So caregiver Thursday is full of goodness. It's good to see you, friend. Stephanie Irwin is a mom of two neurodivergent children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. She's also a person who has anxiety. Doing something for myself. She says walks, deep breathing.
Good morning, you guys in the cadres sphere. Happy caregiver Thursday. I know you guys are in for a treat with all the awesome contributors that will be on here today.
So caregiver Thursday is full of goodness. I call my coffee my hug in a mug in the morning. That's my reminder to myself to take care of myself. Good morning, Jules. It's good to see you, friend.
Stephanie Irwin is a mom of two neurodivergent children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. She's also a person who has anxiety. As caregivers, we're often meeting the needs of others, and it can be easy to forget about our own needs. What gives her a sense of purpose? Doing something for myself.
Sandy Lee: What are some things that you guys notice when your body starts feeling that chronic stress creep up or that anxiety creep in? She says walks, deep breathing. Yoga is something that really helps me reset. You guys are welcome to share whatever helps you reset in moments of stress.
Well, you guys, I want you to do something for yourselves today. It could be deep breathing or prayers or intentions or journaling. Could be anything. Remind myself that this is only one moment in time. These feelings will come and go.
Good morning, you guys in the cadres sphere. I'm sorry I'm a few minutes late this morning. I hope you guys are all doing well and it's good to be here with you this morning. Happy caregiver Thursday. I know you guys are in for a treat with all the awesome contributors that will be on here today. Shannon. Colleen, Miss Shannon Paul. Speak wonder JC. So caregiver Thursday is full of goodness. Full of so much goodness. So I'm here this morning taking some deep breaths after my kids went to school and having my morning coffee that says, my cup says, do more yoga.
That's my reminder to myself to take care of myself. So as y'all know, I call my coffee my hug in a mug in the morning. Good morning, Jules. It's good to see you, friend. Good morning. Yes. So just trying to start my day on the right foot here. For those of you who don't know me, I am Stephanie Irwin also. Goodbye, Steph Irwin. And I'm a mom of two wonderful neurodivergent children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. Professionally, I work with hospitalized children and their families, and I'm also a person who has anxiety.
So if you guys haven't heard, doctor Charisse's live from yesterday, you guys need to go back and listen to it. It was amazing. She talks about unmet needs and chronic stress and the effects that they have on our bodies, both physically and emotionally. And she said yesterday that honoring our needs is self respect. Woo. That really spoke to me. If y'all need to go back and listen to it. And as caregivers, we're often meeting the needs of others, and it can be easy to forget about our own needs.
And so that got me thinking, like, what is a sense of purpose? What gives me a sense of purpose? I feel purpose in my job. I feel purpose in my role as a mom taking care of my kids. But what about me? What gives me a sense of purpose? Doing something for myself. And I'll be honest, I've been so busy taking care of the kids, and it's just been a busy time with work too. So just trying to manage all the things. It's been a bus chaotic. And I have started to feel the effects of this chronic stress in my body.
And I know when I start feeling things physically, it's my wake up call to say, hey, I need to do something to reset, reset my nervous system and just get a fresh reset there as much as I can. So I know personally my chest will start getting tight, my breathing will be more shallow. I will have brain fog and just feel overall exhausted. So, yeah, I noticed that yesterday when I woke up, and I was like, oh, my goodness. Okay, I need to do something to just reset myself a little bit. And that's what I did yesterday.
I sat down, I had my cup of coffee, and then I knew. I set some intentions for the day. I took some deep breaths and said some prayers, and that really helped me get in the right mindset and helped alleviate some of that anxiety. So what are some things that you guys notice when your body starts feeling that chronic stress creep up or that anxiety creep in? And it can always be, you know, different. Different in everybody's bodies. Everybody experiences it differently. Those are just things that happen to me personally.
I do know that I have to start pulling things out of my toolbox. Hi, Sandy Lee. Good morning. And just utilize what I have in my toolbox to help me reset my nervous system. So I knew yesterday when I was feeling particularly anxious, I dropped the kids off at school and came home, and I took the dog on a walk, and immediately I could sense that anxiety starting to decrease. So that is something that personally helps with me. So walks, deep breathing. Yoga is something that really helps me reset.
You guys are welcome to share whatever helps you reset in moments of stress and tension and anxiety. What works for y'all? I know that being outside in nature, as we've talked about this before, it's just so therapeutic and calming, and that's. That's something that I like to do, if I can, in the moment. I know as caregivers, we're often really, really busy, and so it's hard to squeeze in those. Those little times for ourselves. But I have noticed even just putting on a ten minute YouTube yoga video before I go to bed is really helpful.
Oh, Jules. Yes. Physically, my stomach hurts. Mentally on my runs, yelling or arguing with the person. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I feel that, too. I feel that, too. I've noticed I get extra irritable, too, like, frustrated with everybody, and then I know I need to reset. Yeah. Yeah. So what are some things that you do to help you with that, in that moment? I do know that when I do squeeze in just a little, I mean, it could be taking a. A bath or something before I go to bed. Anything to just kind of help.
Oh, you get very short with everybody, too. Yeah, anything to just help alleviate that stress. I try to squeeze in when I can, but it is hard as caregivers. Well, you guys, I want you to do something for yourselves today. Whatever that may be. It could be, you know, movement. If you know that that helps your body, helps your alleviate the stress in your body. It could be deep breathing or prayers or intentions or journaling. It could be. Could be anything. So just do something for yourself today.
That is my message to you. Remind myself that this is only one moment in time. Yes. Yes. And, you know, these feelings will come and go, so just know that this is temporary. It's temporary. Okay, you guys, I hope you have a good day. Go do something for yourselves today. And cheers from my hug in a mug to you. All right, I'm gonna squeeze in yoga this afternoon. That's what I'm gonna do after work. All right, y'all.
