By Dongyun Kwon
Carers, who have provided consistent support to others, had a special time to look after themselves on Wednesday 16 October in the middle of National Carers Week.
About 10 local carers participated in the Empowered Creativity Workshop held at McCoomb Room in Yarra Glen Memorial Hall where they made bath salt and blended oil, the tools for self-care.
The workshop was led by Christina Johns who is a therapeutic artist and a life coach as well as a carer for over 30 years.
The workshop facilitator said she was still happy with the turnout although a few people didn’t come.
“That is the nature of caring. What happens is a crisis comes and they get torn away in their caring role,” Ms Johns said.
“Whenever you have a carer event, you have to always allocate for people not turning up.
“The class today was wonderful. I met some really beautiful carers who are truly struggling, and it was nice to connect with them and to be able to offer something more than just the class, to be able to talk to them about some of their problems.”
While making the two special items which will help relax them, they also had a Q and A time with Christina Johns.
Healesville resident Gracie Valcart, a carer of her son who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, said she enjoyed the workshop where she could find a lot of connection with people who are in the same boat.
“The connection and being part of the community are everything to me,” she said.
“These kinds of workshops and organisations that support carers are my lifeline.
“If I didn’t have that, I would really struggle.”
Robyn Littlewood is another participant who came to Yarra Glen from Western Australia to look after her mum in January.
Ms Littlewood said the workshop was professional which was a timeout for her.
“If things don’t fall on the right day, you can’t go but this one fell on the day when I had a carer to look after my mum,’ she said.
“I found the aromatherapy and the voice of the facilitator very relaxing and I feel on top of the world now that I’ve been here.”
The workshop was organised by EACH in collaboration with Yarra Glen Living and Learning Centre.
EACH assistant program coordinator Lee-Ann Cockburn attended the workshop and she said events like the Empowered Creativity Workshop highlight the importance of self care for carers.
“It empowered them to care for themselves and enabled them to maintain the relationships within the family and the people that they care for,” she said.
“It’s fantastic to host workshops like this for people in more rural and remote areas.
“I felt energised and relaxed after taking some timeout to focus on things that are important.”
The workshop facilitator thanked the two organisations who supported the workshop.
“I just like to thank EACH and the community centre [Yarra Glen Living and Learning Centre] for hosting this today,” Ms Johns said.
“I wish there was more funding available for me to be able to teach more often. I really love doing this and sharing what I do with carers.”
