Posts Tagged ‘meditation’

Attending the “I Can Do It” event in Tampa

Monday, November 29th, 2010

As a professional caregiver who has been a family caregiver, I am often inspired by teachers and authors of books about using your full potential. Louise Hay, who is a metaphysical lecturer and best selling author of numerous books who also founded the “I Can Do It” conference that has been coming to the Tampa Bay area for a few years.

She has this gift of bringing several metaphysical teachers together for a weekend of motivation, inspiration and fascination that leaves you wanting more.  It was thrilling to see Louise Hay up on stage announcing that she is writing a book and returning to lecturing at age 84 because she feels guided to do so.

To this day, if I”m feeling stressed or uneasy, I just pop one of Louise Hay’s cd’s into my car sound system and allow myself to calm down, take deep breaths, and trust that I was safe in the universe. But when I was an active family caregiver I would use these simple, but powerful steps to gain calmness and clarity, which prepared me for my visits with my in-laws who were having difficulty adjusting to physical, medical and mental changes that were occurring often in their lives. My ability to remain caring, centered, and clear helped guide me to the next best steps for their care.

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High-Quality, Compassionate Health Care Services from Arcadia

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

Arcadia provides high quality & compassionate home health care services to local communities on both sides of Tampa Bay. Founded in 1978, Arcadia has a total of 106 locations in 24 states. We have earned a solid reputation for only hiring the best of the best in terms of caregivers. Arcadia is licensed, bonded & insured; we do not utilize “subcontractors”; the folks we hire are our employees. Please feel free to watch our new Impact Movie (by clicking the image below) and learn more about Arcadia Home Care & Staffing — Helping People to Stay at Home & Healthier Longer.

Click to learn more about Arcadia

For more information, contact:

Tina Costa, RN
(727) 579 – 9414
tcosta@arcadiahealthcare.com
http://www.arcadiaservices.com/stpetersburg

Senior Living Guide’s 500 Lap Relay – Warming more than laps

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Several months ago I visited Senior Living Guide’s office to see for myself their newly dubbed space called the “Happy Room” where hundreds of lap blankets are waiting patiently to be handed out to seniors later this year.

The sight of all of these blankets did make you happy. It was if the variety of the colors, patterns and texture generated a sense of comfort and warmth.  I believe that SLG has hit the ball out of the park on this project that has not just benefited seniors who have fallen in the love with the art of knitting, but have fallen in the love the idea of living. This project has brought joy and purpose to many lives.  At The Caregiver Hour we say, “Yes, it would be great to live to 100 years old, but what really matters is the quality of life you lead throughout all your years.”

Enjoy the stories below from Jill at Senior Living Guide where she tells us about a few very special ladies contributing to the 500 Lap Relay.

When you are 96 years old and have Alzheimer’s, the days can be long for you and for your caregivers. Boredom and depression can be part of the daily routine, but not for “Mary” anymore. Mary’s health care provider, knowing that she knit years ago, suggested that she try knitting for Senior Living Guide’s 500 Lap Relay, a service project to provide 500 handmade lap blankets to seniors in wheelchairs. (more…)

Eat, Pray, Love

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Over the weekend, my husband Jack and I visited old friends and family in Phila. and NJ. The main purpose of the trip was to attend an unveiling of my in-laws burial stone. It was a time to remember and honor them. Before the ceremony took place, I had a day with the “girls” and went to see Eat Pray Love with a stellar cast besides the ever reliable Julia Roberts to bring the whole movie to an attractive and well acted screen play. The 6 of us sat so content watching the movie until ALL the movie credits were done. It was like we were transfixed in our seats with the idea that our lives could have such richness, depth and freedom to explore our other selves one day. Secretly we may ask ourselves, when do we get to do what Julia just did? That was very cool. (more…)

Tranquility Tips for Caregivers

Thursday, July 8th, 2010
posted by Kristen Leigh of Sweet Escape Yoga

This week, I had the opportunity to join Kim Linder, host of The Caregiver Hour, in the Clear Channel studios in Tampa, FL. Along with Viki Kind, I was a guest on Monday’s Radio Show where we discussed Compassion in a variety of ways.

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Kim Linder (left) and Kristen Leigh (right) at the WHNZ studio for The Caregiver Hour

Kim shared some thought-provoking insights on how being an effective caregiver includes turning that compassion toward yourself in order to bring your best self to those you care for. Then, Viki shared some good stuff from her book, The Caregiver’s Path to Compassionate Decision Making on how to be respectful and wise when making decisions for those who can’t decide for themselves. And, finally we talked about how caregivers can take a moment – both at work and throughout their day – to de-stress and refocus their attention in order to help feel a sense of balance while managing their unique responsibilities. (Click here to listen to the 7/5/10 recording.)

Here are a few tips I shared (plus a couple extras) for simple, do-anywhere ways to take a yoga moment for yourself:

  1. The first and most simple thing you can do is breathe. Seems obvious, right? Yet, when we get stressed in work and in life, we tend to breathe in a way that’s very quick and shallow or even hold our breath altogether (neither of which are conducive to calm). Lengthening your breath will automatically start to calm you down. Breathe deeply, using your diaphragm (meaning your belly should expand as you inhale), and fill up your lungs completely. Then, when exhaling, slowly try to release all of the air and empty the lungs. A wonderful tool to help you focus on your breath and away from your stress, is square breathing. I wrote all about it (and some optional meditative elements) last week in my blog post Simple Stress Relief w/Square Breathing.         (more…)