Washing Away Caregiver Stress Through Cleansing
When I’m outside gardening, I end up with dirt all over my clothes, face and hands, partly because I don’t like to wear gloves and I cannot kneel. Due to an injury to my knee many years ago, I sit in odd ways, causing me to put my whole self into the process. At the end of my garden tasks, for me, smelling of dirt and sweat is just as good as an exercise workout.
Thank goodness for running water! With it, we can clean our bodies, quench our thirst and get cool on a hot day. For me, the sound of water is extremely calming. I imagine it is the same for the thousands of people that retreat to nature for vacations every year.
Taking time away to engage in something different like nature has been proven to be stress reducing, with our first reaction to a natural scene being emotional. I don’t think people would spend thousands of dollars every year, flocking to the beaches and lakes, majestic waterfalls and mountains, otherwise.
Find Balance & Letting Go of Stress
Cleansing is About Letting Go
Our focus this month was cleansing. In all senses of the definition, cleansing means; to make thoroughly clean, get rid of something unpleasant, or become free from guilt; in the sense of the word, to wash away impurities. It can mean more than just keeping our bodies and face clean. We can cleanse the energy in a room, our hearts and our souls. It is about letting go.
Our simple “self-care” suggestions through our ThinkCaregiver™ program help with stress reduction, positive thinking and support a mindful focus away from the daily demands of caregiving. Some suggestions that were offered for this month’s focus of cleansing included ways to help with those issues. Messages of self-love, forgiveness, humor, taking pleasure in the little things in life, engaging with nature and patience were all introduced through mindful and positive messages.
Get Your Free THINK Caregiver Support Here
In addition, our trio of support with our #ThinkCaregiver™ program always includes a flower, an essential oil and tea. With this month’s focus, our essential oil pick was lemongrass. Our other picks included the flower of the hyssop plant and the healthy, wealthy and wise blend of tea.
Nature Provides Joy and Cleansing
Taking time to engage with nature always resonates for me as a way to stay strong, restore hope and faith, find a balance, heal from troubling days; I find the result joyful and cleansing.
The quote that was used this month from Winnie the Pooh, “Sometimes the smallest things in life take up the most room in your heart,” was a fun and profound message of cleansing. If you think about the stories of the House at Pooh Corner and the Hundred Acre Wood, the simplicity of engaging with friends in nature can help to wash away anything troubling. So, let’s be like Winnie the Pooh and take time to focus on the little things in nature: flying birds, busy bees, floating leaves in the air and the sound of running water. John Muir said it best, “going to the wood is going home,” and with this thought, we can definitely be taken to another place to help wash away the stressors of life.