Caregiver: have you heard your own hearbeat?

I’ve been on a summer pause this summer, scrambling to get my MomPro rolodex reconfigured with the summer camp schedule.  I’m not sure about you, but I find the summer patchwork somewhat frustrating.  Every camp has different requirements, idiosyncrasies, and times that often do not match up with a work day.  How have YOU been holding up? 

One thing that has helped to quell the chaos has been forcing myself to Get Quiet almost every day.  For the past several weeks, I have made it a priority to simply get quiet with the goal to focus on nothing but simply breathing and out.  At first I did this for about 10 minutes at a time with the help of the calm app.  I’m now up to 20 minutes and no longer use the app.  I do set my stopwatch as I like to notice how long “I was under” when I open my eyes.  I had no idea what a powerful tool this could be.  

One of the many, sometimes strange and wonderful, things that has emerged is the ability to sit and feel my own heart beat.  In the first few sessions I felt rocked by something but wasn’t even sure what it was. Then I realized…when you get SO quiet you can feel your own heart moving you - mind blown!  What could be more kind than allowing yourself, caregiver, to feel the delight of your own heartbeat a few minutes each day?!  Try it!  There are no wrong ways to Get Quiet.  Let me know how it goes…

For those of you parents and nannies who took my online course you know I include Nurse Sarah Self-Care Script in it.  I recommend caregivers do one (even small) thing for themselves every single day.  Getting Quiet has been my new fav.  

Tell me about yours!

Hope your summer is going great.