Imagine what a custom designed hat would look like for every role that you play in the course of a normal week. For the purposes of this article, the role of caregiver would be one role. What other significant roles do you play, or what other hats do you wear in the course of a week?

There is a way in which we organize ourselves for each role that we play. We put on different hats so to speak. If it works for you, go ahead and stand up and when you're ready take one step forward imagining yourself stepping into the role of caregiver. When you imagine yourself putting on the hat of caregiver, what do you notice?Is there any particular way that you begin to feel when you step into this role? quietly notice what comes up for you. Notice your posture......what direction does your spine curve, are you open and slightly extended, or perhaps you are rounded, flexed forward .....or somewhere in between?

Do you have a sense of calm or perhaps a sense of fatigue...do you feel a weight on your shoulders or do you feel light?....just notice what is true for you in this moment as you imagine stepping into the role of caregiver. There is no right or wrong in any of this inquiry. Our intention is to create a safe environment where we can explore how we embody the different roles we step into without judgement.

Store the information that you gathered in your mind or write it down if that's helpful and then pause.

It's possible to step in different directions and bring to your awareness to other roles that you play, another hat that you wear and repeat the exploration of how these roles impact our posture, our breathing and other sensations. The question I invite you to ask in this exploration is: How can we take such good care of ourselves as we step into different roles ? In order to answer that question we must first cultivate a greater awareness of how we truly are when we are in those roles. It is from that place that we can begin to invite subtle changes that support us in taking such good care of ourselves. WE can learn simple and effective ways to take care of ourselves while we are wearing different hats.

I teach movement lessons based in the The Feldenkrais Method to facilitate this exploration of how we embody different roles. I help individuals learn gentle and effective strategies of self care that can be easily incorporate into our every day lives. As caregivers, it is important to continually expand the box of tools that we have for self-care. Please see the CD series under products to learn these new tools!

Debbie Steinmann