January is often a time of reflection, and a new year offers new beginnings. Throughout January we have been focused on our theme of SETTING INTENTIONS. An intention is a personal commitment from YOU to YOU - how do you want to BE/become? Setting intentions requires a great deal of self-awareness. We started with mapping your journey, then explored expectations and open-mindedness, and rounded out with moving from survival to thrival.

At Courage to Caregivers we know the holidays can be rough for caregivers, and we held space for meeting caregivers daily throughout December. We had 18 caregivers show up for a total of 35 times. We discussed all kinds of topics, including acceptance, letting go of traditional holiday expectations, creating new holiday traditions, facing challenges with gratitude, finding hope, connection, communicating with family, and holiday self-care, to name a few! 

If you found extra challenges during the holidays - you aren't alone. So as we headed into a new year, it may have felt extra hard to find the energy to look ahead at the fresh-start feeling that a new year offers. 

Last year my intention for 2023 was to focus more on BEING than DOING. There are days when I am consumed by a never-ending to-do list that, honestly, won't ever be completed. Since the holidays were a lot of extra for me - my intention for 2024 is to find ME again. I've been here before - fatigued, exhausted, depleted as an unpaid family caregiver. I know what to do - and how to do it - I've done it all before. It's fall down seven times - get up eight. I CAN do hard things and have survived the hardest days I've seen so far. I also know that the waves don't stop - they keep coming - so, if I don't stand up - I'll be hit by the next wave that comes my way. If you've faced any kind of extra recently, I know you can stand up again, too. 

Here are 5 tools for setting intentions in 2024:

1. Start with mindfulness and come as you ARE. With a focus on inner peace, notice and connect with the most authentic version of yourself - with intention. 
2. Next, what's most important to you - what are your core values? And leverage your strengths! 
3. Then, remember, YOU are the designer of your own life. Who do you want to BE/become? What do you want more of? 
4. Cultivate the power of intentional thinking - your mindset matters - how will you show up in 2024 for YOU? 
5. Practice self-compassion as you plan for obstacles - be gentle with yourself - I have confidence you're doing the best you can in this moment with what you have. Focus on progress, not perfection.

January is also National Mental Wellness Month. As you know, we're ALL about caregiver burnout prevention - it's our WHY and what we do. Our programs focus on the mental health, wellness and well-being of unpaid family caregivers. It's all about protecting your mental wellness as you face daily challenges.

Our curriculum uses SAMHSA's 8 dimensions of wellness and Driven's 6 domains of resilience. Through our work we also support professional caregivers to provide tools as they support unpaid family caregivers in their care.  

As we embrace mental wellness TOGETHER - we found an excellent Compassion Resilience Toolkit for Caregivers from WISE End Stigma Together. 

“And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?”

~ Rumi

AFFIRMATIONS FOR SETTING INTENTIONS
Use affirmations to inspire you or reframe your thoughts

• I am always learning new things about myself

• I am proud of how far I have come

• I am grateful for everyone who has supported my growth

• I stay open-minded about the world around me

APPS FOR SETTING INTENTIONS

• Coach.me - This app allows you to track your habits and set targets and reminders for your goals. When you reach certain milestones, you can get “high-fives” from your friends and the coach.me community.

• Habitica - This app motivates you to get things done while having fun through games. Whether it be habits and goals, health and fitness, school and work, Habitica can help you out!

• Lifetick - This browser app allows you to create SMART goals that relate to your core values. Additionally, you can keep a journal and chart your progress!

BOOKS

• How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters - This book by Michael Bungay Stanier delves into how we can start reaching our goals through finding things that matter.

• What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal Setting - This book by Tara McMullin explains how we can change our perceptions of what we “want” to lead to a more fulfilling life and prioritize practice over achievement.

• Man’s Search for Meaning - This book by Viktor E. Frankl goes into how our mindsets affect how we view the things that happen around us and how we can find meaning in the worst adversities.

• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - This book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi delves into how we can find moments of flow that allows for enjoyment and creativity.

PODCASTS 

• The Secrets to Setting Intentions - Scott Lynch breaks down four key components to setting intentions and offers questions you can ask yourself as you build those intentions.

• Time to Enter Your Successful Era - This podcast episode delves into how we can recommit to our habits, routines, and lifestyles that stay true to our values and being.

• Dealing with Disappointment - This podcast episode goes over what can lead to disappointment and how we can manage feelings of disappointment.

• Why We’re Mean to Our Future Selves - This podcast episode goes into how our minds often fail at anticipating our future needs leading to unhappiness and what we can do about that.

• How Thinking About Your Ancestors Can Help You Thrive - This podcast episode explains how contemplating our heritage can help with belonging, gratitude, and achievement.

ARTICLES

• The Ultimate Guide To S.M.A.R.T. Goals - This Forbes article explains how you can create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals to support you in your life!

• How to Manage Expectations to Maximize Happiness - This Greater Good Berkeley article explains how we can achieve balance in our expectations and how to handle disappointment.

• How to Be Open-Minded and Why It Matters - This VeryWellMind article explains what open-mindedness means in the psychological sense and how being open-minded can help us grow and feel more optimistic.

• Why Thriving Is Easier Than Surviving - This Psychology Today article examines the differences between thriving and surviving and how thriving can be beneficial to our lives.

FEBRUARY FIRESIDE CHAT: WOMEN'S HEART HEALTH

Join us on Thursday, February 29 at 7:00 p.m. ET for our next Fireside Chat in our Caregiver Essentials series. Our Director of Programs, Jenny Woodworth, LISW, will moderate a conversation with Courage to Caregivers Board Fellow, Dr. Marissa Edmiston, Noninvasive Cardiologist and Medical Director of the Cardiology Telemetry Unit - MetroHealth Medical Center, and Dr. Elliane Irani, PhD, MBE, RN, Assistant Professor, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University. 

In honor of American Heart Health Month in February, we'll be discussing the panelists' shared passion for heart health of female caregivers. 

Submit your questions for our panelists in advance to Jenny@CouragetoCaregivers.org

Join us LIVE on our YouTube Channel

MEET AMY 

Amy Zell is an Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services Certified Family Peer Supporter and NAMI Ohio Trainer for this program. Amy is our newest Family Peer Support Specialist for Courage to Caregivers as well as a Group Coaching (Support Group) Leader. Working here gives Amy the opportunity to help people who dedicate their lives to helping others. Read more about Amy here. 

MEET REESE

Reese is our Social Work Graduate Intern this semester. Her projects include: expanding our Family Peer Support resources, and co-facilitating our newest group coaching group! Reese is both a full-time student at the University of South Carolina at Beaufort and a full-time Program Administrator for the South Carolina Youth Advocate program.  Read more about Reese here. 

February’s theme is SELF-DISCOVERY - it's about getting to know yourself - it's all about finding YOU. Throughout February we will savor moments of self-discovery by finding joy, looking at our strengths and cultivating a practice of self-compassion. As we continue on the journey of discovering our true selves, setting micro-goals will guide us. With micro-goals, it’s easier to take the next right step - as Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.” Check out February's Micro-Challenges Calendar.

Courage to Caregivers Breathing Practice for February: Laughter Breathing

As we support caregivers to make breathing and meditation a practice, we're pleased to share our Breathing Meditation Facilitator Cathy and her monthly breathing practice how-to videos. You can join us for February's Breathing Practice: Laughter Breathing. With this practice, we will let ourselves find joy through laughing from deep within our bellies. This is a great breath for when you need a fun pick-me-up. You can watch the instructional video for Laughter Breathing here and remember to subscribe to our 2024 Monthly Breathing Practices playlist to stay updated each month.You can also subscribe to our Breathing Meditation playlist, where we upload our weekly breathing meditation recordings, and follow along on our Spotify Breathing Meditation playlist. 

The mission of Courage to Caregivers is to provide hope, support, and courage to caregivers and loved ones of those living with mental illness. We're in the caregiver burnout prevention business!

©2024 Courage to Caregivers, Inc.