Welcome to Sunday!!! How have we all been doing? I would love to know how you spent your self-care time this week. I had a few times this week that I got to spend doing a little of what I wanted including a Nap! Today I want to discuss Mindsets. This is an important topic for me because we have recently been talking about it with the kids. I know I have a hard time keeping myself in a positive mindset, especially if work is stressful or my kids are not getting along.
One thing I have noticed is that if I can get my mindset in the right place my day goes at least a little bit smoother. There are a few ways that I like to try and work on my mindset for the day, and they include doing a few things that we have already discussed. We can look first at the Words of Wisdom that we discussed a few weeks back. If you have found some that inspire you, use them to keep your thoughts going in the right direction. I know that I have found some that I love recently and I will read them and feel better, and then I will share them on Facebook or with friends. Sometimes just a few words are all you need to reset your feelings and get your mind in the right place.
Something else you can do is meditate. Even 10 minutes of meditation can help ready you for the day. It can help you begin your day in a more peaceful state. I don’t always get time to meditate, I know that I probably should and this is one challenge I am going to give myself. My dream is to get my garden growing so well that I can add an area for things like meditation and yoga in amongst the flora and fauna. This leads me to yoga. I love yoga, your body feels so great when you get through a nice routine. This is again something I use to do more often than I do now, however, I do add many of the stretches to the end of my workouts to help my body relax. Yoga not only works your body but asks you to control your breathing and center your mind.
If you don’t have time for meditation or yoga you can do one simple thing that can help you feel better. You can smile. Seems silly right, just smile, even if there is nothing to smile about. Research has shown that just the act of a smile can begin to make you feel better. There is an article from Psychology Today that gives you an outline of some smile benefits and links to other studies.
Lastly, challenge your thoughts. Take a moment when you are feeling negative about life and challenge it. For example, maybe you keep telling yourself you are a bad parent. Challenge this thought, making a list of why you think you are a bad parent and then look at what makes you a good parent. Many of us will find that the list that makes us feel like a bad parent comes from comparing ourselves to others, or judging ourselves on a bad day. Your goal as a parent is to make sure your kids are happy and well taken care of. This can work in many situations and will let you see that perhaps not everything is going as badly as it may seem.
I would like you each to try some of these things over the next week and comment below or on my Facebook page about which ones seem to be working for you. Remember self-care is not only about getting time to ourselves but also listening to our body and emotions. Have a great week!!
