Healthy Mommy Life

Relaxation and Motherhood? HA!

 

 

While motherhood and relaxation might seem like an oxymoron, all mothers can do minor things to practice relaxation. Over my years of motherhood I have had to teach myself that stressing out achieves nothing. In fact it quite often reduces my ability to perform whichever duty to the same extent that I am able if I am calm. I know that there are exceptions to the rule and those who use stress as a means of motivation. I find allowing myself to stress to much can often be a slippery slope and can cause me to feel burned out.

 

The following are some tips that I have found very effective in reducing my levels of stress:

 

 

 

1. 
   
   TRY TO STAY CALM- Try to remember that letting yourself feel stressed can have all kinds of negative effects on your body such as weight gain, fatigue, and can even sprout into full grown depression. When you feel like you are getting to a point of tension, tell yourself that letting things stress you out wont help or effect the situation positively. We all have limits and we have to accept that we just can't do everything. You can only do the best you can and that will have to be good enough.
2. 
   
   KEEP A NOTEPAD AND PEN ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND-Many times I have been laying in bed with thoughts of all the things I need to do or might forget running through my mind. Simply having a notepad right beside me is a quick simple solution for instantly taking that load off of my brain for the night.   
3. OR-GAN-IZE!!!!!!-There is an old saying "a place for everything, and everything in its place". Life is so much easier and runs much smoother when things are organized. Set up your closets with little shelves and baskets and create a  home for everything.                                                                                                                                
4. FORCE YOURSELF TO TAKE TIME FOR YOU- Set aside time when you can just take care of yourself and actually follow through on it. Wake up an hour before the kids get up or stay awake 15 minutes later than usual. Do something nice for yourself even if its as simple as taking a bath or painting your nails.
5. 
   
   TAKE A DEEP BREATH- ...or 2...or 3..This is by far the quickest and easiest method of bringing things down a notch. Close your eyes and take a slow deep breath, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Focus only on your breath for those few seconds. It always helps and works instantly!

Keep Calm and Relax!