Empowerment — Blog — Courage to Caregivers

JUNE 2023 Newsletter: EMPOWERMENT ... Grow Through What You Go Through 🌱

We LOVE talking about EMPOWERMENT! Empowerment is a "form of strength that stems from the self and community." It's also a process of BECOMING. Becoming stronger and more confident. As caregivers, empowerment is important for taking care of ourselves - self-empowerment - and providing care to others.

Empowerment might just be the BEST part of our "job." As we work to empower caregivers of ALL kinds - we're working to support them in becoming the best version of themselves! WHO do YOU want to BE or become?

Empowerment has kind of a RIPPLE EFFECT ... as caregivers become more empowered - they set an example for those in their care - they are role models for their loved ones to be more empowered, too!

As we work to prevent caregiver burnout - we love to empower caregivers to be their best selves.

5 TOOLS TO MANIFESTING EMPOWERMENT

MINDSET: What you THINK you BECOME! Notice - what is your current mindset? How do you feel about it? Do you want to make a change? You can SHIFT your mindset - make a list of your core values - how you want to BE and become - and set a goal (or two) towards pursuing those!
AFFIRMATIONS: Use affirmations to inspire you or reframe your thoughts. Affirmations are a great way to focus on positive self-talk and manifest the YOU that you want to BECOME.
JOURNAL: Journaling allows you to remember the good, bad and ugly from your day - a reminder of how you are BECOMING. It helps you to visualize where you've been and where you want to GO.
MEDITATION: “Meditation is an excellent way to start manifesting a better version of yourself. It’s about silencing and clearing the mind of all negative, unnecessary, and disturbing thoughts and ideas from the mind. With meditation, you can develop self-awareness, stress management skills and learn positive thinking techniques.” ~ Seriah Sargenton, Riyah Speaks
COMMUNITY: Find a community that cares - that lifts you up when you can't stand - that believes in you, and your potential, when you're feeling low. Surround yourself with like-minded, motivated people who empower you to be the best version of yourself.

Check out our entire June newsletter focused on Empowerment here.

Saying “No” Is a Healthy Practice

“The root of self-care is setting boundaries: it's saying no to something in order to say yes to your own emotional, physical, and mental well-being.”

~ Nedra Glover Tawwab, "Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself"

Some concepts are so essential to self-care that they keep coming up in our conversations, and this week’s topic is one of them. Ever since we started Courage to Caregivers, we’ve been talking about the importance of setting healthy boundaries. But let’s face it, we can all use a refresher now and then on how to both SET and MAINTAIN healthy boundaries.

EmpowermentKristi HornerJune 22, 2023Boundaries, Healthy Boundaries

Show Empathy and Compassion … For Yourself

Our topic this week puts an even newer spin on a relatively new concept – holding space. Caregivers are typically very good at holding space for others, which means being physically, mentally, and emotionally present for someone who needs us. What we want to talk about is holding space for yourself.

When we hold space for others, we allow them to feel their feelings. We commit ourselves to supporting them when they need our help. We give them our full attention, and we listen in a non-judgmental way.

EmpowermentKristi HornerJune 15, 2023Holding Space, Holding Space For Yourself

Creativity Lets You Be You

Creative expression is a great way to process emotions, vent energy, and have fun! It can increase your happiness, stimulate positive emotions, improve mental health, sharpen brain functions, reduce stress, and even make your immune system function better.

Recommit Don't Quit!

Back in January, we set an intention for our year. As we near the midpoint of 2023, we invite you to look back with reflection at that intention without judgment or shame. How’s it going? What have you learned? What’s working? What’s not working? Good news: You still have more than six months to work on that intention.

We are all about empowerment, which just happens to be our theme this month! Why? Because that is the key to making our solution to caregiver burden sustainable. It’s what makes preventing caregiver burden possible. It starts with an intention – your intention – that something needs to change. That the way you’ve been selflessly caring for someone else has taken a toll on your life and you want to make a change. We know we can’t change our loved ones living with mental, chronic, or serious illness, YET, we can find courage and compassion, and we CAN cope. You can find portable, sustainable tools for coping and managing stress that build and form lifelong habits. With practice, you can build a PRACTICE.

EmpowermentKristi HornerMay 31, 2023Recommit Don't Quit!