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Putting Yourself
First - Living
For Health and Wellness
Pride is
one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and modesty, a virtue. So is it
any wonder that moms, work at home moms, and women in general
have a hard times taking care of themselves first and setting
aside time each day to improve mind, body and spirit?
As a
mother, it is especially hard to find time in our hectic lives
to pamper ourselves and to de-stress. However it is of the
utmost importance that we do so, so that our mind can center
itself, the body can relax and the spirit can be renewed. And
although we sometimes get so busy that we forget to do these
things, I would encourage you to somehow remind yourself to take
this daily time to yourself, whether by using post-it notes, an
alarm, a note on the calendar or even a computer reminder!
When you
take time for yourself, it doesn't have to take a long time
(although, the longer you can afford to relax, the better!),
because it is the quality of time that counts, not the length of
time. Start with taking just 15 to 30 minutes every day to let
yourself unwind and relax. This can be really early in the
morning before the children wake up, during a lunch break, right
before bed, or any other time that fits your schedule.
Here are
some ideas that you can use to get started with your daily time
to help yourself de-stress. Please feel free to modify these
ideas in any way to fit your lifestyle or personality!
Meditation
- Meditating has a reputation for sounding much harder to do
than it really is. Take a few moments to either lie down or sit
comfortably and clear your mind of worries, daily stresses, or
other intrusive thoughts. Relax your entire body and try to
clear your mind, focusing only on deep, diaphragmatic breaths.
You can meditate for as long as you would like to.
Take a
Warm Bath - Water has it's own peculiar way of taking away
stresses, relaxing the body and helping us to unwind. But when
you are putting yourself first and taking care of yourself, you
don't want this to be a short to-the-point bath. Take time to
add scented oil or bubble bath, fix yourself a cup of hot tea or
cocoa, grab a favorite book and have a luxurious soak!
Prayer
- No matter what your religious beliefs, prayer has been shown
to relax the mind and soothe the soul. Take a few moments to
pray or simply be grateful for what you have in your life. This
helps you center your spiritual self as well as to focus on you
for a while.
Yoga
- Yoga is
so much more than twisting yourself into a pretzel. Most
beginner's yoga poses are very easy to do, and help you to focus
your mind, body and spirit all at once!
These are
just a few of the ideas you can use when you take time for
yourself. However, putting yourself first doesn't mean simply
taking 30 minutes everyday for mom. It also means that your own
basic needs must be met everyday. What are these needs?
Abraham Maslow. a humanistic psychologist developed a hierarchy
of basic needs that every human being has. Let's take a look at
these needs and how they relate to you as a work at home mother.
1.
Physiological Needs
These
include the very basic needs, that are the most necessary to a
human being. These include: oxygen, food, water, sleep, and a
relatively constant body temperature. If these needs are not
fulfilled they can influence your thoughts and behaviors, cause
you to become sick or even cause pain, discomfort or death.
2.
Safety Needs
When a
person's physiological needs are met, then the need for safety
will come next - whenever one stage is fulfilled, the next stage
suddenly becomes more important. Safety needs include: physical
safety (from violence, aggression, etc.), a secure home, secure
employment, security of revenues and resources, moral and
physiological security, family security, security of health, and
security of personal property against crime.
3.
Love/Social Needs
The third
layer of Maslow's hierarchy after physiological needs and safety
needs are those involving your emotionally-based relationships,
including: having healthy friendships, sexual intimacy, and
having a supportive and communicative family. This includes
feeling as if you belong and are accepted, and feeling loved as
well as loving others.
4.
Esteem Needs
All human
beings have the need to feel as if they are respected and to
have self-respect. Therefore the 4th level of needs include:
self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others and
respect by others.
5.
Self-Actualization
The fifth
and final level of basic needs is self-actualization, which is
the instinctual need of human beings to make the most of their
abilities and strive to be the best that they can be.
Self-actualization can best be described as reaching one's
fullest potential. These needs can include (but are not limited
to): morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of
prejudice and acceptance of facts.
With these
basic needs in mind, think carefully...what needs of your own
are you meeting? Which are you neglecting? At any given
moment, think about which layer of the hierarchy you are on at
the moment. Can you improve this?
Even
though as a mother, you have a responsibility to meet the needs
of your children and family, you also have an obligation to take
care of yourself first. Because, quite simply, you cannot fully
take care of others if you are not making sure your own needs
are met first. So each day, keep in mind what your own needs
are, and see that you are taking care of yourself first so that
you can take even better care of your family and loved ones.
Article
Source: Faithful
Grannies
About the Author: Stephanie Davies is a WAHM from
Mid-Missouri. She loves to read, write, knit, watch movies,
build websites and surf the internet provides website hosting
and other online services to work at home parents. She
recommends
Christian Work From Home Moms and Grandparents
http://www.faithfulgrannies.com
as a great online source for
work at home moms.
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