How we are prioritizing health + wellness as busy mothers.
Nikki (influencer partnerships at Araza) and Lindsey (founder) share ways they are prioritizing health + wellness as busy mothers.
Something I have found super important as a mom is waking up a little bit before my baby. My coffee is slightly boujee, organic coffee with steamed milk, collagen and of course, some sugar sprinkled on top. It's those simple little adds on that make my morning feel luxurious.
This is a crucial part of what I would call my "soul health" time. I use this time to pray, read, journal, reflect and have my coffee.
Often times in the wellness world, we prioritize our bodies above our souls in terms of focusing on what we eat or how we take care our bodies. But I have found though that when my soul is healthy then everything else flows from that. Making sure I have on most days a few minutes of solitude first thing in the morning instead of rushing into the day is crucial for me.
Another thing I prioritize as a mother is eating nourishing foods that I truly enjoy. Steak is one of my love languages so I am sure to eat plenty of it. I choose high quality meat, eggs, dairy and produce and avoid eating fake foods. This removes the stress of "staying in shape" because when I choose to eat real foods, I have found my body naturally keeps itself balanced. I also never feel deprived because I am eating nourishing foods that don't leave me wanting to eat foods that aren't good for my body. This also keeps me having great energy throughout the day and keeps my body strong.
Lastly, before I became I mom I chose to have a mindset that being a mother carries so much purpose and that motherhood has a mission. In order to thrive, I need to know what I am doing has a purpose. If I went into motherhood thinking motherhood is just what you do next in life, I think I would truly struggle mentally and physically.
But whenever I feel stressed or drained being a mom, I bring myself back to the thought that what I am doing as a mother is incredibly important. So much of motherhood goes unseen and is lacking glamour, but when I remind myself that in those hard moments that what I am doing holds purpose, the aggravation and overwhelm seems to dissipate. Knowing that I am major part of raising and equipping another human to become an adult carries such a big responsibility and with that, such an immense privilege and purpose. Keeping this mindset at the forefront of my mind truly is a way to keep myself from feeling overwhelmed even when I don't have all the time I used to before children.
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- A Tech Free Morning Routine. For me this entails a couple of things. I love calm, quiet mornings but with my 2 year old that isn’t a thing (I wouldn’t trade it for the world though). He is an early riser so our mornings are spent together playing and making breakfast. One thing I try my best to do is avoid being on my phone for at-least the first hour of the morning. This helps me mentally so much. I get to be in my own thoughts instead of someone else’s. I take time to set intentions for the day, maybe move my body a little or sit by the window and take in some natural sunlight (if it’s too cold outside) and just BE. If weather permits, we get outside first thing and take in the sunshine. For breakfast, I always try to prioritize eating something with lots of fat and protein and a moderate amount of carb. That might look like avocado and eggs on toast or maybe breakfast sausage and fruit. I find this helps sustain my energy and avoid a crash later.
- Finding Moments to do breath work throughout the day combined with prayer. The cool thing about breath work is you can do it anywhere and it’s such an amazing tool for bringing you back to center and calm. I love it because it’s not like one of those things where you need to block out 30 minutes of your day to meditate. You can do it for a couple of minutes in your car, when you are getting ready, playing with your kids, making food, etc. My favorite is the box breath. Box breathing, also known as square breathing, is a simple relaxation technique that involves inhaling, holding the breath, exhaling, and holding the breath again for an equal amount of time. The process is often visualized as drawing the four sides of a square, with each side representing a different phase of the breathing cycle. Here's how to practice box breathing:
- Inhale: Slowly breathe in through your nose for a count of four.
- Hold: Hold your breath for a count of four.
- Exhale: Slowly breathe out through your mouth for a count of four.
- Hold: Hold your breath for a count of four.
- Keeping a Stack of Healthy Recipes Ready to Go- I keep a collection of healthy recipes on deck so that I can just pull from them and make easy, quick meal lists when I need to go grocery shopping. I use an app on my phone called Recipe Keeper as a place to keep my go-tos organized and make quick shopping lists. This really helps the whole ‘what’s for dinner conundrum’ and makes grocery shopping way more time efficient and healthy for me and my family! Food choice is so important to sustained energy and health. I always build my meals around whole unprocessed foods with plenty of good quality fat (olive oil, grass-fed butter, coconut oil), high quality protein (grass-fed meats, salmon, pasture raised eggs) and good quality carbs. Limiting sugar is also a must for sustained energy!
- Bedtime Routine + Sleep- I love to stay up late but I force myself to be in bed by 9:30. Sleep gives you such a superpower. I try to spend the last part of my day tech-free but sometimes that is easier said then done. I find when it is tech-free I sleep so much better. One thing I do before bed is I pull out a piece of paper or my notes on my phone and just brain dump everything that’s on my mind. This could be business ideas, my to-do lists, grocery lists, quick thoughts I want to get out of my head. It helps put my mind at rest so I don’t have all of this stuff swirling around in my head. I also love sipping Needed’s Sleep + Relaxation Support before bed. I’m 38 weeks pregnant as I’m writing this and I have found this supplement really helps with pregnancy insomnia.
- Exercise + Movement- I like to prioritize some type of workout in my day. Normally it’s a 20-30 minute lift or peloton ride but I don’t always have time for that. On those days (and most days even when I do squeeze in a workout)I look for any way possible to be active with my son. I’ll chase him at the park, do some bodyweight squats + pushups while we are playing together, go for walks or bust out the yoga mat and we stretch together. Usually, this ends up as me being his jungle gym. But, at-least I am getting some movement in and time spent with him.