Health & Fitness - Parenthood & Family

How to De-Stress When The Kids Aren’t Around

Life can get very hectic as a mom.

Get the kids ready for school, make sure their lunch pack is full with delicious options and actually get them to school on time everyday cycle.

After the mad rush of the morning, we need to quickly fix ourselves up. Apply a dash of blush and lipstick and look like a million bucks when we step through the doorway at work. Yeah right! Getting everything organized in the morning and finding the time to make sure we look great before work is a hard combination.

Oftentimes, we will take jobs that end around lunchtime in order to be able to pick up the kids (probably while the hubby is at work) and look after them at home alone. Spending time with them,  making sure they do homework and stimulating activities other than play on their iPhones and iPads all afternoon.

Very rarely do we say “what about me?”

Always putting our children first, it’s their needs that always come first. This often leaves us, moms, feeling burnt out. Our husbands often come home late from the office and eat the meal we have prepared and then it’s bedtime. Eventually, our nerves reach a point where we sometimes feel we can’t escape and honestly it’s just “all too much!”

As Oprah Winfrey stated many times on her talk show “I always say moms have the toughest job in the world if you’re doing it right.” There is, honestly, nothing harder than bringing up little beings to be the best kind of human beings they can be. And we do it, mainly, all by ourselves.

So how to de-stress through all of this?

Girlfriend Support

Well, a huge component of this stress is losing touch with girlfriends once we are married and have children. Girlfriends are so much fun as they are there to support one another. Also, basically just have someone to talk to and often, relate to. Being a mom can sometimes feel incredibly lonely when a lot of our friends are still single and doing “single gal” things.

So it’s really important to make the time where you can get together with the girls over lunch or coffee and just catch up. Just being able to express yourself and be heard (by a grown-up). Discuss things and relate with your friends will do you the world of good.

Spa Day

Other things you can do with girlfriends, or on your own, is to book a spa day.

This is a wonderful experience where you can enjoy massages – Swedish, Aromatherapy, Hot Stone (your choice). Follow up with time spent in the sauna or a manicure and pedicure at certain spas. You will feel super-relaxed and gorgeous at the end of it. You can sit down with a nice cup of green tea, ginger, and lemon and eat a lovely late lunch.

Meditation

Now, spa days can be pretty expensive. But if you are looking for an everyday kind of “treatment” do yourself a favor and start meditating. This doesn’t mean you are going to sit like a yogi and chant oms. It means maybe waking up fifteen minutes earlier in the day, enjoying the peaceful silence and being consciously aware of yourself and your thoughts. There are wonderful meditation apps you can download, like the very popular Mindvalley app and you can just put those headphones on. Find a relaxed quiet space while the children are sleeping and meditate. This will calm you and relax you for the day.

Bath Delights

Another way to relax after a busy day with the kids is to simply sink into a gorgeous bath infused with sea salts and oils. Surround your bath with tea candles and even bring a nice glass of wine which you can drink in the bath.

Natural Methods

Another method of de-stressing is by ingesting certain herbs or supplements that help out.

Chamomile and Passion Fruit tea really help you relax but can make you very sleepy. Great supplements to take are Vitamin B’s – you can eat a diet rich in these, found in eggs, milk, cheese, and nuts. Omega-3’s are fantastic for calming you down, improving concentration and memory. It also relaxes the nerves, as well as being a “mood-lifter”. There are also anxiety-relief supplements which really relax you when needed most. Check this out and find out more!

Escape Into A World Of Words

A nice book is also a lovely way just to escape the madness.

Go to your local bookstore and choose a book by an author you enjoy and just immerse yourself into the story. Life is technologically based these days and it is nice to actually hold a book in your hands and simply read.  There are brilliantly written books out there. Examples of great books are by author Torey Hayden who writes about troubled children. Authors like Nicholas Sparks (author of bestselling ‘The Notebook’), a romantic novelist may be your thing or Marian Keyes (author of bestselling ‘Sushi For Beginners’) a fabulous author who writes about the lives of modern-day women who writes real ‘page-turners’ really knows how to entertain.

Work That Body

Also, find time to exercise. Yoga and Pilates are wonderful as they will get you in tune with your body and muscles. Pilates will help strengthen your core, especially needed after giving birth. Join classes, make new friends and strengthen your body with these exercises that will relax you. Classes are often given with new age or classical music in the background so it really does relax and the boosted serotonin levels you will experience will brighten your day.

Connect

It also helps to know that you are not alone in this madness called motherhood. There are groups you can join through social media where you can connect with other moms out there and many websites and blogs you can read so that you can smile and relate to other Mom’s stories. Check this out for instance.

At the end of the day, it is all about balance.

Be the best mom you can be but find a balance whereby you also take care of yourself so that you find time to de-stress amongst all the chaos.

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