We sit down with self-care professionals Shruti Tekwani, Kaley Day & Aubrey Thorton to discuss what self-care is for siblings, how the holidays can impact us and helpful tips to get your own self-care routine started.
This episode's transcript
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We sit down with self-care professionals Shruti Tekwani, Kaley Day & Aubrey Thorton to discuss what self-care is for siblings, how the holidays can impact us and helpful tips to get your own self-care routine started.
This episode's transcript
Resources discussed in this podcast:
Welcome to the sibling Leadership Network podcast. The sibling Leadership Network is a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide siblings of individuals with disabilities the information support and tools to advocate with their brothers and sisters and to promote the issues important to us and our entire families. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the sibling Leadership Network Podcast. Today I am joined by Shruti tech Lonnie Kaylee de and Aubrey Thorton to talk about self care during the holidays for sibs, thank you so much for joining me today everyone. Having a I'm just gonna ask you to go ahead and introduce yourselves. Tell us what you do, why you do it, or anything else you want to share about yourself.
Kaley Day:My name is Kaley Day i, she her pronouns, and I am from Denver, Colorado. I am an advocate for adults with advocacy Denver, which is the Denver County Chapter of the arc. So I help clients and families kind of navigate the the public service system, the Medicaid service system, connect people with resources and make sure that their voices are being heard. And they're they're getting what they want and need and meeting their goals. And then I'm also the board president for Rocky Mountain CES, which is the Colorado chapter of the sibling Leadership Network.
Shruti Tekwani:I'm Shruti Tekwani? I am originally from India, I live in the Caribbean right now. But really, I'm a citizen of the world because I travel a lot and live on a plane I feel like I am a mental health therapist and a life coach that predominantly practices virtually even before COVID. Currently, I'm a school counselor at the International School of carousel and I have my private practice after school hours. I'm also on the board of directors for the Massachusetts sibling support network. And I am a big advocate of people with disabilities on this island. And so I'm actually spearheading a handicap parking initiative that never existed here.
Aubrey Thorton:Hi, I'm Aubrey Thorton. I'm a licensed clinical social worker. And currently, I work at search Inc, with adults with disabilities as a therapist, and I've spent six years also working in schools before that, as well as in a private practice.
Chris Berstler:Very cool, thank you. What is your definition of self care? And why is it so important for siblings in specific
Aubrey Thorton:self care as defining this for myself took a long time, because for so many years, people would tell me like go to the spa or get your nails done or something like that. And that never solved any of my problems that were causing the stress. I never ended up feeling better, those were not activities that I actually even enjoyed that much. Um, and so really redefining it, or understanding that is more self indulgence, which is not a bad thing. And I think everyone should engage in some self indulgence from time to time. But finding more practical ways to care for myself as as self explanatory as that sounds, was a much better definition for me and helped me really start to explore what are the basics of caring for myself that are going to make some sustainable changes.
Kaylee Day:I agree, I think I had that same perception for a long time of self care being this thing that was just about self indulgence and like spending money on yourself. And I think it actually kind of backfired on me for a long time where I was spending a lot of money I didn't have and so and I think in the last few years, especially I've been able to also kind of redefine and look at a more like holistic view of what self care means. It does still include some of that self indulgence, for sure. But I think for me self care is I know we often like use the metaphor of filling out your own cup up first. So it's What can I do? What can I practice daily and or you know, at whatever interval I need to ensure that I'm my cup is full so that I can help others and serve others and be there for my people as well.
Shruti Tekwani:I echo what Adrienne Kaley are saying about the self and done indulgence piece because I definitely was there as well. And no amount of manicures and spa days were helping. And then I realized I think it was actually right before COVID that I realized that self care for me was very individual and I think it is for everybody. Right? Everybody has a different idea of what it means to care for themselves. And for me it's about getting my needs met whether it on a particular day if I need a little bit more people time or on a particular day where I need to get into work early to get through those emails that in no way is self care as well because then it's not weighing on on me, it's not heavy on me, I feel accomplished, I feel better. I feel like okay, I put my best foot forward, and now I can go relax. But at the end of the day, I think it's about following boundaries for me, because I know I'm not taking care of myself, and I'm constantly pushing my own boundaries to please others. So that's kind of been the bottom line for me.
Chris Berstler:Very nice. Thank you. Um, it's good for me to hear this, because I'm stuck in the self indulgence mode right now, trying to get out of it.
Kaylee Day:Wrong with that either. Like Shirdi said, it's totally individual, right,
Chris Berstler:is unique. It's in my wallet pretty hard, though,
Kaylee Day:to fill that.
Chris Berstler:So what inspired your current personal self care journeys?
Shruti Tekwani:I think for me, it was getting to a point where there was nothing left. And I think it happened a few months ago. I mean, anyone in the health care field or the mental health care field can tell you COVID Was was rough is rough. And it had hard. And while I was caring for everyone else, I was trying to care for myself myself that there were limitations. And it got to a point where anything coming at me was too much. So I had to get to a point where I was turning off my phone, retreating, getting away from people, I don't want to say it was rock bottom. To me, it felt like rock bottom, because I am such a people person. So for me to want to get away from people is a big, it's a big thing, it means something. So getting to that point was a wake up call that I never want to feel that way again. So it's a reminder to practice self care more frequently.
Kaylee Day:I'd say for me, around 2013 2014 A lot of circumstances and things in my life came to a head where my older brother with disabilities was going through his second kidney transplant process, and I was taking a much more active role in supporting my family with that, I was just kind of starting my first couple years of my professional career and trying to get on my feet. You know, living as an adult in Denver, I was in a relationship that was you know, draining more than it was giving. And I ended up having suffering from kind of a, like a cute chronic illness where I was just, I was incredibly sick. And no doctor could really figure out what was going on, I was just kind of stuck that way. Um, and so it all kind of hit me at that time that everything was draining me and I wasn't, you know, I wasn't bringing my best self to anything to anyone, even to myself I wasn't showing up for. And so I think that that was a time in my life where I really recognized that I had to start caring for myself, first and foremost,
Aubrey Thorton:for me, I was doing a lot of teaching my co workers about having a trauma lens and looking at what our clients are going through and how you know, a big piece of that when you're caring for individuals who've experienced traumas, you recognize that you yourself are then taking in all of those stories, and you're witnessing that and you know, I don't look at trauma as even those big things that are definitely happening in people's lives all the times, but they can be those little things those, you know, dashed dreams that you just hear about day in and day out, and how you know, maybe you wish things were different. And so absorbing all of that I was teaching a lot of people about how to care for their own secondary trauma and realizing that I didn't do a lot of that myself. And here I am trying to teach others about it. So that was a big thing for me. And finally, when I I kind of another turning point of like, okay, I need to keep doing this was when having started to implement some self care, people would say, Wow, we got Aubrey back. So that was like a huge like, wow, I guess I had been running at that paste, I guess or whatever I was doing. I had been managing and it had become very normalized for me and it took an outside perspective to realize that that was not who I was.
Chris Berstler:Nice. Thank you very much for sharing. So what is your personal top three favorite forms of self care and why?
Shruti Tekwani:I think for me, it definitely I am blessed to be by the ocean right now. So swimming in it being here it just anything to do with the ocean is definitely self care. There's just something about staring at the horizon. The second one is anything to do with music, so driving with music, just listening to it. Anything like that. And the third one is travel and that's been limited and was Did the last couple years for sure. But any chance I get to travel or to plan travel or really anything to do a travel and if it's virtual trips, those are that that just automatically, I don't even realize it. But I smile when I, when I'm planning it or talking about it. And it's just automatic for me.
Aubrey Thorton:When I was thinking about this question, I really struggled between favorite and what I like, and favorite as unnecessary for me. Because there's a lot of forms for me of self care that I don't actually look forward to, but that are very good. And I need to somehow like throughout my day, like complete a stress cycle and release things. So whether that's working out or just like singing in my car so hard that it feels like a full body experience, I have to do something like that. And so if I can, you know, do an actual workout that's typically yields the best results for me, although, if I'm very honest, I never look forward to doing that unless it's somehow social or something like that. So for me, when I was, you know, reading this, I was thinking, the you know, I think that my favorite types of self care are things that combine things that are necessary with something that is also very rewarding. So if I can do a workout with a friend, or call someone on my walk, or something like that, and kind of get a two for one, I get that I get that release that I need. But also that connection that I really want. I know I didn't answer all three there, I guess I should add one more creativity, I guess, would be the next one to do all three. And I really just define that as, you know, for me, it's it's music, like sure decided, and it could be creating music, but it could be appreciating music, I also can find creativity in my work. So if I have found a unique solution, a lot of times that can, you know, fill fill, fill my cup, like we said earlier as well. And so that's a way that I take care of myself,
Kaylee Day:I would say first would be therapy. And like Aubrey said, it's not always my favorite form of self care. And there's definitely a lot of weeks where I'm like, Oh, I'm dreading this appointment. But the relief I feel afterwards. And you know, I've been working with the same therapist for the last year and just being able to, like truly see the progress I've made and see how better I'm able to handle things better, I'm able to self reflect and kind of understand my motivations and where things come from, has been huge for me. Second would probably be like Shruti said earlier setting boundaries. And that is definitely a newer thing I've been working on. I think for a long time I kind of, you know, identified it as maybe a doormat kind of character. And I will do anything for anyone, even if it you know, completely drains me. And I found myself in a lot of those kind of unreciprocated sort of relationships with people around me and even with myself. And so setting boundaries, in relationships in my professional life with myself, which is the hardest, I'm very hard to discipline has been a big one. And then third, I had to throw in a self indulgent thing in there, because like I said, I think they're valid and that would be getting my nails done every month, then I've been the same woman's been doing my nails for like four or five years now. And I just like really look forward to seeing her and she's been there with me through like ups and downs and things and it's always like, a good point in time for me to like check in. And then also just check out you know, not touching my phone for two hours and just like enjoying it, and then having pretty nails for the next month is always fun and makes me you know, gives that self confidence and self esteem that that helps as well.
Chris Berstler:Nice, thank you. It's interesting to hear you. You speak to self care, not necessarily always being something you look forward to. Because when we think of self care, I often hear you know that the spa stuff, the relaxed stuff, the self indulgent stuff. This is one of the first times I've actually heard self care being you know, referred to as maybe not something that we necessarily like, but we do for our own good. So thank you for that.
Kaylee Day:What is it, they call it like? Like tight, be fun or something where it's not fun while you're doing it, but afterwards, you feel really good about it. I think it's kind of like that.
Chris Berstler:Are there any forms of self care that are more useful for sibs and specific that you know, I've
Kaylee Day:had the opportunity to do a few presentations as a professional on specifically like self care for siblings and I think the one That always elicits the most response from people is that idea of like setting boundaries. I think often the siblings, especially when we're taking on any element of like in a caregiving role, it gets really hard. And I think it, we don't realize how much we're getting burnout until we're there. And it's kind of too late. And so I think for siblings, recognizing what your boundaries are, and setting those with your family around, this is what I'm able to do. And there's this quote, I really love from a writer and activist named Prentice Hemphill that says boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously. And so and that's Yeah, I think, especially when dealing with family dynamics and sibling dynamics, I think those boundaries are
Aubrey Thorton:key. I really love that quote, because it it really speaks to setting boundaries is not something I'm doing selfishly, but it's something I'm doing to actually care for someone else and myself at the same time,
Shruti Tekwani:I echo that I that's one of my favorite quotes as well. And I have found just talking with other sibs, and even in my practice that boundary setting, while at the same time acknowledging and navigating through the guilt that sometimes comes with it, especially as it is especially powerful, because, yeah, we can set boundaries, and we can stick to them. But then what happens internally, is also kind of counterproductive that self care. So as long as we're navigating those feelings, either through therapy or through talking with friends or self exploration, as long as they go hand in hand, I think that's really powerful.
Kaylee Day:Thanks for adding that to it. I think, yeah, you're so right, that that guilt and shame that comes with, oh, I just set this boundary, but now it's gonna eat me alive thinking about, you know, how it's upset somebody like, yeah, you know, you got to follow through with it. And then
Shruti Tekwani:you won't enjoy the boundary that you've said, and you don't enjoy what comes of it, because you're so busy feeling guilty.
Aubrey Thorton:I agree with all of that, I think, you know, part of it is having a good support system, who you can, you know, who can be your sounding board, if you need someone to be your cheerleader, in your moment, in that moment of setting a boundary, when you know that there's going to be some guilt and shame associated with it. Because I know, I've been there too. And, you know, having that person who knows you really well and can be that cheerleader and help you keep that, you know, boundary strong, if needed, or even ask the tough question of at the end of the day, though, you might need to set this boundary to do some self care what's going to make you feel better. And I think that goes back to that navigating piece. I liked that. Yeah.
Chris Berstler:So what does a self care routine look like? In How does one go about creating one for themselves?
Shruti Tekwani:I often say that self care is needed the most, when you don't have time for it, I put things in my calendar, and I color coded I color code work stuff, and I color code, personal stuff, and family stuff. And at one glance, I can look at my calendar and see that there's not a lot of personal stuff, there's not a lot of personal color this week. And I'll put, you know, go to the ocean and swim and go to the gym on my calendar. And sometimes I'll delete it without a second thought. But at least it's there. And I know it's there. And that way, when I'm scheduling something, I can see that it's blocked for a reason. And also it allows me to kind of move it around, not necessarily deleted, but move it to another spot. So make sure it's happening. I think for me, it's just being conscious of the fact that if I feel like I don't have time for a swim this week, then I'm doing something that I shouldn't be doing.
Kaylee Day:I really struggle with routines of any kind. So I'd be hesitant to say I have like a self care routine. But I think for me, it's more about being really intuitive and mindful with myself. And being both proactive and responsive when I need it. So kind of just like practicing mindfulness has been a big thing for me, especially in the last couple of years and just kind of having those check ins with myself like how am I feeling right now? Do I feel like if I keep at this pace i Mat am I going to burn out or is what I'm doing right now working? Being really able to recognize kind of when a trigger or something happens that I know. I'm going to need to like follow up and take care of myself afterwards. I think it's more about for me about and maybe that's the routine is kind of having those like frequent check ins and being like how are we doing Kaylee and then responding from there.
Aubrey Thorton:I think I'm similar to Kaylee and that I check in with myself and I'm making sure you know, did I drink water today? Did I Get enough sleep, those sorts of things are really important for myself care. And recently, my coworker said something that I don't think he meant to be profound, but kind of stopped me in my tracks, which was self care is whenever you care. And so if that is doing some deep breathing on your commute to work, if that's all the time that you have, because everything else is over scheduled, just being really intentional and finding creative ways to do something for yourself, that's going to be centering. Like Trudy said, it's, it's when you have the least amount of time that you need the most amount of self care. And so that's the tricky part. That's the part that frustrates me the most is I don't have enough time, take care for myself. And so just really focusing on the basics. You know, did I eat? Did I sleep, did I drink water, those are the things that I try to check in with, and then in, go from there and find, you know, those moments when I can, even if I'm doing something else to try and, and, and do something to take care of myself. Awesome.
Chris Berstler:Thank you. Um, so what does self care during the holidays look like compared to the rest of the year,
Aubrey Thorton:it looks rough. I think it's harder, because there's so much more expectation when it comes to, you know, families and holidays and things. And it sounds like we're all in helping professions. And this time of year can also be pretty rough professionally with individuals we work with as well. So I always find this time of year, especially challenging. You know, I think it just goes back to those basics again, for me, and just, you know, trying to be intentional with my time, I think that I have learned over the pandemic that I do need more downtime than I previously thought I did. And I do much better with that. So that's something that I'm going to try and implement this holiday season. As you know, people are doing more and expectations are higher,
Shruti Tekwani:I agree that it is harder to care for ourselves during the holidays, because there's more happening. And so there's more, I guess you could say they're more obligations, whether we choose to follow through with them or not. But there's also more pressure to look at other people's needs instead of our own. And it's also harder, because I Yeah, we are in helping professions, and we're holding space for other people, and we're taking on their loss and their grief and their troubles. It is harder right to care for ourselves when that's happening. But I feel like there are extra variables during the holidays. Like, on any given day, life is hard. And it's tough to care for ourselves. But during the holidays, there's this extra pressure, to be happy to be joyful to be whatever it is. And then there's also the added family time and family is not necessarily a happy place for a lot of people, even if you are on a steady pace of self care. That can be interrupted a lot easier. In during the holidays.
Kaylee Day:Yeah, I think I mean, Aubrey and Shruti really covered it, I'd say that the holidays really just magnify, like whatever you're going through at that time anyways, so if you were already stressed, there's more stress with Christmas lights and holiday lights on it, you know, and there's that pressure to kind of be Yeah, be cheery and kind of power through it. And I think a lot of the familial obligation and guilt if you're not, if you're not meeting, you know, what your family's expectations of are you during the holiday, it gets really hard. But I think maybe we can flip it into it being that good time to be more thoughtful. And like Aubrey said, really prioritize rest and self care that and using that time to give a gift to yourself.
Chris Berstler:So how has the pandemic impacted your self care routine? Judy, I know you had already spoken to that being one of the reasons that you had kind of started your journey but just I guess ongoing, how has the How has the pandemic impacted your routines?
Shruti Tekwani:During the pandemic, I realized that if it was possible, and if I allowed for it, I'd be working 24 hours a day and it really was up to me to set boundaries. It really was up to me between my job at school and my private practice. It really really was up to me to say I'm ending at eight o'clock today. I'm ending at nine o'clock today because the clients don't know it's me that has to set the boundary My family doesn't know and nobody else knows what what I'm doing every day. And what I allow will Continue. So it really I had to be my own advocate, or else I was going to work myself down to nothing. And I did end up getting sick quite a bit with colds and with other things that kept popping up that it was a very obvious thing. And there's other quotes out there that I'm gonna butcher it. But it's something about how if you don't take a day off for yourself, your body will do it for you. If you don't take time for yourself to care for yourself, your body will do it and my body was doing it
Kaylee Day:for me that the pandemic kind of changed my perspective a little bit on on what I actually didn't need. I'm someone who's always like, identified as more of an introvert and like a homebody. At the start of lockdown, I was kind of like, awesome, this is my dream, I don't have to leave the house, you know. And then, as the months went on, and time going on, I started to realize how how hard that had become for me. And you know, my office was closed down. Like most people, I was working from home all the time. And I then when we reopened kind of partially, and I started going back into my office and putting on real pants for the day and like, you know, kind of making myself up or just talking to my coworkers in person, it really, I realized that I needed that connection more than I thought I did. It really changed my understanding of what what I need, whether, again, changing this perception I had of myself for so long, and recognizing that No, I do need that connection, I do need kind of a reason to get up and get ready and get out of the house. And that makes me feel better. At the end of the day,
Aubrey Thorton:I had an opposite reaction, I realized, I guess I consider myself an introvert with extroverted tendencies. And so I, you know, was very, very scheduled all the time and the pandemic, you know, stop that. And I realized just how much having a unscheduled weekend was really restorative for me and just taking things at my own pace was something I really needed. And so for me, that's something that I'm trying to implement at least once a month of just having a weekend of very few plans, and I can do as much as I want, or as little as I want that weekend. You know, that's something that the pandemic definitely taught me. As well as really scheduling connections with the pandemic, I was encouraged to connect with the people who live further away from me. And that's something that I've tried to keep up and it's been harder as things open up in life has gotten a little bit busier going here and there. Having those you know, scheduled or really intentional conversations is something that also is very fulfilling for me. So yeah, those are two things that I didn't know I needed as much.
Chris Berstler:Thank you. Shruti. Any what impact has being a woman of color played in your self care journey?
Shruti Tekwani:That's a great question. The first thing that comes to mind is it has encouraged me to be a self advocate. And it's funny because being uscib, the automatic advocacy piece in my life, I'm not I'm not an aggressive person, I'm very passive and mentioned people pleaser, so but when it comes to my sibling, yeah, I will advocate no problem. confrontation is not a problem, I will do it. But being a woman of color, for sure. It's it's made me be a self advocate, if I wanted to get things done, if I wanted to be heard if I wanted to be seen, for sure, no matter where I go.
Chris Berstler:Nice. Thank you for sharing. Guys. For anyone listening who hasn't taken the first step yet? What is the easiest way to start their self care journey?
Shruti Tekwani:I can start with that again. I would say listen to yourself about what feels good. What do you do that feels like you filled your soul at the end of it? What did what do you do that feels like you've done something good for yourself, that doesn't feel like it's depleting to you, where it feels like you're, you're being kind to yourself, you're being a good friend to yourself, start with that and then take it from there.
Aubrey Thorton:This is kind of nerdy, but there's a bunch of self care assessments online. And I know when I was doing my trainings, that's one of the first things we did that helped me realize how much I sucked at self care. And so I would recommend that there's a ton of them online that you can do. And I think the thing I recommend though, is once you do that you realize like oh, there's all these areas that I'm really not good at. I don't even recommend starting there but focusing on the parts that maybe you scored high and just like you were saying Shruti about, you know, what are those things that really fulfill you just To focus on the things you're doing well, there's a reason you're doing well there. There's a reason that that is something that that's your strength, and work on just making time for that. Or recognizing more when you're doing that and going, like, Yeah, I did it. That's where I would recommend starting,
Kaylee Day:I would add to all of that, that I think we also need to examine, like, where burnout is happening, and what is kind of what situations what responsibilities, what sort of tasks, things in our lives that are that are leading to that burnout or that kind of drain us and then asking yourself, Is this something I have any control over? Can I can I change the way I approach this, can I set a boundary and make this easier for me to handle? Um, I think getting to the source of where the burnout and the reason that we need self care so much is coming from is important to
Chris Berstler:nice sound advice. Thank you very much. I'm so on the opposite end of that, then I guess, for any pros, self care pros that may be listening. Are there any new things that you've learned recently, tips or resources that you can share,
Kaylee Day:I will share what I learned in therapy like a couple of weeks ago, because we were talking about how with like stress response, I'm someone who's often stuck in freeze mode, where if when I'm overwhelmed, I just kind of shut down. And then it leads to me, you know, not being able to complete any sort of self care, because I'm just checked all the way out. And so my therapist has been teaching me kind of these methods to start kind of working through that response and activating I think it's the poly vagal nerve system. And so I've been doing own chanting while I drive to work in the morning. And just doing that as loud as I can to where I feel the the back of my throat vibrate. I've been in this one's harder at the end of the shower, turning the water really cold in kind or walking into the car on a cold morning without a jacket on and just kind of having that that sensation of cold kind of wakes me up a little bit and activates and kind of helps me move through or get out of that sort of freeze mode, I find myself stuck in. Yeah, those those things have been really helpful for me in the last couple of weeks to shake myself a little bit out of this a stress cycle I'm in,
Aubrey Thorton:I would agree that completing the stress cycle is probably the most basic thing, but also the thing that for whatever reason, I wasn't doing. And I think that that, you know, whatever, whatever ends up working for you to do that is I think, just so important. And sometimes we get so caught up in the the bigger pieces of self care that like getting back to that I just need to, you know, finish that cycle or whatever. However, I responded to a stressful situation is really important.
Shruti Tekwani:I'll share something that I often share with clients. So Kelly, you mentioned something you learned in therapy and want to share something I share in therapy. I know a lot of us are familiar with the basic needs by Maslow's hierarchy of needs and actually follow a different model by Dr. Glasser. And the reason it's different is because it's very individualized. So it explains that every human being has five basic needs. But it's like if you imagine them as cups, each cup is a different size for every person. And so it's important to remember if I have a very high need for connection, the likelihood that I'm going to be filling my my self care cup with connection and feeling good about it is high, because that's my highest need. But if someone else's has a high need for survival, it's likely that they're going to feel good by doing more things that fill the survival cup. So I just like it a lot because it doesn't, it's not like a cookie cutter, this is what you need for yourself. It's really individualized and that has an assessment as well for you with like that to figure out what your highest need is, but I really pay attention to that because it really tells me a lot about myself and why I'm feeling off during a particular week or during a particular time and they intuitively know how to correct it.
Chris Berstler:Nice. Thank you for sharing. So last question. Will you do will you be doing any form of self care after this recording tonight? If so, what will you be doing?
Shruti Tekwani:I will be taking a hot shower and I like to read right before bed. So that will be, that'll be myself care for the night those two things.
Kaylee Day:I'm planning to cook a good meal and then play Animal Crossing. It is my favorite, like stress free. Just breathe it along on the island game. And yeah, it's a great way to end the day for me,
Aubrey Thorton:I too am going to cook and eat and you know, have some connection and talk to people. Those are, that's my evening plan.
Chris Berstler:Nice. Well, I hope you all enjoy them. I have enjoyed this conversation. This has been a form of self care for me, and I hope for other people listening. I really appreciate your time. This has been wonderful.
Kaylee Day:No, I just wanted to say thank you. And you know, this always makes me realize when I'm able to talk with other siblings, I realize how much of a form of self care that is, as well and just being able to kind of commiserate and be with people you know, have a have an acute understanding of a unique circumstance we all have. Being able to share and just yeah, be around that energy is always really filling for me.
Chris Berstler:Absolutely.
Aubrey Thorton:I definitely would second that this definitely is filling my cup right now. Like you would say Kaylee.
Shruti Tekwani:Absolutely filling that connection need for me for sure.
Chris Berstler:Awesome. I'm glad the feeling's mutual. Thank you so much for your time.
Shruti Tekwani:It was well worth it. Thank you.
Chris Berstler:Thank you all so much for your time. Find resources, tools and information about the sibling experience on sibling leadership.org. The sibling Leadership Network is a nonprofit and we rely on support from our audience. Find the donation button on our homepage and contribute to the ever growing sibling movement.