Summer Self-Care for Families

BY JAIME MCFADEN

Summer means: school’s out, kids are home and routines can go out the window. One of the greatest things you can do for your family this summer is map out some FUN ways to practice self-care. Just a refresher: self-care is all about taking responsibility for our wellness. It’s about making time to nourish our body, mind and spirit every day. As a parent, I believe the greatest gift we can give to our kids is leading by example when it comes to our health and well-being. The good news is you can still have all the FUN this summer and practice self-care. Not to mention, all of these tips are a perfect way to bond with members in your family. Here’s my 5 tips to embrace summer self-care!

DAILY DANCE PARTY!

Create a family playlist where everyone gets to pick their favorite songs and each morning pick one and everyone can dance around the house. Spending just 5 minutes moving our bodies is a great form of exercise and when we do it together with our family, we are cultivating connection. Dancing can feel “silly” to some family members so another idea is going for a walk after a meal together, a family plank challenge or even create an obstacle course in the yard! Most of all, have FUN while you move your body.

HOMEMADE POPSICLES

This is a favorite of my kid and all her friends. All you need is 2.5 cups of your favorite fruit, 5-6 tbsp honey, ½ tsp vanilla, ¾ c yogurt and ½ tsp lemon juice. Blend all ingredients up and pour into a popsicle mold. You can experiment with all sorts of flavors and colors to taste the rainbow AND get some nutritional value to your hot summer day!

STRESS

Less Zone

Use a calming breathing technique to chill ANYONE out this summer. When things get heated (not in the good way) choose a calming code word (ours is PINEAPPLE). Whenever someone says the word, anyone around takes three super deep breaths. Fully inhale through the nose and exhale out of the nose or mouth. See if you can lengthen the exhale longer and slower. This adds to the calming effect by activating our parasympathetic nervous system. Often times this ends in a bout of hysterical laughter which is the best part

Quality Time Ritual

Create ONE family ritual you can stick to most days of summer that is focused on QUALITY TIME. One of my favorite ways to do this is having NO electronics at the table when we eat. In our current culture almost every kid has a tablet/ipad at the table. I hate to break it to you, but this is feeding a bigger problem for a “quick fix.” If we don’t have any discipline around electronics, they will take over. Self-care is about cultivating discipline for our wellness in all areas. Quality time is so important for families and with all the stress in our lives often we skip it because we are burnt out or exhausted. The truth is, quality time can sometimes be a daily practice.:) Some other ones are: family walk around the block, or gratitude practice.

SAVE UP FOR A FUN

SUMMER ADVENTURE!

This one is definitely a favorite activity of mine and helps me to teach my daughter about MONEY! We love adventure and during the summer there are so many fun activities we want to go do. There are many which are free: beach, hiking, etc. But it’s also really fun to start a summer savings jar and plan a special activity you want to do as a family so everyone can help reach the goal. What I love most about this as a parent is teaching kids about what things cost, how to earn, save, redeem and get rewarded for planning ahead. So often we forget that finances are tied to self-care and money touches on ALL areas of our lives. Why not educate our kids while we plan some fun activities!

Many of us feel like self-care is selfish or something we are supposed to do alone. Let’s put that old theory behind and start working on our health

WITH the ones we love.

I created over 365 ways to practice selfcare in the book I wrote last year “Waves of Self-Care: It Takes a Village” and these are a few of my favorites for families. Summer is my favorite season. I have found it to be extra important to continue our self-care journey with our family!

Jaime McFaden is an international self-care specialist focusing on raising awareness of what self-care really means. She is a best-selling author of WAVES of Self-Care: It Takes a Village, and works with busy burnt out mamas supporting them on sustainable selfcare. Host of Self-Care secrets podcast. In her free time she spends time with her family playing at the beach. You can connect with her on social media @ jaimemcfaden or jaimemcfaden.com