You may have heard how amazing practicing mindfulness is, and the truth is, this is something all seniors should do, too. Mindfulness is being aware of the present moment, how you’re feeling, and how your body is feeling, accepting it all, and letting it go.
It sounds easy, but in truth, it takes years to do. It is a skill, and you are never too old to start learning about this practice and implementing it in daily life. A senior may find that practicing mindfulness actually helps them fall asleep at night.
Here are all of the ways practicing mindfulness and in-home care can help your senior loved one fall asleep at night.
It Helps With Racing Thoughts
A senior may be fine throughout the day, but as soon as their heads hit the pillow, they may feel consumed by racing thoughts. When a senior has these thoughts, getting to bed at a decent hour can feel impossible. Your loved one needs to create a routine with in-home care that allows them to relax before bed.
One of the best routines they can get into is practicing mindfulness. Your senior loved one should lie down and actually allow themselves to feel those pop-up feelings, hold them, and let them go. This may seem silly but it can actually help them process the feelings and allow themselves to fall asleep faster.
Mindfulness can be done any time of the day, but if a senior feels like they are having racing thoughts, it is important to acknowledge it as it is happening.
Mindfulness Can Help a Senior With Body Awareness
As racing thoughts happen, seniors can feel out of control and may stop being aware of their physical body and how it is feeling. Sometimes, these racing thoughts can lead to panic attacks, and if it happens too often before bed, it can lead to bedtime being something to worry about. So, one of the best ways to stop this from happening is acknowledging the feelings but then doing a check in with your body.
If a senior has in-home care, these caregivers can help with this physical check-in. They can ask a senior to feel each part of their body, acknowledging how it is feeling; they can start from their toes to their head. At each body part, a senior should stop and breathe deeply, focusing on each individual limb. All of this helps body awareness and may help a senior relax and fall asleep faster.
In-Home Care Can Help Them Develop a Routine and Ritual
Having a routine is important, but having a routine and a ritual are totally different. In-home care workers can help develop a routine, and this means seniors are so used to doing something they do it without thinking about it.
On the other hand, when in-home care encourages a ritual, it is done with intention and is something a senior has to think about. They may automatically start doing a body check, but during the body check, they have to think about how they are feeling. There is a different intention at this point, making it a ritual. This is a good way to help a senior focus and sleep better at night.
If you or an aging loved one are considering In-Home Care in Germantown, PA, please contact the caring staff at Better Care Home Health Services today at (267) 766-5218
Better Care Home Health Services is a Trusted Home Care Agency serving Philadelphia, Germantown, Glenside, Elkins Park, Bryn Mawr, Roxborough, Wyncote, Broomall, Upper Darby, Yeadon, Lansdowne, Narberth, Wynnewood, Penn Wynne, Fairmount, Ardmore, Chestnut Hill, and the surrounding areas.
Better Care Home Health Services is a family-owned agency dedicated to providing excellent and comprehensive home health care to individuals and families of Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks counties. We are honored that God has blessed us with the opportunity to positively impact and change people’s lives. It is our mission to ensure that we provide the very best of care to our clients.
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