By Aurelia Williams, Certified Life Coach
Let’s Face it, every mom has had one of “those days”. The baby is fed and dry but very fussy, your child forgot to tell you about a science project that is due tomorrow and hands you a list of 10 things that you must get from the store, you forgot the roast in the oven and now it is dry and your husband just called to say that he is stuck at the office… again! After a day like this, it can be very hard to keep your stress level low. With each passing minute you may feel your stress and irritability rising, your patience getting shorter and your fuse about to blow! Calgon Take Me Away!!
When you feel the need to escape and take a few minutes to yourself to de-stress, follow some (if not all) of the tips I share with my own coaching clients below.
Put yourself in time out: Allow some alone time for yourself. Use this time to focus on you. Find a place in your home that you can go to and find privacy. You can ask your partner or a friend to take the family out for a few hours while you enjoy your alone time. Do nothing, sleep, read, watch a movie, and just enjoy your solitude.
Call a Friend: Rather than yelling at your husband or your children, try picking up the phone and vent to a friend. Be sure not to vent AT her, but rather tell her about your day and get it all out. If she offers you some advice, listen and soak it in. This mini-time out session will leave you feeling heard, de-stressed and you will find that by the end of your call some of you anger will have dissipated.
Play: As adults, we sometimes forget the beneficial value of play. Play stimulates our imagination, encourages our creativity, boosts our energy, and best of all, it is fun. Try a game of tennis, a game of cards online or perhaps invite some friends over for an evening of adult board games.
Meditate: Meditation has been proven to reduce your blood pressure, and helps to dramatically reduce your stress level. Meditation and/or prayer will help you to keep in touch with your spiritual side. Meditation is a very effective method of relaxation. To meditate, quiet your mind and allow yourself to focus on one thing, such as your breath. Find a relaxed comfortable position where Try visualizing good health and peace as you inhale. While you are breathing out breathe out all of your stress. Set aside approximately 20 minutes for this exercise. Upon completion, you will see just how much more relaxed your mind and body is.
Take a nap: Find a quiet, comfortable spot and take a nap. Even a short power nap can leave you feeling refreshed, renewed, and more focused. Studies have shown that people who spent 30 minutes each day napping had one third less heart disease than those who didn’t nap.
Eat: Not just anything but certain things. Studies show that certain foods can help reduce stress. Carbohydrates will actually soothe you. Good sources of carbohydrates include rice, pasta, potatoes, breads, air-popped popcorn and low-calorie cookies. Experts suggest that the carbohydrates present in just one baked potato or a cup of spaghetti or white rice, is enough to relieve the anxiety of a stressful day.
Movie Time: If you don’t have anyone to watch the children for you while you de-stress. Put in one of their favorite movies, supply your children with a few healthy snacks, and have them occupy themselves for a little while so that you can take a breather.
Don’t feel guilty for taking time out to rejuvenate your mind and body. Being a mom is not an easy task and it is a full time job. Take a break when you need it and be sure to ask for help to keep the stress at bay.
Next Steps:
If you need an extra hand getting what you want out of life, contact Certified Life Coach, Aurelia Williams. She’ll help you design a life that allows you to reach your business and personal goals; cultivate more fulfilling relationships and that elusive achieve work/life balance you’ve been striving for.
Enter Presentation
Aurelia,
I love your stress management tips – especially the ones about meditating and napping!
In my book, Managing The Mommy Years, I talk about how I manage Mommy stress (daily writing, practicing yoga and understanding personality types) and I encourage Moms to try Coaching! It helped me so much!
Best of Luck!
Judy Myers
ManagingTheMommyYears.com
Hi Judy, Thanks for commenting.
I agree, I’m 100% behind coaching of all and any types.
We have room for guest bloggers if you’d like to join us with articles. Please send an email to contact@momchats.com and I
Nice post, I really like your site, keep up the good work!
best,
Martin
As an adjunct to your stress management services I invite you to become an associate and offer a glutathione accelerator to your offerings.
I have operated a stress management clinic for over 20 years and have many self help cds at http://www.DStressDoc.com but recently I have learned that one thing to remember is that stress can severely deplete the body’s glutathione levels. And of course there’s all kinds of stress such as pollution, habits such as smoking, drinking and so on, plus toxins in our food in addition to mental stressors.
Our body makes it’s own glutathione. Unfortunately after age 20 it diminishes by 10% to 20% each decade. Glutathione is in every cell of your body. It protects your DNA, boosts your immune functioning. reduces inflammation. gets more oxygen to the brain, stops premature aging. and more just to name just a few things.
Even though there are hundreds of research studies verifying the value of glutathione, until three years ago there was nothing that could be done about it, today we now have a glutathione accelerator available.
I always said that the first defense against stress was deep breathing, and it still is, but concurrently another most important defense against stress, pollution, toxins, free radicals and so on is having sufficient glutathione. For more information please google glutathioneforhealth (as one word)
Although the research has been done for nearly a hundred years, most people don’t know that the amount of glutathione the body produces diminishes by 1 to 2% per year after age 20.
Diminished glutathione affects the immune functioning. The body is also prone to inflammation and the pains that go with it. The brain gets less oxygen, toxins accumulate in the body, free radicals attack the cellular structure and cells die prematurely. It’s as serious as it sounds.
Until recently nothing could be done about it since glutathione supplements are destroyed in the stomach. A medical doctor discovered a supplement which naturally stimulates the production of glutathione by 270% after a few weeks. Glutathione happens to be the most important substance in every cell of one’s body. It stimulates immune functioning. One lady suffering from Morgellon’s disease (a severe parasitic disease) had a low white blood count for years. After taking the glutathione accelerator for one month her white blood count returned to normal.
Hi Richard, thanks for some different information about stress on our bodies.