In this episode, Jenn and Mar dive into the realities of the “Flex Life,” exploring the constant need to adjust and adapt to the demands of caregiving, often at a moment's notice. They discuss how these quick pivots impact their day-to-day lives, emotions, and personal goals. Join us as we unpack the unique resilience required in a caregiver’s journey.

Hello!

We had hoped to drop a podcast every month this year. We started strong until we hit February. Sound familiar caregivers?

We did record this one, technically, in February. It's taken a few days to get back to writing show notes and publishing.

In this podcast we focus on eating well. It's an overall way of caring for ourselves every day. Eating nutritious meals and snacks has a way of helping us feel better even under stress. It doesn't take our stress away but can often help us manage it better.

Neither of us is a dietician or nutritionist. We do, however, have to eat. We have a collective experience of over a hundred years of eating. Often during those years, we have cared for others who need guidance and assistance with eating, which includes food choices.

We hope you will learn a thing or two from us. More than anything, we hope we have encouraged you to take care of YOU through good eating because you matter.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans is a good place to begin!

Feel free to drop us a note at either or both of our emails.

[email protected]

[email protected]

Jenn and Mar welcome in 2024 with a new podcast episode!

In "Give Your Mind a Rest" they chat about the usefulness of developing a meditation mindfulness practice. Food meditation is one of their favorites because, you know, why not. Food is a source of joy at times, so why not incorporate it into your daily practice?

There are a variety of meditation practices to employ. It is our hope you will find one that works for you and it becomes one of your many supportive tools in your caregiver toolbox. See below for links to meditation mindfulness resources.

Reclaim Yourself

The Power of Meditation

Tara Brach - Guided Meditations

Calm App

Koru Mindfulness

We would love to hear from you if you enjoy other mindfulness meditation resources and would like to share them.

Mary's email: [email protected]

Jenn's email: [email protected]

This Caregiver Life Facebook page

In this episode, we chat about good sleep, good maintenance tips for caregiving, and ways we have learned to cope with all things caregiving.

Are you a caregiver looking for meaningful employment? Is your company making room at the table for caregivers? In this episode, we discuss the challenges caregivers face in the workplace, how employers can support caregiving employees, and the many assets caregivers have that can add to, not take away from, a company’s culture and productivity. Our guest is Sharon Grassi, a caregiver who has experienced workplace roadblocks. Whether you’re a caregiver or an employer, you won’t want to miss this episode!

If you’re an HR professional or work in the C-suite and want to share your company’s wins for caregivers, send us an email: [email protected]

We’d love to have you on the show. And if you’d like a guest speaker for your organization, Jennifer is available. Email for details: [email protected].

Jenn and Mar take a deep dive into caregiver burnout and distrust. Between them, they have 50 years of caregiving. Over the years they have had their emotional, and physical, ups and downs as caregivers. They have had, and still have, periods of burnout. Burnouts are more quickly resolved now than in years past. They talk about essential coping strategies that have shortened burnout periods and have developed, and encourage others, to use their list as it is or as a starting point for developing one of their own: 

YOU are every bit as important as the person you care for.  

Comments or suggestions for This Caregiver Life? Please email us at [email protected]

Dr. Naomi Baum joins Mary and Jenn to talk in-depth about resiliency. Self-care is an overused phrase today. It's so common that it's easy to overlook its value and to be intentional about it. The same can be said for resiliency. The term, the concept, is used frequently though not necessarily effectively. Dr. Baum breaks it down for us.

Dr. Baum is a psychologist and resiliency expert. Over the last twenty years, she has dedicated herself to "creating and implementing resilience-building programs for those exposed to trauma, be it terrorism, war or natural disaster." (https://www.naomibaum.com/about). Dr. Baum is also a  published author, and resides in Israel with her large, and growing, family. To learn about Dr. Baum, please visit her website: https://www.naomibaum.com/

Mar and Jenn are reading Dr. Baum's book, IRESILIENCE: What Israelis Can Teach the World. In upcoming episodes, they will share their thoughts on the book. We encourage our listeners to do the same, read it, and share their thoughts with This Caregiver Life either by email: [email protected] or by dropping us a voice message using this link: https://anchor.fm/thiscaregiverlife/message.

Resilience resources 

IIRESILIENCE: What Israelis Can Teach the World: https://www.amazon.com/ISResilience-What-Israelis-Teach-World-ebook/dp/B08H8GHP5F/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=iresilience+dr+naomi+baum&qid=1630923589&s=books&sr=1-2-spell

Building Your Resilience: https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience

Resilience: Build skills to endure hardship: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/in-depth/resilience/art-20046311

Resilience: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/resilience