5 Powerful Quotes to Show How Important Self Care Is for Moms
Selfcare seems to be a struggle for many people. We are often trying to keep up with today's fast pace, are caught up in work, or have never learned how to really take care of ourselves.
When you become a mother this can become even more severe. Your unconditional love will most often put you last. You are the last to eat, you are the last to sit down, you are the last to go to bed. And you are probably the last whose needs are sadly taken care of. Taking care of yourself became less of a priority because now there are tiny people involved that just fill up your heart and all you want to do is make them happy. That combined with sleep loss, household chores, and the huge amount of responsibilities you have as a mother can be a recipe for a mental disaster.
The problem is you can only give as long as your batteries are charged. Once they run out of power it becomes difficult to give. That's why self-care for mothers is so important. Attending to your own needs is important for stability, mental health, and stress relief. On the other hand, ignoring your needs as an individual (and not as a mother) can increase the risks of postpartum depression, anxiety, parental burnout and deteriorate your mental wellbeing overall.
So here are my 5 favorite quotes about selfcare and motherhood to keep you motivated to look after your own inner child.
1. "Taking care of myself doesn't mean 'me first', it means 'me too'."
This powerful quote is from award-winning author L.R. Knosts. She focuses on gentle parenting and is the founder and director of the children's rights advocacy and family consulting group, Little Hearts/Gentle Parenting Resources, and Editor-in-Chief of Holistic Parenting Magazine.
This is just one of her very famous quotes and I think all mothers can relate. Sometimes we feel as if society expects us to give it all to our family once we become mothers. Sometimes mom guilt will make us feel as we are not doing enough for our kids as well. So if we start to demand some time for ourselves we might seem or feel selfish. But it couldn't be further from the truth. And deep down you and I know that it is not selfish at all.
2. "Only because you decided to become a mother it doesn't mean that your whole life's meaning revolves only around your family."
When we become mothers we sometimes seem to lose our identity (or I just like to assume it is somewhere under this huge pile of dirty kid's laundry that just never dissolves). We do everything for our family but feel somehow hole or incomplete ourselves, like ghosts even. But your family is not your only purpose in life. You can have passions besides your family. You can have both. In fact, you need both to feel like your old self again.
3. "Being a mother is the best reason to take good care of yourself."
Motherhood comes with many feelings. Feelings you often did not experience before. Incredible joy and happiness, but also anger, sadness, and the feeling of isolation. It is not easy to manage through the turmoil of all these new feelings. Selfcare will even help you with that. The inner peace that selfcare brings will help you handle these emotions much better. You will be more stress-resistant, more patient, and can work through negative emotions much better. What before might have led to breakdowns, yelling, or fights can now be handled with much more ease. So this is one more reason to take time for yourself and nourish your soul.
4. "Self care means looking after yourself and after others."
Self-care is a crucial part of looking after yourself, as well as others. When you practice self-care you produce positive feelings, which boost motivation and self-esteem leaving you with increased energy to support yourself as well as your loved ones. Neither your husband nor your kids will benefit from a completely stressed-out mother.
5. "You cannot give if you have nothing left to give."
Being a mother takes so much strength. You are the building block of your family. You give emotional support. But these tasks become harder and harder when you run out of energy. And you will. You will reach a point where you have nothing left to give. But you cannot pour from an empty cup. You cannot support your children emotionally when your emotions are all over the place. Make sure to fill that cup of yours!
Being the busy mom that you are, I know that selfcare sometimes feels simply impossible. Doesn't matter if you are a working mom, a stay-at-home mom, or a single mother. There are just not enough hours to fit in any free time for you. But selfcare can also be the little things. It can be meditating for 30 minutes or a 15-minutes skincare routine. It can be a run in the park or sleeping in on the weekends. No matter what your selfcare activities look like, a regular selfcare routine will have a huge impact on your wellbeing. Try to integrate it into your everyday life, you most definitely deserve it!
