4 Ways to Incorporate Self-Care Into Your Family’s Routine
Stress and anxiety levels are at unprecedented levels, and these difficulties extend to our most vulnerable group: our kids. It can be easy to overlook children’s need for self-care, but making time in their lives for activities that restore and rejuvenate them is important to their overall health.
- Practice Meditation
Meditation isn’t only beneficial for adults. According to Healthline, meditation practice can be an effective tool in helping kids learn how to calm themselves and establish healthy coping mechanisms. Although meditation may look different for kids than it does for adults, the basic principles remain the same.
Begin with simple steps. Find a quiet area where there is room for you and your children to sit or lie down comfortably. Guide your kids through simple breathing exercises, encouraging them to focus on the breath as they inhale and exhale. While meditation is typically a silent practice, little kids especially may need help learning to focus and can benefit from verbal engagement when initially introduced to meditation.
Schedule set times during the day when everyone meditates. Devoting as little as five minutes each morning and five minutes each evening to a meditation practice can have a powerful and positive effect on your family.
- Have At-Home Spa Days
Long, hot baths are a self-care cliché for a reason: They work. The warm water helps to soothe muscles, improve breathing, and reduce stress and anxiety levels. Baths are also the perfect canvas for oils, bath bombs, and other items that can add fun to the restorative effects.
Pick out bath paints, fizzy crystals, or other fun bath items that your child will enjoy relaxing and playing with. Put on calming music and light a few candles with scents such as lavender to help your kids relax. When they finish bathing, wrap their hair in a Woombie organic towel specially designed to gently dry hair. Finish by massaging their hands and feet while their hair dries, giving them the full spa treatment.
- Get Creative
Kids love to get creative, and embracing those creative juices and letting them flow is a proven way of helping children manage stress. Encourage them to pick up a musical instrument or learn to paint. Hold nightly dance parties where the whole family moves their bodies and gets silly together. Have them write or draw in a journal each day to help keep them connected to their feelings and expressing them in healthy ways.
- Model Self-Care
Children emulate what they see. If you don’t take time to care for yourself, they will pick up on your stress and anxiety and may begin to unconsciously mimic it. Help your children care for themselves by committing to your own self-care practices. Practicing meditation with them is one way to let them see you addressing your needs.
If you’re a business owner or in a high-stress job, you may need to make some changes at work to improve your mental health. Reduce burnout that can affect your whole family by delegating some of the work and creating helpful routines to make your days flow more smoothly. Begin your workdays by tackling your more challenging tasks first and getting them out of the way. Consider implementing the Pomodoro Technique that helps keep you engaged by establishing cyclical work and break periods.
Self-care is essential to all human beings, even tiny ones. Take the effort to cultivate good self-care practices in your children and in your own life, especially as a business owner. Your whole family will be happier and healthier for it.
