Posts in Mindfulness
MARCH 2024 NEWSLETTER: Living Mindfully - Presence is the best present 💝
MARCH 2024 NEWSLETTER: Living Mindfully - Presence is the best present 💝

As a caregiver, do you feel you're mindful (living in the present moment) or is your mind full (overwhelmed, scattered, trying to do too much, or multi-tasking)?
 
For me, I find myself constantly teetering between BOTH, but if I'm being honest, I most often find my mind FULL. But 2023 my intention was to be more present - for myself and others. I made a concerted effort in my goal setting to focus on the here and now. 2023 quickly became one of my most challenging caregiving years. Caring for aging parents (and bonus parents), as well as a young adult with a traumatic brain injury, is hard on a good day - and we had many road blocks with detours in 2023. I lost sight of ME and felt pulled in too many directions. 
 
Mindfulness is the ability to focus on the present moment while calmly recognizing and accepting your thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. Mindfulness is being fully present, aware of where you are and what you’re doing while not being overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is happening around you. When you are mindful you are free of both the past and future and free of judgment of right and wrong. Mindfulness for caregivers means learning to live in the moment, accepting the reality of your situation, and filtering out distractions.

Check out our entire March Newsletter focused on MINDFULNESS here!

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MindfulnessKristi HornerBeing Present, Living Mindfully, Regulating Emotions, 90-Second Rule, Happiness, Laughter
A Little Laughter Can Mean a Lot
A Little Laughter Can Mean a Lot

“A good laugh heals a lot of hurts.” – Madeleine L’Engle, “A Ring of Endless Light”

This week’s topic seems like it should be easy, but sometimes it feels like the hardest thing in the world. Caregiving can put us on an emotional roller coaster at times, filled with stress, decision-making, and sacrifice. Taking a moment to experience happiness and laughter may feel awkward or inappropriate at those times, but it’s also a great way to cope and might be exactly what we need as a stress reliever.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerHappiness, Laughter
Appreciate the Little Things
Appreciate the Little Things

“Now is the time to be aware of the present moment. I let go of the past and the future.” – Positive Psychology

Have you ever truly focused on something simple that you’re doing … without any distractions … something like eating a strawberry? If you do, you might notice both the simplicity and the richness of your action and the strawberry. You might close your eyes, take small bites, and savor the taste, smell, and feel of the strawberry with each bite. In doing so, you become fully present in that moment, and you may feel a sense of peace or wonder come over you.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerBeing Present, Living Mindfully
The Fleeting Nature of Emotions
The Fleeting Nature of Emotions

“You feel angry? … You feel great? … This too shall pass.” – Tom Hanks

You probably know that we’re all about empowerment at Courage to Caregivers. And one of the best ways we can empower ourselves is by truly understanding our feelings and emotions – what we feel, why we feel that way, and how to keep our emotions from gaining control over us.

By learning to regulate our emotions, we are able to get back to our emotional center. This doesn’t mean we should try to suppress our feelings or pretend they don’t exist. We’re talking about recognizing our emotions for what they are – natural, instinctive responses that are neither good nor bad in and of themselves. It’s how we act after feeling those emotions that makes all the difference.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerRegulating Emotions, Emotions, 90-Second Rule
March Newsletter: Mindfulness - Presence is the best present 🎁
March Newsletter: Mindfulness - Presence is the best present 🎁

Mindfulness may feel "trendy" or just an "overused" term to you. Before we launched Courage to Caregivers in 2018 - it did to me, too! As I have come to understand, appreciate, and aspire to make mindfulness a practice in my daily life, mindfulness has become my #1 coping strategy for the stress of caregiving. 

I face stress as a caregiver each and every day. I support a young adult with a traumatic brain injury and aging parents (one newly minted 90-year old) - both living in our home. Using mindfulness as a coping strategy for the stress of caregiving, I am able to better regulate my emotions, sleep better (and return to sleep more effectively), notice when I'm not focused on what's IN my control, and find myself simply more present. I also love that mindfulness is rooted in COMPASSION - and we're all born with the capacity to be mindful. 

I now find myself focusing on my breath (it truly can be that simple - and our breathing meditation classes have shown me just that), using affirmations and intentions and focusing on the present. 

Mindful Magazine (our go-to for all things MINDFUL) has an excellent definition of mindfulness: "Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Mindfulness is a quality that every human being already possesses, it’s not something you have to conjure up, you just have to learn how to access it." 

Check out our entire March newsletter focused on Mindfulness here.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerMindfulness, Living Mindfully, Regulating Emotions, Being Present, Happiness, Laughter, Survival to Thrival
It All Starts with a Smile
It All Starts with a Smile

In our support for caregivers, we focus a lot on ways to relieve stress and cope with difficult situations. One of the best stress relievers and coping mechanisms I know is humor. Though the situation may be serious, and no one is denying that it is, a good quip or a funny joke can be a stress reliever for everyone.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerHappiness, Laughter, Humor
Slow Down … Be Present
Slow Down … Be Present

“When you are present, when your attention is fully in the Now, Presence will flow into and transform what you do. There will be a quality and power in it.” – Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

No matter what we have going on in our lives, there are times when we need to slow down, be present, and be mindful. Mindfulness is the ability to focus on the present moment while calmly recognizing and accepting our thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. Being mindful frees us from being stuck in the past or trying to control the future. It allows us to be aware of where we are and what we’re doing while not being overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is happening around us.

For caregivers, mindfulness means learning to live in the moment, accepting the reality of our situation, and filtering out distractions.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerMindfulness, Being Present, Living Mindfully
The Wave of Emotions
The Wave of Emotions

One of our favorite visualization techniques is to think of emotions like waves in the ocean. They’re always coming and going … they’re neither good nor bad … and they don’t last long. Some emotions may make us feel uncomfortable, but if we view them like waves, it can be easier to let go of them. Watch them go away like the waves going back out to sea.
 
Inhale … exhale … let go.

Now you have freed up space in your mind and heart that you can fill with positive and helpful feelings such as happiness, contentment, hope, and excitement.
 
That little exercise is one way of regulating emotions.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerEmotions, Emotional Self-Control, Regulating Emotions
March Newsletter: Mindfulness to Cope With Stress
March Newsletter: Mindfulness to Cope With Stress

Mindfulness has many benefits! It's been found to support you in regulating emotions, managing stress and leading to greater overall health and well-being. Our theme of MINDFULNESS in March fits under the composure domain of resilience. Composure - in regards to resilience - is about learning to regulate our emotions. It's also about the "little things" - being mindful in the moment. Sounds easy, right? It's HARD!

Check out our March Newsletter focused on MINDFULNESS here.

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Mindfulness, NewslettersKristi HornerSelf-Compassion, Self-Regulation, Emotional Self-Control, 90-Second Rule, Inner Peace, Inner Calm, Mindfulness
The Opposite of Stress
The Opposite of Stress

We talk a lot about stress here – more specifically, coping with and managing stress – but this week’s topic is about the opposite of stress. Inner peace is a deliberative state of psychological or spiritual calm that we can feel despite the potential presence of stressors. Inner calm is being free from the emotions that can disrupt our peace and is a result of recognizing what we can and can’t control.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerInner Peace, Inner Calm
An Ocean of Compassion … for Me and for You
An Ocean of Compassion … for Me and for You

This week, our month’s theme of mindfulness brings us to the topic of self-compassion. And we can think of no better source to rely on for wisdom and advice on this subject than Dr. Kristin Neff, co-founder of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.

“Having compassion for oneself is really no different than having compassion for others,” Dr. Neff says.

Self-compassion is a component of self-love, where we recognize our own worth and value and extend kindness to ourselves as we would extend it to others. Show YOURSELF some compassion today.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerSelf-Compassion
Self-Regulation Helps Us Put Our Best Selves Forward
Self-Regulation Helps Us Put Our Best Selves Forward

Our new theme for this month is mindfulness, and our topic to kick it off is self-regulation. We talk a lot about mindfulness at Courage to Caregivers. Being mindful and keeping ourselves connected to the present moment means that we are better able to regulate our emotions and stay in control.

For caregivers, that’s important. Sometimes, we get overwhelmed by things around us that are out of our control. There’s so much to do, and nothing we do seems to be good enough. This feeling can happen all at once, or it can creep up on us slowly.

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MindfulnessKristi HornerSelf-Regulation