Self-Care & Mindfulness for Caregivers | DB Caregiver Webinar Series pt.1
Caregiving & Self-Care
DifferentBrains.org is excited to present our 5 part webinar series for caregivers. Part 1 seeks to provide caregivers with valuable tools, interventions, and resources to help them balance their responsibilities and prioritize self-care.
For other installments: part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5
–ABOUT OUR HOSTS–
CAROLINA LEON, LMHC, LMFT, NCC, QS: “I have been practicing since 2013, working with children, families, and at-risk youth in various settings. I specialize in helping neurodiverse children, couples with communication or trauma issues, and families in the court system. As a dually licensed Mental Health and Marriage and Family therapist, I am also a Qualified Supervisor and National Certified Counselor. My therapeutic approach is tailored to the individual or family’s needs, drawing from frameworks such as Solution Focused, CBT, Gottman, and Bowen theory. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with loved ones, including my English bulldog Chunky, and I am currently pursuing a Doctoral degree.”
MELODIE PLAISE, M.S.: Melodie Plaise earned a bachelor’s in psychology with a minor in Africana Studies, as well as a master’s in clinical psychology from Barry University. Melodie is currently pursuing a doctorate in counseling with a specialization in Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. She serves as the Founding President of the University’s NAACP chapter and focuses her research on the historic marginalization of minority populations. Outside of school, she organizes and serves with community advocacy groups to promote equity and justice. In addition, she works to decolonize and destigmatize mental healthcare through her practice.
PATI FIZZANO, M.S.: “I received my undergraduate degree from Florida Atlantic University as an Exceptional Student Educator (ESE) with an ASD, autism spectrum disorder endorsement. With over 15 years of experience working with teens diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism, I attended Lynn University and graduated with honors as a Clinical Mental Health Counselor. My clinical passion and professional niche in working with people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their loved ones grew into my passion. I wanted to begin raising awareness to support this population through writings and research and co-wrote Aspertools: The Practical Guide for Understanding and Embracing Asperger’s Autism SpectrumDisorders, and Neurodiversity with Dr. Hackie Reitman, founder of Different Brains. Presently, I am a doctoral student at Barry University in their Family and Marriage Counseling Program to grasp a deeper understanding in supporting families and caregivers that have been touched with autism.”
TRANSCRIPTION
Note: the following transcription was automatically generated. Some imperfections may exist.
ALI IDRISS (AI): Hello everyone, I’m Ali with Different Brains and welcome to the Different Brains Speaker Series, the first installment of our webinar series for caregivers. Different Brains is a nonprofit that strives to encourage understanding and acceptance of neurodiversity. Our mission has three pillars, one to mentor neurodiverse adults and maximize their potential for employment and independence, to to increase awareness of neurodiversity by producing media, and three to foster new generation of neurodivergent self advocates. Here are different brands, we promote awareness to production of a variety of media content, including our video web, web series, blogs, podcasts, and documentaries, all available for free on our website. All of our content is worked on by those in the mentorship program through which we aid individuals and taking the first step towards achieving their goals and finding their voice. To find more information or to make a tax deductible donation, please visit our website differentbrains.org. Before we start, I want to invite everyone to send questions using the q&a feature in zoom or by putting questions in the chat box. This webinar will also have live closed captioning which can be controlled using the CC button on your zoom dashboard. And now I’m going to hand it over to Carolina.
CAROLINA LEON (CL): Thank you Ali. Welcome everyone. Thank you for joining us in our first series for caregivers. My name is Catalina Lyon. I’m a counselor. I’m also the founder of RCS Exclusive Therapy. And I’ve worked with a lot of children with special needs and of course their caregivers. And this is an opportunity that the three of us get to to be able to give back to the caregivers and and help them take care of themselves so they can continue to take care of others. I will introduce my colleagues Melodie and Pati.
PATI FIZZANO (PF): I could go next. Thank you Carolina. My name is Pati Fazzano. I’m also a clinical mental health counselor therapist. I work with mostly the children and the adults on the autism spectrum and their caregivers. I also co wrote a book with Dr. Hackie Reitman from different brains called the asker tools, the practical guide for understanding and embracing Asperger’s, autism spectrum disorder, and your diversity. And I’m really excited about this webinar. So thank you for coming and go ahead. Melodie.
MELODIE PLAISE (MP): Thank you, Pati. Good evening, everyone. My name is Melodie Plaise. And I am a third year doctoral counseling student at Barry University. I own a private practice that is driven by a mission to decolonize and destigmatize mental health care. And I really look forward to just having a meaningful conversation with everyone tonight. Thank you for coming.
CL: Every workshop that we give, we’re going to start with a different mindfulness activity. So this one is called the peaceful place. And so if you could just wherever you are, if you can get into a comfortable spot, comfortable position, and we’re just going, I’m just going to walk you through a relaxation technique. It’s sort of a mindfulness meditation, if you will, in order to get us in this habit and sort of engaging in mindfulness activities and practicing self care, which is really our whole intent for this webinar series. So begin to think about what is what is a peaceful place for you. So think about what do you see what what do you smell? What do you hear? If it feels comfortable for you, you can close your eyes. You know, this is an imaginary place, or an area that can help you feel calm and relaxed when you’re feeling stressed. Begin by setting aside a few minutes, so that you can begin to feel relaxed without having anything else that you need to focus on. Find a comfortable position in your chair or when you’re standing wherever you may be. And breathe in and out. And take another couple of seconds and breathe in and out. Continue to breathe slowly and peacefully as you allow the tension to leave your body. Release and sort of notice any areas of tension and relax those areas in your muscle and become more comfortable with each breath. Continue to let the breath relax you and we’re going to breathe in and hold it a little bit. And out. And again, we’re gonna do it once more. Breathe in and out. Continue to breathe slowly, gently uncomfortable for you, whatever that looks like. And now begin to create a picture in your mind of a place where you can completely relax. Imagine what this place needs to be like for you in order to feel calm and relaxed. And take a deep breath in and out. Now you can begin to picture a little bit more details of this place. Who is with you? What do you hear? What do you smell? What are those things that help you feel calm and a sense of relaxation? And breathe in. And breathe out. Now enjoy your peaceful place for a few moments. Memorize what you see what you hear what you smell. You know what are those things that really bring you peace? And then these last few moments of this relaxation exercise. Think of how can you return to this place for a quick recharge. Memorize what you see. And when you’re ready to return. You can open your eyes if you close them and you can file this place your imaginary place somewhere in your in your mind and in your heart. And whenever you need it, you can return back to it. All right. Thank you all for or joining us in this activity. Any any thoughts on what this brought up for you? And you can put it in the chat if you don’t mind. I’ll give you a few seconds. Just relaxing and breathing. Thank you Melodie and I saw you relax too. Reminder to live in the moment where my feet stand. I love that. Thank you Joy all right. I have gained a peacefulness in my relaxation of mine that I have and living in the moment. Thank you, Michael. That’s beautiful. Okay, so I’m going to begin sharing a PowerPoint for you. But as Melodie and Pati mentioned earlier, we really want this to be for you. So if there’s any questions or any comments that you want to make, please feel free to put it in the chat and we’ll we’ll take a minute and make sure we get to it. Okay, so I’m gonna share my screen, okay, and again, like I mentioned before, this is our first webinar series of five. And this particular one is on self care mindfulness, presented by myself, Carolina Leon Melodie Plaise and Pati Fizzano. And we are so very excited to have everyone here. Alright, so some of what we’re going to do today is our learning objectives is really we want to increase caregivers awareness of the importance of self care, be able to provide caregivers with just practical tools and interventions, or just a little breathing exercise like we just did, to help balance your roles and being able to engage in self care practices and mindfulness practices.
CL: So, so if you all can chime in in the chat, what is self care? For those that have joined us so far? And I’ll let Melodie read those out. Because when I share, I can’t see anything else. Melodie or Pati? Either one.
MP: One answer is sleep. Yeah.
CL: Very important.
PF: Just taking care of yourself taking walks or going to get your hair done anything like that is a great self care. That’s right. saying no. Yeah.
CL: Yeah. So I’m gonna start putting them on here as people continue to put them in the array. And you could just read them out Melodie or Pati if you don’t mind as they come in.
PF: Of course. So listening to a podcast. Even coming here tonight was self care. Right? Helping you know, putting yourself first. Oh, that’s not when I said it.
MP: Walk. Yeah, absolutely. Working out. Yes. Yes. Time to do what you want by yourself. Oh, mg. Yes. That’s so hard right now for me with a one year old. saying no, absolutely. Mm hmm. Yes, it’s understanding my needs and making sure they get met. Absolutely. Preaching to the choir. Thank you for all of these like these are so like deep and meaningful. I love that. Yes, having time for myself for my own interest in hobbies, love it long dries with my hubby. I love those two.
CL: But that is awesome. So you’re here are some that we came up with. But as as Melodie has been reading them out, it’s endless, right? Self Care for anybody, for everybody is going to look a little different. But all those that you all share. Thank you. And those are amazing, right? Sometimes just staying home for me if I have time, if I can go anywhere and read a book. It’s a good day, because you know, nowadays, you just don’t have time for anything. Right. So setting boundaries I somebody else said working out that’s also a big one for me. So I love that self care can be so many things for for everybody. Pati and Melodie, what about you what what are some of those self care needs for you, or self care that you practice?
PF: I like going for walks I think just using your senses as you go for walks is really important. So listening to the birds or smelling the you know, cut grass and stuff like that, I really, really do think that’s how I you know, some of my self care. Thanks, Pati.
MP: And for me, it’s really just as, as I’ve seen, some people say like, just being able to, like, take care of your own needs and meeting your own needs, right? Like making sure like, as a parent or as a caregiver, like it’s hard to kind of like find time to do anything for yourself right? So just being able to like get my hair done get my nails done, or you know, like just the simplest things you know I absolutely love and just going for morning walks even though those are not by myself like they’re with the baby but she’s usually like knocked out in the inverse strollers. So it feels like it’s by myself. So like those are those are awesome, you know?
CL: Thank you Thank you ladies for sharing. All right. So then what what is mindfulness? When when you hear this word mindfulness, what comes up for you? And again if you could put it in the chat one of the ladies will read it for us. What is this thing called mindfulness?
MP: Yes One answer staying in tune with yourself, beautiful. I really think that mindfulness can be so many things it can be whatever just like you know self care. It is what you make it you know.
PF: Yes. Like Anna wrote that she loves reading a really good book which is really a great way to escape you know, or if you can’t get away. That’s a great way to get away right reading a book. Breathing and resting, focusing on on you know your breathing hang in your resting Park. Going to a quiet room?
MP: Noise Cancelling Headphones. Yes.
CL: That’s a great one.
PF: I do have a set of ideas.
MP: We all need a set of those right? Yes. mindful of your surrounding and being content of yourself and the beauty of quietness I love
CL: that is beautiful, very good Bible
PF: sounds horrible but can’t do anything else. Ice cream, low fat.
CL: That is great self care, too. Yeah. All right. So thank you all for sharing. So, how mindfulness is one of the definitions of mindfulness because I’m sure you can find many, right. But in this case, it’s the awareness that that sort of emerges through paying attention on purpose, which is sort of what everybody has chimed in, in the in the chat, right? Being in the moment, non judgmental, and just sort of letting things unfold and experiencing the moment to moment. Right. And I think I see in the chat, compassion, non judgement being in the presence. So that is exactly what we’re seeing. And it is truly being able to take even if it’s three or four minutes for yourself, and just disconnecting right now, in a world where everything is technology, which is great, because it brought us together, right? But being able to disconnect for a little bit, and doing whatever feels right for you, however you can feel in the moment and be present for yourself. All right. And so again, sort of everything we’ve we’ve talked about a little bit, what is mindfulness is seeing your life as it is happening, sort of noticing those thoughts that arise without needing to dive into them, but just letting them flow through you, right? Accepting a current situation without judgment or struggle, or a real struggle, leaning into the struggle and saying, How can I get through this? Right, and allowing for you to have that peace and that mindfulness of okay, this is temporary, and we’re going to get through the struggle. So taking actions based on what you feel in your heart, rather than old habits or short term ease or solutions, right. So being mindful of what feels right for you. And sort of, again, allowing feelings to exist without letting them drive your actions, right. So making decisions based on thoughtful decisions, and not so much emotional driven, right. And there’s some said here, you know, quiet room or enjoying those silent moments, however short, they may be enjoying, enjoying that. Well, this letter may be available to us. I’m sure I don’t I don’t see why not. We could definitely have it be made available to you. We could even maybe put it in a format where you could take notes next to it.
PF: Also could be viewed on different brains website.
CL: That’s right, you could you could also view this. So this is being recorded. So it could be viewed on the DiffBrains website. So you will have it there. But if you would like it emailed, I’m sure we could make that happen as well.
So now we’re gonna get into sort of some toolbox, right? So these are also some additional mindfulness, you know, exercise exercises that you can continue to add into your toolbox to take care of yourselves as as caregivers, okay. So being here, being present, taking breaths, we’ll and we’ll go through them. And if at any time, you need me to stop or go back or explain something, just put it in the chat. So our first sort of toolkit is one that Pati really does a beautiful job of explaining so I’m gonna let you tackle this one.
PF: Okay, so, in the morning, sometimes we get up and we don’t know where to go first. Right? We have so much going on in our lives. So one of the things I do in the morning I always make myself a cup of tea, the first thing and many of us do we make coffee tea in the morning. But keep and get into that mode of mindfulness. To understand it is, as you’re, you’re like making your coffee or really, you know, brewing your coffee or doing the tea, to actually use your senses in this time. So what you want to do is say, like, you know, as you’re making the coffee, let’s say you’re, you’re putting this the scent, you’re smelling the scent of the coffee being made, right? Or you’re listening to it dripping, you know, you know, anything you’re doing, just to use your senses on even picking up the coffee pot and feeling the actual coffee on your hands, feeling the warms. And this is a way that as you’re drinking your coffee slowly, just be mindful of that moment of what’s going on around you. What are you tasting? What are you hearing? What are you smelling? You know, stay in that moment. And that’s a great tool to add to your toolkit for a mindfulness activity, you know, and that’s easy to do, right? As you’re drinking. This is your time, you know, sometimes we drink coffee or tea in the morning, and we like, oh, is this a second or third cup? We’re not even sure because our mind is going millions of places, right? So we want to stay in that moment. And the way to stay in it is to really concentrate on your census. So that’s a great tool to put in your toolkit. So I hope that helps. Thank you Carolina
CL: thanks, Pati. For me, it’s coffee for Pati. It’s tea. But for me, it’s that smell of coffee in the morning.
PF: Michael, I agree, it is appealing a way of content, right.
CL: So thank you. Thank you, Michael. And so another one is sort of what we did at the beginning, just really focusing on your breath, being able to take those deep breathing exercises, right breathing in for a few seconds, then out for a few seconds. repeating it as as as much as it feels comfortable for you. And you can do this throughout the day. Right if if you’re still working remote, as as a lot of us still are, you can you know, sit in your chair and really engage in these breathing exercises for a few seconds throughout the day, just to reconnect with yourself and then be able to connect back to whatever it is that you’re doing. Another one of these pieces in your toolbox, which is one of my favorite is lighting a candle right? Lighting up your favorite candle, maybe it’s your favorite scent, and being able to just see the flame swaying and flicker back and forth. Sort of observing your thoughts. And again, letting them pass without judgment and seeing what comes up for you. Maybe you need a breather. So getting getting away from whatever room you’re in, maybe go to another room and light that candle. Let the smell sort of surround you and see what it brings up for you. And and just really being mindful of okay, I need this moment for myself right now. And then getting back to whatever it is you’re doing especially as caregivers, I’m sure you’re pulled 1000 different ways. So being able to have as much as you can in your toolbox to take some time for yourself. So you could continue to do what you do is very important.
CL: All right, I’m gonna invite Melanie in
MP: Thank you Carolina. Right. So another tool that we have that we you can add to your toolkit is journaling. And, for me, that’s one of my favorite things to do. And I think that’s why I explained it so well or I talk about it so passionately. But because journaling can look so differently for like, if you do what feels right to you, it could be like an old notebook that you sometimes write notes and, or how you’re feeling or how your day went and or it could even be like a formal journal or it could be something even with love not to call it a diary or anything, right. But you know, it could look differently for so many of us. And some of the things that you can do as you journal is you can set intentions for your day set, like you know, like how do you want your day to go? What are some things that you have planned, planned? What are some things that you want to accomplish for the day, right? What are some of your goals for that day, it’s good to write them down and be able to look back and reflect on them, which is where the reflecting part comes in. Right? Being able to look back at things that you’ve journaled or written in the past and seeing like, how is that different from where I am now? What worked back then what did not work back then what’s working now what’s not working now? It’s just a good way for us to kind of like, just really take some time with ourselves to really think about how we’re feeling deeply inside, right.
And then another one of my favorites is positive affirmations. Those are just ways of training your brain to really value you as a person, as the person that you are valuing you for you. Right? And they can, they can be a range of things you can say, I am smart, I am loved, I am an amazing caregiver. You know, it could go on and on or even I’m going to have an amazing day, so many different things that you can even things that you set as intentions, right, and you’re afraid the beginning of your day, I’m going to have a good day or I hope to have a good day today. Repeat that to yourself throughout the day. Don’t let your don’t. As soon as you close that journal. Don’t forget about that. Continue reflecting on that continue thinking about that throughout the day. And look back at it to don’t just like forget about it, it’s always good to go back and see how differently life was back then versus now.
CL: I’ll pass it back to Carolina Thank you already. And that that is one of you know if any of your caregiving depending on the population that you’re caring for, let’s say you’re caring for somebody younger, you could also include them in it, write these in these positive affirmations and sort of seeing them to one another, or, or feed off of one another. And really building this this mindfulness atmosphere, I’m really reframing it to these positive toolkits, right. Thank you Melodie for sharing. And so this is one of my favorite sort of exercises. And it’s a foot grounding exercises, right. So if you’re feeling a bit jittery, or if you are again, in front of the computer, like a lot of us are, and you feel a little tired, going outside, having your feet on the ground, you know, walking barefoot a little bit, and seeing how walking back and forth with each step, how your weight shifts from center to the ball of your foot, really maintaining a steady breath throughout this exercises. And while they’re still, you know, the research is a little bit up in the air on this particular practice, which is called earthing. There there is some experts they do suggest that this could help you know with stress, improving foot blood flow and sleep, right. So and this particular exercise, whether you do it on grass, or at the beach on the sand, this can also be used for the individual that you’re caring for right to connect both of you to nature, or simply a change of scenery. So that for me, this is one of my favorite ones, right? Because we you can go to the beach, or you could do it outside in the grass area. And just sort of connecting with nature. And again, being mindful on your breath. And repeating a couple of times again, in and out and just doing this three to five times or whatever feels comfortable for you. And it’s grounding yourself and really just connecting with nature.
CL: And lastly, like our last little piece of of our slide, and then we can get into the q&a is mindfulness is really an ounce of happiness, right? So the more you do it, the more comfortable you would be. And the the more that you will be making things intentional and just really mindful about enjoying the little things and the great things that are around us. So again, we thank you all for for being here with us today. And we will go over to the q&a portion. And if you want to hear more about us or you want to reach out with any questions or comments or anything, please feel free to do so. Now I’m going to kick it back to Ali for any questions or anything that has to be answered.
AI: Thank you ladies. So yes, of course. So everyone, you can go ahead and plug in questions in the q&a feature on Zoom. Um, you can kind of move your mouse to show the dashboard on the bottom of the Zoom screen and click the q&a feature or you can just plug in your questions in the chat. Okay, so the first question is what would be the best way to achieve real mindfulness of peace?
CL: That’s a great question. And so these This is one of those things that really with practice, you’re going to gain that, that peace and that mindfulness, right. So I can reflect on my journey with mindfulness. When I first began to engage in it, it was, it was a little awkward, right to, to focus on your breath. And, and I was like, oh, at some point, your mind starts to wander. But then the more you do it, and the more you practice and, and the more you allow for, for whatever comes to your head and just sort of table it for a minute. And just focus on the here and now really, the more peace that you will get. But really, it is mindfulness is very repetitious, like everything else, right? If we want to get good at something you really have to practice. And there are many YouTube videos that you can find that will guide you through, maybe in a peaceful place, or or guided imagery, of different mindfulness exercises. I don’t know if Melodie and Pati, you want to add anything to that.
MP: I think you said it beautifully. I think practice makes perfect when it comes to mindfulness, right. The more you practice mindfulness, the more you’ll feel comfortable with it, the more you’ll get use out of it, the more you’ll crave it when you haven’t, you know, engaged in it in a while. So practice it, use some of the tools we showed you or presented to you tonight, or even like quickly look up, look it up on YouTube, or Google or just find something that works for you something that speaks to you something that aligns with who you are. And that’s the best way to get started make it interesting to you.
PF: I agree malady. And I loved your way of saying it Carolina, I think of when you’re beginning the mindfulness part and not knowing, find something that really is passionate to you, if you like, like the beach, then start using the beach things like listening to the ocean, or having things around your home like sand or you know, anything that you can touch or smell or anything that relates to the passion that you absolutely love to do. That’s how you can actually begin it. Because I think that’s when you start connecting with something that you already love. That just makes you go do it more. Right. So that’s another part that you might think of when you’re trying to find the piece of the actual piece of the mindfulness. Thank you.
AI: Thank you. Our next question is from joy. Any suggestions for how to find a psychologist that works for TBI patients and accepts insurance?
CL: Um, it’s really difficult because there are unfortunately, there are some insurance companies or some psychologists that are not accepting insurance. But on the flip side, I think that the best way to go about that is really to contact the insurance company and get a list. Right, it might be a little bit tedious. But that will really be your best way only because then you have a list of approved providers, versus trying to find providers and see who takes your insurance. So if you haven’t done that already, that might be the best way to go is get a list from your insurance company, Melodie and Pati, I don’t know if you have anything else to add to that. Note, the
MP: only thing I would add is in addition to like getting the list, when you’re making the choice, you can call and ask you know, you’re able to kind of like interview the fish physician in a way or the doctor or the psychologist to see if if they’re a good fit before you decide to go with them. But definitely going through your insurances list is the best way because you know they will be qualified or they will be eligible to provide services.
CL: Yes, thank you, Melanie. And I agree, you know, don’t feel that if let’s say you start with a psychologist and it may not be a fit. Don’t be afraid to try to go you know, another route or try another psychologist. It’s sort of the same thing as with a medical doctor. You may not necessarily vibe or feel comfortable with one you go to another one right? You get a second opinion. So same thing for mental health or for psychology. And Pati I think you’re muted I apologize.
PF: Oh, no, no, no, I agree with with both of you just keep searching because don’t give up. You just have to keep searching and you’ll find one you know. I don’t you know, there’s not much out there. There’s so much out there. And even like I would agree with you Carolina go to your insurance company, see who who would help you support you in that. But just keep calling around and you’ll find someone. And we will put that in your in our resources and look it up also. So in our future webinars, we can even see we could even support you there too.
AI: Okay, now the question is, how can you get your family on board to allow you the space for self care?
CL: So this is this is a difficult one, right? But how are you? I can hear me, I can hear you. Yes. Okay, good. So this might be one where you have to begin to establish those boundaries, and maybe start small, right, and letting them know, listen, I need five minutes for myself. And I’ll be back, I just I need to recharge, however you want to frame it, however, it is best for you. And I think, again, it’s one of those things where the more you do it, and the more consistent you are with it, they’ll begin to understand. And you can say, I need a minute, I need five minutes, you know, start off small, and then go from there. And then if they’re on board, and maybe you know, they see that you are being mindful and that you are really engaging in that self care. If they’re curious, maybe teaching them you know, sort of letting them know what it’s about. But really, it goes back to establishing those boundaries and letting them know, I need a minute. Right, I need to recharge Melodie, Pati, I don’t know if you want to add anything.
PF: So the one thing I always think about is when we get on an airplane, right? I always think of this. And if something’s happening, they tell you, when the oxygen mass drops down, you have to support yourself, first, you got to put it on yourself before you put it on your child. And that’s only because to help to help having you in control of taking care of someone, right. So you have to think of that at home to think of you have to you have to get that charge in to help your children or your husband or your parents or whoever you’re caregiving for. So always think of that, like, it’s something you kind of have to do, you have to recharge yourself. If not, you’re not going to be really good as a caregiver for the children or the adults, because you’re not charged yourself. So you’re gonna wear yourself out and actually get burned out. So you have to be careful. And always make sure you do spend that time for yourself. Even if you have to walk away from the situation and just give everyone a timeout and you walk away you have to give yourself those few minutes to recharge.
MP: I think the only thing I would add to that, which I’ve added to the chat is that you can’t pour from an empty cup, right? You want to as Pati was saying you want to recharge you want to refill your, your own cup, before you’re able to for two others. So taking care of yourself is definitely essential.
AI: Okay, so another question we have is any tips for working self care into a set routine?
CL: We go back to this notion of repetition, right? A routine is really those things that you have to do every day, right? So we wake up, we brush our teeth, we whatever it is that you need to do you wash your face, right? It’s repetitious. It’s every day, you have to do the same thing you have to eat, right? So really building in building it into your daily routines in whatever capacity it feels good for you. Maybe it’s during coffee time. Maybe it’s I don’t know, after lunch or before lunch. So building it into something that you already do will definitely help you. Make it a routine and make it a habit and really be mindful of including it in your daily routines and activities. Right. Any additions Pati or Melodie?
PF: No, I think you said it beautifully. Yeah. It’s important to put it in as a routine. Like getting up in the morning having your cup of coffee. That’s the routine, right? Just keep building on that.
AI: Another question is can I learn to practice mindfulness on my own?
CL: Yes, definitely. Again, it’s sort of very repetitious. Right? And it has to feel comfortable for you. So again, I go back to my journey on mindfulness, and I would start with my dog. I have a bulldog. and her and I would just be out back. And I would just pet her and focus on my breathing, right. And that’s kind of how I started. And from there, it kind of trickled down into other areas really enjoying, like Pati said, enjoying a walk, being able to have those moments for yourself before taking care of your family. Right. And so again, it goes back to that repetition, and really finding what works for you. If it’s the beach, going to the beach, and just enjoying maybe just sitting there listening to the waves, right? Or smelling the beach air. Anything that just feels right for you. And that you can connect with
PF: Pati Melodie. And Carolina all I would add is if they’re having trouble doing it on their own, if you Google, anything like guided meditation, anything like that, you will find all these different sites that you can actually click, and it would help and guide you through it. If you really are struggling in the beginning to do it on your own. Or some people like to do both. They like to do it on their own, in addition to actually doing like guided meditation, because I still do both. I mean, I like some guided meditations. So I really enjoy, especially in the evening, I put headphones on, I just listened to it. So yeah, you could try that. I hope that works for you. Thanks, Pati.
AI: The last question is, are there any apps or websites you recommend for mindfulness?
CL: Well, there are. I know we’ve used in the past, though, we bought and Melodie, I don’t know if you could put it in the chat because I always say it wrong. There you go. So it’s in the chat. And it does guide you through some mindfulness activities and different sorts of activities. But as Pati mentioned, you can also look up in YouTube or in Google different mindfulness guided mindfulness activities. And so that that could help you to get started on the mindfulness journeys. Obviously, if you are there’s an AI malady. Tell us about that one. Um, no. So
MP: it’s the same one you’re talking about. It’s the robot. So it’s it’s really an AI powered application where you use you make an account, you sign in, you’re able to have little chats and back and forth with with the AI. They also provide tools. So if you say like, I’m feeling overwhelmed, right now, they’ll ask you like, do you want to, like talk about it? Or would you like me to offer you some tools. So like, I really liked like, I enjoyed using it as well, when we were using it for class, right and learning about it. So it’s a really good tool that you’re that you’re able to like just download on your phone and start using it and have someone literally at your fingertips and who’s willing and able to give you so many resources. So yeah, I
PF: love it. Thanks, Melodie. I did have that Melodie it too. I use that, like, at least once a week, if I’m really frustrated, or just want to have someone to talk to you about something. I just do it. It’s my virtual therapist. So yes, it’s pretty cool. Thank you.
AI: Okay, so any final thoughts? Ladies? Before we ended up today?
CL: Now, I think we thank you all for being here with us and taking this mindful journey with us, we really hope to see you on the rest of our of our series. So we have four more, and it’ll be Wednesdays at 630. And so thank you all for really taking this journey with us.
MP: Absolutely, and I agree, like thank you, as I was reading, um, who was in the room who was in the space I saw so many, you know, parents who are or, or even like employees or people who are working to care for others and the fact that you’re taking this time to even be here that alone is self care. And I want you to like acknowledge that acknowledge that, like you’re wanting to learn more about this, and you’re taking this time for yourself. So but thank you for coming. Thank you for attending. It means the world to us. We really hope to see you in our four remaining webinars. Next week we will be talking really just about networking for caregivers. So we hope to see you there next week at the same time. 630 Eastern
PF: I also want to thank everyone. This has been such a pleasure to do this. And we’re looking forward to the next webinars. And again, if you need to see this again or want to share it with your friends just go on to different brains and you’ll see that so thank you again for coming and being with us this time.
AI: Thank you so much to our amazing presenters. And thank you everyone for attending. Be sure to come back like they said in one week for the second installment. And like Pati said, we will be sharing links and contact information for everyone in the chat box and on the screen. From everyone here at different brains. Good night.
