Hey mommas…when was the last time you took a deep breath and took some time to look after you? I am an advocate of taking some time for self-care each and every day but I do realize that there are going to be days where as a momma you just don’t have the time and that’s okay.
The biggest thing that I want to stress to you is that it is okay to take some time for yourself…it is NOT selfish. There seems to be this notion that if you are looking after yourself and not your kids you should be feeling guilty about it. Can we just stop for a minute and think about that. First off, when did becoming a mom mean that you no longer get to look after yourself? And second, why does there have to be guilt associated with it when you do?
One of the most important things I like to teach people about self-care is that self-care does not have to be this big hour long ordeal you engage in every day. Self-care can be very simple and for moms, simple is usually the key. Stop and think about the things that make you feel good, the things that fill your cup up. These are the things that help you take care of yourself, these are the things that you should be doing each and every day. What are these things for you? Sit down and make a list, remember they can be very simple.
Some simple examples of self-care can include things like;
- Making yourself a cup of coffee or tea
- Reading a book (just a few pages)
- Journalling (try 5 minutes before you go to bed)
- Making yourself a nutritious meal or snack
- Making yourself a new playlist
- Take a nap
- Listen to a podcast
- Go for a walk (even if this is only 5-10 minutes)
- Work out
- Take a shower
- Text or call a friend or family member
- Take 5 deep breaths
- Soak up some sunshine
- Write down 5 things you are grateful for
- Write out 3 positive affirmations
- Follow positive social media accounts
- Stretch
- Turn off your phone
Self-care is very individualized and will look different for everyone. The point of the list above is to give you some ideas…not for you to try and do all of these things everyday. It’s also intended to give you some ideas for things that you can do in just a few minutes. Taking 5 deeps breaths takes only a couple of minutes but it could reset you for the rest of your day. You are probably spending some time on social media each day anyways so instead of aimlessly scrolling remove negative accounts from your feed and follow positive ones. It only takes a couple of minutes to send someone you love a text to tell them you are thinking about them.
As I say some of these things you might be thinking yeah great…but that’s not really self-care. I will argue that point with you every day. Anything that makes you feel better, anything that helps give you energy, anything that can recharge you in a moment can be considered self-care (which is why I suggested that you make a list of these things above). It’s time to change how we think about self-care because even the busiest momma out there has just a minute or two in the day to take a few deep breaths. Maybe it’s before you get out of bed in the morning or before you fall asleep at night or maybe when you are sitting in your car before or after work. You can find very small pockets of time in your day to fill your cup.
I think often people are discouraged by the idea of self-care because they think they need a whole evening to do a bath and a face mask and get a good night sleep…but if we start to change the notion that self-care has to be all consuming we can see self-care in a new light. Your a mom and you may not have an hour to look after yourself each day, but looking for these very small windows of time and listing some activities you can do in these short windows can make a world of difference. Start your list today and start becoming more aware of these pockets of time…and I promise you will be able to start incorporating simple self-care activities into each day without giving up other things or taking too much of your day to look after you.
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