for YOU this week. Stress can have internal or external causes, and can show itself with physical, emotional, cognitive, or interpersonal symptoms. There are lots of ways to work on overcoming stress in your life. Try taking a deep breath or two – a quick meditation – on your own or using an app. Here’s our Holiday self-care gift to you – our staff picks for caregiver self-care. You don’t have to get it “right” – just commit to trying one new thing – for YOU.  
 
From our family to yours … Happy Holidays!
 
We’re in this together,

Kristi