Self-Care’ priorities for parents with Emma Parr

How do you ‘Self-Care’ as a parent?

As the primary carer to babies and young children how do you practi ce ‘self-care’ and what does this expression evoke in you? Self-care is something that has become part of our language and since the outbreak of COVID-19 everyone is talking about it says therapist, Emma Parr

Emma Parr is an experienced therapist who works with individuals covering a range of issues, but specialises in mothers and babies. MA. MBACP, PG Dip Couns. DBS Certifi cate.

emma@emmaparr.net | emmaparr.net

To read more, go to: darlingmagazine.co.uk/WELLNESS

As the primary carers of young children know, fi nding what self-care means in such an ever-changing environment can be hard. Our approaches to self-care before children may have been in ways we now don’t have time for. Whether that was heading to the gym or cinema, catching up with friends or sitting down to read a book. Now with such a full-time job of caring for another, our self-care gets forgotten. Add to this becoming pregnant, the idea may feel impossible.

In this place of self-sacrifi ce, it is important to fi nd time for self-care to recharge some of our batteries. To be able to achieve this we need to accept that someone else will most likely need to step in, while we step out. Some of our self-care may have to change, we may not be able to do what we have done before. Ultimately it is about being open to ideas and ways of looking after ourselves that we may not have tried.

Part of our self-care is to ensure we are giving ourselves what we need. When we become aware of the ‘niggle’ that says something isn’t right, we owe it to ourselves to seek understanding at a deeper level. Therapy provides a platform to enable this and I am available, online, by phone and face to face (subject to COVID-19 regulations). n Jewellery workshop on site

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Find the Goddess in you

photograph Julia Robinson

Sophie Lutz, our new Women’s Wisdom columnist reveals how channeling these three goddesses will help to get you through the winter

We are heading into Winter 2020 when all our perennial hopes and expectations crash into the realities of living through a pandemic. November’s cancelled: no Halloween, no fireworks, probably not much in the way of anything on current predictions. Then December with that accompanying spike in anxious excitement that we feel. Christmas moves towards us like a runaway train, runs us over, and then recedes into the distance as if it was never there. Just a full tummy, empty bank account and a hangover to show for itself. Then detox January. Cold and interminable. Literally the worst possible month of the year to attempt any kind of restriction given how harsh and spartan it already feels.

How can we let go of these expectations that stymie us? I pulled three cards.

Queen of Wands

She knows what she wants. How do you want to feel this Winter? Peaceful? Content? You can’t get there if you don’t know where you’re going. Sit down and channel your inner sorceress. Write down how you want to feel and what can get you there.

The Empress

We have multiple roles as women: lover, wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister. The Empress knows how to center her needs in order to best be able to meet the needs of others. You can’t look after anyone else if you’re feeling depleted. Nourish yourself. Treat yourself as the goddess you are. Get the pleasure, and rest you crave. Prioritise yourself, knowing that it is the best way to truly love those around you.

The High Priestess

Move inward, make space for contemplation. Take a breath. Even, perhaps most of all, on Christmas Day. Reverie, meditation, daydreaming help us to feel connected to ourselves. Make a conscious decision to carve out down time to get you through.

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In our state of the art Pilates Studio in Wimbledon, we will give you the time, the space and the tools to learn to move intelligently and thoughtfully, and This winter is about letting go of expectations. Who we are going to be with, where we are going to be, what we are going to do, are all entirely out of our control, every year, and especially this year. But they are secondary to how we feel. And we can defi ne that. We can set things up to enable us to get there, regardless of the vagaries of the outside world.

I wish you the drive of the Queen of Wands, the self-love of The Empress and inner peace of the High Priestess. Be blessed this winter. Sophie x n

Sophie Lutz Tarot vouchers make beautiful, supportive, planet friendly gifts.

sophielutztarot@gmail.com

@sophietarot | sophielutz.com

Go to: darlingmagazine.co.uk/ WELLNESS/Women’s wisdom

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