In April 2014 I moved my mother out of a nursing home, where she was miserable aftera badly-healed broken hip confined her to bed and wheelchair, to live with me in Nashville, Tennessee. Since then we've had many challenges, and as many blessings. Caring for her as she approaches her 92nd birthday helps me remember each day is a gift.
But it can be exhausting to juggle caregiving with other responsibilities, and it's easy to let self-care fall by the wayside.
That was recently brought home to me again after my mother spent three days in a hospital with me parked in a recliner beside her. My focus was on her and her doctors and nurses and patient care technicians and tests, and only after getting her settled back home again and getting her prescription antibiotics and arranging for followup care did I realize that during the past few days I'd forgotten to take my own daily vitamin D and other supplements.
So when Michele Tamaren, co-author of ExtraOrdinary: An End of Life Story Without End, reminded me of the program she will be offering for caregivers this June in Sewanee, TN, I knew I wanted to help spread the word.
Michele will present "Who Cares? Caring for Ourselves as We Care for Others" June 10-12, 2016 at St. Mary's retreat center. The program offers a spiritual and scientific pathway to wholeness and healing centered in the research-based field of Positive Psychology.
From the program description:
Who Cares? offers opportunities to explore the healing power of positive emotions, loving relationships, humor, healthy eating, rest, relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, rest, relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, music, movement, and more. As we explore the studies on health and happiness, we will listen to out own stories and the whispers within. The voice of God, our intuition, and current research will lift us to care for ourselves, as we compassionately tend to those in our care.
The program is designed for clergy, chaplains, spiritual directors, social workers, nurses, physicians, psychologists, counselors, and professional and family caregivers. A certificate of completion and 10 continuing education hours will be offered upon completion. Click here for more information and to register.
Michele Tamaren is a spiritual director, author, inspirational speaker, and positive psychology and life coach. For more than 25 years she was a special educator working with youngsters challenged by physical, learning, neurological and behavioral disorders. Her book ExtraOrdinary, a spiritual memoir and love story about a man who became a healer and teacher in his mid-nineties as his own life was coming to completion, was published by my Pearlsong Press in 2012.
I remember editing ExtraOrdinary and readying it for publication while at my mother's bedside in another hospital, after surgery to repair several compression fractures in her spine. After rehab she was in an assisted living facility for a couple of years. I gave her a copy of ExtraOrdinary when it was published, and she and another resident took turns reading it to each other.
Who Cares? is being held the week my mother turns 92 and I turn 60, so we'll probably be spending time with family that weekend. But I'll be there in spirit with other professional and family caregivers, seeking balance in caring for self while caring for others.
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