In this video, Masada Homes’ Clinical Supervisor, Teresa Radian, shares tips on how you as a caregiver can care for your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Video Transcription
Hi, my name is Teresa Radian and I’m the clinical supervisor at Masada Homes based on the Lynwood Middle School campus.
I’m really glad you checked in here today to get some information on self-care. As a caregiver, your time is valuable and I just want to take a few minutes to remind you to care for yourself. Nothing that I share here will be new. I just want to prompt you to make an established effort to take better care of yourself.
As with anything, in order to make something happen, you have to make a plan for it. So try some of these things that I will share with you. Plan them, schedule them, make them happen. You’ll feel better.
The first topic I’d like to discuss is your physical health. Getting adequate sleep is critical to function throughout the day. Getting regular exercise will improve your mood. Good nutrition is vital, you need to eat well, eat balanced meals. Watch your alcohol intake. Make sure that you schedule your well visits to the doctor and keep your doctor’s appointments for yourself the same way that you would do for your child or for your parents if you’re caring for them.
Emotional health is critical. Taking good care of yourself emotionally is a little difficult. It’s sometimes hard to get our needs met. You need to work on stress management. Make sure that you are keeping tabs on how you’re feeling when your blood pressure rises. Develop good coping skills, learn to talk, share your feelings. Maybe therapy is indicated right now. You need somebody to talk to. Journaling is an excellent exercise to get your thoughts and feelings out if you feel safe doing that.
Everyone needs a social support network. Facebook isn’t going to cut it. You need to talk to people, live people. It can be your sister or your girlfriend or other adults in your community. You need to practice good boundaries, learn when to say no. You need to have involvement in something that’s fulfilling to you, whether it’s work or a volunteer project. Spiritual well-being is also important. It doesn’t just mean going to church. It means taking care of that inner voice, your soul, nurturing yourself. Time alone is essential for that. Maybe get out and get some time in nature. Pray, meditate, spend time that’s just quiet and just for you. I know that can be hard to do so try to schedule it. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Start off small and build on it.
All you caregivers know how hard it can be to find time for yourself, but it’s really important to develop your person. Make sure that you’re spending time in creating hobbies, setting goals for yourself, working on your own identity. Creativity is a great way to develop your identity. Give yourself an outlet. Color, draw, read a book, anything that you enjoy is something that will feed you. Take a look at your personal environment. Do you like where you’re living? Do you have too much clutter? Do you have too little space for yourself? Sometimes organizing your personal space can help you feel better about a lot of things. Take a look at your environment and see if it’s satisfying for you.
I’m sure that nothing I’ve shared here is news to you. You are already providing good care for the people in your life. Now it’s just time to provide that same good care for you. So think about these categories on a daily basis and try and carve out some time for yourself. There are some attachments at the end of this presentation to give you some ideas of things that you can do for yourself. Try to find some time to have fun, try to find some time to laugh. Be well.