Self-care and mindfulness might seem impractical or indulgent when you’re trying to keep someone else alive. For caregivers of people with schizophrenia in particular, times of crisis or long-term stays in healthcare facilities can mean dedicating 110 percent of your time and attention to pressing needs.
As strained caregivers, we tend to already know that self-care is important and that we need many things, mentally and physically: a break, sleep, exercise, someone to talk to, a meal other than doughnuts from the hospital vending machine. It’s the how that’s the tricky part.
We’ve gathered seven simple strategies that can meet you where you are, fit into your routine and, hopefully, help you nurture yourself while nurturing others.
Remember that caregiving doesn’t happen in isolation. As important as it is to practice self-care methods like those provided here, accessing caregiving support networks and resources can nurture your caregiving and your own health, too.
1. Weave ‘Micro-Exercise’ Into Your Day
If this sounds familiar, the key to nurturing your physical health may be to think of small ways to weave intentional movement into your day, with a focus on the connection between your mind and body. Here are some “micro-exercise” moments to consider.
- When you wake up: Instead of hitting the snooze button, spend the first 10 minutes of your day doing gentle stretches in bed. “This is a wonderful time to stretch, release tension, and ground yourself for the day,” says Marti Yura, a registered yoga teacher, integrated community healer, and a co-owner of Vista Yoga in Atlanta.
- After your morning coffee: Spend 5 minutes doing gentle, mindfulness-based movement like tai chi. Tai chi is often called “meditation in motion” because it combines deep breathing, focused attention, and flowing movements. It may help you set a whole new tone for your day.
- While sitting: Whether you’re at work, in a waiting room, or sitting in a parked car, it’s possible to get your heart pumping. These chair exercises from Cleveland Clinic can help you stay in motion.
- When caring for a pet: If you do something repeatedly each day, consider pairing the habit with another healthy habit — like doing one set of jumping jacks every time you take the dog for a walk.
- While waiting on hold: Stuck on the phone? Make the world fade away with a few minutes of standing yoga, like this yoga break from Caregiver Whole Health.
Finally, physical activity can be an opportunity for social connection, too. Walking and talking with friends or fellow caregivers can be a fun way to exercise, spend time in nature, and reconnect, all at the same time.
2. Practice Metta
“My favorite is, ‘May I be mentally happy / May I be physically happy / May I be safe / May I have peace of well-being,’” says Yura. “You say it three times for yourself, three times for a loved one, three times for somebody you don’t know, and three times for somebody who has wronged you.”
When possible, practice metta out loud in the form of speech or song, Yura says. “There is a physical resonance when you’re chanting or speaking,” she says. “Your ears pick up on the sound and the resonance creates a mind-body connection.”
3. Breathe Better Anywhere
Does the stress of caregiving ever become so overwhelming that it feels like you can’t breathe? Do you ever find yourself literally holding your breath, unable to fully get air in?
If this sounds familiar, the advice to “just breathe” might be unhelpful (or infuriating) for you. In these moments, structured breathing techniques can help your body breathe again. It’s best to practice these when you’re calm, so they’re readily available to you when you’re under stress.
- Sit comfortably with a straight back, says Yura. Then hold your right hand up to your nose (if you’re right-handed), gently covering your right nostril with your thumb. Fill up your lungs by taking a steady breath in through your left nostril.
- Hold it for a couple of seconds.
- Switch: Release your thumb and cover your left nostril with the ring finger of your right hand. Breathe out through the right nostril.
- Breathe in again through the right nostril, covering your left nostril. Hold the breath for a few seconds, then cover your right nostril again and exhale through the left nostril.
- Repeat 5 to 10 times.
If this sounds confusing, this video on Nadi breathing from the MD Anderson Cancer Center can help.
“The technique is simple and powerful once you learn it,” says Yura. “It is even prescribed for anxiety in integrated and Eastern medicine practices.”
4. Carry Your Favorite Scent
5. Create a Portable Massage Kit
“If you carry tension in your back or shoulders, as many caregivers do, a simple try-anywhere tip is to roll your back out against a wall using tennis balls,” says Yura. “This is a massage that you control, that costs nearly nothing, that you can do anytime.”
You can create your own back roller with two tennis balls and one large sock, says Yura. Place the balls in the sock, then tie a knot between the balls and at the opening of the sock. The two knots will hold the balls in place.
Position your roller between your back and a wall. It should start in the top, middle part of your back and should feel like one ball is on each side of your spine. Then simply move your body up and down against the wall so that the tennis balls slide up and down your back, massaging any tense or painful locations.
6. Pack a Coloring Book
Caregiving for a person with schizophrenia can involve long, stress-filled periods of waiting for potentially life-altering news in clinics, pharmacies, labs, and hospitals. Even if you have other important things to do while you wait, you might not feel up to working in that moment.
It’s okay to color instead.
7. Immerse Yourself in Green Space
If you’re having trouble finding safe outdoor spaces, spending time in indoor gardens or even tending to indoor plants can reduce stress as well.
The Takeaway
- Consider self-care to be a necessary tool for safeguarding your emotional and physical well-being and being a better caregiver.
- If adding more commitments to an already full schedule is unrealistic, try to reclaim small chunks of time — like while you’re in a waiting room or traffic. Even 5 or 10 minutes can help.
- While there are many science-backed ways to lower stress, including exercise, meditation, and getting out into nature, find what makes you feel good.