Self-care 101: 5 Ways To Keep Your Cup Full As A New Mom
Let’s talk about self-care. A term so unfamiliar to a mother, seasoned or new. The demands of motherhood along with running a household and often a full-time job, most often than not have us functioning on survival mode for the better part of each day.
Here are 5 tips I found helpful and doable during my search for creating time for myself during my motherhood journey:
Find something that is ONLY yours
We greatly lack in personal space as parents and for some this might become overwhelming. Whether it’s a 10 minute walk or a coffee at your favourite coffee shop. Make time for a couple of unapologetic self-care minutes, by yourself.
- Hydrate
Self-care means taking care of YOU. That means mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. When our bodies feel strong, our minds and emotions follow. Dehydration (Dehydration: Two Hours Affects Body, Brain (healthline.com))leads to cognitive disability which makes our daily tasks harder than it should be. So, remember to sip-sip throughout the day! Add a little sparkle to your water with some mint, cucumber and lemon.
- Leave the housework
Yes, you heard that right. So what if you didn’t get to the dishes today. So what if your laundry basket is full. It’s ok if you haven’t gotten around to picking up the toys yet. You are quite literally keeping a tiny human alive right now! You’re doing great, momma! Tomorrow is another day. If you’re baby is fed, cleaned and rested? Then you’ve done a great deal for the day.
- Remember that everything is seasonal
We go through seasons in our life. Some are great, some are really hard. Once you become a mother, it stays that way forever. But the seasons in which we get to mother our children do however change. When things get difficult, which they will, just remember that this is a season and this too shall pass. Shift your focus to all the precious little moments that you have now that you might not have in the next season.
- Don’t feel ashamed to ask for help
We’re not suppose to do this by ourselves! Remember the saying, “it takes a village”?(https://www.exchangefamilycenter.org/exchange-family-center-blog/2021/2/4/it-take-a-village-to-raise-a-child-how-communities-can-help-raise-kids) The second part of that saying is “to raise a child”. For thousands of years humans lived closely together in tight-knit communities to share resources, food, socialization etc. In modern day culture, we have evolved into something quite the opposite. We’ve moved further apart from one another. We’ve become isolated. We need people to help validate our struggles. Someone we trust to take the kids for the day. Someone who has experienced life to share their wisdom. Fellow parents we can relate to. We need other people in our lives.
Remember that, in order for you to be the very best mom that you can be, the very best friend and partner; you first need to be the very best YOU that you can be. Fill your cup first. No one can drink from an empty cup.