Taking Care Of Yourself When You Are Taking Care Of Someone Else

I wrote a post about caregivers awhile ago. You can read that post here. I want to continue to write on this topic – taking care of yourself when you are taking care of a loved one.

When taking care of someone, we may very often put our own needs aside. We may say I don’t need to have down time, or sleep as much, or eat a good meal, or go for a walk, or ask for help. How can I ask for help, if I am the one who is the helper?

Caregivers

Caregivers are:

• Mothers of new born babies, young children, teenagers, young adults.
• Adult children taking care of their parents.
• A partner taking care of their sick partner.
• A family member (aunt, brother, niece, grandparent, uncle) taking care of another family member.
• A father taking care of his children.
• A parent – father or mother – financially being supportive of their family.
• A friend who offers help and assistance
• A health care practitioner who cares, listens and helps people.
• An educator.

Basically a care giver is anyone who is caring for another person. Care giving is not only in helping someone with their physical needs, but also helping them emotionally, financially, with their education, feeling responsible for them, and more.

As a care giver, it is really important to take care of yourself. And so very often we put ourselves on the back burner. It is giving a hand to ourselves, as well as our loved one.

On A Personal Note

For me it is hard to hear or see when someone I love is in pain, doesn’t sleep well, doesn’t like what is happening in their life, is hurting physically or emotionally, is not getting their needs met, is stressed out about their life, or is falling down, literally. I want to help them immediately. I want to make it all better for them, even wanting the situation to go away completely.

Most of the time, I can’t really do this. I can’t make it all better, right away. At these times, I need to acknowledge and honor myself, my needs, my feelings, my responses, and say “it is okay that I feel this way”. And then move forward, to do what I need to do for my loved one, and for myself. And sometimes, for the loved one, it is just being with them, being there, and not really doing anything.

Taking Care Of Yourself

There may be activities or daily practices that you enjoy and help you in your life. Some of these could be taking a walk, being in nature, meditating, doing a creative activity, gardening, having a good cry, venting to someone, receiving a hug, talking to a close friend or therapist, seeing a good movie, taking a break, getting as much sleep as you can, having a massage, treating yourself to a good meal,having a good piece of chocolate and more.

Homeopathy can also be of help. If you are in a situation that is a prolonged care taking situation, and is difficult for you, you may want to see a homeopath for help. It will not just be help for a physical issue, but for what this situation means to you. We all have our own sensitivities, and very often when there is a stressful situation, our sensitivities are exasperated and come to the fore, expressed or manifested in physical symptoms, emotional responses, or just not feeling well.

When we are healthy, we are in a better place to handle the different situations that life brings to us. We are still affected by the situation and respond to them. But we are able to right ourselves, and know that we need to do the things that help ourselves, such as saying, I need to take a break, I need a day off, I need to ask for help. In the long run, this helps our loved ones as well.

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Whatever kind of care giving you are doing, I invite you to contact me if you would like some help. Either contact me here through this blog or through my website www.homeopathytoheal.com.

 

 

 

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Caregivers: They Also Need Care And Help – Homeopathy Heals

A mother of a patient of mine, asked me about her grandmother, who is taking care of her husband, the grandfather, almost solely. She does have help during the day, but she is the sole person at night. She is anxious and has had a stiff neck. She is in her late 80’s, and is an independent type of person, although her husband has taken care of a lot of things during their marriage, she now needs to take care of more things than she has in the past. My patient (I will call her this) was asking if homeopathy could be of help for her grandmother.

My usual response is yes, come in and let’s see what is bothering you. Unfortunately for this grandmother, it is not feasible for her to come in to see me at this time.

Helping The Situation

As a possibility for help, my patient has picked up an over the counter combination homeopathic remedy. I think it is Calms. It contains very low potencies of five to six different homeopathic remedies. It seems to be helping, somewhat. This is not what I use, or how I work. This may help to a certain level, palliating and easing for a period of time, but not healing deeply.

I would say that in our lives we go through stressful situations. Taking care of a loved one who is sick or less able to care for themselves, can be very taxing to the caregiver. In these kinds of situations, there are some things that won’t change, but the way we look at the situation may change, the way we respond to the situation may change, and the way we accept the situation may change. Homeopathy helps with this. Yes, the Calms tablets are helping this grandmother, but the homeopathic remedy that is similar to what she is experiencing and responding to would be better.

We Do The Best We Can

Most of us do the best that we can, with what we have. I like to be positive. We may be stuck in fear, stuck in concerns about finances, or stuck in a relationship that isn’t positive or supporting. I think we do the best we can with what we have. The homeopathic remedy doesn’t change the situation, but it changes or shifts us within, helping us on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. We then can do what we need to do. In this situation, with the grandmother taking care of herself, she is also taking care of her husband.

The grandmother has support from her granddaughter, my patient. For caregivers, having someone to talk to, having someone who listens and gives space, going out and doing activities they enjoy, and having someone relieve them from time to time are all important.

My hope is that this grandmother does do well with the over the counter homeopathic combination, and possibly decides to see me, or another homeopath. I find that when I meet with patients, in addition to understanding their suffering and giving them the homeopathic remedy that is similar to them and is healing, that I am there as a support person, as an educator, as a resource, and as a sounding board.

It is a cliché, but true, to take care of someone else, one’s needs to take care of one’s self, first and always. The example we hear so much is that of a parent needing to put on their own oxygen mask first, and then put an oxygen mask on their child. This grandmother taking care of herself will benefit the care of her husband.

Let’s Talk

I would be happy to talk with anyone who is a caregiver, for a child, a spouse/partner, a loved friend or family member, and is feeling that they need to take care of themselves too. I have a 15+ minute complimentary Get Acquainted Call. Please contact me here or through my website www.homeopathytoheal.com