Are you battling self care?
Are you taking care of everyone else around you but yourself?
You’re thinking: I don’t have time. Self care is not an option for me!
This is a topic that Tanya and I spoke about in this podcast:
The one takeaway that came out of this podcast? That self care is NOT an option.
The Moment I Realized The Importance of Self Care
When I became a first time mother, I thought self care would fly out the window. Every single waking moment, my eyes were glued to my baby. Making sure he is safe and cared for.
There was simply not a moment in the day, that I would take a breath for myself. The exhaustion was real and getting dangerous.
I remember a point in my life when I had the realization that self care is NOT an option.
My baby was only a few months old. As a new mother, I had not slept since my baby boy was born. One night, as I was feeding my baby, I felt extremely depressed, exhausted from the lack of sleep and energy and just wanted to walk out the door and leave my responsibilities behind.
I was truly having a mental battle considering that as an option. Now, looking back, I am horrified that such a moment happened… but I was there.
I needed to find a way to make myself love myself AND love motherhood.
I took a deep breath as I was up crying in the middle of the night, delirious with exhaustion and started reflecting. Why was I feeling so bad?
And then it hit me.
The people around me, my son and my husband were all feeling my pain. I was not prioritizing my self care and the toll of my lack of love for myself was being felt by my crying baby and my equally tired husband.
That was when I asked myself. What am I doing? What am I doing to myself and to my family who depends on me?
When you want to care for loved ones, you need to take care of yourself first, otherwise they will be harmed in the process, too.
And to be the best mother I wanted to be, I had to prioritize my self care journey.
Start Your Self Care Journey Now
As a parent, we are our kids’ best role models. We need to make a point to take care of ourselves so our kids can learn how to stay healthy – physically and mentally, too!
But the more responsibilities we gain on our plate, that’s where self care becomes even more important.
I have to be on my A-game for my family and business.
I need to have enough ‘off’ moments so during my ‘on’ moments, I’m at my peak performance
Seek ways that will help you.
Here are some tips that you could consider:
Tip #1: Get Enough Rest
Sleep is important for me! In fact, it is the MOST important factor in my self care routine.
No human is good physiologically without sleep. I’m just awful without sleep.
But how much sleep do you need? One good thing I did for myself is to figure out my sleep number.
What’s a sleep number? The time when your body actually feels sleepy, and when you wake up without an alarm. Follow your number and find that magic number for you.
We’re always looking for a vacation. I feel like I get a vacation every night when I get good quality sleep. I don’t need a vacation from my life by taking care of my body and mind every night!
Sleep and hydration are the best things you can do for yourself, as a start.
Tip #2: Reassess Your Priorities
Women tend to feel like we cannot give ourselves permission to do what we need to make things like sleep a priority.
I’ve met many women who say “I have so much to do… Can’t get enough sleep!”
Okay, I think, but if your body needs 8 hours of sleep, what are the things you do that keep you up? You need to deprioritize it and get that sleep!
I promise you, the next day when you are refreshed and have energy, you’ll get those tasks done more effectively… and happily. Find out what are your priorities to make you perform at your best for yourself and your loved ones.
Tip #3: Find a Routine & Stick To It
Routines are not just things you have to do. You also have to have a self care, or in my case, a mental routine for yourself.
Here are some of my morning mental routines:
- Gratitude: going over the specific things I’m grateful for when I wake up and when I go to sleep.
- Planning day with intentions: I start my sentence with “I’m going to do..” I envision myself with a smile while checking things off my things to do list.
Mentally, I live out my day before even getting out of bed and starting my day.
Setting up your mindset to achieve what you want to get done. Set your intentions. Send it out to the universe.
It’s not a drag to do this – it shouldn’t be. It’s fulfilling! It’s actually EMPOWERING for me to do these exercises and feel in control of my life.
Some of us need a planner to plan our routine. BUT you can have a planner, but you won’t get anywhere if you actually get down to making the things on your planner work on it! If you have a planner, ask yourself, are you utilizing it to help you perform at your optimum?
I love my planner! Here’s the planner I use:
Self care isn’t just for mothers, but I speak from my perspective. Whether you’re single, married, or with a child, self care should be part of your active daily routine. It’ll help you remain aligned to your dreams and give you the strength and ability to love yourself enough to carry out your responsibility wherever needed.
I hope these tips help you as they have helped me. Take care of yourself!
I share more self care tips for first-time mothers in this blog post: https://drnoorhealth.com/5-things-i-wish-someone-told-me-to-buy-for-my-first-baby-a-self-care-checklist-for-anxious-new-moms/
Another key aspect of your self care journey is taking care of your health insurance to ensure the best medical care for yourself and your loved ones. Book a 15-minute consultation with me so I can help you with this.
