Reduce Caregiver Stress

 

To reduce caregiver stress, it’s important to first recognize that being a caregiver is stressful. Also, if you don’t reduce that stress, things will just keep getting worse, so come on, let’s do something together for 3 minutes. 

The first technique to reduce caregiver stress 

The first thing is to lower your diaphragm. Because this will physiologically reduce your stress. You’re just going to blwo out the air in your lungs, three times and then open your mouth.

Imagine that we are doing it together.

Blow, blow again, and one more time, and then just open your mouth and let your lungs fill up. Do it a second time.

Observe if you feel even a bit more relaxed, as we are just getting started.

Avoid Caregiver Stress

The reason I do it like this is that a deep breath reduces stress but have you tried to take a deep breath when you’re stressed ? It doesn’t work, because your diaphragm is too high and a bunch of other things.

The second breathing pattern that reduces caregiver stress 

Ok let’s do the second thing. Keep going, this is your opportunity to continue your day with less stress.

You’re going to do a minute of box breathing, you might know about it but let’s practice it. You’ll blow on a count of 4, hold on a count of four, inhale on a count of four and hold on a count of four. And we’ll do it twice. You can count with your fingers and do it at your own rhythm.

I recommend that you do a quick body scan, feel your head, your neck and your shoulders, these areas where we often carry stress, your arms, your back, your torso and your abdomen, your thights, your calfs, ending with your feet and your hands. How do you feel, less stressed I hope. 

Make a note of how you feel after these two minutes of breathing, so you can know how that is working for you.

 

 

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The third breathing pattern: when caregiver stress is way too high

So let’s do a third one, this one is for a crisis. You will do 8 successive short inhales and then a big deep exhale. And do it twice, you have to do it in order to feel what it does for you. 

Did these three exercises lower your stress? Then think if you could have personalized suggestions to help you with your caregiver challenges.

Personnalized advice for caregiver challenges

That’s exactly what I give my clients in Your SUpport WIthin Your Reach, the support community I run for caregivers like you. If you’d like to know what you get, I’ll be telling you about it next week, so subscribe to my YouTube if you want to be sure not to miss that: https://youtube.com/@SoniaWeyersCaregiverSupport.

 

 

 

Sonia Weyers
Gestalt-thérapist – Supporting Caregivers
Dare The Freedom To Be Yourself

 

PS: For more tips for caregivers of loved ones with a loss of autonomy you can check out my blog , from 2024, my YouTube Videos or my book “The Sundown of Life”.