Self-care may be something you have heard being thrown around a fair bit. Or maybe you haven’t heard it at all and wondering what it is? I can tell you what self-care is not… and that is selfish! Self-care is in my opinion just a form of self-love. Something you must do to make sure you are being nurtured and living your life to your values.
What self-care is:
- Thoughtful, loving and caring to yourself and your family
- It helps your cup to be filled with lots of wonderful good things, which means when your cup overspills lots of good things spill out to those you love around you
- It shows your children that it’s important to take time to love and care for yourself – our children watch what we do! It’s important for us as women to have our own identity outside of our children and families and to live a life that is true to us. By doing this we are happier, and we are able to be better versions of yourself!
You may find setting 5 mins a day for yourself is a great start to creating a self-care routine. Increase that amount over time and find what suits you and your life.
10 self-care ideas (keep a note of your favs!)
- Sitting in the garden
- Sitting in the sun
- Listening to your favourite music
- Meditation and mindfulness
- Having a hot bath
- Practising daily gratitude – find out more about using a gratitude journal here
- Going out in nature
- Walk on the beach
- Stargazing
- Catching up with a friend for a chat
Don’t think of self-care as a chore
Self-care isn’t something that should be looked at as a chore or something you absolutely must do. It’s something that should naturally and easily become a routine in your daily life. Like a daily ritual like cleaning your teeth.
I love to practice daily meditation before bed and I always make time before bed to listen to a 10-20-minute meditation. This helps me calm my mind and body making it much easier for me to get a full night’s rest at night. I see this as part of my values, my value in life is me and by looking after myself and making sure that I get enough rest at night by relaxing my body and mind before bed I wake up feeling more replenished and fresher. Especially if I compared it to having a broken night’s sleep or was unable to fall asleep until midnight because I was getting trapped in my thoughts.
I hope that this has given you some ideas of how you can start making self-care a bit of a ritual and priority in your life.
By caring for yourself regularly you will find that your cup overflows and that spills over into your family as well as teaching your children some valuable and important lessons on how to care for themselves!
Make sure you write down and start implementing some ways you can care for yourself!
Ashley believes that when a baby is born so is a mother. She is the creator of the Journey into Motherhood, an online membership area supporting new mothers to find their calm, confidence & connection in motherhood.
You can find many motherhood resources and support on her website www.themotherhoodcircle.com.au
