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JULY 2023 Newsletter: Wellness is Possible With Practice

"Wellness is about how we live our lives and the joy and fulfillment and health we experience." ~ SAMHSA, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Creating a Healthier Life - A Step-by-Step Guide to Wellness."

With our focus on creating sustainable PRACTICES, we can look at WELLNESS as a state of BEING. By creating healthy habits, we set ourselves up for sustainable wellness.

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease.” ~ World Health Organization

5 TOOLS TO IMPROVE YOUR WELLNESS:

Inspired by 9 Tested Tips to Improve Your Wellbeing and Quality of Life by John Adams, The Wellbeing Project

FOCUS ON THE FAB 3: Sleep - nutrition - movement. Get enough sleep (6-8 hours is recommended). Eat healthy, balanced meals & stay hydrated. Move your body ... more!
MANAGE YOUR STRESS: Learning how to cope and manage stressors is essential. NOTICE what causes you stress; where do you hold stress? ... BREATHE ... How do you cope and manage stressful situations?
STAY CONNECTED: Social isolation has been found to be as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day! Find ways to connect daily with others: family - friends - neighbors - colleagues - support groups! Start a conversation in the checkout line at the grocery. Smile at a stranger. A short call - FaceTime - Zoom - all provide human connection.
BE PRESENT: BREATHE. You're doing the best you can with what you have in this moment. Remember, caregiving is a JOURNEY. Do your best to be fully present in your wellness journey, too. Where do you want to start? Set micro-goals that are SMART. Find an accountability partner. Then, don't forget to celebrate your successes as you progress!
AVOID THE BAD: Focus on all the GOOD you are doing for you, and work to avoid or limit the BAD for you: alcohol - smoking - drugs - sugar - caffeine.

At Courage to Caregivers we know that healthier, stronger caregivers provide healthier, stronger care to their loved ones, and in turn create healthier, stronger families.

Check out our entire July newsletter focused on Wellness here.

WellnessKristi HornerJuly 27, 2023Movement, Move Your Body, Self-Discipline, Sleep Hygiene, Sleep

Things Look Better After a Good Night’s Sleep

This month, we’ll be talking about topics related to wellness, and getting enough sleep is one of the best practices we can follow to improve our self-health.

But I get it. When there never seems to be enough time in the day to take care of all our responsibilities and take some time for ourselves, we may find it hard to get enough quality sleep time. That’s when practicing good sleep hygiene can help. Sleep hygiene is a series of steps you can take to ensure that your body and brain have time to rest and recharge.

WellnessKristi HornerJuly 6, 2023Sleep Hygiene, Sleep

August Newsletter: Treat Your Body As a Temple - Nourish Your Mind-Body-Soul

We have spent most of this year talking about ways to nourish your soul, but it’s equally important to NOURISH YOUR BODY. Throughout August, we shared ways to NOURISH your body, develop a positive body IMAGE, MOVE your body, and REST your body with good sleep hygiene.

August is also National Wellness Month. At Courage to Caregivers, we're focused on supporting caregivers to make their health and well-being a priority ALL year LONG!

When we make deliberate choices to improve our physical and mental health, we are showing that we have worth and value. This exercise in validating the importance of our very existence is essential in building self-esteem ... it's also self-RESPECT.

Your body is a temple and deserves to be shown the highest form of respect and reverence. The result is increased life expectancy, fewer health issues, improved mental health, and more energy and enthusiasm.

Your body is also the essential component of your existence. You have two choices. Either treat it as dispensable and unimportant, resulting in disease and illness. Or treat it with respect by making an effort to fill it with healthy foods and liquids, to keep it strong through regular and consistent movement, and to recharge it with rest/sleep.

When you do something good for your body, it also is a gift to your brain and emotions. When your physical, emotional, and cognitive health are good, these are gifts to the people you love.

Check out the August newsletter focused on our theme of Your Body is a Temple here!

Want a Good Night’s Sleep? Don’t Overthink It.

It’s one of the most common problems there is … not getting enough sleep. Maybe we’re trying to pack too many waking hours into our busy days at the expense of sleep, or maybe too much stress is keeping us from turning our brains “off” at night. Whatever the reason, lack of sleep not only can keep us from operating at peak performance, but it can also have a negative impact on our physical and mental health.

Your Body is a TempleKristi HornerAugust 25, 2022Sleep Hygiene, Sleep

Sleep: A Healthy and Essential Boundary

We’re closing out this month’s theme, “Your Body Is a Temple,” with the topic of sleep hygiene. This is an important topic for many caregivers because we often feel overwhelmed by our responsibilities, and there never seems to be enough time to get things done.

Your Body is a TempleKristi HornerAugust 26, 2021Sleep Hygiene, Sleep

Staying Awake at Night? Here Are Some Things to Try

Now more than ever, we all need to take time to recharge. This week’s topic – sleep – is the body’s natural way of recharging our emotional, mental, and physical batteries every night.

Physical WellnessKristi HornerJune 18, 2020Sleep Hygiene, Exercise, Breathing, Sleep, Breathing Meditation

Sleep Is the Best Meditation – Dalai Lama

A lot of things keep caregivers awake at night. You know what they are. Stress, worries about the future, trying to get too much done in too little time, just to name a few.

Physical WellnessKristi HornerJune 27, 2019Sleep, Sleep Hygiene