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4 Ways to Treat Yourself When Life Gets Overwhelming

Everybody knows that life is stressful. Have you ever just wanted to stop what you’re doing and take a break from your responsibilities? If so, you’re not alone. Sometimes you need and sometimes you want a break, but that’s not always going to be easy because you can’t just stop your life and ignore your responsibilities. You need a moment to treat yourself, to recharge, and to focus on your wellness. But how do you do that?

There will be moments that you’re talking to the bank about your mortgage because you’re worried about making repayments. There will be moments when you find yourself looking at resources like Edmunds, to find out whether or not you could be getting a better deal on a car and then you can pay less than your current one. You’ll be doing price comparisons for everything from your groceries to your utilities, and all of this can manifest into a total stress fest.

You deserve to stop just for a moment, step back, and treat yourself to something that doesn’t involve paying bills or meeting responsibilities of being a parent. You’re still you, and while you have a range of roles to play in your life, you sometimes need to be a nurturer – your own nurturer. It’s important to treat yourself every now and then and engage in what you need. Here are four ways to do it!

Outsource the help you need.

Whether you need to speak to a financial adviser, cleaner, gardener, or – extravagantly – a chef, you need to outsource what you need sometimes. There’s only so much that you can take on in one go and you need to learn what your own personal boundaries are so that you’re not taking on too much at once. A wonderful way to treat yourself is with help. It is not a weakness to ask for help and it’s the ultimate treat when you have had it pours on top of you for so long.

Eat a home cooked meal.

It’s often the case that we forget to take a moment to cook for ourselves. A wonderful way to treat yourself is with less convenient food and more home cooking. You are then in a better place to feel nourished and it’s so important that you’re able to nourish yourself, and if you find it’s too hard to cook, then use some of the meal services that provide you with the fresh ingredients that you need for your weekly meals and cook them. Planning ahead is not always easy and it’s okay to acknowledge that.

Just pause.

You do not have to be productive every minute of every day for the rest of your life. Set some time aside every week, even just 10 minutes, to take pause, to sit still, just be. Something simple like this has so many benefits for your mind and your body.

Take a break.

A vacation is enough to be all you need to reset yourself, so what you need to do is plan this ahead. Make a budget so that you can set aside money each month for flights, hotels and spending money, and book yourself a vacation. You don’t need a gaggle of friends to go with you, just go by yourself and be in the world and be present with yourself. It’s the ultimate treat.

It’s not difficult to treat yourself, but often it’s the guilt that stops us from doing it. Remember that you are worth every second of your time and putting yourself first means acknowledging that. Lead by example for your children and make your mental and physical health a priority.

Top Ways to Relax and Unwind as a Busy Mom

Moms can attest that motherhood is not for the faint-hearted. Moms typically have a lot on their hands which can be overwhelming. It is especially true for mothers who previously suffered episodes of mental illness. Sadly, many moms will still not put themselves first because they want to nurture everyone else. It can cause immeasurable suffering, including burnout, fatigue, self-hate, or even sinking into depression.

To avoid this, moms must continually find ways to relax and unwind to become the best versions of themselves regardless of how busy they are. Unwinding does not have to be something complicated or expensive. It can be as easy as joining the best dating sites and finding company for coffee or a glass of wine. Other ways to relax include:

Enjoy a Spa Day

One of the best ways to relax when you are stressed is to set some time aside for a spa day. You do not even need to go to the salon or any other establishment. A home spa is an excellent idea for any mom who needs some me-time to unwind. You can easily create a relaxing spa by:

- Light up some scented candles or incense
- Put on comfy slippers
- Run a warm bubble bath
- Drink your favorite beverage
- Apply a face mask
- Get a massage from a loved one

Spas are one of the best ways to relax because they allow you to rejuvenate your body and recharge your batteries.

Engage in Light Exercises

Exercise is one of the answers to the query of what are good ways to relax. A study from Harvard confirms that exercise can be relaxing and reduce stress. Different activities make up the solution on the best ways to relax. These include aerobic exercises, breathing exercises, and mental exercises.

Just be sure to engage in the exercises that you can comfortably perform. Where possible, consult with your physician or a professional trainer to pinpoint the activities you will be doing. It is a sure way of benefitting from exercising as an option of ideal ways to relax.

Read a Book

Reading an enjoyable book that does not induce stress is one of the ways to relax when nervous. Reading books offers a healthy escape from daily stressors, making it one of the ideal ways to relax.

University of Sussex 2009 study revealed that you could reduce stress by up to 60% simply by reading a book. Reading a book can also work faster than other ways to relax, such as drinking tea or other relaxation techniques. moms should dedicate at least 30 minutes daily to read without any interruptions.

Pursue Fun Hobbies

Spending time doing what you love also counts among the best ways to relax. It normally counts as part of self-care, seeing that finding fun hobbies can enhance mental health. Depending on what you like, there are tons of relaxing hobbies to pursue, such as:

- Gardening
- Scrapbooking
- Photography
- Playing games
- Drawing
- Learning something new, etc.

You can pick something that makes your heart leap with joy to enjoy hobbies as one of the ways to relax. Always find time to pursue hobbies so that you do not end up being an over-stressed mom, an aspect that can be detrimental to your health.

Conclusion

All moms, even those with the busiest schedules, need to find ways to relax. Above are the top ways to relax moms can explore. Unwinding helps a person reset and get the energy to continue playing their roles in the best possible way. Do you always wonder how to find ways to relax? Was the article above helpful? Which are the ways to relax you will be adopting from now on? Let us know in the comments.

Author Bio

Mrs. Davis is a freelance writer sharing the insights on how couples can shake up their love lives in and out of the bedroom. Mrs. Davis enjoys researching, discussing, and writing on the topics of wellness, relationship, sex, psychology, parenting etc. She is currently doing specific research on the topic. Mrs. Davis loves sport, traveling and knitting.

5 Tips for Remaining Light-Hearted When You Have Serious Responsibilities

While you may want to remain light-hearted, life always includes a certain number of serious responsibilities. in particular situations, especially when you are a parent, those responsibilities often become the priority.

But the fact that you have serious responsibilities to take care of doesn’t, by any means, mean that you should live your life in a somber and overly serious way. If you can nurture a more light-hearted disposition, there’s a good chance that you will not only feel significantly better over the course of your everyday life, but that you will also radiate a more positive energy to the people around you, and will be more resilient against the challenges you have to confront.

Here are just a small handful of tips that might prove useful in helping you to remain light-hearted when you have serious responsibilities to take care of.

5 Tips for Remaining Light Hearted When You Have Serious Responsibilities — *This is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate and/or paid links which means that if you click on one of these links and buy a product, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Rest assured that I only recommend products that I love from companies that I trust.

Make time for play on a regular basis

For some reason, we tend to believe that “play” is something primarily for children, and that grown-ups have to be serious and focused on the hard realities of everyday life, pretty much all the time.

In fact, though, there is good psychological research indicating that all human beings, at all ages, have a basic need for play. Among other things, play helps to relieve stress, fuel the imagination, and allow for a simulation of the highs and lows of life, in a low-consequence and ultimately enjoyable setting.

You’ve almost certainly heard the saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” and that saying contains much truth that can be applied to anyone, in any situation. Regular play is one of the best ways of keeping light-hearted, and maintaining a youthful and exuberant outlook towards life.

So, make time for play on a regular basis, whether that means getting a good selection of kids games and having family game nights, or whether it means playing a high-energy sport, or playing some video games from time to time.

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Nurture a sense of humor about things, and look for regular opportunities to laugh

Throughout all of human history, humor has been one of the primary tools at people’s disposal for helping them to deal with often hard and tense situations, while maintaining a more relaxed and light-hearted attitude.

It’s all too easy in life to end up taking situations – and yourself – gravely seriously. But even the most intensely serious situations out there, i.e. things that are matters of life and death, need to be tempered and dealt with in a more even-keeled way, in many cases. If you just face everything head-on with grim stoicism and severity, there’s a good chance that you will have a breakdown.

There’s a reason why dark humor has been regularly utilized by soldiers in war, for example – and it’s not because they don’t take the situation they’re in seriously.

Look for regular opportunities to laugh, in everyday life. Seek out the humor in each moment, share jokes and funny stories with your friends and relatives, and enjoy a bit of comedy from time to time.

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Be careful about the kind of information you regularly take in

One serious truism of psychology is that a major factor in how you perceive and experience the world around you, will be what you choose to focus on and look for.

The famous “Invisible Gorilla” psychological experiment split participants into two teams and instructed them to pass a ball back and forth, and to count how many times the ball was passed. In the middle of the experiment, a man in a gorilla suit walked directly into the center of the game. Remarkably, many participants hadn’t noticed the “gorilla” at all, when later asked about it.

These days, we all have streams of information bombarding and distracting us 24 hours a day – and the type of information that we allowed to dominate our consciousness will have a severe impact on how we experience and view the world as a whole.

For that reason, you need to be extremely careful about the kind of information you regularly take in. If you constantly ruminate on doom and gloom predictions and ugly back-and-forths online, you will be anything but light-hearted.

Make sure that you primarily take in the sort of information that you want to actively shape your life and your perspective on life.

Find avenues to express your own creativity through

Expressing any creative impulses you might have can be an excellent way of helping to keep you optimistic, relaxed, and positively minded about life. In short, it can be a great way to ensure that your orientation towards life is more light-hearted.

There are all sorts of different avenues out there that you could use for expressing your own creativity. You could try writing fiction, recording your own music at home, doing some painting, or making pottery, or any number of other things.

In any case, it can be truly life changing to really connect yourself with the wild and wonderful world of imagination, rather than spending all your time being completely focused on the technical considerations of life – like taxes and budgeting.

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Take self-care seriously

Things like proper nutrition, good and adequate sleep, and proper work-life balance, can make a truly tremendous impact on how you feel, and on how capable you are of genuinely enjoying everyday life.

Self-care is something that should be taken seriously, in other words. Unfortunately, though, it is very common for busy people – and especially for ambitious people – to completely burn themselves out while leaving nothing on the table, and nothing in the gas tank.

Resting, feeding yourself properly, and doing what you can to catch up on your sleep, however, are not decadent luxuries. They are things that will make you healthier, happier, better company for the people you care about, and will also ensure that you are able to maintain a healthy, balanced, and substantially more light-hearted approach to life as a whole.

Don’t buy into the idea that it’s necessary, or desirable, to completely drive yourself into the ground.