Whether you are a stay at home mom, or a working mom, finding time to take care of yourself can seem next to impossible. Juggling work, home and family leaves us with little time for ourselves. We love our families, and it seems that everyone else needs something all the time. That little bit of guilt comes in if we stop, and do for ourselves.
But here's the thing, if we get better at taking care of ourselves, we won't burn out. By taking time to care for our mental and physical health we are able to give more of ourselves. We can happily tend to the needs of our children, our spouse, and our work when we are happy and whole.
Here are four simple, self-care rituals that you can work into your day, without taking too much time away from your never-ending “To do” list.
Stretching Every Morning
A few gentle stretches in the morning can help you feel amazing. It will improve your blood circulation, flexibility and help reduce muscle and joint aches. This is one of those things that seems to easy to actually work. However, if you do this daily, you'll be amazed with the results.
Try making this the very first thing you do in the morning. Or squeeze it in while you wait for your morning water to boil for coffee or for your toaster to do its thing. Work it into your daily morning routine so it just comes naturally.
You can do a whole morning routine stretch routine, or simplify it with basic range of motion exercises: Like shoulder shrugs, necks rolls, wrist and ankle circles, arm rotations. After a few weeks of daily routine, you notice much more limber and can get dressed, tie your laces, reach etc. with way more ease.
Meditation
Sometimes when meditation gets mentioned, I can see eyes starting to roll. But bear with me here! Meditation has been getting more and more hype for a reason. IT WORKS. Pure and simple. And you really can't knock something until you try it, right?
Meditation can help improve your sense of well-being is meditation. It is also known to help improve mood, deepen sleep, and develop a sense of inner peace and calm. Meditation also reduces stress levels, decrease cortisol, and contribute to an increase in immunity and to relaxation.
It can reduce high blood pressure and even aid concentration. With so many benefits for just a few minutes a day of your time, this is one self-care ritual you don’t want to miss out on. Try just 2 to 3 minutes per session at first and build up gradually over time.
If you still aren't convinced, check out this little video that explains in a no-nonsense kinda way, how it can help. (It's short and sweet. Promise!)
Drink Eight Glasses Of Water Per Day
So many moms forget to drink enough water! I know I've been at the end of my day and realized I never once picked up a glass of water. This is especially true when it's a particularly busy day. Of course, I remembered to drink plenty of coffee, but no water!
The jury is out on exactly how many glasses of water you should drink in a day, but if you aim for eight, you will avoid dehydration and keep your skin soft, smooth, and supple. Drinking this much water can help you stave off hunger pangs; in fact, feeling hungry is a sign that you are in fact, dehydrated.
So next time you find yourself hungry randomly throughout the day, drink a glass of water first and see how you feel. Chances are it'll fix the problem. Staying hydrated keeps your kidneys working optimally and aids in healthy digestion and excretion of wastes.
It can also help you think more clearly and give your loads more energy.
Smile More
Even if you don’t feel like it, science has discovered that if you turn up the corners of your mouth, into a smile like shape, you'll actually start to feel happier!
Smiling releases neurotransmitters called endorphins. Endorphins make you feel happier. The brain doesn’t know how to differentiate between a fake smile and a real one; it reads the positioning of the facial muscles and acts accordingly. How cool is that?
Practice smiling at others and notice the responses you get. Another cool scientific fact, being smiled at triggers the same endorphin response in your brain. Making happiness contagious. So go ahead and randomly smile at your kids too!
A simple smile can help you feel better, and make others feel better too. Everybody wins!
Final Thoughts
Even though mom life is super busy, you simply have to learn to put yourself at the very top of your list of priorities. After all, if you don’t look after yourself, how will you be able to do all that you do?
These easy and simple self-care rituals are ones that you have no excuse not to incorporate into your everyday life. You will feel in tip-top shape and able to carry on caring, working and living your life to the full.
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