“42 Days of Self Care” Challenge Part 2

There’s a reason this 42 Days of Self Care is called a ‘Challenge’!

Image courtesy of Clem Onojeghuo

Image courtesy of Clem Onojeghuo

I’ll be honest. Week 2 was a struggle. After quite a few years of not really making myself a priority I wasn’t expecting this to be easy and was ready, armed with staying power, not to lose my focus. After all, self care is what I constantly urge my clients to do, it’s what I remind my fellow professionals to do. I FULLY BELIEVE it is one of the most important things we can do to support our wellbeing. Self care is about acknowledging that we are as important as others around us. That we have needs, and those needs are no less ‘valid’ than any one else’s. I’m determined to put new, long lasting habits in place through this challenge. Each time I hear myself thinking ‘I’ve got other more important stuff to do’ or ‘I don’t have time….’ I remind myself of a quote that I wrote in the front of one of my notebooks…

We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are
— Max Dupres

So why the struggle?? Well, old habits die hard. It really has been a while since I allowed myself to focus on me beyond a few tokenistic gestures. Also, a lot has been going on for our family, my husbands new business has been picking up, allowing me to fall back in to old habits, as I re-collect the lions share of the parenting and mental load, leaving less time and energy to focus on my self care. I resolved however to make some time every day to dedicate to myself. 

For those interested in what I consider self care, this is my week in summary:

Day #8 - Was the only day during the week both boys were not in our immediate care, so Hubby and I treated ourselves to a lunch date at the local cafe to belatedly celebrate his birthday. It was lovely just to spend some quality time with my favourite guy without wrangling the boys. We were able to have entire conversations without interruptions and actually EAT our lunches without little mouths deciding that OUR lunch looked better than THEIR and pilfering much of it.

Day #9 - A guided meditation. At the moment I’m loving @insighttimer and am working through a 10 day course (not sequentially) by Sarah Blondin called Coming Home To Yourself. Each meditation is around 10 mins and they always leave me feeling lighter and clearer headed.

Day #10 Day time Nap!! Need I say more?!?

Day #11 Early Night! I’ve written before on the importance of sleep and the challenge as a (new) mother wanting some time to herself versus hitting the hay early. My advice is to ensure the early night wins at least SOME of the time <3

Day#12. My youngest was ill and had had a disturbed night sleep the night before and I knew there was another on the horizon. I was due to teach an early yoga class the next day, which wasn’t appealing after 2 terrible nights sleep (and trust me I’m no stranger to those). So, rather than doing my usual and just taking it on, I asked someone to cover, which they very kindly did. I didn’t have to set a 5am alarm. Amazing! Just a few weeks ago I would, for certain, have taken the view that I had a commitment to teach the class and would’ve not asked for help. BIG PERSONAL WIN!!

Day #13. Some good old fashioned self care. I had a foot bath with Epsom salts and essential oils. BLISS. Not sure why I don’t do it more. Admittedly we only had a small bucket so I had to do one foot at a time and create a support for my leg with my bolster so that my foot didn’t twist in the bucket (ah the glamour!!), but it was worth it, and I may even keep an eye out for a basic foot bath for future (note to Santa haha!).

Day #14 Guided meditation (see above)

Image courtesy of Roman Kraft

Image courtesy of Roman Kraft

So if you recall at the end of the first week I was finding it easier to set boundaries, make better choices etc and that was still happening to an extent this week, though there were definitely moments when I fell back in to old habits. I look at this week on reflection as more about holding the status quo from the previous week and not letting the shine wear off the challenge, rather than taking strides of progress.

Did you look after yourself this week, did you listen to your needs and ensure that, in some way, shape, or form, they were met?

Until next time…

Anne x

I’m Anne, Mum of two, Postpartum Doula and Yoga Teacher specialising in Pregnancy and Postpartum Yoga. I run Postpartum Preparation Workshops and Yoga Classes on the Sunshine Coast alongside In-home Postpartum Support and Yoga for new mothers who don’t want to settle with exhaustion and overwhelm being their introduction to motherhood. You can enquire about or book my services by e-mailing anne@blissfulmothers.com.au or click here: