Often we look into self-care when feeling exhausted, burnt out, and overwhelmed. But, what if you looked at it from prevention than from recovery? I’ve always been a supporter of routine maintenance over crisis management. In a perfect world, we would make time for self-care every day. If you’re looking for some quick strategies to support your self-care I have a good list of them HERE. There is one thing that isn’t on that list though. A variety of self-care that often is overlooked. 

Awareness. 

In particular, being aware of your own limits. Knowing your limits in all facets of life is vital for keeping you grounded, organized, and free from burnout. Let’s use this example from my high school days. My nephew was in the class below me and we were both involved in many of the same activities, track being one of them. He was a distance runner. I was a jumper. So when he wanted to “go for a run” his idea was 8+miles at a...

Mom-guilt is such a strange emotion.

It is all-encompassing and sometimes feels impossible to avoid. 

Work too much- mom guilt

Work too little - mom guilt

Clean the house- mom guilt

Don't clean the house - mom guilt

Feed your kids take-out- mom guilt

Don't feed your kids take-out- mom guilt

You add in the ever-changing recommendations and research in raising children and there's a whole other myriad of guilt-inducing challenges (cry it out or don't,  vaccinate right away or delay, allow devices or don't, attachment parenting or free-range parenting, etc etc etc). 

We have these ideals and standards in our minds about what a perfect mom is and allow ourselves to feel guilty when we are less than that imaginary figure in our minds.  It's not easy mama. I hear you. And while there's so much to unpack around those standards and how you feel,  there is a slight change you can make in your home that can help you feel good...

Self-care, self-love, me-time. These phrases are ones we hear often. But do you have any idea what that even means? Do you hear yourself saying, “must be nice” when someone talks about taking some time for themselves? We’ve all been there. Some days it feels like there just isn’t any time for you. Some days it feels too expensive, wasteful, or even selfish. But every day, it is necessary.  

As a society, we always find the money, the time, the space, and the energy, to make things happen that we really want and need. The most heartbreaking example of this is when a loved one is ill. In your day-to-day life, you don’t have the time or money to visit. But when that person becomes ill, you make the time. You find the money. You find the way and get there. Immediately, this becomes a priority, and we always figure out the way for our priorities. I challenge you to prioritize your health and well-being this month. Sure, life is crazy and busy...

One of the biggest complaints I hear from moms is that they just don’t have time. There is no time for the laundry, the dishes, the floors, the kids, the pets, or the husband, much less time for themselves! Throw in your work responsibilities and now not only is there no time, but there’s also hardly any energy! Constantly feeling like there is not enough time causes a lot of guilt, and maybe even a bit of shame too. The peace that you should feel when you finally get to crawl into bed for the night is overshadowed by the list of things you didn’t get done today. I know how you feel, I’ve been there too. Sometimes I am still there. It would be so easy for me to tell you, “you’re just putting too much on yourself and you need to lighten up”... But I think you’d reach right through this screen and slap me if I did that! Yes, we can hear those words, or similar ones, and agree that that would help, but deep down we know that hearing it...

Growing up there were a couple of sitcoms we watched as a family (back when TV was a little more family-friendly) that often referred to anger management techniques. The two I remember the most were the rubber band on the wrist, to be snapped during moments of anger, and the “close your eyes and count to 10 before responding" rule. I feel like these things were mentioned quite often on TV...but maybe they were just techniques that stood out to me so I remembered them well. Either way, this conversation is more about that choice to respond differently than the first instinct. The decision to snap the rubber band, or count to ten before responding is a conscious choice that affects the outcome of the situation... In a big way. 

In every interaction you partake in, you have the ability to choose how you will respond to the situation at hand. There are SO many human emotions, your options are truly endless. The question becomes, what does this response create in my life? See...

I have always been a proponent of using a multitude of modalities to find true wellness. As you are a multifaceted human being, you need many different techniques to stay well. Just like your nutrition is not balanced without consuming a wide variety of foods, you cannot be well in your body, mind, and soul, without a wide variety of modalities. Essential oils are one of the modalities I turn to often. I love having them in my diffusers (I currently have four diffusers in my home), use them in skin care remedies (like sunburn relief), or for inflammation from an injury.

EO's are also the only "pretty smells" allowed in my home. I do not use anything in my home with the word "fragrance" listed on the ingredient label. Did you know "fragrance" is a blanket term for many different chemicals in products? "Fragrance" is not regulated by the FDA so it becomes a default place to hide chemicals you wouldn't otherwise want in a product you use daily (like BPA, a known contributor to...

There are a million studies out there talking about screen time. How much is too much? When should you turn your devices off? What about that blue light business? Is it different for adults and children? I’m not going to dive into any of that. Instead of hashing out how long, when, where, and who, let’s look into what you view. When I was young, my friends and I had a CD that we called the “Depression CD.” We’d listen to it when we were having an off day, after a break-up, or just whenever we were a little low. It was 13 country songs, from the country era of slow broken-hearted ballads. Nothing upbeat. Nothing empowering. Nothing that would help turn your mood around. Instead, it was about being engulfed by that sadness, by that slow, depressive movement. We used these songs when we were feeling low because they matched our vibration (learn more about your vibration here). The energy was the same. It felt comfortable to listen...

Man oh man have the last few years brought out some of the best and some of the worst in people! It's amazing to see how change, pressure, and the "unknown" hit folks differently. When the shelter-in-place orders started being rolled out across the country, I saw a quote online that said: 

“The virus is enhancing what is already inside of each person. Jerks are turning into bigger jerks. Compassionate people are becoming more compassionate. You get to decide in this very difficult time who you really are. Hopefully, we all make the right decision –James Tucher.”

I love this. I love this more now than ever before. I love this because it is a perfect example of how unique each person is and how each of us is in a different place in our spiritual growth and personal development journey. Here’s the thing; your partner, your kiddo, and your best friend are all in different places. They are all experiencing each life event in their own way, and it is...

So often I hear someone tell me, “I don’t have time for that.” Immediately, I know that time is not the problem. Poor time management and maybe a lack of priorities are the problem.

See, we all get the same 24 hours in a day. Most people have a 40-50-hour work week. Most people have homes to clean, groceries to buy, and laundry to do. Among a million other things they’d like to do every day. The issue lies in having to make the decision between doing thing A or thing B. I used to have the same struggle, that is until I got intentional about how I spend my time. Because we ONLY get 24 hours in the day. I can make more money. I can buy more food. I can watch that show later, but I cannot get this moment back. It sounds so cliché, but the truth is time is priceless. No one can make more, no one can stop it, and no one can refund it. When the day came that I finally realized just how precious it is, it became very easy to rearrange my priorities....

The other day, my sweet bonus daughter repeated something that she certainly heard from someone else (apparently “everyone” says it’s true-moms you know how that goes), this was not a thought she had on her own. We know that kids are little sponges and they take in everything from everywhere around them. When they are really young, it's usually that one time you utter a four-letter word that they cling to and you spend the next few weeks praying they don’t repeat it in public. The thing is, that doesn’t end, they continue to latch onto and repeat everything they hear. We are all so influenced by the people around us and the conversations we are surrounded by, no matter your age, but sometimes it hits a little closer to home than others. 

In this particular instance, this 8-year-old child told me she was chubby and fat because she couldn’t see her toes when she looked down. Thankfully, she didn’t seem upset about it, just simply...