Blog - Caring the UCA Way

In the Privacy of Your Own Mind

July 29, 2020July 29, 2020 CareTeam

When people consider what it means to live a healthy lifestyle, physical aspects such as diet and exercise are usually the first to be mentioned. Though these aspects are unquestionably essential, they fail to acknowledge the role that the mind plays in our overall health. So, how do you speak to yourself in the privacy of your own mind? We ask because it’s important to recognize that the body and mind are intricately connected and fundamental to our well-being.

Exercising Our Minds

While there exists plenty of emphasis to workout the body, there seems to be a lack of awareness around working out the mind. In the same way that we get to exercise and move our bodies to become stronger, we also get to exercise our minds in order to have supportive thoughts that lift us up rather than drag us down.

For too many, it’s become second nature to unknowingly perpetuate a self-destructive inner dialogue. Meaning that it’s ‘normal’ for people to talk down on themselves, call themselves names, or be hyper-critical of their own interactions and self-image. Just think of how often we look in the mirror and immediately begin scanning for flaws without a single kind thought to follow.

It’s rightfully said that the relationship we have with ourselves is the most significant relationship we will ever have in this lifetime. So why then do we have a tendency to feed habitual thought patterns that are simply not helpful or caring?

The Quality of Our Private Thoughts

In order for us to be serious about supporting our health, we have to begin getting serious about examining the quality of our thoughts. This is because the thoughts that pass through the mind, pass through the body in the form of biological responses. Clinical research continues to show us how thoughts directly affect our immune systems, chemical messengers, hormones, blood pressure, weight, and numerous relating functions.

Negative, positive, and neutral thoughts each trigger specific biochemical reactions in the body.

For example, stressed or worrisome thoughts trigger a surge in cortisol and adrenaline. These are stress hormones that essentially prepare the body for danger. This is helpful when one is in actual danger, yet detrimental if the danger is only living within the confines of the mind.

Of course it’s natural to have a combination of different types of thoughts–negative, positive, neutral– but it’s important to not linger too long on the negative spectrum if wishing to support the health of the whole body.

This all being said, thoughts and activities of the mind are not benign.

It’s Time for a Mind Check-Up

When was the last time you took a moment to check-in with the happenings of your mind? What narratives or stories are on repeat? Is your inner voice working in your favor, or not?

Asking ourselves these questions is useful because the thoughts that we have today are literally the building blocks of our tomorrow. Our most visited thoughts become embedded in our belief systems and what we believe will either limit or expand our life’s potential.

By creating awareness around how our inner dialogue is behaving, we can better monitor and steer the direction of our thoughts. That helps to exponentially improve the quality of our experience day to day.

by Melissa Aparicio, contributing author

We are all working our way through a changed world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. We may no longer be quarantined or under stay-at-home orders, but everyone is stretched to adapt like never before. All of us are in this together. Now more than ever, caring is what we need most. Caring for our self. Caring for others around us in our communities. Life now demands caring, resilience and compassion like never before. This is a great opportunity to create the world we want for our future generations. We invite you to join us in creating a caring movement!

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources and products? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association and our products, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!

Unified Caring Association

It is Time to Water the Growing Edge

June 30, 2020 Lydia

How we focus our energy on what we want to grow

As our world continues to change quickly and sometimes dramatically, it may be easy to pine over what we have lost, and what we may not get back. It is natural to miss what was once normal. However, it is time that we look to the growing edge. We can focus our energy on what we want to grow: it is time to water the growing edge.

As people continue to seek new ways to live fulfilling lives, they are coming up against challenges.

Challenges like meeting basic needs. These are challenges that UCA has the capacity to help with. Like providing food and needed supplies for children and families. In a pilot project to meet critical needs for children in foster care, UCA provided warm winter clothes, under garments, feminine care supplies, shoes, toiletries and warm accessories. UCA also provided bicycles to middle school and high school students who would otherwise miss school due to lacking transportation options.

At UCA, we continue to seek the growing edge

We are delighted when we see organizations like One Tree Planted doing their part to restore salmon habitat. This is to grow an increase in the local salmon population to feed a suffering pod of Orca whales! UCA had to step in and do our part to support these endeavors. You can read more about that here.

We also have to water our own growing edge

That is why at UCA, we prioritize self-care for our members and provide articles like this or these. Some members want step-by-step how-to’s of self-care, while others thrive with our updates on inspiration for small acts of self-care that give a big impact. You can’t water from an empty cup, so make sure yours gets refilled regularly!

We hope to help you do your best to water your own growing edge, by staying healthy and active

We also want to know if you have any growing edges that need watering in your community. Reach out to us through access on your Membership Dashboard. We want to hear your ideas as well, and if your Share Your Caring Story about how you watered a growing edge in someone’s life or in your community, we will share it with our members on our website!

Health, Self-Care

Water: The Nourishing Art of Hydration

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 Lane

One of the most simple and effective things we can do to support the body is drink an abundance of water. This is a fact that most of us are well aware of yet still seem to regularly bypass or struggle to keep up with. By taking command of our hydration we are actively setting our body up for sustained longevity. It’s helpful to first understand the foundational role water plays in our well-being in order to be inspired to hydrate more consistently. This is the nourishing art of hydration.

The first thing to note is that you are mostly made of water. Did you know that the human body is made up of about 70% water? Our blood is 90% water, while each major organ has its own unique water composition. For example the brain is about 73% water, the lungs 83%, muscles and kidneys 79%, and even our bones are 31% water.

Every cell, tissue, and organ in the body is dependent on the presence of water. One can even consider water to be the body’s primary building material. From supporting a healthy digestive system to lubricating our joints for fluid mobility, water plays a major role in virtually all bodily functions. A number of common ailments are a direct result of mild to severe water dehydration. They vary from headaches, dry skin, poor sleep, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, among other symptoms that can be prevented by regularly welcoming more water into the system.

What does water do for you (Source: USGS)

We also age ourselves more rapidly when we are not properly hydrated – inviting fine lines, wrinkles, and loss of skin elasticity. Plump skin is hydrated skin from the inside out.

It’s also important to note that basic functions such as breathing, digesting, and sweating deplete us of water thus requires consistent replenishing. It’s estimated that we lose about one pound of water while we sleep from breathing alone, hence the importance of hydrating first thing upon waking up.

The amount of water recommended for daily consumption varies from person to person. There are multiple factors that can help determine this, such as the climate you live in, how physically active you are, if any illnesses are present, body size, amongst others. With time and practice, you will figure out the amount of water that feels nourishing to you.

Beyond drinking plenty of clean water, we can also receive hydration from water rich foods such as fruits and vegetables. Watermelon, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, spinach, and lettuces are a few to name. Not only are you offering your body more water by eating these kinds of foods, but you’re also receiving new minerals and electrolytes which we regularly flush out.

Another thing to note is that it’s common for people to confuse thirst for hunger. Next time you decide you’re hungry, ask yourself, “when was the last time I drank water?” So often our body is simply asking for hydration and we deliver it with something else.

Lastly, aim to drink the best quality of water available to you. Quality water should taste sweet, alive, and mineral rich. As we sink into summer, let us practice the nourishing art of hydration.

By Melissa Aparicio, contributing author

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources and products? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association and our products, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!

Animals, C.A.R.E., Caring Action, Nature, Unified Caring Association

A Story About Whales, Fish and Trees

June 4, 2020June 4, 2020 Lane

The Southern Resident Orcas, often referred to as killer whales, are an icon of the Pacific Northwest. Swimming the waters off the coast of North America from California to British Columbia, the black and white whales are one of the most recognizable and beloved marine animals in the world. Saving these Orcas turns out to be a story about whales, fish and trees.

Unified Caring Association recently co-sponsored a new project with One Tree Planted to save animals and environment through reforestation.

Sadly, there are only 75 Southern Resident Orcas remaining – which makes them an endangered species, and they are starving.

Thankfully, new conservation efforts involving One Tree Planted and Promise the Pod are drawing the connection between restoring the forests of the Pacific Northwest and saving the Orcas. By repairing critical watersheds and planting lots of trees, conservationists hope to bring back the Orcas from the brink of extinction.

But what connects trees and whales? It all comes down to what they eat!

Bring Back the Chinook Salmon!

One of the biggest threats to the Orca is an ever-decreasing supply of fatty, healthy, plentiful salmon.

For thousands of years, the Southern Resident Orca population has relied primarily on Chinook salmon as a staple of their diet, amounting to some 80% of their caloric intake.

As the Orca migrate North and South along the Pacific coast they feed on the nutrient dense salmon coming downstream from the numerous rivers and streams that flow into the Pacific – and they need a lot of it!

Scientists estimate that it takes over 700 Chinook salmon to feed the entire current Southern Resident Orca population every single day.

However, once an abundant source of food, the Chinook salmon stocks have collapsed over the last 150 years. Today, just a little more than half of the Northwest Chinook salmon populations remain.

Human interference such as through fish hatcheries, dams, dykes and levees, logging, over-fishing, pollution, and highway construction are all impeding the salmon’s ability to spawn and survive – not to mention the impact climate change is having on rising water temperatures.

With all of these changes to their habitat, the number of Chinook salmon traveling from the Pacific Ocean upstream to their spawning grounds – and eventually returning to the ocean where the Orca feed upon them – has been steadily diminishing for decades.

But there is a way to improve this… by planting trees!

Orca Project Field Photos from OneTreePlanted.org

The Benefit of Trees Is Undeniable

Tree planting and restoring riparian zones (the areas where land meets a river or stream) across the Pacific Northwest is a simple and effective solution for protecting salmon stocks and ensuring the Orca can rely on Chinook salmon for years to come.

Planting trees has a number of knock-on effects that benefit the salmon and, ultimately, the Orca. The first of which is improved water quality.

The rivers and streams the salmon populate are filled with pollution. As the salmon feed and grow in these waters they store pollutants in their tissue until they return to the ocean where they are fed upon by Orca. Those contaminants are then passed on to the whales making them more vulnerable to disease and can even cause difficulties reproducing. Sadly, Orcas are one of the most polluted marine mammals in the world.

Trees planted along the banks of the river can help filter out toxins as water passes through the soil and into the rivers where the salmon spawn. This not only improves salmon survivability, but also improves the quality and quantity of food available to the Orca.

In the longer-term, the benefits of tree planting for salmon and Orca is much more apparent. As the trees grow and their roots spread, the banks of the rivers solidify, protecting against erosion and keeping the river water clear of excessive sediment, which is necessary for the salmon to spawn.

Trees also help provide important nutrients for the young salmon as they grow. Leaves, needles, and woody debris falling into the river create habitat for insects the salmon eat, helping them fatten up for the long journey downstream to the Pacific Ocean.

As the trees mature and the forest canopy thickens it provides critical shade over salmon spawning grounds. Salmon eggs need to be kept cool, and without adequate shade from vegetation on the banks of the river water temperatures will rise, reducing the chances the eggs have to develop and hatch.

Even dying and fallen trees on the banks of the river benefit salmon. Branches and trees that fall into the water help to slow down the flow, making it easier for the salmon to lay their eggs without them getting immediately washed away. Planting trees today means the debris created in the future ensures the salmon have plenty of spots to lay their eggs.

The trophic cascade brought on by planting trees is undeniable. Balancing an ecosystem is a major part of ensuring that critical species survive – and planting trees is a great place to start!

Trees Can’t Do It All On Their Own

We know that saving a species from extinction is much more complex than just planting trees. The Orca are affected by many other factors like ship traffic and ocean pollution, so there is no doubt that other steps must be taken to ensure their survival.

That being said, planting trees to restore critical salmon habitat will go a long way to making sure the Orca have enough healthy, toxin free food to eat – and it’s an action that can be taken today.

We encourage our readers to join UCA and One Tree Planted to take caring action by donating to the Orca Project today.

This article and photos reprinted from OneTreePlanted.org with permission.

Health, Self-Care

Aromatherapy for Self-Care

May 22, 2020May 22, 2020 Lane

Aromatherapy is a practice that dates back many thousands of years carrying on from one civilization to another. Ancient Egypt, China, and India being of the first cultures to bring forward and utilize this form of medicine in a visible way. Plant extracts such as essential oils were highly respected and for much time carried a higher value than gold. Chemists would also agree that plant extracts are in fact the predecessors of modern pharmaceutical medicine.

Aromatherapy is often seen as a whimsical or novelty approach in contrast to conventional treatments. Nevertheless, the past few years have proven that the use of plant-based therapies continues to gain substantial mainstream interest. This being said, let us look a little closer at the relevance of aromatherapy as a form of self-care.

Aromatherapy as a Form of Self-Care

Aromatherapy is based on the use of plant extracts like essential oils to stimulate both body and mind. The essential oils themselves are derived from plants of all kinds from all over the world. Through the delicate process of steam distillation or cold-pressed expulsion, specific parts of plants such as leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, resins, woods, and rinds are extracted until all that is left is it’s essential oil. These extracted plant oils are as potent as nature can be and are used in a variety of ways to support the physical, mental, and emotional needs of an individual.

In order to understand how aromatherapy actually works with our body, we must first understand our sense of smell.

How Does Sense of Smell Work?

When an odor travels up the nose it comes into contact with a group of nerves that collect and deliver information about the aroma to the olfactory bulb – consider the olfactory bulb to be our brain’s odor processing center. From here sensory information about the odor is sent out to different parts of the brain which will insight various responses. Some parts of the brain will respond by producing new neurotransmitters (chemical messengers), while some will secrete specific hormones. These are responses that will inform your body and mind how to feel.

When an aroma reaches the Limbic System in our brain it’s of significance because this is the emotional center of the brain. This is why certain smells remind you of your childhood, and can elicit good or bad memories or feelings. Aromatherapy allows us to get very specific about what kind of responses we’d like our brain chemistry to engage with. Certain aromas are very uplifting, some are grounding, while others are highly detoxifying. Depending on what you’re experiencing, the idea here is that there’s an aroma that can deliver information to the body to help remedy it.

The Value of Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is used to treat a wide range of common symptoms and conditions. Popular treatments include:

treating insomnia
supporting concentration and focus
managing indigestion or bloating
supporting mental health conditions like anxiety and depression
alleviating headaches and migraine
soothing muscle aches, soreness, poor circulation
steadying energy-levels
managing hormonal imbalances
supporting mood
and countless other everyday ailments.

Every essential oil has its own unique characteristics based on its structural identity. A single oil will have a number of medicinal compounds that ultimately work together to make each other stronger. This is why an essential oil can have antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties all at the same time while co-existing and working in harmony.

2 Key Ways to Use Aromatherapy

Two simple ways to incorporate aromatherapy into our daily routines are through aromatic and topical use.

The most common way to use essential oils aromatically is through a diffuser. Diffusers are easily found online or at your local health food store. Just a few drops of the essential oil into water and soon the entire room will be draped in the aroma. Not only does this help clean the air of your home, but also supports the function of your body.

If choosing to apply essential oils topically, it’s advised to dilute them with a carrier oil first to not irritate the skin– almond oil, sesame oil, and jojoba oil being a few examples of carrier oils. Topical use is helpful for treating ailments directly due to the skin’s rapid absorption qualities. For example, you can apply a few drops of peppermint to the temples when experiencing a headache, or massage over the belly to support indigestion. Massaging essential oils into the bottoms of the feet is also an incredibly effective method for full body support, since we have access to nearly every body system through the soles of the feet themselves.

Other ways to enjoy aromatherapy from home:

Baths – apply a few drops of your favorite essential oil to your bath salts for therapeutic effect

Aromatic Spritzers – make a DIY home spray using non-toxic ingredients and essential oils

Body Care – add essential oils to your body lotions, serums, and creams

Shower – add a drop of eucalyptus or peppermint to your shower while it steams to open up respiratory airways

Cleaning Products – make non-toxic cleaning products with essential oils

Quality and Compatibility

Keep in mind that whatever you put on your skin is absorbed into the bloodstream affecting all body systems, so always aim for quality. The reality is that essential oils are not properly regulated, so it will take some discernment in choosing a reputable source. Labels simply do not offer enough trustworthy information, so we suggest looking into the sourcing methods and value systems of the companies themselves. Once you have essential oils that you can trust with your body and mind, the aromatherapy self-care can really begin.

We are all being called to do extraordinary things for the collective caring of our families, communities and the world in response to the unique coronavirus pandemic. Whether home bound or providing critical services, everyone is stretched to adapt like never before. All of us are in this together. Now more than ever, caring is what we need most. Caring for our self. Caring for others around us. Life is going to require new routines, resilience and compassion. We invite you to join us in creating a caring movement to respond to local needs.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources and products? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association and our products, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!

By Melissa Aparicio, contributing author

Caring, Caring Action, Unified Caring Association

Putting a Community into Caring Action

May 20, 2020May 20, 2020 CareTeam

A simple social media post from a UCA member put a community into caring action that changed the lives of an entire family in need.

Last December the member posted in one of her local Facebook mom groups to see if anyone knew of a local family in need of baby boy clothing. She had just cleaned out the closet of her nine-month-old and had a TON of baby boy clothes to donate. “Rather than just dropping it off at the local Salvation Army, I hoped to find a family I could help out and continue to help as my little boy grows up and we clear out his closet,” she said. Almost immediately she received a direct message from someone.

The Need that Propelled Action

Hi… i commented on your post i dont really feel comfortable putting our family business on fb so i thought I’d message you my daughter just had a little boy December 4th my 16 yr old was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma a form of bone cancer last month we are going through alot and really strapped tight on money we are actually being evicted due to not being able to pay our rent this month due to my husband taking off of work to be with our 4 other children while me and my daughter in the hospital doing chemo my oldest daughter and my grandson live with us we could really use and appreciate the things you are giving away it would mean the world to us

Initially, the UCA member didn’t know what to think. It all sounded like too many bad things happening to one family. She started communicating with the person who replied right-away and immediately felt a connection. This family needed SO much help. She started gathering every baby item she had and posted on Facebook to try to get more help from the local mom community.

Rallying the Local Community

Note to Facebook Moms Group:
I need your help! I’m pulling together baby boy items for a local family in need. They have recently fallen into a VERY bad situation financially and have a newborn baby boy. He was born in December and is only 7lbs right now. I already donated ALL of my newborn clothing. Does anyone have any 0-6mo clothes they would be willing to donate? I could come pick them up from you! Also, he’s on Similac Pro Advance if anyone has any formula they’d like to donate. Any other baby items would be appreciated. They literally need everything. I have bottles, lots of clothes (all 6mo +) and an infant car seat covered.

There was an incredible outpouring of support. We were literally able to gather everything anyone could ever want or need for a baby (pack-n-plays, clothing, bottles, formula, diapers, toys, high-chair, car seats, etc.). Over the course of a week people dropped things off at the UCA member’s house (and her parent’s house too) so they all could make deliveries to the family.

In the meantime, she wanted to help this family even more and decided to start raising money to make sure they weren’t evicted. Unfortunately, everything the family in need had been telling her turned out to be an understatement. Their power was scheduled to be turned off the day before Christmas, most of them were sleeping on the floor. They didn’t have a kitchen table or chairs, or couch because they had been renting virtually all their furniture and could no longer make the payments.

An Outpouring from the Caring Community

She was able to secure beds, a couch, a kitchen table and chairs, a desk, a desk top computer, a laptop along with a ton of other necessities. It was truly amazing to see how much people were willing to help an unknown family. She even convinced Lowe’s to donate and deliver a brand-new washer and dryer to this family.

Ultimately, the community ended up raising over $6,000 in less than a week. They worked with the landlord and paid the family’s rent for both December and January. They then called all utilities and got them current on all past due bills. With the remaining money, gift cards were purchased as well as giving the mother cash to buy Christmas presents for their kids.

It was a remarkable example of a community that truly CARES. In the end, the UCA member summed up her caring community best: “One social media post kick-started an expression of genuine love. Now, more than ever, we need to continue to care for one another. Even those we don’t know.”

We all can easily take a moment to be kind to others, to help when a need shows itself to us, and give to others with urgent needs. Beyond that moment of caring action, our communities desperately need Caring Ambassadors to catalyze a caring movement needed more than ever.

Share Your Caring Story

As the majority of us have had our daily lives altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we invite you to share your personal story. Have you discovered silver-linings in your life or around you? Has something funny inspired you to carry on? Have you learned something great about yourself, family or community that you would not otherwise have discovered? We’d love to hear from you – we encourage the idea of a Caring Community through the tradition of story-telling. As we go through this epic event, it is the perfect time to share experiences that reinforce resilience, demonstrate creative coping and lighten our hearts with humor. After all, sharing IS caring.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!

Caring, Self-Care, Unified Caring Association

Decorating During Quarantine Times: Pandecorating!

May 16, 2020May 19, 2020 Lydia

What better way to increase your well-being then to spend time improving your space? Decorating during quarantine times is a great way to practice self-care and to care for your family.

Decorating during quarantine times: Pandecorating!

Decorating during quarantine, making the most of these times.

We have all been impacted by the coronavirus, and have been subject to stay at home orders for weeks on end. This can really impact our well-being . One thing we can do to increase our sense of well-being is enjoy a little pandecorating! Decorating during quarantine times can have a lot of benefits on our minds and emotions, as well as be a really practical project.

Stimulating our visual senses with objects that entertain the eye or bring interest to a room is part of the reason for decorating. In addition to pleasing the eye, practical aspects should be considered, like the function of the room, and of course, comfort. Many people saw the opportunity early on, and redid porches and yards as springtime blossomed. But if you missed this trend, fear not, you too, can enjoy some pandecorating! Maybe you have time and are feeling ambitious, or maybe you want to stick with bite sized projects. Whatever the case, there is a DIY decorating during quarantine project waiting for you.

Some of us have had to redesign our space to conform to new needs, like homeschooling and working from home.

Once upon a time, pre-COVID-19, you had a dining room. Now you have a dining room/office/classroom. There is nothing like the central space of a long table where projects can be done, schoolwork tackled as a family team, and of course, prepare and enjoy food together. While adding functions to a room like this can be just what you need, proper design can help make sure that the dining room table can still be…well…dined on.

Tips to turn your dining room into a multi-purpose room but not lose your dining room!

Purchase a small to medium sized fold-out table to set up any laptop needed for working from home. It helps to have a set up that you don’t have to take down in order to get dinner on the table
Set up a shelf to place homeschooling materials. Kids can grab easily and put back when it is time to clear the table for dinner.
Don’t forget your family’s hobbies! Designate some space on the shelves for crafts and art supplies. Having these available makes being home feel like a creative and productive place to be.
Consider flow and adequate space when adding any kind of furniture to the room. Think about using a chair from the dining room set for your computer table instead of adding an extra chair. Maybe take a chair out of the set and use in a different room to make more space.

Decorating during quarantine time has taught us about appreciating our homes.

We are all a bit tired of quarantine restrictions, yet have also come to know the joys of being home. Many of us are simply grateful to have a roof over ourselves and a space in which to “shelter in place.” The world has been on pause and we have had a chance to go inward and reflect. Part of reflection is self-care, and part of self-care is caring for our space. Our space is an expression of our life, what we like to do. We have been busy at home, and had a chance to see what kind of space we need for our important activities. Decorating during quarantine times can start with adapting to the new functions of your stay at home life.

There are lots of ways to decorate, just use your senses.

Start with your imagination and pick a new theme for a room. Maybe you are dreaming of travelling again. Frame maps and put them on the wall. Does your kid have a globe in their room? Snag it! Paint the walls sky blue and put out objects that remind you of places you want to go. Pick lush houseplants to hang from your ceiling to set your imagination to greener pastures. Try and think of what combination of items will set your imagination free and bring peace to your heart.

Remember, decorating is about creating a safe place to return to your senses, so make sure you pay attention to the details. Place flowers or lemons on a table for their color and also for their scent. Airy curtains over a window can let in light and play on the breeze. Placement of speakers and lighting are also important. Think about the set decorators, lighting experts, and sound technicians in Hollywood. They intentionally set the atmosphere required for a scene. You too, can set the stage for your life at home.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources and products? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association and our products, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!

Health, Self-Care

Maintaining Healthy Energy Levels

May 14, 2020May 14, 2020 Lane

Part of choosing a healthy lifestyle is recognizing which behaviors and habits leave us feeling fatigued, or drained. Without even knowing it, many of us participate in actions that end up robbing us of more energy than it’s worth. We don’t maintain healthy energy levels. By noticing how we invest our time and mental resources, we can begin to set firmer boundaries that will ultimately feel supportive, and nourishing. Becoming selective in this way allows us to have more energy to spend on the people, and things we wholeheartedly care about.

Feelings of depletion are easy to sneak up on us when we remain unaware of how we’re choosing to spend our energy in the most basic of interactions. Feelings of anxiousness, frustration, short-temperedness, panic, lethargy, fatigue, are just a few symptoms that would benefit from shifting our vitality expenditure.

Saying “Yes” When We Mean “No”

One major source of exhaustion is commonly found in agreeing to do things that we don’t wish to do – saying yes when we really want to say no. There are countless reasons we do this. From cultivated habits of ‘people pleasing’, to matching our sense of self-worth to how much we ‘do’, to fearing conflict, or not exercising the word no. We end up draining our battery from perpetually bending towards the likes and needs of others, while suppressing our own.

Not Keeping Our Word

We also lose energy from not keeping our word – from not doing what we say we’re going to do. Think about how good it feels the moment you complete an assignment, or follow through on a promise you made to yourself or someone else. This is because the moment we agree or speak something into existence it’s officially taking up space in our lives until it meets it’s finish. By being clear and intentional with when and how we plan on keeping our word, we will more likely not face depletion.

Not Enough Personal Boundaries

Another source of fatigue is often found in the quality of conversations we choose to engage with. It’s all too common for people to speak to one another as if they are soundboards, dumping an excess of information or words onto someone else without any awareness if they are even available to receive them. This is especially true with close friends and family members who may feel comfortable enough to unload an entire stream of thoughts or concerns without hesitation. While this kind of trust and intimacy can be appreciated, it’s important to not become too entangled in the ‘problems’ or ‘complaints’ of others if to honor your own energy reserves. Without this kind of personal boundary, fatigue can set in from spending our time worrying about circumstances completely out of our circle of control.

If you’ve ever ended a conversation feeling completely drained, this is partially why. It’s important to raise our own standards in terms of the conversations we’re choosing to have. By practicing healthy communication skills with one another we become energized from the mutual exchange happening, and we elevate the experience for all people involved.

Pause to Choose

Lastly, we encourage you to take more pauses throughout the day to anchor and to get clear with how you wish to spend your inner resources from one moment to the next. This way we can prevent ourselves from feeling any unnecessary fatigue or exhaustion, living the day feeling energized. When deciding how to effectively move forward, consider asking yourself this question: Will this give me energy or will this leave me feeling depleted? Then you will be maintaining healthy energy levels.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources and products? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association and our products, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!

By Melissa Aparicio, contributing author

Health, Self-Care

Returning To The Senses

May 4, 2020May 5, 2020 Lane

It’s said that the average human being experiences anywhere between 50,000 – 80,000 thoughts per day. With so much mental stimulus filtering through our minds every hour by the thousands, it’s advantageous to our overall well-being to manage some of this excess noise. Returning to the senses, our body’s five senses, helps manage through the noise.

Observe Your Body’s Senses

With Covid-19 currently in the picture, the majority of us are spending a lot more time at home. This global event has also opened up an ongoing stream of new information that may be contributing to the overactive mind. As countless people have lost their routines, and their sense of contact with other human beings, we can leverage this as an opportunity to begin observing our own relationship with our senses.

The simplest and most effective way to manage the overactive thinking mind is by returning to the senses. We all know of the five senses – there is sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

When we are stuck in the mind, it is often an indication that we are disconnected from what’s happening in the body. It’s in these moments that it’s useful to remember that the clearest path out of the mind is back into the body.

This matters because the state of our health is deeply rooted in how we are engaging with our senses. Overthinking is affiliated with numerous physical and psychological symptoms, and conditions. From headaches, depression, anxiety, stomach issues, and more, there is a direct link between the activities of the mind and those of the body.

This all being said, the environments we spend the most time in contribute to how we feel. While the majority of people today are staying home, it’s a good opportunity to start taking inventory of our sensory experiences.

SOUND

Start by considering what kind of sounds you welcome into your space. What ambient sounds are most often lingering in the background? Is the television broadcasting news for most of the day? Can you hear any sounds of nature? The sounds that we allow to project in and around our bodies and homes are not benign. They have impact and ultimately give us energy, or take energy from us. The practice here is to be mindful of the quality of sounds we welcome into our space.

SIGHT

Another practice to evoke the senses is by noticing what is directly in sight. Often much of our lingering anxiety and over stimulation is due to excess screen time, use of bright lights at night, and simply being surrounded around too much stuff. Micro-actions such as minimizing artificial light with candles, organizing our homes, and creating boundaries with technology offers our sense of sight more harmony.

TOUCH

Human contact and our touch sense is also essential to our well-being. This is because our body’s chemistry receives bountiful reward through these kinds of interactions. While physical touch in the days of COVID-19 have shifted momentarily, we still have access to the medicine of touch with loved ones we are cohabitating with, with pets, and of course with ourselves. The skin is our largest organ system in the body, and simple acts of kindness towards it supports optimal function. If you don’t know where to start try massaging your favorite oil to the bottoms of your feet every night for 3 nights, and see if you notice a difference. The feet are gateways to all of our body systems, and a simple massage like this will relax the nervous system.

SMELL

Our sense of smell is also an effective way to influence how we feel on a moment to moment basis. This is because the chemistry of our brain literally changes with the information received from the aroma. Keeping this in mind, consider how you feel when you enter a room and smell fresh citrus, versus the smell of stale dust. We can design our moods and our attitudes with something as simple as adding freshness to the home.

TASTE

Lastly, we have our sense of taste. Although we have to eat for nourishment, we often forget that eating can be a vivid experience that connects us to our aliveness. In times of stress or anxiousness, many also have a tendency to turn to food for comfort – it’s in this way that food is a very emotional telltale subject. This being said, paying attention to how we eat is just as important to our health as what we eat. While many of us are accustomed to tuning out from the food in front of us, we can use eating as an opportunity to further explore with the senses. To do this, we must first slow down and create more space between each bite. Only then will we begin to better listen to the body’s messages.

Now that we’ve traveled through our five senses, we invite you to put some of these considerations into practice. In a world where we exist so predominantly in our minds, let us return to the body by returning to the senses.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources and products? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association and our products, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!

By Melissa Aparicio, contributing author

Caring Action, Self-Care

Unlearning What it Means to be Productive

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020 Lydia

The world has changed. Many of us can’t go to work. Likewise, many of us have lost our jobs. Although some of us are lucky enough to work from home, anyone who has kids is most likely homeschooling them right now at the same time! And probably for the first time ever! Let’s face it, more than just the world has changed, the very basic details of our lives have also changed. It is time to take what we have always thought about being productive, and unlearn it. Unlearning what it means to be productive.

Unlearning is a concept that comes from homeschooling, ironically enough.

It is a method of teaching children that comes from allowing them to cultivate the desire to learn, and then nurturing that. On the surface, it may not look as productive as traditional methods, because traditional methods are all about accountability and completing tasks. Yet, there is something to be said about deeper affect of allowing a child to build their own interests and then learn skills to fit those interests.

So, how do we re-frame our lives around a very different schedule and class of demands?

Some of us are juggling working, teaching, and household tasks all day. What comes first? What is most important? Work? Your child’s education? A clean and sanitary house? Making sure everyone is fed? Some days it may seem like there is too much to do, and you really haven’t accomplished a thing.

One way to start organizing tasks, goals, and objectives is to begin a good old fashioned To Do List.

Or a few To Do lists: work, kid’s school, personal. Try this one! Or this one! Get your thoughts organized about what you want to accomplish on these fronts. Start getting an idea where you are at and where you are headed on a daily basis. But don’t stop there. The next step is crucial. Make a DONE list (also available on some to-do list apps). This will help you see what you have accomplished, help you understand that your day doesn’t just go by in a blur of cooking meals, answering emails, cleaning the house, and putting on your “teacher hat” (or trying to find where you even put that thing).

Don’t omit any tasks you feel any sort of accomplishment over.

No task is too big or to small. You made a phone call! Yay! Put it on the list! You spent an hour and a half getting your kid to write three words! Yay! Put it on the list. Watched some cool YouTube videos that helped you understand how the sun works with your kids? Cool. Totally write it down. Kept everyone in the loop about an upcoming work project? Put it on the list. Everything you do is productive, in one sense or another. This will help you realize that. When you feel a sense of accomplishment, you are more likely to continue in that vein, and you will sleep better at night knowing you have done something with your day, even just one thing.

In fact, we should count ourselves very productive to even accomplish one thing on some days.

We are going through a very strange time on our planet. Many of us are experiencing a sense of loss, emotional turmoil, or just plain old stress. We need to be mindful about how bad news affects our psyche, and our body stress responses. We need to think about what can be done to put more space between what is going on in the world and how we respond to it. So, put that on your To Do list! We at UCA wish you a very productive and peaceful day, even if that means accomplishing 10 minutes of mindful breathing, a taking hot bath, or drinking a good cup of tea. Here are some ideas for self-care to put on your todo list! And click here for some work from home tips.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources and products? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association and our products, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way!