By Steph Lavelle, Virtual Assistant
So Mother’s Day has been and gone and you’re back to dutifully taking care of the family, keeping the house clean, maybe working from home and keeping up to date with all the COVID-19 updates - are you exhausted again?
As women we are wired to be caregivers. To nurture and care for others and make sure our ‘tribe’ is well looked after and healthy. This is innate and not something that I think any of us would ever want to change but what makes it so much easier to support others, is when we feel replenished and balanced within ourselves.
Now I don’t know about you, but my life certainly doesn’t feel balanced when I spend endless days listening to “Muuummm, I don’t want to eat this”, playing referee for bickering and wrestles that go too far, watching the teenager roll their eyes at my requests or when I’ve cleaned the kitchen for the 6th time in a day! No, it definitely doesn’t feel like I am receiving much appreciation or care when these moments happen, which is why it’s so freaking important for me to take some time out and give myself the love and appreciation I need.
& let’s be clear, by taking time out I don’t mean hiding in the bathroom to read that article you saved on your phone 3 weeks ago and still haven’t had the space to read (does that even work, my toddler finds me every damn time!), I don’t mean watching Netflix once the kids are in bed and not even making it through an episode without falling asleep, I don’t mean going for a walk because otherwise you’ll explode and say something you regret! No I mean the self-care that makes you remember how fucking amazing you are and how good life is!
You see when we prioritise the time and space to be free of responsibility, be immersed in the moment and acknowledge how we truly feel, we create the opportunity to understand and experience exactly what it is that brings us joy and replenishes our body, mind and soul. In creating this space for ourselves we are establishing connection to neural pathways that reinforce the belief that we are important and we deserve love and appreciation. How powerful is self care right?!
Another huge benefit of including these opportunities for us to feel good in our lives is that we release dopamine and serotonin (our feel good hormones). Throughout these experiences and the more moments we have where these hormones are released into our system the less likely we are to be impacted by poor mental health, stress related health conditions and poor self image and this of course means we are happier, healthier women in all areas of our lives, winning!!
So I invite you all to create a schedule of self-care time if you haven’t already. Make it part of your daily existence, choose a time and activity that brings you pleasure every day and schedule it in ladies! Have a different activity every day or not, there’s no rules for this ladies, it’s whatever makes you feel refreshed and nourished! & be sure to include a girls weekend away every year if you can too. It doesn’t have to be extravagant (actually the simpler the better) but the power of women supporting women can never be underestimated and is crucial for our sanity! It truly is one of the best times of my life every year.
You deserve to feel loved, appreciated and happy every day and the most powerful place for that to start is from within you!
Much love, Steph x