RESOURCES FROM YOUR PAST SELF
Our Tuesday Women's Empowerment Circle this week focused on the lessons we have learned from our past selves. You may find it helpful to look back in time and reflect on the things that you used to do before you were a raregiver. Remind yourself what you loved and how you cared for yourself. What were the things that you did for yourself then that you are not doing now? Your past self can be a resource for your present day self.
Reflect
Perhaps you take a few minutes and sit with your eyes closed, contemplating with curiosity on what you loved. Maybe you were curious to learn or had intended to get a college degree or produce plays. Maybe you used to spend more quality time with people you love. It's important that you create a sustainable structure that includes you.
Self-care practices
What is it that sustains you and nourishes you in body and soul? Here are a few of the things we put on our list:
Listen to music you love
Go swimming or take a walk
Spend time in prayer or meditation
Practice journaling – you might choose to use this prompt: go back to a moment in your life where you were feeling fully at ease
Each time you practice self-care, celebrate each moment that you took for yourself. These are moments of success because you tended to yourself which creates sustainability in your life for you and your Rare family.
Overwhelm
Being overwhelmed is a regular experience for most raregivers. It can be helpful to practice accepting what is in the moments when you feel overwhelmed. Seek out communities of like-minded souls and engage with external support structures. You are NOT ALONE.
Gratitude
Opening to gratitude can be an antidote for overwhelm. One practice you might try is to intend 20 moments where you place your hand on your heart and feel the gratitude that you have for the people in your life, for yourself and for all the blessings of being alive. When you do this 20 times in a day, you will feel a difference in your outlook on life.
Coming Up Next Week: Shifting Responsibilities: Role strain and identity change (Stage 3 Emotional Journey Map)
In the third stage of the “Emotional Journey map” we see how roles become strained and identities change. During this session we will talk about how family life changes as the need for caregiving increases, especially for women (as mothers, relatives, and partners), who are the dominant caregivers for people with rare diseases. Caregiving is time-intensive and involves adopting multiple roles such as care coordinator, researcher, decision-maker, and advocate. Becoming the main caregiver can place strain on those giving care as they try to balance employment, family life, and caregiving. Becoming a caregiver can also mean losing other meaningful sources of identity and lead to feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Please join us for this powerful session.
Please Join Us 😇
You may not realize how much you need the Raregivers community until you find it.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88974713173
We look forward to being with you soon. 😇