National Family Caregiver Month

November is here, bringing with it colder temperatures, fun festivities, and cozier days. November also means that it is now National Family Caregiver Month, an opportunity to celebrate the many people in the Alongside community who serve as caregivers.  

As we all know, caregiving can be enormously challenging.  It’s not easy being responsible for caring for another human being! Research shows that one way caregivers can improve wellbeing is by practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is a great way to reduce stress, enhance emotional connection with the person being cared for, improve focus and decision-making, and reduce burnout, all of which make for a happier and more confident caretaker. 

Alongside Network is proud to have put together a collection of resources designed to ease the mental burden from all these stressors. In addition to the “Leaves on a Stream” mindfulness activity (found here), this page has a collection of apps, organizations, research, videos, and other resources to help practice mindfulness in your own life. It's important to remember that taking care of ourselves goes hand in hand with taking care of others!