Self-Care for Moms | An Intimate Perspective

Self-care is a word moms hear at least every week. A quick Google search will show at least 100 different ideas of how we can squeeze in some mom time. I've written a post just like that here: Busy Mom Life: Practice Self-Care. While these forms of self-care are important for our sanity and overall well-being, there is a more intimate form of self-care for moms that is vital for healthy existence.

Let's take a different direction today.

Self-care comes in many forms. While it is incredibly refreshing to get our hair done, spend some time alone, or take a bubble bath, there is another way we should be taking care of ourselves that is often not mentioned when the topic of self-care arises.

Care

The most discussed forms of self-care are ways to rejuvenate our spirits for a short while. As moms, we definitely need that, but there are other ways we need to take care of ourselves too. Self-care is creating an ongoing, healthy relationship with yourself.

Think about something...

If you notice your child is coming home from school, going straight to their room, and not wanting to engage every day, what do you, as a mom, do?

You start to worry, and (if not immediately) eventually start a conversation with a goal to discover what is going on (if anything) and how you can help them through it.

That's care.

But what about ourselves? How do we care for ourselves?

Caring for Ourselves

Caring for our needs.

In order to start caring for ourselves, we have to pay attention. Just like we would notice if there was something going on with our child, it's important for us to notice when there is something going on with us too.

This can look like so many very different things for all of us.

You may recognize you have been anxious and biting your nails lately. So, take the time to discover the root of your anxiety and put the best plan of action in to decrease that anxiety.

Here's an example of one way I cared for myself: I wake up with headaches most days. So, I take Excedrin. I've never given it much thought, until one day I noticed this daily action and it worried me. It's terrible to have a headache every day. It's also terrible for my body to take Excedrin every day. I realized this was something I have to change and began to research safer ways to relieve headaches with a last resort option to see a doctor.

That's caring for myself.

This can look like so many very different things for all of us, but there are absolutely ways we can all care for ourselves.

Self-Care for Moms

Once we start caring for our needs, the other forms of self-care that we hear about will fall into place. Personal joy and inner well-being will transition from sitting on the back burner to being a priority. As all of this is changing priority levels within our lives, we should find it easier to make time for ourselves... like a bubble bath or pedicure.

As moms, it's literally our job to take care of other people. It's so easy for us to ignore what's going on with us, as we work to meet the needs of those we care about.

Just like any other relationship in our lives, a relationship with ourselves is going to take work.

Taking the time to create a healthy relationship with ourselves is not just important for our well-being, but it will also improve our relationship with others as we become healthier all around.

Let's support and learn from each other! How is your relationship with yourself? I'd love to hear how it's going or what you feel you need to work on. How have you cared for yourself lately? Let's talk about it in the comments!