Celebrate National Wellness Month

National Wellness Month, recognized during August, promotes self-care, stress management, and healthy living. While wellness is generally thought of in terms of proper diet, adequate exercise, stress reduction, and proper sleep habits, wellness also incorporates mental, emotional, intellectual, relational, and spiritual health.

Yet, while approximately fifty-three million Americans provide ongoing, unrelenting unpaid care for loved ones, their own wellness is often in peril. And no wonder. Compared to non-caregivers, caregivers experience higher levels of stress, frustration, guilt, and helplessness. Relationship changes also impact emotional wellness. And caregiving can be accompanied by a loss of identify, chipping away at one’s self-esteem. Even with these dismal findings, caregivers are resilient, courageous, and strong.

A continual practice of wellness includes eating well, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and meaningful relationships. Certainly, there is agreement that consuming wholesome food, regularly moving and exercising the body, healthy sleeping habits, and socialization is vital to our mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Since much has been written on these aspects of wellness let’s touch on three other, equally beneficial aspects of wellness.

“Wellness is the complete integration of body, mind, and spirit – the realization that everything we do, think, feel, and believe has an effect on our state of well-being.” – Greg Anderson

1.     Intellect

Intellect is the ability to reason and to understand. In our society of modern conveniences and technology, the intellect is often undernourished with mindless games and programs. Furthermore, we are led to believe that loss of intellect naturally diminishes with age.

Stimulating the intellect encourages personal dignity, increases memory capability, enhances self-confidence, and boosts self-identity. This is great news for caregivers who often struggle with identity, isolation, and undue stress. And stimulating the intellect need not be time consuming. Nourish your intellect through these simple suggestions:

Read, read, read!

Read about your areas of interest—gardening, yoga, meditation, woodworking, fishing, ayurveda. Read novels, adventure, mysteries... Use the library, audio books, internet, or other online venues.

Learn a new skill.

There is no age to stop learning. Find something that interests you, maybe something you have always wanted to do, and learn all you can about it. Maybe five minutes a day is all you have to devote to learning a new skill. That is ok. Just keep learning.

Journaling.

Journaling, the process of writing one’s personal thoughts and feelings, is an effective tool for overall wellness and mental health. Whether you write daily or once a week; whether you write about your thoughts or your experiences; journaling is known to have a number of benefits including:

• Reduced anxiety

• Improvement of awareness and perception

• Emotional regulation

• Boosts physical health

• Decreases obsessive thinking and harmful rumination

Stimulate the intellect for its wellness benefits, but be ready for enhanced clarity, increased energy, and focused self-confidence!

2.   Creativity

Creativity is an excellent technique for relaxation and stress reduction. An often-overlooked coping technique for caregivers, creativity is useful in overcoming the myriad of problems caregivers face. This creativity also often enhances the lives of both the caregiver and their loved one. Furthermore, creativity offers benefits such as:

• Emotional expression

• Ability to cope with difficult feelings

• Brings a sense of balanced and centered

• Provides a sense of personal accomplishment

Creativity is often confused with excellence in artistic expression – think of an artist or a professional painter for example. We are each born with a creative sense, but life tends to squelch its expression; so, we come to believe that we lack creative talent. Julia Cameron, in The Artist’s Way, provides wonderful insight into how creative, how colorful, and how charismatic we each are. We just need to tap into our innate creativity. Here are a few suggestions to unleash your creativity.

Gardening.

You do not have to be an expert gardener to be creative. Simply being in touch with nature and growing (or at least attempting to!) something from a tiny seed brings a sense of accomplishment and channels creative energy.

Cooking.

Try a new dish. Incorporate herbs. Make your favorite recipe. Cooking can be a delightful way to incorporate creativity and enjoy a scrumptious dish!

Pottery.

In the mood for something new? Try your hand at pottery. What an exhilarating experience and an excellent way to reset the mind.

Music.

Music is known for its creativity. Play an instrument. Dance to music. You need not be an accomplished musician. Simply listening to music opens the gateway to creativity.

Channel your creative energy for a boost of wellness!

3.     Perception

Perception speaks to our awareness of the environment through our senses. Is our perception a fixed reality? Take a fender bender for instance. Each driver has a perspective, and witnesses also have a perspective. These perspectives vary yet overlap to a degree. The point is our perspective can shift and have a different reality.

Perception is particularly critical to caregivers due to the sheer volume of life challenges and emotional distress. Often, I catch myself in thought phrases of “I can’t do this anymore!” Or “This is more than I can do!” It seems so very true. So, how can perception be changed to impact wellness? Consider these simple strategies.

Repurpose. 

Everyone, every caregiver, faces challenges. It is what you do with those challenges that define you. It is in your best interest to use life challenges as steppingstones to a healthier state rather than as stumbling blocks. Caregivers face insurmountable challenges. We owe it to ourselves to change our perception from overwhelm to one of recognition that everything that comes to our life is an opportunity for strengthening the soul. Embrace your senses. Let yourself grieve. Then shift your perspective   

Re-focus. 

Frequently our perception of life challenges is to try to get rid of them. Don’t like your boss or get along with a coworker? Change jobs. Rather than squirm and resist, focus on the idea that life challenges are growth opportunities. For example, in your caregiving journey you may have the perception that you are giving up everything that you want to do for the good of your loved one. But this nags at you and your perception invites increased negative awareness, maybe even resentment. Totally understandable but detrimental for your wellness. Shift your perception to the awareness that challenges are necessary for wellness because they reveal opportunities such as the opportunity to set personal boundaries or the opportunity to reach out for assistance.

Shift your perception and watch your wellness blossom!

Incorporate these aspects and other small ways for your personal well-being. And remember, small daily acts of self-care lead to a lifetime of wellness.

Live well!

Karen Leeman

Founder of Caregiver2Caregiver and Resonate Skincare

"Nourish your soul, nourish your skin"