Caregiving touches nearly every life. As Rosalynn Carter famously said, “There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.”

In the past decade alone, the number of caregivers in the U.S. has grown from 42 million to more than 63 million, much of that increase falling on family members already balancing work, parenting, financial pressures, and their own health needs. 

For those carrying the profound and often invisible responsibilities of caregiving, this conversation offers both practical guidance and deeper nourishment. 

Drawing from decades of experience in end-of-life care and contemplative practice, Roy Remer explores how caregivers can sustain themselves while caring for others, meeting exhaustion, grief, uncertainty, and love with greater presence and compassion. 

Grounded in the material from his new book, Zen Caregiving: How to Care for Yourself While Caring for Others, this talk offers grounded support for anyone doing the sacred work of caregiving. 

Roy Remer has worked as an educator and end-of-life caregiver since 1997 and serves as executive director of the Zen Caregiving Project in San Francisco. He is the lead creator of the Mindful Caregiving Education curriculum, a student in the Soto Zen tradition at San Francisco Zen Center, and a certified Compassion Cultivation Training instructor through Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and the Compassion Institute.