In May 2019, my daughter was 10 months old and I was running on empty every day. I was making miracles happen by taking care of Bailey, two dogs, the house (cleaning, dinner, laundry, errands), exercise (a fast walk during my prep which was 5th period) and working full time but there was no down time, moment of rest or time for me. Yes, exercising every day is self care but my life was a treadmill from 5:30am to 8:30pm. I was taking care of it all but I was not living my best life. For me, parenting was all survival and that was not how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to thrive but I had no idea how to make that happen.
I started a deep dive for resources and help. I didn’t really know what I was looking for but I knew (or wished!) there had to be a way to live my best life while also being a parent. I found a book and podcast called The Empowered Mama. These resources had a significant impact on me and are the birth of my current journey.
While working through this book, I realized that I needed to do something every single day to get me off the treadmill and give me a little bit of restoration. So I made the following commitment: at the end of the day I would do one restorative yoga pose for at least 5 minutes. I would lie on the floor, put my legs up the wall and I would stay there as long as I wanted or needed. My life was crazy; I was not thriving but I could do this. I could do this one thing to give back to myself and truly take care of me.
So for those of you that are in pure survival mode, what does 10 minutes of restoration or self care look like for you? What is one thing you could do to give yourself a moment of silence, care and bring energy and love back to your body instead of constantly sending it out?
5 weeks after Bailey was born my husband went back to work and was sent out of town for three days; I lost it. I was physically and mentally not sound. My dad reminded me (as per airline instructions) that I had to put my oxygen mask on first before helping others. So carve out 10 minutes and put your oxygen mask on first. You need to move from surviving to thriving and it has to start somewhere. Do it at the end of the day, at lunch or get up 10 minutes earlier. Don’t make excuses for not giving yourself the love you deserve.
Start here. 10 minutes. Do it daily. Put your oxygen mask on first.
