There is no denying that these last few years have not been a season for my self-care practices. If I had a shower with skincare and hair washing, it was a massive win and probably only happened twice. So, this year, rather than setting goals and words that I want to live by, I wanted to create a slower, more sympathetic intentions practice. I started in January, as I hid away from the stifling heat and as I tried to entertain my 18-month-old. I reflected on – what is it that I want to feel?
Not goals about how much I want to earn, things I need to do, or what the scale should read. What do I want to feel in this life, during this season of life?
And it came down to four feelings that I’ve been missing – Energetic. Connection. Freedom. Calm.
Now, I do laugh at these feelings because if you see most of the days with my very energetic 18-month-old son, there is not much freedom nor calmness. But as I delved deeper into this, I realised there are ways to be free and calm while having my son using me as his climbing frame!
Self Care Practice #1: Creating Sleep Routines
I’m going to admit it here; I run a very strict sleep routine for my son. After suffering pretty debilitating postnatal anxiety that was heavily triggered by sleep or lack of, I started to do a lot of research on sleep routines. Very quickly after starting these practices, my son became an amazing sleeper, which was wonderful except I wasn’t sleeping! (Disclaimer: My son was born with no health issues like colic; this made this process a lot easier! If your baby isn’t the same, it does not mean you are doing something wrong; it means we have different children – you are doing great, Mumma!) So, to kickstart my self-care, I started to look at my routines, the steps for me to head for a good night’s sleep.
Now, I like to keep a pretty simple routine. I head to bed around 8:30, and to set the sleepy vibes, it’s time to start with the lights! Overhead bright lights aren’t going to help me fall asleep, so I installed smart bulbs into my lamps so I can dim the lights down low to create a night calming mood, and they switch off at 9:30 as a reminder that it’s time to sleep!
Then I use aromatherapy to calm my senses. I spray the bedding with This Works – Deep Sleep Spray. I don’t know what is in this spray, but I go into a very deep sleep and quickly.
Then it’s time to grab my Kindle and read for about 45 minutes. I used to read on my iPad but wanted to stop having the ability to connect to socials or get notifications. If you still want to use your iPad to read, I highly recommend getting a blue light filter to block some of the blue light that can disrupt your sleep.
Then, as I said, my lights turn off at 9:30, and so do I till about 6 am tomorrow, unless someone wakes for a party during the night!
BUY ON AMAZON
BUY ON AMAZON
BUY ON AMAZON
Self Care Practice #2: Reconnection With Loved Ones
Before we decided to have a baby and oh a pandemic happened, my husband and I loved hosting at our house a few times each month or dropping to the local pub to have a catch-up with friends. I realised one of the biggest reasons for feeling lonely and craving connection was because I was no longer connecting with my loved ones in person anymore.
Now it’s time to start celebrating and building a connection again with my loves. I’ve started to have ladies’ lunches. These can be easily done at home with my 18-month-old running around in his safe space with toys and fun activities. It might not be like the old wild Sunday Sessions on the property, but it’s fun, and it’s just the season of life that’ll be gone too soon!
Self Care Practice #3: Fueling For More Energy
This has already been the biggest change in my self-care. For about four years, I ate no gluten, dairy, sugar, or caffeine to help with my endometriosis and infertility issues. Then I had 37 weeks of Hyperemesis Gravidarum, and I could barely eat a cracker, let alone drink a coffee. But the moment TJ was born, I started to live on caffeine and sugar. This year, I’m going back to fueling my body for energy and living a full life!
To make this fun and to feel like I’m not missing out, I like to celebrate with daily rituals, so it’s enjoyable, and I’m tricking my mind into loving the process.
To make sure I’m taking my vitamins because I do notice that when I take everything religiously, this helps clear the endo mind fog. To make it a little more fun and importantly organised, I purchased a Pill Box Organizer. This sits on my kitchen bench to remind me to take my vitamins, and because it’s pretty, I don’t try to hide it away in the cupboard and therefore forget to take them!
To say I love coffee is an understatement, the morning ritual of sitting with my cuppa while playing with TJ is just everything, but as I move back to decaf, I wanted to have something fun, so I still enjoyed the process and forgot I was missing the caffenie hit. These iced coffee cups are the perfect size, and I love having the lid because when a rogue piece of toast tries to enter my coffee in the morning, we are safe! And finally to replace the sweet treats with something delicious, I’ll make a warm or iced cuppa of Raw Cacao. This gives the yummy chocolate taste without a sugar crash at the end!
BUY ON AMAZON
BUY ON AMAZON
BUY ON AMAZON
Self Care Practice #4: Finding Space To Breath
It’s okay to have time to yourself – this is a reminder to you and I! Do any other moms feel guilty any time they spend time away from their family? Yes, me too! In 2024, I’m taking a moment to breathe, to take some time outside to fill up my cup to enable me to be the best Lauren, wife, and mother.
Some ways I’ve started incorporating a moment to breathe are as simple as going for a morning walk. I do miss my dog, Ned, so this was actually really hard to get started with, but now I’m more in the flow, it’s nice to get out and remember the fun we used to have.
What else have I been up to on my Lauren days – lunches with my best friends, vintage shopping, taking Yoga classes, and sometimes just reading in the park. Taking time out for yourself doesn’t mean you love your family anyless, and if you don’t need this – great you do you, but if you do, please take that time to allow yourself to breath again.
Self Care Practice #5: Leaning Into Ageing
Now this old girl, she is now 40, actually about to be 41! I can’t believe that I’m 40(+), but I also know how lucky I am to be 40. After losing a lot of old friends before this age, I’m not taking it for granted. So it’s time to look after my insides a little more. This is not about energy; this is about being around for my son in the long run.
So, along with working on the energy side, I’m looking to lower inflammation in the body (I guess this whole post is about it!) So in our house, we are adapting to a more Mediterranean style of living – healthy, good-quality foods, healthier fat, etc. (Some delicious recipes are coming to the blog over the next few months) and then a couple of added extras I’ve worked into my daily routines to help with the internal goodness and increase my immunity because daycare kids bring everything home is AG1 – I got sucked into this on Instagram! But dang it’s good. I started taking AG1 last winter after 4 months of back-to-back sicknesses in the house. I felt the difference I would say about after a month and I was good with it for a couple of months and then ran out. Within about a week I started to feel like I was getting sick again, so it’s back on the routine schedule.
Finally, the biggest lesson I’ve learned about my health and wellness practices is I need to start with my gut, having Endometriosis means I have daily problems with my stomach if I don’t look after myself. My whole original health journey started with my gut after my adrenals crashed and the doctor wanted to medicate me, I said I wanted to see how I could heal myself more naturally. This is when I found The Beauty Chef – Gut Health and I can tell you my gut loves me for it, I can’t remember my actual results anymore but I remember the doctor being shocked at how I got the numbers down in my test results in about 60 days.
This is it for now, hopefully over the next couple of months I’ll see some great improvements in my energy, Endo, and mindset. If you don’t already follow me over on the socials and I’ll keep up to date with how this health journey is going.
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