Caring for Others, Caring for Ourselves
5-week online Support for family caregivers and anyone who cares for a loved one.
Accompanying an aging parent, ill partner, child, or friend can offer profound opportunities for us to grow and learn, as well as painful challenges and stressful situations.
This self-paced program offers you contemplative tools to stay well, feel connected and build your skills. Caregiving is demanding, so we made sure you can access these sessions whenever most convenient for you. You can follow them in your own time and rhythm. Each session is about 40-60 minutes long with inspirational talks, short guided meditations and contemplation exercises for journaling. You will also find space to chat and connect with other caregivers in The Teabreak, our open discussion forum.
Join this course whether you are currently caring, or anticipate caring for a loved one in the near future.
These self-paced support sessions draw from contemplative practice, particularly from the Buddhist tradition. It is suitable for people from all walks of life. No previous experience in meditation is required. These methods come from over 30 years of working with professionals and family caregivers, especially with those who were caring for people nearing the end of their lives. The practices teach us how we can show up fully for ourselves and others, and can be transformative in how we are with each other.
Weekly Topics
Week 1
The Journey
This session focuses on exploring what it means to care for another person and how mindfulness can help us become present
Week 2
Calming Our Busy Minds
This session focuses on meditation and regaining our natural balance
Week 3
Navigating the Challenges
This session focuses on how to navigate the challenges of caring for an elderly person - a parent, aging partner or friend
Week 4
Listening Deeply
This session focuses on tuning in and how we listen
Week 5
Learning to be Kind to Ourselves
This session introduces the meditation of Loving-kindness as a contemplative resource to support us in cultivating self-compassion
How Does It Work?
In this self-study program, there are five sessions to explore at your own pace. Each session includes an audio or video talk, a guided mindfulness or compassion practice, and topics or questions for your own contemplation. The guided audio practices can be downloaded so that you can listen to them on any device. There is a downloadable booklet that covers the main points of the course as well.
Most people would spend 1-2 hours on each unit, and suggest working through one session per week for enough time to interact with the practices and consider the content of each session while practicing.
“...in the middle of all the “to do’s” and the challenges, here was a course that was helping me participate in it all in a conscious, clear, loving way!!”