A Simple Guide to Mindfulness by Cassandra Van Dyck

A bimonthly newsletter published by the Caregiver Support Program

January/February 2015

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James Consider this: when the correct support and condi-tions exist, we have everything we need to sustain a state of balance. Of course, it does not always feel that way. When we experience chronic stress or trau-ma, our ability to maintain a sense of balance is com-promised. It can feel strange or uncomfortable to be still. We are often practicing the opposite of mindful-ness. We react to experiences automatically and get caught by habitual emotions and opinions. Practicing mindfulness is about checking in with our-selves and turning our attention to where we are in that moment. Doing this allows us to step away from our swirling thoughts and ground ourselves in the present. Mindfulness can seem like an illusive or overwhelming idea, but applying the practice to daily life can be quite simple. I invite you to try out the fol-lowing exercises. Breath (adapted from Vicki Ens) This mindfulness practice is useful wherever you are, whenever you feel like your thoughts are racing or that the pace you’re moving at is frenzied.

Find a comfortable seat wherever you are. Place one hand on your chest area and the other on your belly. Without worrying about changing anything, notice how you are breathing. Now you can intentionally

move in to belly breathing. Place one hand on your chest area and the other on your belly. Without wor-rying about changing anything, notice how you are breathing. Now you can intentionally move into belly breathing. Put your lower hand around your belly button area and as you inhale, gently push your belly out into your hand. Relax, allowing your belly to be soft. Relax and exhale, allowing your diaphragm to rise up naturally. Soften your back and spine at the same time, curling your lower back in slightly. Contin-ue for a few minutes, or until you feel grounded in your seat.

Observing Thoughts (adapted from Susan Bauer-Wu’s book, Leaves Falling Gently)

This practice can take a little longer than the first, but it can be incredibly helpful when you feel like negative thoughts are spiraling out of control.

After settling in to a comfortable position, notice the sensations of your breathing. Simply pay attention to the natural rhythm of breathing in and breathing out. Whenever you find that your mind has wandered off

January/February 2015 Page 2

The sensations of breathing to thinking, turn your atten-

tion toward the thought.

Notice the thought and note the story that is playing in

your mind.

Try to just watch it as a neutral yet interested observer,

as if you were watching a movie. Or, imagine a plane of

glass separating you from your thoughts.

Describe what you are thinking about. Whom and what

do you see? What’s happening?

Name the thought: a “memory,” “plan,” “fantasy,”

“random idea,” or some other kind of thought.

Notice that thought as it drifts out of your mind, like a

cloud that floats across the sky and disappears from your

field of awareness.

Return your awareness to the sensations of breathing.

When you catch yourself in thought again, turn your

attention to the thought and follow the sequence de-

scribed previously: notice the thought, observe it, de-

scribe it, and name it. Then return to the experience of

breathing.

Looking Inside (adapted from Susan Bauer-Wu’s book,

Leaves Falling Gently)

This is a grounding practice which may help you to get

comfortable in an unfamiliar location.

Position yourself in such a way that you can look around

the room, yet easily look out the window or door.

Allow yourself to get settled into a comfortable position.

You may begin by closing your eyes and tuning in to the

natural rhythm of your breathing.

Once you are settled, open your eyes. Without moving

your head, begin by noticing the light, colours and

shapes as your open your eyes.

Gently and slowly scan the room, and first notice

all the different colours and shades of colour.

Be aware of how your body and mind feel as you look

at the different colours.

Allow yourself to explore and really settle into the ex-

perience of noticing light, shadows, and shapes. What

do you notice?

Try not to get caught up in the stories of what the im-

ages mean of represent.

Now bring your awareness to space—the space be-

tween objects or rooms—and notice how your body

and mind feel as your explore this sense of space.

How does your body feel when you look at different

things?

What emotions are you feeling, if any?

If you find your mind running off, acknowledge it with

curiousity and then come back to the act of seeing col-

ours, light, shapes and so on.

Try to keep this very simple.

After you have looked around very carefully and com-

pletely, close your eyes and allow yourself to just sit

quietly for a few moments, and notice how you feel

right now.

The Family Caregivers’ Grapevine Page 3

January 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 Memories and

More 1:30-

3:30PM (10

week series)

8

Network

Group 7-9PM

9 10

11 12 13

Walk and Talk

1:30-3PM

14 Network

Group 10:30-

12:30PM

15 16 17

18 19 Communica-

tion and Coping

Strategies 6-

7:30PM

20

Cultivating

Balance 5-7PM

21 22 23 24

25 26 Comforting

Touch Session 1-

3PM

27 28 29 30 31

Walk and Talk Rejuvenate with a stroll on the Ambleside seawall,

get to know other caregivers and enjoy the fresh air.

The walks take place rain or shine. Tuesday January

13th and February 3rd from 1 :30 to 3:00 pm. Meet

us by the public washrooms at John Lawson Park in

West Vancouver.

Cultivating Balance

Are you a Farsi speaking caregiver, supporting a

family member or friend?

Farsi-speaking caregivers, join us on January 20 and

February 17 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in room 203 at

NSCR, 935 Marine Drive in Capilano Mall, North

Vancouver. The session will be in Farsi and English

so all are welcome to join us.

Explore the challenges and joys of being a caregiv-

er, learn ways to use your strengths and skills, cul-

tivate health and well-being in yourself, share ide-

as, information and wisdom.

Presented by Katayoun Shirzad, family counsellor

and life coach, and Karyn Davies,Coordinator of

the Caregiver Support Program.

For registration and information on all sessions, contact Karyn by email at

karyn.davies@nscr.bc.ca or by phone at 604-982-3320.

January/February 2015 Page 4

Network Groups

Our next meetings are: Thursday, January 8th and February 5th from 7-9PM, and Wednesday, Janu-ary 14th and Febraury 11th from 10.30AM-12.30PM.

Is Farsi your first language? We have a Farsi and English speaking volunteer at the Wednesday Net-work meetings, to help you feel comfortable being part of the group.

A sneak peek at upcoming topics: January 8th: Ther-apeutic Touch volunteers will provide relaxing treatments during the meeting, if you’d like to re-ceive some TLC. Therapeutic Touch is described as being relaxing, healing and grounding. It is a gentle and non-invasive way to promote well-being. Light touch is optional.

Communication and Coping Strategies for

Dementia Care

Learn helpful tools for communicating effectively with a loved one, understand why challenging be-

haviours occur and how you can create a safe envi-ronment. Gain coping skills that will relieve stress

in your caregiving role.

Monday January 19th from 6-7.30PM in Room 203, at Capilano Mall, 935 Marine Drive, North Vancou-ver. Free registration with Karyn at 982.3320, or email: karyn.davies@nscr.bc.ca

Presented by Yvonne Poulin, an Elder Planning Counselor with Dementia Care Consulting.

Memories and More Series

Wednesday afternoons 1:30-3:30PM, beginning January 7th. A 10-week registered program for those living with early stage dementia and their caregiver. Please call Karyn to register.

Comforting Touch Practice Session:

Tools for invigoration and relaxation.

Join us on January 26th from 1-3PM to practice what we’ve learned in a previous session. Karyn will lead us in practicing the hand and facial mas-sage using the massage techniques Shirley Gibbons taught us in the summer.

Communication Strategies 101: Transforming Guilt and Frustration

A two-part series on coping more effectively with the challenges of family communication. Learn practical strategies for: Communicating healthy boundaries, improving your approach to communi-cation and transforming feelings of guilt and frus-tration into a renewed sense of self-empowerment. Celebrate the strengths you bring to caregiving, and learn some tools for working with the challenges.

Feb 23 and March 2 from 3-5PM in Room 203 in Capilano Mall, 935 Marine Drive, North Vancouver. Whenever possible, we recommend attending both sessions, as they will build upon eachother.

Presented by Deborah Braun who is a community-minded registered clinical counsellor. She derives immense satisfaction from synthesizing complex information into approachable and encouraging strategies that enhance healing, learning and growth.

In Our Own Backyards: Karen Van Dyck’s Cures for What Ails Us

By Cassandra Van Dyck

Karen Van Dyck is a professional herbalist, natural health consultant, educator and perfumer from Vancouver Island. In this interview, she shares the story of her path to natural health care and some tips for using scents for energy and relaxation.

Let’s start at the beginning. Can you tell us about your journey in to natural skin care?

When I was a child growing up on Saltspring Island, we used to rub sea-weed on our skin, dig clay from the banks for face masks, put lemon juice on our hair to sun streak it, and put aromatic flowers in jars of rainwater to make perfume. This elemental connection to nature was more important to me than I knew at the time.

The light bulbs started going off when I was studying herbal medicine and learned a very important thing - the body has an inherent ability to heal itself if you give it the natural building blocks it needs. My philosophy is simple: cleanse, hydrate, nourish and protect - with whole food molecules from nature.

During my eight years in pharmacy, I developed a philosophy that nature in all its complexity and balance held potent solutions for beauty and health. I had the privilege of attending many seminars and work-shops, and also had access to the compounding lab. People started asking me for natural alternatives. My first creations were not elegant! I took a natural cosmetic formulating course with the Cosmetic Formula-tors of the USA and used what I learned to formulate using superfoods (foods that are highly nutritious and powerful) instead of isolated patented synthetic molecules and thus Natures First Beauty Bar was born.

Scents can be very powerful. What would you recommend to someone who needs more energy? For someone who would like to relax?

I completed a three year program in natural perfume with Aftelier in Berkeley California. Aromatherapy uses steam distilled essential oils, and perfumery uses resins, tinctures, absolutes, concretes (the waxy part of flower blossoms) and other mysterious and amazing ingredients. All of nature is therapeutic, but essen-tial oils have the highest profile for their therapeutic effect since they enter the bloodstream quickly. Every person is different and responds differently, but if someone is needing more energy because they are tired - I would recommend peppermint or eucalyptus. If they are writing an exam - add rosemary to that. If they are needing mood uplifting, citrus oils like grapefruit and lemon work. If a person needs energy because their hormones are out of whack - I would recommend rose geranium. If people are tired because they are highly stressed, I would recommend lavender, ylang ylang, sandalwood or grounding oils like patchou-li. These oils are also relaxing and calming. For enlightenment or focus - rose and sandalwood are wonder-ful.

The Family Caregivers’ Grapevine Page 5

January/February 2015 Page 6

Top Note Middle Note Base Note

citruses like pink grapefruit, berga-

mot, lime, lemon, orange

florals like rose, jasmine, lavender

or ylang ylang

resins like myrrh, frankincense,

benzoin, peru balsam

spices like black pepper, ginger,

coriander, cardamom

herbs like rosemary, sage, fennel vanilla

light woods like cedar or rose-

wood, fir or spruce

spices like cinnamon or nutmeg Indian grasses like patchouli or

vetiver (only a small amount!)

In Our Own Backyards cont.

The world of aromatherapy can seem overwhelming! What advice would you give to someone who wants to experiment with scents?

To make a simple aromatherapy blend - choose a balanced blend with an equal amount of each note and blend in a base oil such as jojoba oil:

*To have a more uplifting blend - use more top notes. To have a more grounding blend - use more base notes.

A cautionary note for people with low blood pressure - stay away from lavender since it definitely lowers blood pressure and can cause dizziness. If you have high blood pressure, lavender should be your best friend!

What has the world of natural health taught you about taking care of yourself?

A connection to nature brings profound health benefits. Whether it is watching a sunrise, walking through a forest or swimming in the ocean.... Health is physical, mental and spiritual. Beauty is Health. There is an old saying that a remedy for what ails you is within 10 feet of your back door. Herbal teas are the best and fastest ways to receive that remedy. Nature’s bounty is our food and our medicine.

For the extended version of Karen Van Dyck’s interview, visit our blog!

northvancaregivers.wordpress.com

Karen’s products can be found at www.vitalenaturalcare.com

Gratitude Corner

Practising gratitude daily can make profound changes in

our lives. Implementing simple practices in to your life can

alter your perspective, allowing fewer bad thoughts to

come in to your head and creating space for more of the

good ones.

For thirty nights, try writing down three things that you

are grateful for before you turn off the light to fall asleep.

If you are looking for a consistent reminder of some of the

good things in your life, try creating a grid on a piece of

paper and taping it to your wall. Whenever you think of it,

jot down something that makes you happy. It could be

something simple, such as a hot cup of tea in the

afternoon, or a person that is always there to listen when

you need them.

The Family Caregivers’ Grapevine Page 7

February 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

Walk and Talk

1:30-3PM

4 5

Network

Group 7-9PM

6 7

8 9 10 11 Network

Group

10:30AM-

12:30PM

12 13 14

15 16 17

Cultivating

Balance 5-7PM

18 19 20 21

22 23 Communica-

tion Strategies

101 from 3-

5PM

24 25 26 27 28

January/February 2015 Page 8

I’ll Always Remember That Summer

By C. Bryson

I’ll always remember that summer

Under the lush green leaves

As we sat outside the vet’s office

Mother and I, entranced

Watching the kittens play

Through the window

As they frolicked

Moment by moment

Their silliness grew as they leaped

Onto the receptionist’s keyboard

Driving her crazy

Pouncing on imaginary mice

So suddenly we were transported

To another century

Or so it seemed

To rocking horses and tea sets,

And dollhouses with

Miniature furniture

To ice cream and sticky toffee

Puddings. To secrets and

Skinned knees. And mother

Kissing it better.

And all the thousand-and-one delights

Of childhood.

North Shore Community

Resources Caregiver Support

Program

201-935 Marine Drive

North Vancouver, BC

V7P 1S3

The Family Caregivers’

Grapevine is a bi-monthly

publication that promotes

the importance of self-care

and provides practical

information to help with the

caregiving role.

Do you have any questions

or feedback about the news-

letter? Please contact

Cassandra at

Cassandra.VanDyck@nscr.bc.ca

or

604-982-3319