Self-Love for Moms
The other day my 6-year-old and I were talking about who loves him and who loves me. In part of the conversation, he said, “You love yourself.” I said, “How do you know?” He responded, “Because you take care of yourself.”
I do love myself and want to take care of myself. But I love my family so much more and that is why I love myself and take care of myself.
Think about it…When we don’t take time to take care of ourselves, we can’t be our best mom, best wife, best friend, best aunt, best employee if we don’t first show ourselves love. Our mental stability is hindered. Our physical health suffers. Our emotional well-being is shaky. This hurts more people (including ourselves) than it helps. But once we begin to love ourselves, nurture our needs, care for our health we are able to extend our best to those we love.
Loving ourselves, taking time to care for ourselves, and tending to our needs sounds and feels selfish. I get it! I often feel that way too. You have to remember though that our family loves us so much and wants us to be with them a very long time, so by taking care of ourselves we are showing them we love them too.
How to Love Yourself
Here are few ways I take care of myself so I can be at my best and shower my family with love. You are welcome to use any of these ideas, or you might be inspired by another idea. I would love to hear other ideas for self-care, so please comment below to share.
1. Daily Gratitude Journal – Each morning, I find it refreshing and helpful to start my day off with gratitude. It helps point my head and heart in a positive direction, rather than negative. Here are a few of my favorites:
2. Spend Time with God – During my morning routine, I also like to start my day with Jesus. This prepares me spiritually. Here are some devotionals that are enjoyable:
3. 10 Minute Workout – Physical movement is good for the brain and body. It releases endorphins that help reduce stress and make you feel good. I like to do my workouts in the afternoon after I’ve sat at a desk a lot during the day; however, I usually get busy and forget so I tend to do my workouts in the morning before kids wake up. I don’t really have time for a full workout session, so I do a 10-minute intense workout video on youtube.
4. Get You “Some” – I’m not going to get nasty or graphic, but let’s be honest, women benefit from a good “roll in the hay” with their husband just as much as men. It’s a great stress reliever, makes you feel good, releases endorphins, and burns calories. Schedule a date for it if you need to!
5. Good Skin Care Routine – I feel at my best when my skin/face look smooth and vibrant and young enough to not have to wear makeup to cover blemishes or the bags under my eyes. A couple years ago, I found Tula products and can’t say enough good things about how good my skin and confidence feel after using them. (This is not a Tula sponsored post—I just really enjoy the products so much that I want to share with you.) These are a few of my favorite products that I have linked to Amazon, but you can check out more on Tula’s website.
6. Read a Book or Listen to a Podcast – Enjoying a good book or finding a good podcast helps me to get out of a mental slump. Sometimes it’s nice to spend 20 minutes reading or listening to something “grown up” to help me feel like my brain is still able to function on grown up things. CLICK HERE to see a list of books I’ve read and recommend.
7. Mental Health Day – And sometimes I just need a mental health day where I take the day “off.” This is a day where no chores are done, no work is done, and no serious conversations are had. It’s a day for your brain, body, and emotions to relax and be stress free. You can let your husband take over responsibilities that day or you can have a family mental health day together—I’m sure the kids wouldn’t mind a break too!
The holidays are quickly approaching. This time of year can be very stressful for people, but especially moms. We have to so much to plan, so much to prepare, so much to do that it gets overwhelming, so before the craziness starts take some time for a little self-love. And continue to take this self-love into the holiday season and throughout the year to help keep you from getting stressed or burned out.