We have read a few articles about full time home carers who find practicing yoga and meditation on a regular basis helps them cope with the demands of the job. Live-in care work requires long hours and giving all your time to your clients, so taking some time to work on yourself through yoga and meditation gives private carers a chance to take time for themselves and unwind, which helps them provide the best care for their clients. It makes us think of the quote:
You cannot pour from an empty cup.
Which means to take care of others, you firstly need to take care of yourself, and keep a healthy mind and body. And this applies to all aspects of life, not just live-in care work. But we want to focus on our private carers because they are often working long hours, and experiencing emotional stories and situations - yoga and meditation has been proven to help with keeping a positive mindset and healthy body.
Here are our top tips to practice yoga and meditation to keep your body and mind healthy:
1. Yoga doesn't have to be expensive and you don't need to go to a studio. Visit www.youtube.com and find yoga videos for beginners - these videos are usually from 30-45 minutes long and teach you the basics. You can even find advanced yoga workouts on YouTube to keep progressing!
2. Meditation can be done anywhere, any time. We advise starting with a simple 10 minutes of meditation every day to start focussing your mind. Sit or lie down in a quiet room, and focus on your breathing. There are many meditation sounds on YouTube to help you relax and focus - click here to get started!
3. Practice your breathing. Both yoga and meditation requires controlled breathing - this is a great stress busting technique too!
4. Don't be intimidated by postures and poses. No one will judge you if you can't do a particular pose! Take it at your own pace and have fun along the way. Eventually you will get better and tackle tricky exercises.
5. Get a smartphone app to keep on track. There are many phone apps like Headspace, Calm, Buddhify, and Smiling App which are available on Android and iPhone to help you work on mindfulness techniques and de-stress every day.