Sustainable Self-Care “Take Care of You”

Pacifica, CA photo shared by Ben Isaac Tresco

If you are a caregiver, formal or informal, or if you are in a profession that requires you to care for or to support others -- either people, animals, or the environment, you may be in need of some sustainable self-care practices.

1) Free Simple stretching and breathing breaks to do at home or at work:

Stress & Pain (Emotional/Physical) Management

2) Two-minute videos about how to bring a training to your workspace or to a training to fit your individual schedule: click here. (Scholarships available.)

Hans Selye, a medical pioneer in the field, defined stress as the 'nonspecific response to any demand, including the efforts to cope with the wear and tear in the body caused by life at any one time’. (The Stress of Life, Hans Selye, M.D, 1956). Stress is the failure of the body to adapt to these demands.

It may be helpful to complete the short ProQOL checklist to see if you are in need of some self-care strategies you can incorporate into your day — both at home and at work.

WHY Simple Stretching and Breathing?

You can manage how you feel (anxiety, pain, depression) by choosing simple stretching and breathwork:

  1. An accessible and simple way to immediately lower your blood pressure, heart rate, and stress hormone levels (and of your clients)

  2. Another facet to your self-care plan that includes physical and emotional ways to strengthen the mind and body

  3. A way to retrain the brain to help the mind work in more positive, healthier ways (called neuroplasticity).

  4. A way to manage how you are feeling — manage anxiety, pain and depression --with how you move and how you breathe.

And that's just the short list.

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS

Echinacea in Maine

Here are some easy steps to help you incorporate this simple tool into your personal self-care stress management box of tools.

  1. Set yourself up for success from the start. If you have 2 minutes, start with 2 minutes. Practice some easy stretching and breathing techniques -- go to our FREE page and enjoy the breaks.

  2. Share the short minute breaks with others -- family, clients, patients, coworkers, or friends. Spread some seeds of stress management.

  3. Click here for some tried-and-true ideas on how to find a yoga class to meet your current needs.