More than 44 million Americans provide care for family members and friends with chronic illness or conditions that require day-to-day assistance. In general, caregivers do this out of real compassion and love, or a sense of duty for the person they are caring for. Often they find themselves thrown into roles that are unfamiliar and sometimes scary, like managing through the medical and insurance system to gain the best possible care for their loved one or understanding the options in the middle of a medical emergency. Stress levels can go through the roof, and over time stress wreaks havoc on the caregiver as well as their loved one. If the caregiver also has a family, a job, and other responsibilities and caring for their loved one is added to their current roles. While it is a labor of love, it can be exhausting over time, and things start to fall through the cracks, including caring for their own health. When Life Hits the Fan shares the experiences of a number of caregivers and activities that they can do to take care of themselves, body and soul. The practices in the book come from the author's training in mindfulness, emotional intelligence and positive psychology as well as her own caregiving journey. With a practical approach to stress reduction and easy to follow exercises, When Life Hits the Fan helps us understand what's going on inside our minds and our bodies and ways to create resilience and care for ourselves.
