Learn about mindfulness and compassion-based tools to nurture and empower caregivers as they serve the needs of others.

About the guest:

Roy Remer is the executive director of the Zen Caregiving Project in San Francisco and the lead creator of the Mindful Caregiving Education curriculum. He is an educator and end-of-life caregiver since 1997 and a dedicated practitioner in the Soto Zen tradition. Roy is also the author of Zen Caregiving: How to Care for Yourself While Caring for Others. Learn more at the website:

ZenCaregiving.org

Listen here:

In this episode:

• Being a caregiver is part of the human experience and will affect most of us
• Caregiving can be a pathway for Growth but certain illnesses (especially dementia) can exact a huge toll on caregivers
• The value of learning genuine presence
• How this book can help everyone be better prepared in the future to become a caregiver
• How serving others differs from helping, which is outcome focused
• Our compassion is incomplete if we don’t also care for ourselves
• Caregivers do not receive adequate preparation or support physically, emotionally, or spiritually for the task of caring for others
• Why Grief and guilt are common experiences of caregivers
• Simple rituals for processing grief while providing care

Links mentioned in this episode:

Resources:

• Caregiver Self Assessment Questionnaire
• Caregiver Online Support Circles
• Guided Meditations for Caregivers
• Field Guide to What Really Matters: Presence

Related episodes:

• Navigating Life as a Dementia Caregiver with Beverly Thorn PhD
• Care Boss: Strategies for Family Caregivers with Jennifer A. O’Brien
• Practical Tools for Home Caregivers with Barbara Karnes RN
• Contemplative Practices for Death and Grief with Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison

Other links:

• What Really Matters Podcast: Presence – The Most Important Skill for Uncertain Times
• Hospice Wisdom with Barbara Karnes Resource Page
• 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying by Karen Wyatt MD
• Latest post on Substack:  We Need Another Word for Grief
• What Really Matters Podcast: Roses for Tracey and Grief with Wings
• Leave me a message by email: [email protected], Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
• Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
• Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu 
• Buy me a coffee
• Donate on Paypal

Transcript:

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Karen Wyatt Karen Wyatt MD

Dr. Karen Wyatt is the bestselling author of the book 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying, which contains stories of patients she cared for as a hospice doctor and the spiritual lessons she learned from them at the end of their lives. Her other books include The Journey from Ego to Soul, Stories from the Dark Night, and The Tao of Death. Dr. Wyatt also hosts End-of-Life University Podcast, which features conversations with experts who work in all aspects of end-of-life care. She is widely regarded as a thought-leader in the effort to transform the way we care for our dying in the U.S. In addition, she is valued for her application of spiritual principles to illness and healthcare and teaches that in order to live life fully we must each overcome our fear of death and embrace the difficulties that life brings us.