Time is the most valuable for any busy mothers and when you think about your priorities, making time for self-care probably falls near the bottom of your list — below work, kids, home, and family.
If everyday is a chaotic and restless day for you as a mother, you could be actually doing more harm to your body without you realising until the situation is getting serious. Stress, exhaustion, burnout and even mental illness can take more of a toll when you aren’t getting what you need. Heard of a famous tagline? “Have a break, have a KitKat!” Couldn’t agree more to this simple tagline, every mother should allocate some me time whenever possible. Here are some tips and ideas to get you started!
We know it’s hard to start without any proper equipment, but do you know there are exercises that can actually be done anytime and anywhere! And most importantly, you only need about 10 minutes a day to get your body moving and sweating!
Tips for Exercise:
Supported Squats – Sit to Stand
To perform a supported squat, start yourself from a seated position, both feet touching the ground evenly, then from seated position, lean your body forward and stand up. Keeping your chest upright, back neutral, and core activated to maintain balance as you stand up. Once in a standing position, you may slowly sit down to keep your body in control and balance. This will give a lot of stress to your thigh muscles to work together in order to perform the task.
Tip: If adding weight to this exercise, you could hold two dumbbells at your sides or hold a single weight with both hands at chest level.
Sissy Push-ups
To perform a sissy push-up, begin with hands below shoulders, engage your cores, body in a neutral position, both knees in contact with the ground with ankle crossed. Bend at the elbows to lower your chest towards the ground, keeping elbows tight to your torso. Press your hands into the ground as you push back up to your starting position.
Tip: Sissy push-up is an alternative position for normal push-ups where it’s easier to perform and lesser risk of injuries. Try it now!
Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers are famous for aerobics exercises which will make you sweat a lot! To perform mountain climbers, begin with hands below shoulders, engage your cores, and body in a neutral position – a straight line from head to heel, in a high plank position. Lift one leg off the ground, drawing your knee as close as you can to your chest. Return to starting position, and switch legs, alternating between right and left.
Tip: To further challenge mountain climber exercise, you may perform knee to chest movement at a faster pace as in your are running.
Glute Bridges
Wanted to have a rounder and firm bum? Glute bridges is the perfect exercise for you! To perform glute bridges, begin lying flat on your back with knees bent, feet firmly planted on the ground, and hands at your sides for support. With core tight and spine neutral, engage the glutes to press up through the hips. Slowly lower to the ground and repeat.
Tip: Glute bridges are a great glute isolation exercise, but you can incorporate it with a ball squeeze in between your knees, you can even train the inner thigh!
Tips for Mental Health:
Prioritize Self-care
Make time for yourself to feel genuinely good and relax. Start your day (while your baby is still sleeping) with a nice cup of coffee, exercise, reading a book or taking a warm bath, do not be surprise that you will definitely feel more energetic throughout the day!
The reason why exercise is so important because physical activities helps to release dopamine and serotonin in our body which to improve mood. Moreover, exercise also have a crucial role in mental health which particulary helpful for people who deal with anxiety and panic attacks.
Taking Breaks
Never underestimate short breaks throughout your days because it may help you to reset your mood and telling your brain that you are not working restlessly. You can recharge your mental batteries by taking a short walks to look at something naturally green (tree, plants, flowers, fruits etc.), stretch your body, or just simply close your eyes for a few minutes.
Connecting With Others
Maintaining social connections is one of the most important element in maintaining a good mental health. No matter how busy you are as a mother, socializing with others is something that cannot be neglected. You will probably see a lot of mothers gather around morning market just to chit chat with each others, that is actually a very good way to start blend yourself in to have a relax chat with them, although sometimes may involve a lot gossip.
The whole point here is to spend time to connect with friends, neighbours or family members even if it just 5 minutes, it will be more than enough. Share your daily activities and feeling with them, as it will unconsciously relieve your stress as well.
Remember, exercises and taking care of your mental health is an on-going process that requires guidance, determination and consistent effort. If experience any injuries from the exercises, feel free to visit a physiotherapy and rehabilitation centre so that proper guidance, injury prevention, rehabilitation can be provided to you. By emphasizing on physical activities and mental health, you can have a better quality of life and it’s for the best for your children to grow under a healthy environment as well.
