Micro-dosing with Self Care: An Absolute Lifeline for Busy Moms
No time for elaborate self care routines?
Micro-dosing your self care is the answer…
Before you enter your mom-era, self care can be elaborate. Spa days, sleeping in on weekends, full days of Netflix-and-Chill, exercise classes, therapy, craft nights with friends. You know that self care is the best investment you can make in yourself, and you might even be good at it.
Enter motherhood. You no longer have the time and energy to practice your extensive self care rituals. The way you’ve always cared for yourself is not going to work. And the reasons why might surprise you:
You don’t want to leave your child(ren) with a babysitter or relative for large chunks of time, and the way you were practicing self care required it.
Your interests have changed. You no longer want to do some of the things you did before you became a mom.
The friends you did self care activities with, like exercise classes, don’t have children yet, and the difference in lifestyle makes it difficult to get together.
Your financial situation changed, and you can’t spend the money you once did on self care. This is especially true of many mothers on maternity leave.
Motherhood made you into a completely new person. And the ways you care for yourself need to change with you.
Micro-dosing with self care is the solution.
Micro-dosing is a word that you don’t often hear in the same sentence as self-care. So what is microdosing your self care? It means that you show up for yourself and care for your needs in small moments throughout the day. You take advantage of the natural lulls that happen as you go about your everyday routine, and you use these small breaks to your advantage.
One of the reasons the micro self care strategy is so effective is that it doesn’t require full plate moms to add anything new into their already busy routines, at least in terms of planning. You won’t need to get a babysitter, book any kind of class or appointment, or plan your day around your self-care activity. And you shouldn’t need to spend any extra money, either.
Step One: Find Your Micro-Moments
Start by finding the micro-moments in your established routine. This takes a little bit of paying attention & intention. You need to find the pauses; we all have them, no matter how busy we are. Many moms find that they have small moments in the most unexpected times. For example, while they are driving to afternoon pickup, while waiting in line for a coffee, or in the few moments your child chooses to play independently.
Step Two: Ask Yourself, “What kind of care do I need?”
When you find your micro moment, you need to seize it. It’s your chance to practice self care. You need to determine the type of self care you need, and it’s different for everybody. For some moms, self care is about their mental health & emotions. For other moms, it’s caring for her body. And yet for other moms, self care is practicing self-compassion and caring for the way you think about yourself and your contributions to your family. The key here is to identify a concrete action or habit you will practice when the micro-moment presents. I recommend choosing one self-care action & sticking to that for the day. (And if you need help with ideas, check out my 21-Day Anxiety Reset or a list of self care activities like this one from another mom anxiety expert, Kate Borsato).
Step Three: Let The Micro-Moments Add Up
Once you’ve found the micro moments to care for yourself, figured out the kind of care your mind or body needs, and started to practice your micro-self care habits, you might be asking, how often do I need to be doing this?. The answer: as much as you can. At a minimum, I recommend you try to find three micro moments to care for yourself each day and commit to trying this practice for 3-weeks. That timeframe gives you time to experiment with self care habits, figure out what works for you, and for this practice to become second-nature.
Self Care is Essential, even if it’s a micro-dose.
Remember, mama, self care is essential. You simply cannot feel good in motherhood (or any other part of your life, really) if you don’t care for your mind, body, and soul in ways that truly fill your cup.
I created a 21-Day Reset to teach you to identify 21 specific ways to care for yourself in micro-moments throughout the day & take control of the stress, anxiety, and burnout that comes along with motherhood. It’s everything you need to know about showing up for yourself in a big way without a big time commitment.
Have questions or need support with caring for yourself? Let’s connect here or on Instagram!
MOMS ARE LOVING:The 21-Day Reset
Get ready to learn the exact techniques I teach moms in my therapy practice to reduce stress, anxiety, burnout, and overwhelm.
The best part… these techniques will fit right in to your everyday routines without a major time investment.
You’ll be micro-dosing your self-care in no time.
