We invite you to join us for online every first Thursday of the month morning Mindful Caregiving sangha.
Mindful Caregiving
These mindful caregiving sessions are open to all who identify as caregivers. The topics and discussions of this group will be rooted in mindfulness practice and will aim to support those in a parental role, caretaking for an elder, or experiencing another type of caregiving situation by creating a compassionate, reflective space to come together.
No prior experience with mindfulness is necessary—all are welcome. There are no restrictions to join. While there is no fee, we invite participants to offer dana (a practice of generosity) to help sustain the gathering.
Format: 7:00 am-7:25 am meditation period and 7:25-8:00 am dharma sharing.
For questions about the Mindful Caregivers group, please contact facilitator Jenny Medvene-Collins.
No previous mindfulness or meditation experience is necessary. No fees, donations are always welcome.
Welcoming The Season of Letting Be
Jon Kabat-Zinn Mindfulness 9 attitudes - letting go.
Jenny Shares: Every year, the winter season reminds us of change; of letting go, of deeper and longer darkness before the return of light. I always love watching the lessons of the seasons unfold right before my eyes – particularly from the trees, as they show so beautifully how to carry their leaves and allow for the shifting of colors as seasons change, only to eventually drop those leaves in preparation for new growth.
Inside my own body and mind, seasons have felt different since becoming a caregiver. I sometimes feel that I am in a Winter season when it’s Spring or Summer outside my door. I go through the motions of the season others are living in, but inside myself I am living in an entirely different one – often wanting to hibernate and turn inwards. As true Winter approaches, the trees are preparing for their process of letting go. Naturally, we watch this happening and begin to consider our own process of loosening and letting go – we think about what we are holding onto, what might be feeling heavy, and ask ourselves if there is anything we might be able to put down or let drift away.
For me, sometimes this feels like a natural process and other times during this season I feel too much pressure to let go. I love the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn on this topic. He writes: “It’s not a matter of letting go - you would if you could. Instead of “Let it go,” we should probably say “Let it Be.” As a caregiver, let it be feels more gentle and doable than let it go sometimes does. Much of what I am doing already as a caregiver is letting go – of expectations, of what the previous week or month looked like, of what I was able to do with my loved one previously that I suddenly can’t do with her anymore.
Similarly, and also very differently, parenting a young person is another process of constantly letting go. While all of this letting go is necessary, sometimes I want to give myself permission to accept the changes as they are happening without forcing myself to let go of even more than I already have to. Sometimes, I want to simply let things be.
This winter season, I am trying to give myself the gift of letting things be, which is truly another way of letting go. The way I see it, we all already have to bid farewell to so much as caregivers, often not in our own ideal or chosen timeframe. What might it look like if instead of feeling as if the only options are to hold on tightly or completely let go, we focused our energy on letting things be just as they are? What might sending this message to ourselves feel like?
I am curious to hear how other caregivers are feeling about letting go and letting be, or anything else this season of life (your inward or outward season) is bringing up for you.