Self -care. If you aren’t happy your family isn’t happy.

I have recently been following a blog by a lovely woman called ‘Flylady’. She has reminded me about the importance of self-care, and looking after myself in small ways every day, especially during stressful December. For most people, particularly mothers, the busiest and most stressful month is December.

And even though a little regular self-care during December is more important than ever to keep us happy and calm, so we can listen to and love those around us, it often flies out the window.

Self-care is a term used for many different things that care for us. It can be decluttering your bedroom so you enjoy sleeping in it, or taking time to file and polish your nails, or having that coffee with a friend, or having a brief 15 minute snooze when you are very tired, or buying yourself a Christmas present to place under the tree, or going to the gym or for a quiet walk, or patting your pet for a while. Everyone of us can think of different things we do to take us to that happy, calm place where all is well with the world and we are nurturing ourselves.

I challenge you to spend 15 minutes a day, every day, doing one small self-care thing  just for yourself for the rest of the month. By committing to self-care, we can learn to take care of ourselves (mind, body, and spirit) in ways that helps us take time out before we respond to our loved ones. Then we can choose our words and our actions, and deal with stressful situations in ways that honor not only ourselves but others. Ultimately, self-care is about how we treat ourselves – the actions we take to care for ourselves, the thoughts we have, and how we feel about ourselves. Begin by creating a self-care moment every day for yourself. If we are well and happy, our family is content. This is a tough challenge. We are not used to spending regular small amounts of time on self-care. Let me know how you go. Check out ways to goal-set over the holidays to get self-care moments sorted.

Warmly,

Anne