family wellness

family wellness Make Room for

Self-Care

Ah self-care. It’s on your to-do list. You’ll make time for it. You’re just too busy right now. If you don’t run your household and your business, who will?

To our own detriment, we prioritize everyone and everything else. I haven’t met a mother who doesn’t struggle with this, myself included. For the longest time my motto was “I’ve got this.” You’ve got an autoimmune disease and you need surgery, your husband has to go to Germany for work and will be gone for two weeks, your son’s social anxiety is crippling and he’s miserable, you need to start marketing the new branch of the company you work for oh and you move in three weeks. Sound familiar? I’VE. GOT. THIS. I didn’t.

In organizing a “perfectly balanced” schedule, I failed to block out any time for myself. As an organized person, that was hard to accept. The harder truth? I realized that if I don’t make room for me, no one else will. I need to make it happen, but how? I can barely handle what’s already on my plate.

By Catherine Gibel

Photo credit: Simon Rae from Unsplash

Shift your mindset

Why is your yoga class not as important as a conference call or dance recital? You committed to both the call and recital so, why are the promises you made yourself any less important? They aren’t.

Decide and re-prioritize

What do you need? What do you want more of? Time alone? Time with friends? Exercise? Don’t focus on all the things you should be doing or what others around you are doing. Pick one or two needs and focus your efforts on those. I had to make time for a new diet and exercise regimen. That wasn’t an option. However, I wanted to make friends in my new community and read more books so, I joined a local mom’s book club.

Make room

In the same way you have to schedule everything for everyone all the time yes, you have to schedule this too. If you can block the same day(s) and time(s) every week, even better. It’s much easier to schedule around a reoccurring event. This will likely require some reevaluating. Yes, you can say “no” to organizing the classroom party. Yes, your kids can do two instead of three extracurricular activities a quarter and be perfectly content.

COMING JULY/AUGUST SUMMER FUN!

A mobile gym. Use an under-the-bed box to store a yoga mat, strap, block, and weights under a bed or couch.

Spa basket. Put a washcloth, loofah, nail brush, and your favorite soaps, lotions, serums, and masks in a pretty basket that you keep under the sink or on a shelf in your linen closet. Use a pretty zippered pouch to create an on-the-go version for your purse or car with your favorite lip balm, hand lotion, essential oil, nail file, tea bag, and mantra card to squeeze in a few extra minutes while you’re waiting in the school pick-up line.

Hobby kits. Knitting. Calligraphy. Scrapbooking. Painting. Place all your necessary tools in a handled caddy to keep them all in one place. It’s easy to carry and put back.

Fairs & Festivals Best Day Trips Water Parks & Pools

ALSO FEATURING...

Party Places, Summer Health Tips, Get Ready for School, Golf Links & Tips, On Stage, Fitness Tips, Race Events, Dining Out, Great Events, and More!

To advertise call: 630-863-7183 Ad Space Deadline: June 13, 2022

Ask for help

Somewhere along the way we decided that asking for help makes us weak or lesser than. It doesn’t. Buddy up. Talk to a friend about what you want and what you’re trying to do. Hold each other accountable. That’s what we do with our clients. When we schedule a session, we’re making a promise that we’ll be there to help them tackle their organizing dilemma. Find ways each family member can pitch in. Yes, you will have to keep asking your kids over and over because they will forget but, keep asking. It’s worth the time you’re gaining for yourself.

Once a week, my neighbor and I take turns caring for each other’s kids so we can each go to a workout class we love. I volunteer once instead of twice a month in my son’s class. We eat leftovers three nights a week. My boys do their laundry. Guess what? Everything is okay and everyone is still alive. Is life still chaotic? Yes! That won’t change. What has changed is the value I place on my time and my need for self-care. My new motto? “I am worth it.”

Don’t break one more promise you made yourself. Make this week the week you make room for self-care. The time and space you give yourself to recover, reflect, and re-energize will make you, your relationships, your business stronger and, a happier summer.

Less is More is a full-service home organizing company inspired by a passion for beauty and order. For more tips go to lessismoreorganizers.com

fitness first YOGI KIDS

By Christa Melnyk Hines

Many adults swear by the ancient practice of yoga for stress relief; to improve flexibility, balance and strength; and to enhance daily focus. With playful names like downward dog, cat, cow and gorilla, yoga poses easily inspire the imagination of the younger set.

Libbey York enrolled her sons Graham, 8, and Lawson, 4, in a children’s yoga class last summer thinking they could meet friends and try something new. Their response surprised her.

“They couldn’t stop talking about all of their new moves and practicing their poses all around the house,” she says.

Graham likes practicing seated crossed-leg pose, and Lawson loves to show off his tree pose.

In addition to enhancing her sons’ flexibility and strength, “the class improved their focus and body awareness as they attempted the poses,” says York, who is also a yoga practitioner and instructor.

Linking mind and body. Yoga, which in Sanskrit means “to yoke,” nurtures a connection between the mind, body and spirit. Balancing poses like airplane and tree, for example, strengthen muscles and also require mental focus and concentration to achieve and hold.

Overall, multiple studies have found that yoga can help kids improve academic performance, physical fitness, self-awareness, self-esteem, concentration, emotional balance and behavior.

Slow down and breathe. In a “Stress in America” survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, more parents than nonparents report that they struggle to manage the stress of jobs and family responsibilities. Since children pick up on the tensions of their caregivers, they may internalize more stress too. Multiple studies have found that yoga offers effective stress relief for all ages.

“In this fast-paced world in which we live, children need to know how to relax and breathe and mindfully move through their day,” says yoga instructor Katy Henderson. “Teaching children how to breathe in yoga allows them to take that crucial breathe before they get mad, angry or frustrated.”

Focus power. In a study conducted by School Psychology Review, researchers found that regular yoga practice can help children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) learn to calm their minds and focus on the present, improving on-task time and attention. And thanks to the proliferation of distracting electronic devices, even kids who don’t suffer from ADHD can benefit.

The mindfulness techniques that yoga practice offers can help kids re-focus on the present and concentrate on tasks like homework and chores that require their undivided attention.

Strike a pose. According to the Centers for

Disease Control, more than 12 million kids between the ages of two and 19 years old are considered obese. Yoga offers a gentle way to get kids moving, strengthen muscles, improve flexibility and practice gross motor skills.

“For the child who is not particularly active, yoga provides an avenue to move in a playful, engaging way,” Henderson says.

Spread the love. “Yoga fosters self acceptance and actualization. It invites all participants to improve concentration and focus, and even helps develop selfcompassion and compassion for others,” writes Kristin Henningsen, adjunct professor at Kaplan University School of Health Sciences in her report “The Benefits of Yoga for Children.”

Pauline Emmett, a YoKid Ambassador, agrees. “In practicing yoga, children experience better self-esteem, and therefore have the confidence to trust themselves as being strong and capable beings,” she says. “We talk about self-love, and how if we love ourselves we can better care for our friends, family and the world.”

To learn more about area classes and workshops for your kids, visit namastekid.com or check out your local community center, area gyms and yoga studios.