As a busy mom, it can be challenging to find the time to take care of yourself. While we encourage you to carve out as much time as you can for self care, we know that sometimes you need something quickly and don’t have a ton of time. Here are some ways to ground yourself and practice self-care if you just have a few minutes!
Self Care Tip for Busy Moms #1: Breathe
While this may seem cliche, there is real evidence supporting the effectiveness of deep breathing on mental health. There are quite a few different breathing techniques out there, but do what feels the most comfortable to you. A few tips for effective breathing:
- Take a full inhale. Place your hand on your stomach: you should feel an expansion when you breathe in and should feel your stomach shrink when you breathe out.
- Try to prolong your breathing. Take breaths that are as long as comfortably possible.
- Be sure to fully exhale and release ALL of the breath in your body. This is one of the most important parts of the breathing process! The exhale (not the inhale) signals your body to start calming down.
Self-Care Tip for Busy Moms #2: Step Outside
Whether it is summer, fall, winter, or spring, there are many benefits to getting outside for moms (and we all know many kids love being outside too)! One study showed that there was a significant impact on nervous system functioning (getting participants in a calmer state of being) in just 5 minutes. The effects of views of nature on autonomic control – PubMed (nih.gov). Getting fresh air and sunlight has positive effects both on mental health and physical health. Additionally, if you are able to walk outside, you can tap into your brain and body’s natural way of processing emotions through bilateral stimulation (alternatively activating different sides of your brain).
Self-Care Tip #3: Get in touch with your Senses
A simple way to do this is to use the “54321” technique. Identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. This helps you to get in touch with what is going on both in your surroundings and in your body. As you go through this exercise, be detailed in what you notice: the more descriptive, the better! For example, “I see a clear cup on the counter, filled with ice water. The cup has drops of condensation on it and has 3 ice cubes. It is on the edge of the counter, making a faint shadow towards the toaster” or, “I hear my heater in the living room. It has a faint, low humming sound that just turned off.” Because you can use this skill at any time and wherever you are, this is a great resource for busy moms.
Self-Care Tip for Busy Moms #4: Engage in Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Moms do a lot of work throughout the day: carrying your child(ren), cleaning up, and taking care of things at work and/or around the house. Progressive muscle relaxation is a great way to relax your muscles if you notice tension popping up throughout the day from all of the work your body does or if you hold stress in your body. The process is fairly simple: tense and release muscle groups, going throughout your body.
For example, start with your feet: flex your feet and toes and hold that tension for 10-15 seconds. Then, release and pay attention to the new relaxed feeling those muscles have for another 10-15 seconds. Continue this process throughout your body: your calves, thighs, stomach, back, shoulders, arms, hands, face, etc! If you truly only have a couple of seconds, you can just focus on the area that holds the most tension. Pair this with deep breathing for an even greater effect.
Another tip: this is great to use if you have trouble sleeping at night!
Self-Care Tip for Busy Moms #5: Get Cold
When our bodies go into the “stress” response, oftentimes a byproduct of this is feeling hot. Cooling your body down can signal to your brain that it is okay to rest. This can look like holding your breath, then putting your face in a bowl of cold water, or holding a cold pack (or zip-lock bag of cold water) on your eyes and cheeks. Hold for 30 seconds. Keep water above 50°F. If you don’t have access to this, cooling your body off in other ways such as drinking cold water, taking off layers, or stepping outside into the cool air can still be helpful!
Disclaimer:
Very cold water decreases your heart rate rapidly. Consult your health care provider before using this skill if you have a heart or medical condition, a lowered base heart rate due to medications, take a beta-blocker, are allergic to cold, are pregnant/postpartum, or have an eating disorder.
I am hopeful that as you practice some of these self-care activities, that they can be incorporated into your busy schedule on a regular basis! These tips are helpful for kiddos as well, so feel free to also use them with your child. If you enjoyed this blog post or found this beneficial, you can read more at riverrootcounseling.com/blog or you can schedule an appointment to dive into this individually with one of our licensed perinatal mental health therapists here at River Root Counseling.
In health,
Denise Vukmanovich