Yeah, I hear that a lot. I don’t have time to be healthy.
It’s a big one and I’m sure at one stage or another, every mother has said it. I get it. I have two not-so-little ones and yep, finding time to be healthy was a powerful journey those first few years.
Mums Are Bad At Self Care!
What I saw in myself in the early days (I will admit) and time and time again in clinic, is mums not taking enough care of themselves.
In Chinese medicine it is said that to take care of the child, you must first take care of the mother. Since I had children plus clients to look after, I had to make myself more of a priority than I felt like I had time for. So off for treatment I went.
It’s important as a practitioner to get regular treatment too.
“Doing The Month” – Postnatal Recovery in Chinese Medicine
In Chinese medicine, the first 40 days post birth are amongst the most important in terms of rebuilding your energy. Not doing much besides feeding your baby in this time is what’s recommend in traditional Chinese culture.
Last month on the blog we talked about this in detail, these first 40 days.
Beyond the Postnatal Period
Now I want to look at the time after the postnatal recovery period and what I would recommend to help you get on top of things.
Check in with yourself and how you’re feeling about the whole mothering thing. Do you feel like it’s consuming you? Do you feel like you’re just coping, or thriving?
Wouldn’t it be nice to do more than just survive it so you can be in the moment more and really enjoy those little people?
Are you making time to be healthy? Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I make time for myself to eat properly? Am I eating what works well for my body?
- Do I get adequate rest? If not and I feel I need it, how I can improve that?
- Do I feel like I have enough domestic support in terms of cleaning and organising meals? (Things like doing online shopping can be great initially instead of having to brave the shops. Paying for a cleaner for a while can also be a worthwhile investment in improving your energy and wellbeing.)
- What do I do for myself that’s just for me? Drink tea? Take a bath? Read books? Meditate? Catch up with friends?
- Do I get any exercise?
- How do I feel about socialising? What feels right for me at the moment?
- How do I feel about work? What feels right in that realm and do I feel like I have choice around this or not?
- What are my bowel movements doing? Are they well formed or not? Do I go every day or not?
- Am I catching colds more now? Am I more susceptible to infection?
Doing a self-check-in can give you an idea of how you’re going and whether you need any help with caring for your health.
If you feel you do need help, you’re in luck! Here at the Red Tent we are holistic and look at the whole picture from top to bottom. We work out what will work best for you moving forward so you can get the most out of yourself and Motherhood. It’s nice to be able to enjoy your kids.