Dear Mom, Take a Breather!
By Judy Davis
Hey Moms, you need a break! You work hard all day every day and finding time to relax does not come easy. Not only is it hard to make time, but when you finally do get some time to yourself, actually relaxing is just plain difficult. First of all, I want to challenge you to take 10 minutes a day just for you. It sounds easy, right? If you are a mom, you know meeting this challenge is going to take some work. You can do it, and you will be better for it. During your 10 minutes to yourself, I want you to follow the steps below to center yourself, recharge and reenergize.
Get comfortable on your favorite chair, the bed, a porch swing, etc. It needs to be somewhere you can focus without being disturbed. Take a deep breath and hold it for a couple of seconds, then release it as slowly and steadily as you can. Repeat this one more time and as you let out the breath very gently allow your eyes to close.
For the next couple of minutes focus on nothing but your eyelids. When you catch yourself thinking about your list of things to accomplish, stop! Allow your eyelids to relax as fully as they can. Imagine them becoming heavier and heavier over your eyes. The eyelids have some of the smallest muscles in the human body and are the easiest to relax, you just have to try.
After a couple of minutes, picture and feel the relaxation in your eyelids spreading down your entire body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes in a flowing wave of relaxation and comfort. Now, once again concentrating on your breathing, on each outward breath say inwardly to yourself the word ‘relax’ without moving your throat or tongue, your lips perfectly still, your breathing pattern unaltered. On every outward breath just think to yourself ‘relax’ and feel the stress and tension leaving your body. Keep all other thoughts at bay.
As you continue to breath normally, thinking ‘relax’ on each outward breath, picture your body slowly relaxing one section at a time. Start at the head and face, move down through the neck and shoulders and into the arms, hands and fingers. Let all the tension flow away from your body. Then move on to the back and spine, the chest, stomach, waist and hips. Finally, relax down through the legs and into the feet and toes. Each step of the way let your body relax deeper and continue to think ‘relax’ on each outward breath.
This exercise with take practice and I doubt you will experience full relaxation the first few times you try. You will most likely get distracted, realize you spent your time thinking about other things, or just be too wound up to enjoy the process. This is all normal and totally ok! Just don’t give up. Ten minutes, every day. If you stick with it, you will get better and better at relaxing. You will feel more energized, clear headed and ready to take on each new day. Keep up the good work Moms, you are all awesome!