Kiddipedia

Kiddipedia

Motherhood can be hard enough without your usual support circle to lean on, close family, friends, mother groups, exercise classes – but when they have been taken away from you during a pandemic, your wellbeing can also go downhill.

The mental and physical load of parenting during a lockdown is monumental. The financial, emotional and physical health concerns for many families has seen an enormous increase in mood disorders – in a time that should be full of joy and connection, it has seen a lot of isolation and disconnection. How can you turn this time around and boost your wellbeing in time that has the potential to send your health out the window?

These are 5 nourishing daily rituals you can use to keep on top of your physical and mental health when there are stay at home orders in place.

  1. Food preparation

Your food choices can go out the window in Motherhood when you’re time poor, especially when there are demands coming from every corner of the house and you grab anything that is convenient, and often nutrient-poor. Is there a time of day that you can utilise to prepare snacks and meals in advance? This can look different in every house hold – it can look like popping the baby in the carrier and preparing while baby has a sleep, while the toddler is preoccupied with playing, while the older child is doing schoolwork. However this looks for you, prioritise one of these moments for creating nourishing meals for the day or week ahead – pop on the slow cooker, prepare some protein and iron-rich snacks, and fill up the water bottles – your future self will be so grateful (and energised).

  1. Nervous system support

Supporting your nervous system is essential when there are extra demands on your stress hormones, especially during a time of uncertainty. When your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) is switched on all day and in most cases, all night, your body is on the fast track to burnout.

How do you support your nervous system in times of stress?

  1. Reducing caffeine consumption: Motherhood and caffeine often go hand in hand. You get woken up by the children after a night of broken sleep + coffee + skip breakfast + parenting = adrenals on edge – sound familiar? Observe how your body responds to caffeine, does it make you jittery and anxious? Try reducing your caffeine consumption and replacing it with a hot cacao or a liver tonic such as dandelion tea.
  2. Belly breathing and meditation: Diaphragmatic breathing is a scientifically proven method to switch your nervous system from sympathetic, fight-or-flight response (SNS) to parasympathetic, rest and repair response (PNS). Instead of breathing with your chest, make a conscious effort to breathe with your belly and extending the length of your exhale to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
  3. Simplify your schedule: When parents are expected to homeschool, work from home and be a good parent all at the same time – something often gets sacrificed. Trying to do it all, all at once is unrealistic and places extra demands on your nervous system. Where are you overextending yourself and placing extra demands on yourself that can be rescheduled or cancelled?

  1. Movement

It goes without saying that mental health and physical health are linked, however, when you’re experiencing low or anxious moods, getting out of the house to move your body can feel like a huge unattainable chore. So, how can you get yourself moving again when it’s the last thing you feel like doing?

  • Pop on some uplifting tunes and dance around the kitchen with your littlies to lighten the mood
  • Pop on some boxing gloves and box through any pent up frustration
  • Head into the backyard and do some gentle stretching while your feet soak up the electromagnetic vibrations of the earth
  • If your children are older, ask them what their favourite movement is and do it together

Although you may not be able to attend a local gym, you can use this time to revive your imagination and consider how you can incorporate movement into your daily life in a way that seems achievable and makes you happy.

  1. Creating daily rituals

It can feel like groundhog day in Motherhood, let alone when there are stay at home orders in place and you’re tired of seeing the same four walls. Although gratitude comes into play for the roof over your head, mental health can go downhill when there is the same thing happening each day with no end in sight. Creating nourishing daily rituals can shift your mood when they are done with intention to prioritise your wellbeing. Your rituals can shift each week, with your mood, menstrual cycle, energy and schedule but can be a simple as:

  • Turning on a diffuser at the start of each morning with energising oils and calming oils in the evening
  • Moving your body after breakfast time
  • Getting fresh air before lunch
  • Creative time in the afternoon, colouring or painting with your children
  • Preparing meals in the afternoon
  • Wind down time with an epsom salt bath and a guided meditation

  1. Allow yourself to sit with how you’re feeling

One day you may feel overwhelmed and anxious, the next baking cakes with your toddler and singing in the kitchen. Allowing yourself to sit with how you’re feeling instead of switching them off, covering them with positivity such as “at least I have food on the table and a roof over my head”, is an example of invalidating your experience. There will also be times when you feel it all at once – grateful as well as sad, and that’s ok. If you don’t have the capacity to sit with your emotions right now, make sure you create space for yourself to check in with your emotions. Cry, journal, paint – however, you need to express these emotions (in a safe manner), your feelings are valid and need to be felt.

 

For the mamas who are holding space for their babies, family and friends in this time of uncertainty but forgetting about themselves – please know that you are worthy of the same love.