Five Ways to Practice Self-Care as a Mom

We as moms often wear many hats. Manager of the house, keeper of most information, chauffeur, expert finder of all the lost items, housekeeper, appointment maker, you get the idea here. We’re experts at caring for others but one thing we often neglect, that I see time and again around moms groups, is “how do you find time for yourself?”

Time for ourselves? Whether you stay at home with your little ones or work full time, I can bet that you’re really bad for taking time for you.Self-care? Probably not your highest priority, it’s probably right there under getting to work on time, getting kids to school on time, making sure your family is fed and oh yeah, making sure the house doesn’t look like a hurricane 24/7. So self-care, you know that time for you - time to reset, time to care for yourself, probably gets shoved aside as a forgotten task.

Why Moms NEED Self-Care
 Self-care for moms is often thought of, or joked as taking that hour after your husband gets home to walk around Target aimlessly. It’s begging for an hour to get a manicure. But self-care is more than that. It’s not a one off, it needs to be a regular thing in your everyday routine. Amidst all of our caring for others, what are YOU doing to care for YOURSELF?

It goes beyond “treating” yourself, it goes down to resetting from all the everyday stress as a mom. It boils down to mental health, and taking care of yourself so you don’t let all those every day stresses of life, drag you down.

We, as moms, deserve self-care. If it’s not a part of your routine, here are five ways to add it in.

Five Self-care routines you can add in an hour or less each day

Take Ten minutes to meditate at the start of your day
I love the app Calm - it has free guided meditations that are 5-10 minutes long. It’s a perfect bookend to my day whether before I get out of bed, or before I shut off the lights, it’s a great way to center myself. A regular meditation practice is known to reduce stress, encourage a healthy lifestyle, induce relaxation which has benefits to the cardiovascular and immune systems.

Fit in a workout
Exercise is one of the best things you can do to improve your health out there. The benefits to your mental and physical health are endless, but don’t get trapped into doing something that isn’t enjoyable. Find something that feels good for you. There are free youtube videos out there (Bikini Body Mommy for one) that give you a solid workout in under 30 minutes. Find an at-home yoga video if you can’t make it to a studio or gym class, or find a buddy to walk with once or twice per week. Personally, I make it a point to work out at least four days a week - whether the two nights per week with Fit4Mom, or the weekend long runs with MRTT - my workouts allow me a release from the stresses of work, and help me feel healthy and happy with myself.

Sit down for a meal
Between kids sports in the evening, to the hustle of getting everyone out the door for school - I BET you’re really bad at eating a solid meal sitting down. Pick one meal a day and make sure you sit down at your table or breakfast bar and eat your meal mindfully. If you’re at work? Get away from your desk for lunch. Kids to bed early? Set aside dinner to eat once they do. Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re not hungry - you’d be surprised how much better you feel when your body is properly fueled.

Build in time to catch up with a friend
There is nothing more grounding to me than catching up with old friends - whether on the phone during my commute, or fitting in a few miles on the weekend. My friends are a sounding board to remind me that I’m not alone in this journey of motherhood and they are a critical part of my self-care routine. Set up a weekly phone date or a time to grab a glass of wine.

Get enough sleep
Whether that means taking a nap when your baby naps or going to bed 20 minutes earlier instead of staying up watching that full 2 hour episode of the Bachelor (is that just me? No?) Skimping on sleep has so many adverse effects from overeating, weight gain, increased risk of depression and other diseases. We focus so much on bedtime routines for our children but so often forget about a nighttime routine for ourselves. Figure out what helps you calm down before bed and stop pressuring yourself to do all the things you didn’t get to earlier in the day done in the few hours between when kids go to bed and when you do.

Ultimately, as most “self-care experts” will say, there is no right or wrong way to practice self-care. It’s a time out for you to take care of you. It’s making yourself a priority so you can put your best self forward when it comes to being a parent, partner to your spouse and/or feeling successful in your career.