May 10, 2024 • 33 mins
In this episode, we recognize Mental Health Awareness Month as we explore the impact AgeGuide and its funded partners are making on mental wellness for older adults and caregivers and uncover the benefits of investing in our own mental health.
Our guest this month is Nathan Underhile, the Clinical Program Supervisor at Metropolitan Family Services. Nathan brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in aging mental health, caregiver stress, and an evidence-based strategy called Stressbusting for Family Caregivers.
Throughout our discussion, Nathan delves into the challenges faced by caregivers and the transformative power of reconnecting with what matters most in our lives. The Great Re-Connection, as we discover, has a lot to do with getting outside of our own heads, finding support, and nurturing our own well-being.
Contact Information:
Nathan Underhile
UnderhiN@metrofamily.org
Meditation Videos:
https://youtu.be/GZhtUMrqNSU
https://youtu.be/zTvSESrziFs
https://youtu.be/WvlTYzcp4o4
Facebook: facebook.com/AgeGuide
Twitter: twitter.com/AgeGuide
Instagram: instagram.com/theageguidepodcast
Podcast: ageguide.org/the-age-guide-podcast
Website: ageguide.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to The Age Guide, Perspectives
on the Aging Journey.
We are here to be your personalguide and enhance your quality
of life on the road ahead.
Welcome to another episode ofAge Guide's 50th anniversary
theme, The Great Reconnection.
(00:23):
May is Mental Health AwarenessMonth.
And today we embark on a journeyto explore the impact Age Guide
and its funded partners aremaking on mental wellness for
older adults and caregivers.
Joining us in this insightfulconversation is Nathan
Underhile, the Clinical ProgramSupervisor at Metropolitan
(00:45):
Family Services.
Nathan brings with him a wealthof experience and expertise in
aging mental health, caregiverstress, and an evidence-based
strategy called stress bustingfor family caregivers.
Throughout our discussion,Nathan delves into the
challenges faced by caregiversand the transformative power of
(01:07):
reconnecting with what mattersmost in our lives.
The great reconnection, as wediscover, has a lot to do with
getting outside of our ownheads, finding support, and
nurturing our own well-being.
So let's dive in and uncover thebenefits of investing in our
mental health.
Let's listen in.
SPEAKER_03 (01:28):
Well, welcome, Nathan.
Thank you so much for being withus today.
It was great for you to comeover to Lombard to our office,
our in-office studio, so tospeak, and join us today for the
podcast to talk about some ofthe mental health programs that
you guys do at MetropolitanFamily.
SPEAKER_02 (01:47):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_03 (01:49):
Welcome.
So today, we're having thispodcast in honor of May being
Mental Health Awareness Month.
So we wanted to share with ourlisteners some of the programs
that we have for older adults tohelp them to age well with
healthy mental healthspecifically.
And the theme of this season'sepisodes in honor of our 50th
(02:14):
anniversary is the GreatReconnection.
So we're really focusing onthings that help people to be
socially connected.
Everybody got so isolated duringthe pandemic, and it's been hard
for people to reconnect.
I'm sure you've experienced someof that with the folks that you
work with.
SPEAKER_02 (02:30):
Oh, certainly.
SPEAKER_03 (02:31):
Yes.
And that's definitely a mentalhealth issue.
So it ties in with this reallynicely.
So we're going to share some ofthe things that you're offering
folks to help with that mentalhealth and that social
connection and stress relief,specifically around caregiving.
But I know you offer some greatprogramming at Metropolitan.
So I'll let you do a littleintroduction of what you do and
(02:54):
what Metropolitan Family has tooffer.
SPEAKER_02 (02:56):
Okay, sure.
So just a little bit of historybecause this is just kind of an
interesting fact about thecompany is we've been around
since 1857.
We're one of the oldest socialservice agencies around.
We started off by providingsmallpox vaccines and relief aid
(03:18):
for some of the Civil Warveterans and a little bit after
that the Great Chicago Firehappened and we were named is
the sole organization designatedto distribute all the relief
funding after the Chicago fire.
Oh,
SPEAKER_03 (03:33):
wow.
SPEAKER_02 (03:33):
We've gone through some name changes since then.
So now we're Metropolitan FamilyServices.
We are a pretty largeorganization.
We're all over the Chicago andsurrounding Collier County
areas.
We have different sites.
So I'm out of what we would saythe MFS DuPage site and we are
located in Wheaton.
(03:55):
And so Metropolitan as a wholecovers a wide range of social
services.
So different sites might havedifferent ones.
So what we have at DuPagewouldn't necessarily be the same
as one we would have, say, likeat Palos, but sometimes they are
the same.
So specifically at DuPage, someof the services we have, we have
(04:16):
the early childhood education,the Head Start program, we have
the adoption preservationprogram, We have behavioral
health.
So it's just sort of a, youknow, the general mental health
treatment.
And then my program is thecaregiver and senior counseling
program.
So we primarily do providecounseling, but we do do quite a
(04:41):
bit of other things.
And we are always grateful toAge Guide for the funding that
is provided for our services.
So we provide mental healthcounseling for seniors in DuPage
County, ages 60 and up.
We also provide that individualcounseling for caregivers as
well.
So as long as that caregiver iscaring for a senior or if that
(05:02):
person is not a senior and theyhave some sort of memory
impairment, possibly dementia,they would be covered by our
services as well.
So we can do that individualcounseling.
We have a caregiver supportgroup that we do twice a month.
We have the stress bustingprogram that we're going to talk
about today.
We have Grandparents RaisingGrandchildren, which is a pretty
(05:24):
popular group that we run.
Oh,
SPEAKER_03 (05:26):
okay.
Yeah, we had a podcast aboutthat program recently as well.
SPEAKER_02 (05:30):
Yeah, it's such a great group and such a need for
that out there.
SPEAKER_03 (05:34):
Okay, excellent.
So tell us a little specificallyabout the stress busting
program.
What is it?
SPEAKER_02 (05:41):
Sure.
So stress busting is anevidence-based program.
So just a little bitevidence-based basically just
means it's gone through a fairamount of scientific rigor.
We've done I shouldn't say we,like I was the person doing the
research on it.
So the scientists, they come upwith this program and they run
experiments and see, okay, well,is this program better than
(06:03):
other programs comparing it?
And so to get thatevidence-based label, it needs
to show some evidence that it ismore effective.
It is effective at what it aimsto be.
So it is a nine-week groupprogram.
It's once a week.
SPEAKER_03 (06:20):
In person or virtually?
You can do
SPEAKER_02 (06:21):
either.
You can do both.
It allows for hybrid Zoom onlyor in person only.
Hybrid meetings are a littletricky to juggle sometimes, but
sometimes that is the best ofboth worlds.
So it's a program designed justlike a stress busting for
caregivers.
So trying to help caregivers outwith a lot of stress that they
(06:43):
deal with.
One of the most difficult jobsthere is And it's not paid.
And you got to juggle all yourother responsibilities of life
on top of that.
And so it is incrediblystressful.
I work with a lot of people whojust don't know what to do.
They weren't given a manual whentheir parent or their loved one
(07:07):
got ill and what to do.
And there are a lot of books outthere.
And so we do talk aboutdifferent books.
Sometimes we run a caregiversupport group, like I mentioned,
where we'll talk about thingslike that.
So...
We talk about kind of the insand outs of caregiving
responsibilities.
I should clarify, there's twodifferent types of stress
(07:30):
busting programs.
They're both very similar.
One of them is specificallydealing with Alzheimer's and
other related dementias.
So that group, you would getparticipants just with a loved
one with that diagnosis or justthose symptoms indicating that
diagnosis.
They wouldn't necessarily haveto have that diagnosis.
(07:51):
that formal diagnosis.
And then the other one is forchronic illnesses.
So that's more general.
We talk about just differentillnesses that people may be
dealing with.
You can be in that one as well.
If your loved one has dementia,that's OK.
Really, the only differencebetween the two is just one
chapter.
So there's one chapter in thedementia one that really goes
(08:13):
into a lot more detail aboutdealing with some of the
difficult behaviors with someonewith dementia.
And so we talk about why is itthat you're stressed?
What is stress?
What's going on in your bodywhen you're feeling that stress?
And a big part of it is justhow...
(08:35):
Right, right.
(09:05):
And so we will work with ourparticipants.
So nine weeks, uh, every weekwe're, we're showing them a
different relaxation technique.
And the idea there is to kind ofthrow a bunch of stuff at you
and you're not, you're not goingto be able to do it.
We're not gonna expect you to doall of them, but finding the
ones that you like, the onesthat work well for you, the
(09:27):
things you enjoy, you're gonnaend up doing more often.
Like if you're trying to get inphysical shape and you do
exercises you enjoy, you're morelikely to keep coming back to
that over and over again.
And it's the same thing withthese relaxation exercises, that
if you like it, you're gonnatake that time out of your day
to practice that.
And the more we practice it,when we don't need it, the
(09:49):
better we're going to be at it,at using it when we do need it.
SPEAKER_03 (09:53):
So that it comes naturally.
It's that, what is that called?
Muscle memory?
SPEAKER_02 (09:57):
Muscle memory.
And you can do that with yourbrain too?
Absolutely.
And you know, it is musclememory with a lot of these
things.
The breathing, especially.
We start with the breathingtechniques, like almost the
entirety of the first session isjust doing breathing stuff.
And there is really, if youpractice that over and over
again, that muscle memory thatis going to keep you breathing
(10:21):
in that manner that's going tokeep you relaxed.
And also, you know, you're goingto be a lot more effective with
it when you do need it.
SPEAKER_03 (10:29):
it can address some of the situational things, but
it's really about the individualcaregiver where so many of the
services that we provide are forthe care recipient, right?
They, they need a lot of supportand help too, but caregivers
sometimes neglect their own carewhen they're caring for
somebody.
So this is a way for them tolook internally and think, what
can I do for myself today tomake this better so that I can
(10:51):
be a better caregiver to myloved one?
SPEAKER_02 (10:53):
Yeah.
I'm glad you brought that up.
Cause again, There's only somuch time in the day, you know,
and a lot of our caregivers aresometimes they're raising small
children and caring for theirolder parents or loved one at
the same time or just trying towork full time and care for that
loved one, which is can be afull time job or more sometimes
(11:16):
just doing that fine.
Okay, where do I have time in myday to take care of myself?
I don't.
So usually that is what fallsaway first.
Caring for you could be able tothink sometimes think that's
selfish.
Oh, I don't want to think aboutmyself when I've got this person
in need in front of me.
We often tell people, and thisis in the stress-busting manual,
(11:38):
that when you're on an airlineand they're doing their safety
spiel and they say if you'rewith a small child and the
oxygen masks fall down, you putthat on yourself first before
the child.
You think about yourself firstbecause if you pass out,
SPEAKER_03 (11:54):
You're not going to be able to help anyone else.
That's
SPEAKER_02 (11:56):
right.
If you get burnt out from caringfor your loved one, you're still
going to care for them.
And I see a lot of caregiverswho are very burnt out and still
doing an incredibly great job ofcaring for their loved ones.
But it doesn't have to be thatway.
There are things that we can doto make that.
It's not going to make thateasy.
(12:16):
Nothing's going to make thateasy.
But it'll make it easier, moretolerable.
Finding time for yourself is soimportant.
Even if it's just a little bitof time, you've got to carve
that out.
You need to refuel or you're notgoing to be able to keep going.
SPEAKER_03 (12:37):
So that's why these sessions are so important,
because they have an appointmentwith you with the group, right?
So they feel some obligation,I'm sure, to try to keep that
and to show up every week.
And that can sometimes just helpyou get started on a journey,
right?
If you're accountable tosomebody, somebody is expecting
you, that helps.
And then you're with a group ofother people who are struggling
(12:59):
with the same thing and workingon the same issues, and you can
kind of walk through ittogether.
That's got to be helpful aswell.
SPEAKER_02 (13:05):
I would say that's just as important.
I've seen, you know, justconnections that get made in the
group with the caregivers andnumbers and emails that get
exchanged towards the end of theclass and people who are staying
in touch with each other toprovide that support.
(13:26):
And yeah, just that being aroundpeople dealing with a similar
issue, struggling with similarstress can just make you feel so
much better.
Right.
If you're not already, you willbe at some point.
(13:48):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (13:55):
And so learning how to take care of yourself through
that is important for all of us.
So later we're going to shootsome video of you doing some of
these stress busting techniquesand teaching us how to relax.
And I would highly recommendthat to anyone.
Like you said, even if you'renot a caregiver yet, you will be
(14:15):
someday and you can start usingthese techniques now.
But for those who arecaregivers, it can be a lifeline
to really learn how to do thesethings.
SPEAKER_02 (14:24):
Yeah, I mentioned a caregiving manual earlier, but
it's even simpler than that.
I talked about how much time wespend just...
Teaching people how to breatheeffectively is something as
simple as breathing.
And how many lessons onbreathing have you ever received
in your life?
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Right.
They don't have college classeson breathing, but they
SPEAKER_02 (14:47):
should.
Go even younger.
I think they are getting betterat it where I'm seeing like, you
know, meditation and yoga andbreathing exercises in the
elementary schools.
That is a wonderful thing.
We teach them young to be ableto handle some of the stress.
And that's just going to pay offhuge dividends in the future for
them.
SPEAKER_03 (15:08):
That's true.
Yeah.
If the kids are learning it, weall need to be learning it now,
too, so we can support thesestressful situations like
caregiving.
So do you think stress bustingclasses is the first place
people should start if theyrealize like, hey, I'm really
doing a lot of caregiving here?
Like sometimes it kind of sneaksup on you.
You don't realize you're reallya caregiver.
(15:28):
And all of a sudden your lovedone is needing more and more
support.
And all of a sudden you don'thave time for it.
things you used to have timefor.
You're not going out with yourfriends anymore.
You barely have time to go towork if you're working.
And all of a sudden you're like,hey, this caregiving is
overwhelming.
I'm going to need some supportwith this.
What is the first step peopleshould take?
SPEAKER_02 (15:49):
You know, that would be a good first step if you're
able to get into a stressbusting class.
You know, we're not runningthese all the time.
So there may not be able to getinto one immediately.
You may have to wait for thenext one to open up.
So general advice for anyoneproviding, you know, caregiving
(16:09):
services for their loved ones,reach out to whoever your
caregiving resource center is.
So for DuPage County, that isthe DuPage County Community
Services.
There's people, you know,there's a lot of funding out
there that people may notrealize that they have access
to.
Some of it is means tested, butnot all of it, you know, just
(16:31):
because you have an incomedoesn't mean you may not qualify
for some of these subsidies thatare out there for people.
And they can help link you upwith it, maybe counselors.
So they would be contacting us.
And if you're not in DuPageCounty, you can still contact us
and I can try and find the rightplace for you.
Our intake department is greatat providing referrals and I'm
(16:55):
always looking for places forpeople.
I mean, that's what socialworkers do.
We try to link people up withthe services they need.
SPEAKER_03 (17:02):
Connections.
There's the great Reconnection
SPEAKER_02 (17:04):
right there.
Yes, absolutely.
And, you know, I...
I hear this probably at leastonce a week, sometimes more
often.
I'll get a call from someone whois just frantic and they have
been, you know, I might be the15th person that they've called
and they've left messageseverywhere and no one's called
them back and they don't knowwhere to go.
And a lot of times I'm not theright person either.
(17:24):
I don't want to say, oh, I giveyou the runaround and here you
need to go.
But I will make every effort Ican to try and find the right
resources.
Kind of walk
SPEAKER_03 (17:35):
them through that process of getting connected to
somebody and do a nice handofffor them that's really helpful
and that's part of theinformation and assistance that
all of our funded partnersprovide out in the community for
folks looking for resources thatare hard to find so we'll
definitely put your contactinformation in the show notes
and people can reach out if theyneed help finding some of these
(17:56):
resources especially the mentalhealth resources are challenging
to find these days
SPEAKER_02 (18:01):
yeah and I would I'm okay with you giving out my
email address if anyone wants tocontact me directly with any
questions at all.
I'm happy to help out.
You're
SPEAKER_03 (18:10):
going to be bombarded now.
SPEAKER_02 (18:12):
Probably.
I may regret that.
SPEAKER_03 (18:14):
Oh, that'll be great.
An age guide can do that
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
as well.
Age guide is great at doing thatas well.
Yeah.
So just finding what's out therewould be the first step.
The first step is making thatcall.
You don't know what you don'tknow.
Exactly.
And talking to people who maybedo know a little bit more can be
really helpful.
There's an assessment onlinecalled T-Care you can do.
And it's a quick self-assessmentjust assesses your caregiver
(18:41):
stress run it through a littlealgorithm if you score over a
certain amount the county does alittle evaluation and sees you
know okay well here are somegaps that you may need some
extra help with and it's just agood way to get linked up with
those services and maybe gettinga case manager that can help
guide you through this processbecause you know not everyone
(19:04):
went to grad school for a coupleyears and knows how to manage
and navigate that system.
And it's very difficult.
And that in and of itself isvery stressful.
SPEAKER_03 (19:15):
You're right.
Navigating the system can be oneof the huge barriers for folks.
So I think you're right,starting with a T-care
assessment online.
And there's links to that on theAge Guide website.
And then you'll be contacted bya case manager who will walk you
through finding the rightservices.
So that's great.
I'm glad you brought that up.
And the stress busting programdoesn't run all the time.
(19:37):
But you do have your othersupports.
You have your mental healthcounseling and you have your
caregiver support program.
So there would be some way toconnect folks into caregiving
supports regardless.
SPEAKER_02 (19:46):
Absolutely.
You know, yeah, someone calls metheir caregiver.
I get you into our you know, wedo have a waiting list for
individual counseling, but I'llget you into our support group
immediately.
And I tell you, that supportgroup is a wonderful resource.
I show up there and I learn somuch from our participants and I
I always joke that it's, it'sone of the easiest jobs I have
(20:10):
is because I don't have to doanything.
You know, they, they show up,they talk to each other, they,
they provide so much support andI'm always learning something
new every single time.
And it's just a great group ofpeople and they're incredibly
supportive.
And if you fit that criteria,come meet them, please.
SPEAKER_03 (20:28):
Excellent.
That is so good to know.
And that's really important.
That social connection piece forcaregivers, because caregiving
is very isolating uses like we,you talked about already.
You end up not taking care ofyourself, but you're also not
getting out of the house asmuch.
You're not making thoseconnections with other people.
And to find somebody who's doingthe same kind of role, even if
(20:49):
it's a little bit of a differentsituation, is very, very
helpful.
So it sounds like an excellentprogram.
I'm excited to see how itactually works and to have you
walk through some of this.
But I wonder if you can kind oftell us what it's like for, I
know everybody's situation isdifferent, but can you give us
an example of one caregiver'sstory and how the services were
(21:11):
able to help and supportsomeone?
SPEAKER_02 (21:13):
Yeah.
So I'm thinking of someonespecifically, just like how I
was describing earlier, youknow, they call and they don't
know where to turn.
They don't know what resourcesare out there.
So just from, from the get go,being able to say, okay, here,
you can get this from theCounty.
This is what we're, we're ableto provide you.
(21:36):
We're going to get you into oursupport group right away.
And that's helpful.
And then, you know, okay, forthis person, I think maybe like
a month later, we'd started astress busting session.
And one of my, one of the thingsI, My favorite thing about my
job is being a therapist.
I love it.
It's what gives me energy, justthat one-on-one intimate
(22:00):
communication with someone anddoing what I can to help them
out.
And just that the moment of, youknow, it doesn't happen every
session.
I'm not that good, but you'reworking with someone and they
have that click of insight intheir eyes where just something
clicks and comes together andthat aha moment where they see
(22:21):
something in their life thatthey hadn't seen before.
That's what keeps me going.
I love that feeling.
And you get that in groups too.
Sometimes it might be a littlemore rare, but just to see that.
So this person, their mother haddementia and...
She was dealing with a lot ofvery difficult behaviors, and a
(22:43):
lot of it was just, this isn'tmy mom anymore.
Who is this person?
And one thing we'll frequentlytell people is it's not the
person, it's the disease.
And just reminding yourself thatthose difficult behaviors,
that's not that person I love,that's not my mom.
(23:03):
That's this horrible, horribledisease this person has that's
coming out.
And I wouldn't wish that upon myworst enemy.
Not that I have one, but if Ihad one, I would not wish that
on them.
It is absolutely horrible.
But just her being able toreconcile that and it clicked
and that, you know, just thatrelief that she experienced at
(23:28):
the moment of group, that aha,that, yeah, yeah.
My mom has changed, and it's nother fault.
I don't like the situation I'min.
I don't have to like thesituation I'm in.
But I'm in, and I understand ita little bit better now.
It's a shift in perspective thatcan click and make things a lot
(23:52):
easier.
Regarding the stress-bustingbook has a ton of just– really
great inspirational quotesthroughout.
So where it's talking about howyour perception of stress is one
of the major factors and how youexperience that.
There's a quote from Mark Twain.
He said, I am an old man andhave known a great many
(24:14):
troubles, but most of them neverhappened.
SPEAKER_03 (24:17):
That's a good one.
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (24:22):
I think that's something that sort of drew me
to this field was just...
how our minds operate and howinteresting they can be.
And when we're stressed out,we're stuck.
Especially
SPEAKER_03 (24:35):
if you're not talking to people a
SPEAKER_02 (24:37):
lot.
Yes, being isolated.
Getting that
SPEAKER_03 (24:40):
feedback.
SPEAKER_02 (24:41):
And one of the best things you can do for being
stuck in your own head is to getinto your body, to experience
what's going on in your ownbody.
So some of these relaxationtechniques where we are getting
more in touch with our body,
SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
we're able to feel where that stress is
SPEAKER_02 (24:58):
in our own body and able to take action about that.
So one of my favorite self-helpbooks is called Get Out of Your
Mind and Into Your Life.
SPEAKER_03 (25:10):
Okay, good.
It's all about recognizing whereyou're holding on to that stress
and where your pain points areand trying to deal with it in a
proactive way.
And there are things that youcan do.
That's the other thing that Ithink is so valuable about this
program.
I think forget that our brainsare so malleable and as they're
(25:30):
doing more and more brainresearch, they're finding out
that people continue learningthroughout the whole entire
lifespan, right?
So you're never too old to learna new technique and this is
something that can reallyimprove life and anyone can do
it regardless of how old you areor how many things you've been
through in your life and you'rekind of thinking you're set in
your ways.
It's never too late to learnsome really good stress busting
(25:54):
techniques.
So that's another reallyexciting thing.
exciting thing about thisprogram and the evidence-based
proves that it works.
SPEAKER_02 (26:01):
Right, but better late than never.
You know, yeah, these things doget a little more difficult for
us when we get older and that'sokay, that's part of life.
So it does take a bit of effortto do some of these things too.
It's, you know, going to the gymevery day is not easy, but we
recognize that's important forour physical health.
(26:23):
So taking care of our mind isjust as important and it's not
easy either.
It's not easy and
SPEAKER_03 (26:29):
change isn't easy.
So if you haven't been doingthis And you've been holding on
to your stress in a certainpattern your whole life.
It's hard to change that.
It's hard to breathedifferently.
It's hard to change your mindand make yourself think
differently.
But that's the beauty of havinga class to kind of walk you
through that and teach it toyou.
So what would you say to me if Iwas reluctant to try the stress
(26:51):
busting because I'm a caregiver?
I'm overwhelmed.
I'm stressed out.
I don't have time for this, tobe frank.
I don't have time to do thisclass and to start breathing
differently anymore.
And I'm just completely stressedout.
What would you say to me?
SPEAKER_02 (27:04):
I would just start working with you on a very
simple breathing exercise.
So it's called abdominalbreathing or belly breathing.
And we'll go into that a littlebit later, but it's like
something we all knew how to dowhen we were babies.
You ever watch a baby breatheand you see their belly, their
(27:25):
sides, even their back expandingwith each inhale.
We forgot how to do it at somepoint.
Most of us tend to be testbreathers.
I'm not sure why that is.
I think a lot of it has to dowith posture, sitting in chairs
a lot, but it Regardless, it'sthe way most of us as adults
breathe and we're not gettingenough oxygen into our body
(27:48):
doing that.
So the simplest thing, justlearning how to do that
abdominal breath doesn't takelong.
I would I would say to you.
Can you practice this?
Do you have one minute a day topractice this?
That's all I'm asking.
One minute a day.
Okay, you don't have a minute.
Let's do 30 seconds.
SPEAKER_03 (28:05):
Excellent.
So we're going to start reallysmall.
You're going to take me to 30seconds and I can work up to it.
And I'm probably going to wantto.
The more I do it, the morecomfortable I feel with it, the
more I'm going to make time forit.
And it's not going to feel likesuch a stretch anymore when I
see the results.
SPEAKER_02 (28:21):
Exactly.
You know, if you were going tostart jogging, you wouldn't
start by running a marathon.
You would start small.
Something manageable.
Just racking up those early winswhenever you're trying to start
a new behavior is good.
So setting small, manageablegoals and having something, I
can check that off on mycalendar and see that.
(28:42):
A visual aid can be reallyhelpful.
And then if you want to work up,you can start doing more.
If you don't, fine.
Keep doing a minute a day.
That's good.
A minute a day is good.
It's
SPEAKER_03 (28:53):
something.
SPEAKER_02 (28:53):
That's right.
One small thing.
And you may find some of thatstarts to carry through into the
other parts of your day.
Do you spend a lot of timedriving?
You can practice these breathingexercises while you're driving.
SPEAKER_03 (29:06):
Taking somebody to a medical appointment, waiting in
the waiting room with them.
SPEAKER_02 (29:09):
Eventually, you practice the abdominal breath
enough.
You'll get to a point where youjust do it all the time.
You don't have to practice.
That's just your natural way ofbreathing.
And that ideally is where wewould want to get with that.
SPEAKER_03 (29:24):
Wow.
Well, I'm starting to, just asI'm sitting here listening to
you, thinking about how I'mbreathing.
So I'm excited to get somelessons on proper breathing
techniques and stress relief.
That'll be excellent.
SPEAKER_02 (29:36):
There's a common saying I hear a lot in
meditation circles.
Someone asks, how long should Imeditate every day?
Someone says an hour.
Well, I don't have an hour.
Well, in that case, two.
SPEAKER_03 (29:51):
Two hours?
Two
SPEAKER_02 (29:53):
hours a
SPEAKER_03 (29:55):
day.
SPEAKER_02 (30:08):
It is a time commitment.
But on the other hand, the restof your day, you find you're
more organized, you're moreefficient with your time.
So you do get some of that timeback just through your own
efficiency by practicing.
SPEAKER_03 (30:24):
Wow.
All right.
Well, I'm excited to hear howthis works and to learn
something new today.
Thank you so much for being hereand for sharing your wisdom and
your resources with us.
SPEAKER_02 (30:36):
You're most welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (30:37):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for listening.
Before we go, we have a quickword from Age Guide featuring
the Medicare Minute.
Hello and welcome to yourMedicare Minute.
We are here with Val Guzman, ourBenefit Access Specialist here
at Age Guide.
On this episode, we have aquestion from Delilah in
(31:00):
Kankakee County.
She asked, I'm going to retirethis summer and will be
switching over to Medicare, butI want to know more about
Medicare supplement plans.
What should
SPEAKER_00 (31:10):
I do?
Medicare supplement plans, alsoknown as Medigap plans, are
extra coverage that you canpurchase to cover the costs that
Medicare doesn't pay.
This includes deductibles andco-pays that you normally pay
out of pocket.
Coming from employer-providedplans, it often surprises people
how much you pay with justMedicare and the fact that
(31:34):
there's no limit to how much youpay per year with Medicare.
Medigap plans give give you apeace of mind of knowing that
you're more fully covered whenyou go to the doctor or to the
hospital.
But a SHIP counselor can giveyou more details about how these
plans work and help you find aMedigap plan that works best for
(31:56):
you.
SPEAKER_01 (32:01):
Thank you for listening to The Age Guide,
Perspectives on the AgingJourney.
We hope you learned somethingnew on this podcast because we
all have a stake in promoting ahigh quality of life for people
on their aging journey.
Age Guide coordinates andadministers many services for
older adults in NortheasternIllinois.
We serve DuPage, Grundy, Kane,Kankakee, Kendall, Lake,
(32:25):
McHenry, and Will Counties.
Our specially trainedprofessionals are available to
answer questions and connect youwith local service providers and
resources If you are interestedin these services or want to
learn more, go to our website atageguide.org.
Call our offices at630-293-5990.
(32:48):
Please follow our podcast sowhen we post our monthly
podcast, you are notified onyour streaming account.
Thank you, and we will see younext time on The Age Guide,
Perspectives on the AgingJourney.
Hello, and welcome to The Age Guide, Perspectives
on the Aging Journey.
We are here to be your personalguide and enhance your quality
of life on the road ahead.
Welcome to another episode ofAge Guide's 50th anniversary
theme, The Great Reconnection.
(00:23):
May is Mental Health AwarenessMonth.
And today we embark on a journeyto explore the impact Age Guide
and its funded partners aremaking on mental wellness for
older adults and caregivers.
Joining us in this insightfulconversation is Nathan
Underhile, the Clinical ProgramSupervisor at Metropolitan
(00:45):
Family Services.
Nathan brings with him a wealthof experience and expertise in
aging mental health, caregiverstress, and an evidence-based
strategy called stress bustingfor family caregivers.
Throughout our discussion,Nathan delves into the
challenges faced by caregiversand the transformative power of
(01:07):
reconnecting with what mattersmost in our lives.
The great reconnection, as wediscover, has a lot to do with
getting outside of our ownheads, finding support, and
nurturing our own well-being.
So let's dive in and uncover thebenefits of investing in our
mental health.
Let's listen in.
SPEAKER_03 (01:28):
Well, welcome, Nathan.
Thank you so much for being withus today.
It was great for you to comeover to Lombard to our office,
our in-office studio, so tospeak, and join us today for the
podcast to talk about some ofthe mental health programs that
you guys do at MetropolitanFamily.
SPEAKER_02 (01:47):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_03 (01:49):
Welcome.
So today, we're having thispodcast in honor of May being
Mental Health Awareness Month.
So we wanted to share with ourlisteners some of the programs
that we have for older adults tohelp them to age well with
healthy mental healthspecifically.
And the theme of this season'sepisodes in honor of our 50th
(02:14):
anniversary is the GreatReconnection.
So we're really focusing onthings that help people to be
socially connected.
Everybody got so isolated duringthe pandemic, and it's been hard
for people to reconnect.
I'm sure you've experienced someof that with the folks that you
work with.
SPEAKER_02 (02:30):
Oh, certainly.
SPEAKER_03 (02:31):
Yes.
And that's definitely a mentalhealth issue.
So it ties in with this reallynicely.
So we're going to share some ofthe things that you're offering
folks to help with that mentalhealth and that social
connection and stress relief,specifically around caregiving.
But I know you offer some greatprogramming at Metropolitan.
So I'll let you do a littleintroduction of what you do and
(02:54):
what Metropolitan Family has tooffer.
SPEAKER_02 (02:56):
Okay, sure.
So just a little bit of historybecause this is just kind of an
interesting fact about thecompany is we've been around
since 1857.
We're one of the oldest socialservice agencies around.
We started off by providingsmallpox vaccines and relief aid
(03:18):
for some of the Civil Warveterans and a little bit after
that the Great Chicago Firehappened and we were named is
the sole organization designatedto distribute all the relief
funding after the Chicago fire.
Oh,
SPEAKER_03 (03:33):
wow.
SPEAKER_02 (03:33):
We've gone through some name changes since then.
So now we're Metropolitan FamilyServices.
We are a pretty largeorganization.
We're all over the Chicago andsurrounding Collier County
areas.
We have different sites.
So I'm out of what we would saythe MFS DuPage site and we are
located in Wheaton.
(03:55):
And so Metropolitan as a wholecovers a wide range of social
services.
So different sites might havedifferent ones.
So what we have at DuPagewouldn't necessarily be the same
as one we would have, say, likeat Palos, but sometimes they are
the same.
So specifically at DuPage, someof the services we have, we have
(04:16):
the early childhood education,the Head Start program, we have
the adoption preservationprogram, We have behavioral
health.
So it's just sort of a, youknow, the general mental health
treatment.
And then my program is thecaregiver and senior counseling
program.
So we primarily do providecounseling, but we do do quite a
(04:41):
bit of other things.
And we are always grateful toAge Guide for the funding that
is provided for our services.
So we provide mental healthcounseling for seniors in DuPage
County, ages 60 and up.
We also provide that individualcounseling for caregivers as
well.
So as long as that caregiver iscaring for a senior or if that
(05:02):
person is not a senior and theyhave some sort of memory
impairment, possibly dementia,they would be covered by our
services as well.
So we can do that individualcounseling.
We have a caregiver supportgroup that we do twice a month.
We have the stress bustingprogram that we're going to talk
about today.
We have Grandparents RaisingGrandchildren, which is a pretty
(05:24):
popular group that we run.
Oh,
SPEAKER_03 (05:26):
okay.
Yeah, we had a podcast aboutthat program recently as well.
SPEAKER_02 (05:30):
Yeah, it's such a great group and such a need for
that out there.
SPEAKER_03 (05:34):
Okay, excellent.
So tell us a little specificallyabout the stress busting
program.
What is it?
SPEAKER_02 (05:41):
Sure.
So stress busting is anevidence-based program.
So just a little bitevidence-based basically just
means it's gone through a fairamount of scientific rigor.
We've done I shouldn't say we,like I was the person doing the
research on it.
So the scientists, they come upwith this program and they run
experiments and see, okay, well,is this program better than
(06:03):
other programs comparing it?
And so to get thatevidence-based label, it needs
to show some evidence that it ismore effective.
It is effective at what it aimsto be.
So it is a nine-week groupprogram.
It's once a week.
SPEAKER_03 (06:20):
In person or virtually?
You can do
SPEAKER_02 (06:21):
either.
You can do both.
It allows for hybrid Zoom onlyor in person only.
Hybrid meetings are a littletricky to juggle sometimes, but
sometimes that is the best ofboth worlds.
So it's a program designed justlike a stress busting for
caregivers.
So trying to help caregivers outwith a lot of stress that they
(06:43):
deal with.
One of the most difficult jobsthere is And it's not paid.
And you got to juggle all yourother responsibilities of life
on top of that.
And so it is incrediblystressful.
I work with a lot of people whojust don't know what to do.
They weren't given a manual whentheir parent or their loved one
(07:07):
got ill and what to do.
And there are a lot of books outthere.
And so we do talk aboutdifferent books.
Sometimes we run a caregiversupport group, like I mentioned,
where we'll talk about thingslike that.
So...
We talk about kind of the insand outs of caregiving
responsibilities.
I should clarify, there's twodifferent types of stress
(07:30):
busting programs.
They're both very similar.
One of them is specificallydealing with Alzheimer's and
other related dementias.
So that group, you would getparticipants just with a loved
one with that diagnosis or justthose symptoms indicating that
diagnosis.
They wouldn't necessarily haveto have that diagnosis.
(07:51):
that formal diagnosis.
And then the other one is forchronic illnesses.
So that's more general.
We talk about just differentillnesses that people may be
dealing with.
You can be in that one as well.
If your loved one has dementia,that's OK.
Really, the only differencebetween the two is just one
chapter.
So there's one chapter in thedementia one that really goes
(08:13):
into a lot more detail aboutdealing with some of the
difficult behaviors with someonewith dementia.
And so we talk about why is itthat you're stressed?
What is stress?
What's going on in your bodywhen you're feeling that stress?
And a big part of it is justhow...
(08:35):
Right, right.
(09:05):
And so we will work with ourparticipants.
So nine weeks, uh, every weekwe're, we're showing them a
different relaxation technique.
And the idea there is to kind ofthrow a bunch of stuff at you
and you're not, you're not goingto be able to do it.
We're not gonna expect you to doall of them, but finding the
ones that you like, the onesthat work well for you, the
(09:27):
things you enjoy, you're gonnaend up doing more often.
Like if you're trying to get inphysical shape and you do
exercises you enjoy, you're morelikely to keep coming back to
that over and over again.
And it's the same thing withthese relaxation exercises, that
if you like it, you're gonnatake that time out of your day
to practice that.
And the more we practice it,when we don't need it, the
(09:49):
better we're going to be at it,at using it when we do need it.
SPEAKER_03 (09:53):
So that it comes naturally.
It's that, what is that called?
Muscle memory?
SPEAKER_02 (09:57):
Muscle memory.
And you can do that with yourbrain too?
Absolutely.
And you know, it is musclememory with a lot of these
things.
The breathing, especially.
We start with the breathingtechniques, like almost the
entirety of the first session isjust doing breathing stuff.
And there is really, if youpractice that over and over
again, that muscle memory thatis going to keep you breathing
(10:21):
in that manner that's going tokeep you relaxed.
And also, you know, you're goingto be a lot more effective with
it when you do need it.
SPEAKER_03 (10:29):
it can address some of the situational things, but
it's really about the individualcaregiver where so many of the
services that we provide are forthe care recipient, right?
They, they need a lot of supportand help too, but caregivers
sometimes neglect their own carewhen they're caring for
somebody.
So this is a way for them tolook internally and think, what
can I do for myself today tomake this better so that I can
(10:51):
be a better caregiver to myloved one?
SPEAKER_02 (10:53):
Yeah.
I'm glad you brought that up.
Cause again, There's only somuch time in the day, you know,
and a lot of our caregivers aresometimes they're raising small
children and caring for theirolder parents or loved one at
the same time or just trying towork full time and care for that
loved one, which is can be afull time job or more sometimes
(11:16):
just doing that fine.
Okay, where do I have time in myday to take care of myself?
I don't.
So usually that is what fallsaway first.
Caring for you could be able tothink sometimes think that's
selfish.
Oh, I don't want to think aboutmyself when I've got this person
in need in front of me.
We often tell people, and thisis in the stress-busting manual,
(11:38):
that when you're on an airlineand they're doing their safety
spiel and they say if you'rewith a small child and the
oxygen masks fall down, you putthat on yourself first before
the child.
You think about yourself firstbecause if you pass out,
SPEAKER_03 (11:54):
You're not going to be able to help anyone else.
That's
SPEAKER_02 (11:56):
right.
If you get burnt out from caringfor your loved one, you're still
going to care for them.
And I see a lot of caregiverswho are very burnt out and still
doing an incredibly great job ofcaring for their loved ones.
But it doesn't have to be thatway.
There are things that we can doto make that.
It's not going to make thateasy.
(12:16):
Nothing's going to make thateasy.
But it'll make it easier, moretolerable.
Finding time for yourself is soimportant.
Even if it's just a little bitof time, you've got to carve
that out.
You need to refuel or you're notgoing to be able to keep going.
SPEAKER_03 (12:37):
So that's why these sessions are so important,
because they have an appointmentwith you with the group, right?
So they feel some obligation,I'm sure, to try to keep that
and to show up every week.
And that can sometimes just helpyou get started on a journey,
right?
If you're accountable tosomebody, somebody is expecting
you, that helps.
And then you're with a group ofother people who are struggling
(12:59):
with the same thing and workingon the same issues, and you can
kind of walk through ittogether.
That's got to be helpful aswell.
SPEAKER_02 (13:05):
I would say that's just as important.
I've seen, you know, justconnections that get made in the
group with the caregivers andnumbers and emails that get
exchanged towards the end of theclass and people who are staying
in touch with each other toprovide that support.
(13:26):
And yeah, just that being aroundpeople dealing with a similar
issue, struggling with similarstress can just make you feel so
much better.
Right.
If you're not already, you willbe at some point.
(13:48):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (13:55):
And so learning how to take care of yourself through
that is important for all of us.
So later we're going to shootsome video of you doing some of
these stress busting techniquesand teaching us how to relax.
And I would highly recommendthat to anyone.
Like you said, even if you'renot a caregiver yet, you will be
(14:15):
someday and you can start usingthese techniques now.
But for those who arecaregivers, it can be a lifeline
to really learn how to do thesethings.
SPEAKER_02 (14:24):
Yeah, I mentioned a caregiving manual earlier, but
it's even simpler than that.
I talked about how much time wespend just...
Teaching people how to breatheeffectively is something as
simple as breathing.
And how many lessons onbreathing have you ever received
in your life?
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Right.
They don't have college classeson breathing, but they
SPEAKER_02 (14:47):
should.
Go even younger.
I think they are getting betterat it where I'm seeing like, you
know, meditation and yoga andbreathing exercises in the
elementary schools.
That is a wonderful thing.
We teach them young to be ableto handle some of the stress.
And that's just going to pay offhuge dividends in the future for
them.
SPEAKER_03 (15:08):
That's true.
Yeah.
If the kids are learning it, weall need to be learning it now,
too, so we can support thesestressful situations like
caregiving.
So do you think stress bustingclasses is the first place
people should start if theyrealize like, hey, I'm really
doing a lot of caregiving here?
Like sometimes it kind of sneaksup on you.
You don't realize you're reallya caregiver.
(15:28):
And all of a sudden your lovedone is needing more and more
support.
And all of a sudden you don'thave time for it.
things you used to have timefor.
You're not going out with yourfriends anymore.
You barely have time to go towork if you're working.
And all of a sudden you're like,hey, this caregiving is
overwhelming.
I'm going to need some supportwith this.
What is the first step peopleshould take?
SPEAKER_02 (15:49):
You know, that would be a good first step if you're
able to get into a stressbusting class.
You know, we're not runningthese all the time.
So there may not be able to getinto one immediately.
You may have to wait for thenext one to open up.
So general advice for anyoneproviding, you know, caregiving
(16:09):
services for their loved ones,reach out to whoever your
caregiving resource center is.
So for DuPage County, that isthe DuPage County Community
Services.
There's people, you know,there's a lot of funding out
there that people may notrealize that they have access
to.
Some of it is means tested, butnot all of it, you know, just
(16:31):
because you have an incomedoesn't mean you may not qualify
for some of these subsidies thatare out there for people.
And they can help link you upwith it, maybe counselors.
So they would be contacting us.
And if you're not in DuPageCounty, you can still contact us
and I can try and find the rightplace for you.
Our intake department is greatat providing referrals and I'm
(16:55):
always looking for places forpeople.
I mean, that's what socialworkers do.
We try to link people up withthe services they need.
SPEAKER_03 (17:02):
Connections.
There's the great Reconnection
SPEAKER_02 (17:04):
right there.
Yes, absolutely.
And, you know, I...
I hear this probably at leastonce a week, sometimes more
often.
I'll get a call from someone whois just frantic and they have
been, you know, I might be the15th person that they've called
and they've left messageseverywhere and no one's called
them back and they don't knowwhere to go.
And a lot of times I'm not theright person either.
(17:24):
I don't want to say, oh, I giveyou the runaround and here you
need to go.
But I will make every effort Ican to try and find the right
resources.
Kind of walk
SPEAKER_03 (17:35):
them through that process of getting connected to
somebody and do a nice handofffor them that's really helpful
and that's part of theinformation and assistance that
all of our funded partnersprovide out in the community for
folks looking for resources thatare hard to find so we'll
definitely put your contactinformation in the show notes
and people can reach out if theyneed help finding some of these
(17:56):
resources especially the mentalhealth resources are challenging
to find these days
SPEAKER_02 (18:01):
yeah and I would I'm okay with you giving out my
email address if anyone wants tocontact me directly with any
questions at all.
I'm happy to help out.
You're
SPEAKER_03 (18:10):
going to be bombarded now.
SPEAKER_02 (18:12):
Probably.
I may regret that.
SPEAKER_03 (18:14):
Oh, that'll be great.
An age guide can do that
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
as well.
Age guide is great at doing thatas well.
Yeah.
So just finding what's out therewould be the first step.
The first step is making thatcall.
You don't know what you don'tknow.
Exactly.
And talking to people who maybedo know a little bit more can be
really helpful.
There's an assessment onlinecalled T-Care you can do.
And it's a quick self-assessmentjust assesses your caregiver
(18:41):
stress run it through a littlealgorithm if you score over a
certain amount the county does alittle evaluation and sees you
know okay well here are somegaps that you may need some
extra help with and it's just agood way to get linked up with
those services and maybe gettinga case manager that can help
guide you through this processbecause you know not everyone
(19:04):
went to grad school for a coupleyears and knows how to manage
and navigate that system.
And it's very difficult.
And that in and of itself isvery stressful.
SPEAKER_03 (19:15):
You're right.
Navigating the system can be oneof the huge barriers for folks.
So I think you're right,starting with a T-care
assessment online.
And there's links to that on theAge Guide website.
And then you'll be contacted bya case manager who will walk you
through finding the rightservices.
So that's great.
I'm glad you brought that up.
And the stress busting programdoesn't run all the time.
(19:37):
But you do have your othersupports.
You have your mental healthcounseling and you have your
caregiver support program.
So there would be some way toconnect folks into caregiving
supports regardless.
SPEAKER_02 (19:46):
Absolutely.
You know, yeah, someone calls metheir caregiver.
I get you into our you know, wedo have a waiting list for
individual counseling, but I'llget you into our support group
immediately.
And I tell you, that supportgroup is a wonderful resource.
I show up there and I learn somuch from our participants and I
I always joke that it's, it'sone of the easiest jobs I have
(20:10):
is because I don't have to doanything.
You know, they, they show up,they talk to each other, they,
they provide so much support andI'm always learning something
new every single time.
And it's just a great group ofpeople and they're incredibly
supportive.
And if you fit that criteria,come meet them, please.
SPEAKER_03 (20:28):
Excellent.
That is so good to know.
And that's really important.
That social connection piece forcaregivers, because caregiving
is very isolating uses like we,you talked about already.
You end up not taking care ofyourself, but you're also not
getting out of the house asmuch.
You're not making thoseconnections with other people.
And to find somebody who's doingthe same kind of role, even if
(20:49):
it's a little bit of a differentsituation, is very, very
helpful.
So it sounds like an excellentprogram.
I'm excited to see how itactually works and to have you
walk through some of this.
But I wonder if you can kind oftell us what it's like for, I
know everybody's situation isdifferent, but can you give us
an example of one caregiver'sstory and how the services were
(21:11):
able to help and supportsomeone?
SPEAKER_02 (21:13):
Yeah.
So I'm thinking of someonespecifically, just like how I
was describing earlier, youknow, they call and they don't
know where to turn.
They don't know what resourcesare out there.
So just from, from the get go,being able to say, okay, here,
you can get this from theCounty.
This is what we're, we're ableto provide you.
(21:36):
We're going to get you into oursupport group right away.
And that's helpful.
And then, you know, okay, forthis person, I think maybe like
a month later, we'd started astress busting session.
And one of my, one of the thingsI, My favorite thing about my
job is being a therapist.
I love it.
It's what gives me energy, justthat one-on-one intimate
(22:00):
communication with someone anddoing what I can to help them
out.
And just that the moment of, youknow, it doesn't happen every
session.
I'm not that good, but you'reworking with someone and they
have that click of insight intheir eyes where just something
clicks and comes together andthat aha moment where they see
(22:21):
something in their life thatthey hadn't seen before.
That's what keeps me going.
I love that feeling.
And you get that in groups too.
Sometimes it might be a littlemore rare, but just to see that.
So this person, their mother haddementia and...
She was dealing with a lot ofvery difficult behaviors, and a
(22:43):
lot of it was just, this isn'tmy mom anymore.
Who is this person?
And one thing we'll frequentlytell people is it's not the
person, it's the disease.
And just reminding yourself thatthose difficult behaviors,
that's not that person I love,that's not my mom.
(23:03):
That's this horrible, horribledisease this person has that's
coming out.
And I wouldn't wish that upon myworst enemy.
Not that I have one, but if Ihad one, I would not wish that
on them.
It is absolutely horrible.
But just her being able toreconcile that and it clicked
and that, you know, just thatrelief that she experienced at
(23:28):
the moment of group, that aha,that, yeah, yeah.
My mom has changed, and it's nother fault.
I don't like the situation I'min.
I don't have to like thesituation I'm in.
But I'm in, and I understand ita little bit better now.
It's a shift in perspective thatcan click and make things a lot
(23:52):
easier.
Regarding the stress-bustingbook has a ton of just– really
great inspirational quotesthroughout.
So where it's talking about howyour perception of stress is one
of the major factors and how youexperience that.
There's a quote from Mark Twain.
He said, I am an old man andhave known a great many
(24:14):
troubles, but most of them neverhappened.
SPEAKER_03 (24:17):
That's a good one.
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (24:22):
I think that's something that sort of drew me
to this field was just...
how our minds operate and howinteresting they can be.
And when we're stressed out,we're stuck.
Especially
SPEAKER_03 (24:35):
if you're not talking to people a
SPEAKER_02 (24:37):
lot.
Yes, being isolated.
Getting that
SPEAKER_03 (24:40):
feedback.
SPEAKER_02 (24:41):
And one of the best things you can do for being
stuck in your own head is to getinto your body, to experience
what's going on in your ownbody.
So some of these relaxationtechniques where we are getting
more in touch with our body,
SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
we're able to feel where that stress is
SPEAKER_02 (24:58):
in our own body and able to take action about that.
So one of my favorite self-helpbooks is called Get Out of Your
Mind and Into Your Life.
SPEAKER_03 (25:10):
Okay, good.
It's all about recognizing whereyou're holding on to that stress
and where your pain points areand trying to deal with it in a
proactive way.
And there are things that youcan do.
That's the other thing that Ithink is so valuable about this
program.
I think forget that our brainsare so malleable and as they're
(25:30):
doing more and more brainresearch, they're finding out
that people continue learningthroughout the whole entire
lifespan, right?
So you're never too old to learna new technique and this is
something that can reallyimprove life and anyone can do
it regardless of how old you areor how many things you've been
through in your life and you'rekind of thinking you're set in
your ways.
It's never too late to learnsome really good stress busting
(25:54):
techniques.
So that's another reallyexciting thing.
exciting thing about thisprogram and the evidence-based
proves that it works.
SPEAKER_02 (26:01):
Right, but better late than never.
You know, yeah, these things doget a little more difficult for
us when we get older and that'sokay, that's part of life.
So it does take a bit of effortto do some of these things too.
It's, you know, going to the gymevery day is not easy, but we
recognize that's important forour physical health.
(26:23):
So taking care of our mind isjust as important and it's not
easy either.
It's not easy and
SPEAKER_03 (26:29):
change isn't easy.
So if you haven't been doingthis And you've been holding on
to your stress in a certainpattern your whole life.
It's hard to change that.
It's hard to breathedifferently.
It's hard to change your mindand make yourself think
differently.
But that's the beauty of havinga class to kind of walk you
through that and teach it toyou.
So what would you say to me if Iwas reluctant to try the stress
(26:51):
busting because I'm a caregiver?
I'm overwhelmed.
I'm stressed out.
I don't have time for this, tobe frank.
I don't have time to do thisclass and to start breathing
differently anymore.
And I'm just completely stressedout.
What would you say to me?
SPEAKER_02 (27:04):
I would just start working with you on a very
simple breathing exercise.
So it's called abdominalbreathing or belly breathing.
And we'll go into that a littlebit later, but it's like
something we all knew how to dowhen we were babies.
You ever watch a baby breatheand you see their belly, their
(27:25):
sides, even their back expandingwith each inhale.
We forgot how to do it at somepoint.
Most of us tend to be testbreathers.
I'm not sure why that is.
I think a lot of it has to dowith posture, sitting in chairs
a lot, but it Regardless, it'sthe way most of us as adults
breathe and we're not gettingenough oxygen into our body
(27:48):
doing that.
So the simplest thing, justlearning how to do that
abdominal breath doesn't takelong.
I would I would say to you.
Can you practice this?
Do you have one minute a day topractice this?
That's all I'm asking.
One minute a day.
Okay, you don't have a minute.
Let's do 30 seconds.
SPEAKER_03 (28:05):
Excellent.
So we're going to start reallysmall.
You're going to take me to 30seconds and I can work up to it.
And I'm probably going to wantto.
The more I do it, the morecomfortable I feel with it, the
more I'm going to make time forit.
And it's not going to feel likesuch a stretch anymore when I
see the results.
SPEAKER_02 (28:21):
Exactly.
You know, if you were going tostart jogging, you wouldn't
start by running a marathon.
You would start small.
Something manageable.
Just racking up those early winswhenever you're trying to start
a new behavior is good.
So setting small, manageablegoals and having something, I
can check that off on mycalendar and see that.
(28:42):
A visual aid can be reallyhelpful.
And then if you want to work up,you can start doing more.
If you don't, fine.
Keep doing a minute a day.
That's good.
A minute a day is good.
It's
SPEAKER_03 (28:53):
something.
SPEAKER_02 (28:53):
That's right.
One small thing.
And you may find some of thatstarts to carry through into the
other parts of your day.
Do you spend a lot of timedriving?
You can practice these breathingexercises while you're driving.
SPEAKER_03 (29:06):
Taking somebody to a medical appointment, waiting in
the waiting room with them.
SPEAKER_02 (29:09):
Eventually, you practice the abdominal breath
enough.
You'll get to a point where youjust do it all the time.
You don't have to practice.
That's just your natural way ofbreathing.
And that ideally is where wewould want to get with that.
SPEAKER_03 (29:24):
Wow.
Well, I'm starting to, just asI'm sitting here listening to
you, thinking about how I'mbreathing.
So I'm excited to get somelessons on proper breathing
techniques and stress relief.
That'll be excellent.
SPEAKER_02 (29:36):
There's a common saying I hear a lot in
meditation circles.
Someone asks, how long should Imeditate every day?
Someone says an hour.
Well, I don't have an hour.
Well, in that case, two.
SPEAKER_03 (29:51):
Two hours?
Two
SPEAKER_02 (29:53):
hours a
SPEAKER_03 (29:55):
day.
SPEAKER_02 (30:08):
It is a time commitment.
But on the other hand, the restof your day, you find you're
more organized, you're moreefficient with your time.
So you do get some of that timeback just through your own
efficiency by practicing.
SPEAKER_03 (30:24):
Wow.
All right.
Well, I'm excited to hear howthis works and to learn
something new today.
Thank you so much for being hereand for sharing your wisdom and
your resources with us.
SPEAKER_02 (30:36):
You're most welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (30:37):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for listening.
Before we go, we have a quickword from Age Guide featuring
the Medicare Minute.
Hello and welcome to yourMedicare Minute.
We are here with Val Guzman, ourBenefit Access Specialist here
at Age Guide.
On this episode, we have aquestion from Delilah in
(31:00):
Kankakee County.
She asked, I'm going to retirethis summer and will be
switching over to Medicare, butI want to know more about
Medicare supplement plans.
What should
SPEAKER_00 (31:10):
I do?
Medicare supplement plans, alsoknown as Medigap plans, are
extra coverage that you canpurchase to cover the costs that
Medicare doesn't pay.
This includes deductibles andco-pays that you normally pay
out of pocket.
Coming from employer-providedplans, it often surprises people
how much you pay with justMedicare and the fact that
(31:34):
there's no limit to how much youpay per year with Medicare.
Medigap plans give give you apeace of mind of knowing that
you're more fully covered whenyou go to the doctor or to the
hospital.
But a SHIP counselor can giveyou more details about how these
plans work and help you find aMedigap plan that works best for
(31:56):
you.
SPEAKER_01 (32:01):
Thank you for listening to The Age Guide,
Perspectives on the AgingJourney.
We hope you learned somethingnew on this podcast because we
all have a stake in promoting ahigh quality of life for people
on their aging journey.
Age Guide coordinates andadministers many services for
older adults in NortheasternIllinois.
We serve DuPage, Grundy, Kane,Kankakee, Kendall, Lake,
(32:25):
McHenry, and Will Counties.
Our specially trainedprofessionals are available to
answer questions and connect youwith local service providers and
resources If you are interestedin these services or want to
learn more, go to our website atageguide.org.
Call our offices at630-293-5990.
(32:48):
Please follow our podcast sowhen we post our monthly
podcast, you are notified onyour streaming account.
Thank you, and we will see younext time on The Age Guide,
Perspectives on the AgingJourney.
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