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One of the most challenging jobs around is motherhood, and when you add work on top of that, it can cause so much burnout. Working moms (and single dads) are the ones who have to not only care for the kids, clean the home, and run errands but also deal with the work responsibilities so they can provide for their families. It is also rare today that one parent in a couple household can bring home the money while the other stays home with the kids and cares for the home. So, therefore, moms nowadays, more often than not, are working. In honor of Working Moms Day on March 12th, let’s discuss some essential self-care tips for working moms to stay balanced.
What happens if you keep sacrificing yourself for others all the time or for your responsibilities and you never get respite? You become stressed, you burn out, and that will affect your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, which will cause you to be depressed and resentful, develop headaches and issues with digestion, and eventually, the burnout will cause you to shut down. Working moms must get respite and take advantage of self-care options as they have too many responsibilities to face daily, and for them to keep going, they must take care of themselves.
Whenever there is a discussion of “self-care,” you may think it means going on expensive vacations or going to the spa to get facials, manicures, massages, etc. That is not the true definition of self-care, as that is more like self-indulgence. Indulging yourself occasionally is fine, but it is unrealistic for most people to do it too often. Let’s discuss the true definition of self-care, which every working mom (and stay-at-home mom) should do daily to recharge and fill up their “tank” to keep going with their responsibilities.
Suppose you are a working mom who wants to ensure your physical health is in the best shape. In that case, it is essential to get physical activity as exercise is good for both your immune function and cardiovascular health and your mental, emotional, and spiritual health. You may think you get plenty of exercise by visiting your office and doing house chores daily, but that is not how it works. Yes, those things burn calories, but you are not getting the benefit from doing that to bring you balance within.
If you take a brisk walk, do some dancing, and even do some yoga, you will release many endorphins, the “feel good” hormones that will make you feel better all the way around. If you can take a half-hour a day to do something active that you enjoy, that is one of the best self-care activities you can do.
Going to a drive-thru and getting fast food for you and your family may be tempting. And even if you do get the “healthiest” options, you are not getting the nourishment you need. Once in a while, if you are in a significant rush, that is one thing, but getting takeout and fast food will not nourish you and your family regularly. The best self-care tip is to nourish yourself with healthy, unprocessed foods from all four food groups: fruits and vegetables, proteins, lean dairy, and whole grains, the majority of the time.
You don’t have to spend too much money on healthy foods and do not need to spend hours in the kitchen prepping them daily if time is an issue. You can choose one day during the weekend to prep dinners for the week and freeze them. You can also subscribe to meal kits offering quick and healthy options, which are cheaper than getting food from the grocery store. Eating healthy foods most of the time will also make you feel better.
Deep breathing exercises can do much good for the mind, body, and soul because they can recharge you and make you aware of your body. Breathwork can help release the stress you hold onto in your body as it relaxes and rejuvenates you.
One breathing exercise you can try is taking 11 minutes to yourself; you will enjoy this exercise, known as Wim Hof Breathing.
The way it works is to get comfortable sitting somewhere that you won’t have to face distractions. You inhale and exhale 30 times. Following holding your breath for 30 seconds. Then, take a breath in and exhale for ten seconds.
Then, you will do the next step: inhaling and exhaling 30 times but holding your breath for one minute. Then, take another breath and exhale for ten seconds. Rinse and repeat, but this time, attempt to challenge yourself to hold it in for a minute and a half. Then, take in another breath to release for ten seconds.
If you have respiratory ailments such as asthma, you should talk to your doctor before trying this, as there may be appropriate alternatives.
One of the best ways to provide yourself with some self-care while you are facing a lot of responsibilities is to get to know your inner child and rediscover the activities it enjoys, which are the activities that you enjoyed as a child. You have too many responsibilities between managing work, home life, and motherhood, and sometimes you have to play. The best way to do it is to get back into a childhood hobby or even an old hobby that you had as a teen or as an adult that you drifted away from as you had other focuses taking over.
What is it that once brought you joy? Was it writing, painting, reading, drawing, sculpting? Another reason you will want to consider returning to your old hobby is because it will resurrect some skills you may not have honed and nurtured due to working with your job and your family. Getting back into an old hobby is something that you will want to do as it is one of the best forms of self-care for working moms.
Nature is the best medicine when it comes to rejuvenation and stress release. That is why, unless the weather is not on your side, it is essential to take some time, even ten minutes a day, to go outside, take a walk, and enjoy the beauty around you. Even in a highly urbanized area with little greenery, you can still reap benefits from going outside in the fresh air. However, if you aren’t in an area with a lot of greenery, you can always head to a park to enjoy nature’s beauty when you are not working.
The last thing you want to do while facing too much responsibility between work, home, and childcare is to add more responsibility, but it is worthwhile getting some plants and watering them daily, as you will have greenery indoors. Having indoor plants has been shown to boost creativity, boost your mood, and reduce stress, and it can be good for your home environment as it can remove toxins.
One of the reasons that working moms are so stressed is because they are too hard on themselves. Unfortunately, having unrealistic expectations can cause you to expect too much from your partner, especially if you have one, your kids, and that will only create more strain. If you envisioned a perfect life for your family before you even had them, you would be highly disappointed that the life you envisioned would likely never turn out how you had hoped.
If you have a perfectionist way of being, there is a good chance that your parents placed unfair expectations on you. Since you could not live up to them, you want to make up for it by yourself and your family living up to your expectations.
However, you cannot do that; you will need to readjust your expectations and let go of that ideal life you were hoping to have for yourself and your family. It does not exist, and this will involve much shadow work, as making this type of change will always take work.
Suppose you can let go of high expectations for yourself and your family and remind yourself that you and your family are human. In that case, that will help relieve stress, remove disappointment, and make you happier overall.
You need time away from your family and to seek enjoyment for yourself. That means each evening, take time to do an activity you enjoy so you can wind down before going to bed, which will also help you sleep better, and that is what you need for self-care, too.
Also, be sure to see your friends, and have your partner or a trusted friend or family member watch your kids so you can see your friends for lunch or a get-together at the coffee shop. If you can, buy something you want, just for you. Additionally, do some traveling. However you want to use respite, you must use it now and then and daily when it comes to spending time with yourself and unwinding, so recharge and rejuvenate.
In honor of Working Moms Day on March 12th, the best thing to do is to remind working moms that they need to nurture themselves and care for themselves so they can effectively be the best at work and be the best moms and partners if they have one. A lack of self-care will only cause excess stress, resentment, depression, and burnout, which means these working moms will not have anything more to offer since they are depleted. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and that is something that every working mom will have to remember the next time they attempt to give more than they can without caring for themselves.
