Changing the Definition of Self-Care

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I want to talk about self-care.

To be honest, at the beginning of 2018, this was a completely foreign concept.

Self-care is doing something for YOU. It’s taking the time to do some activities that nurture YOU. It means taking care of yourself and treating yourself kindly.

I am a mom of three kids under the age of six. I live a full life. I also stay at home to be a SAHM and farmwife now. Which means one income. And very little to no time to myself (and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This season of my life is FULL of joy and busy little people).

So in January when I started doing a workout program that was physically and mentally exhausting, and my trainer kept pushing about self-care, I felt a little defeated.

But self-care is especially important for moms, in my opinion, because no one else takes care of mom, right? But does it feel like it’s just adding one more thing to do each day?

I hope I can change your perspective.

I have learned the hard way that you cannot pour from an empty cup.

I don’t have the time or the money or the childcare to go get a weekly, or even monthly massage, or facial, or mani/pedi like she kept suggesting. I only WISH that was the case.

So it forced me to do some thinking, and get creative with what self-care means to me.

I want to share a few things that I came up with, with the help of a few of my fellow mom-friends. I wanted to focus on things that don’t cost a lot of money, or take a lot of time.

• Take a hot bath, with or without Epsom salt and/or essential oils.
• Journal for a few minutes.
• Nap. Even a 15-minute power nap.
• Your favorite hot tea and a good book.
• Put the kids to bed early and have a few minutes of alone-time or time with your spouse.
• Netflix and an adult beverage.
• A coffee or lunch date with a friend.
• A lunch date by yourself.
• A favorite, nourishing meal (here’s one of mine).
• A stretching or Yoga session.
• A short session with your foam roller to ease sore muscles.
• Time in prayer or with a devotional.
• A walk outside, or really any time spent out in nature.
• Call and talk to a friend on the phone.
• Meal-planning so you have readily available nourishing foods in your kitchen AND to save you time and stress on the week-nights.
• Write down a few things that you are grateful for.
• Turn on some music and have a dance party.

Those are a lot of great ideas, right? You might have to set an alarm, or ask your husband or partner or family member to help with the kids for a few minutes, but these are all do-able, inexpensive ideas, right?

Any of them provide stress relief for the mind, the body, and/or your soul.

But what if even those things sound like too much?

But what about those days that you feel like you cannot even spare a few minutes to squeeze in any of these things? Or what if just looking at this list makes you feel a little anxiety at not having done any of those things lately or in the near future even?

This is what I think: if you got in some movement today, THAT counts as self-care. Exercise in any form absolutely will benefit your physical and mental body. From 5 minutes and beyond, if you moved today, that was showing your body kindness and thankfulness for being able to move.

If you slept for seven hours or more, THAT counts as self-care. Sleep is SO important. Sure, you can survive for a few weeks on chronic “undersleep” (is that a word?). In a pinch, mindset can get you through on a few hours. But being chronically tired will eventually catch up to you in the form of illness, injury, or just a shortened life-span.

And how about food? If you nourished your body with nutrient-dense foods and foods that YOU ENJOY, that counts as self-care. Food is meant to fuel our bodies, but also it’s meant to be enjoyed. It’s meant to make you feel good. Literally feeding your body what it needs is a form of taking care of yourself.

I hope these ideas have helped ease your mind about the idea of self-care. It doesn’t have to be crazy-expensive or require a massive chunk of your day.

Do you have ideas to add? I would love to hear them.

XOXO

Michaela