When you become a mother, things change. Mom life is in a lane of its own. Everything from your mindset to your body shifts. As mothers, we have to recalibrate and find new ways to relate to ourselves.
This can be hard, especially when you’re going through so many different changes. You might not recognize yourself anymore, which can be tough.
In this article, we take a look at some self-love tips for mothers and simple self-care ideas so that you can look after your wellness in motherhood.
Important Self-Love Tips For Moms
Self-love is so important for your overall health and wellness. Without self-love, you might find yourself lacking in motivation to look after yourself at the most basic level, which in turn affects your entire life and your family.
Here are some of my favorite tips to help you nurture your self-care and self-love!
1. Let Go Of Perfectionism
As a mother, you simply have to let it go. Perfectionism isn’t always a bad thing, because perfectionism can help you to strive to be the best you can be. But you have to keep a healthy handle on it.
Unchecked perfectionism can get out of control and cause you mental and emotional suffering and a whole lotta stress.
A lot of things are out of your control as a mother, and trying to control everything in an attempt for everything to be ‘perfect’ might just make you lose your marbles—I speak from experience.
Practice presence, and acceptance—and let things be. Lose the idea of how things should be, and love whatever is.
2. Take Breaks From Social Media
Taking breaks from social media is a boss move. Yes, social media is great. It can be great for connecting to friends and family and getting inspiration for motherhood. But sometimes social media can be the cause of poor mental health too.
On social media, you see a lot of things that are curated and fake. And this encourages low self-esteem and comparison.
Be mindful of when you’re comparing yourself to others, and take regular breaks from social media to focus on enriching your own life in the real world.
Perhaps you can try having ‘social media free weekends’? Or limit your time on social media every day.
3. Indulge In Healthy Eating
Eating healthy food is a huge act of self-love. What you put into your body has a massive effect on your moods, hormones, and how you perceive yourself.
Swop high-sugar and artificial snacks for wholefood healthy snacks. Swap ready meals for home-cooked meals. And start being more mindful of what you put into your body.
Check out my article on different meal planning ideas and recipes to help you save time whilst also being able to eat healthy meals!
4. Catch Up On Sleep
Sleep is extremely important. A valuable act of self-love might not be doing something, it might be doing nothing at all. If you’re exhausted then finding a way to catch up on your sleep is an important act of self-love and preservation. You simply cannot function from an empty tank.
Young children are demanding and require a lot of your energy. So, ask your partner, a family member, or a friend to help with your child so that you can get some much-needed rest. A well-rested and happy mother makes a happy home!
A review by the Journal of Sleep Research noted that sleep plays a vital and important role in the regulation of mental health.²
5. Nurture Your Self Identity
Yes, you’re now a mama, but you’re also an individual too. It’s important to nurture your personal identity as an individual woman.
What do you love doing? What are your hobbies? What makes you feel alive?
Taking the time to enjoy your hobbies is a vital part of self-love. This also teaches your children that boundaries and self-preservation are important. Being a people-pleaser at the expense of yourself isn’t valuable to anyone. Set a good example for your children by showing them that it’s ok to put yourself first sometimes.
If you’ve forgotten what your hobbies are, then journal prompts can really help to dig out answers from within. Check out my free journal prompts for inspiration!
6. Pamper Yourself
What does pampering look like to you? Pampering can be different things for each of us. It might be reading a good book, going for a walk on your own with the dog, to having a glass of prosecco and a face mask.
Whatever it is, girl, do the thing. Regularly.
7. Epsom Salt Bath With Essential Oils
I love having a salt bath because I find it so restorative and it’s great for stress relief! A review by the International Journal of Dermatology found that bathing in magnesium salt (also known as Epsom salts) helps to support skin hydration, reduces skin irritation and inflammation, and improves the appearance of the skin through increased skin barrier function.¹
Not only is it great for your skin, but it’s also cheap and easy to do! You can find Epsom salts in so many stores, even target. Simply add to your bath along with some lavender essential oil for a deeply nourishing relaxing soak!
8. Himalayan Salt Scrub With Olive Oil
Himalayan salt body scrubs are also amazing. I love to do a salt scrub and face mask before soaking in my Epsom salt bath. You can make your own DIY salt scrub at home by mixing Himalayan salt with a few teaspoons of olive oil. It is super cheap and easy to make, along with being great for your skin.
It helps to remove dead dull skin cells, whilst also moisturizing the skin too.
I find a full body salt scrub helps me to feel like a pampered Queen, and I try to do this every couple of weeks.
9. Bentonite Clay Face Mask
Bentonite clay is great for skin and hair, and it’s really easy to make masks with it. Simply add a dash of water and you’re all set to go! I love doing a bentonite clay mask once a week. It helps to revive dull and tired skin, along with helping to smooth skin complexion.
My skin always looks and feels so good after using a bentonite clay mask. In terms of quick, easy, and cheap go-to pamper routines? The holy trinity of a bentonite clay mask, salt scrub, and salt bath is my favorite!
10. Check Out Local Offers For Salons And Spas
If you’re not a massive fan of at-home DIY pampering and prefer to go to the salon, then that’s cool too!
Taking the time for yourself is really important, and it is nice pampering yourself at home because as a busy mom—it is really easy to fit self-love home pampering into your schedule whenever you have time. You don’t have to make an appointment or travel anywhere which is a massive bonus for many moms. But it can be a lovely treat to go to a salon or spa from time to time too.
Going to a salon or spa doesn’t have to cost a fortune because so many salons and spas offer great deals. Check out the deals on Groupon, because they have some amazing sales, discounts, and offers.
Many salons and spas do discounts for block bookings with friends. You might be able to go with a mommy friend and get a cheaper price than going alone.
11. Hit The Sales
Quite often fashion goes to the back of the queue in terms of importance once you become a mom. Either you don’t have the time to think about fashion, or you don’t have the money.
But dressing up can be a massive act of self-love and can help your self-esteem. If you tend to feel mom guilt when you go shopping for yourself then check out the sales and thrift stores too for preloved bargains.
Sales are great places to snap up some bargains, so you don’t have to feel so guilty about treating yourself to a new wardrobe. I also love thrifting and eBay for amazing second hand clothes that are in great condition.
12. Journal
Journaling is always my go-to because it helps me to empty my mind and self-reflect. Self-reflecting is a great tool for self-love because you can work out where you need to do some extra self-care.
By asking yourself the right questions you can find out where you’re happy, and where you need to put some extra love and attention.
You can dig into your strengths, weaknesses, and insecurities which helps you to know what you need to focus on in your self-love journey.
13. Exercise
Gentle exercise and workouts are great for self-love. Looking after your body and your health is a massive act of self-worship and self-care. Exercise helps you to feel your best, and it helps your body to stay in optimum condition. It benefits every area of your life from self-esteem to your ability to be a good mother.
Stuck with getting into good habits or great routines? Check out my free sample workouts to help you get started with your exercise routine!
14. Meditation And Mindfulness
Mindfulness, meditation, and yoga are great for self-love and mental health. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies, and we can disempower ourselves with negative self-talk or intrusive thoughts without even realizing it. Mindfulness and meditation will help you to draw awareness to things that you’re doing to yourself that aren’t good for your self-love journey.
Practicing presence, acceptance, and gratitude are keys to self-love. Learning not to beat yourself up unnecessarily for things, and instead finding acceptance and gratitude in situations can help you to love yourself a little harder.
If you don’t have the time to go to a local meditation or yoga class then YouTube is a great free resource that has tons of videos on mindfulness for beginners to advanced practitioners.
15. Positive Affirmations
What’s your favorite positive affirmation? Positive affirmations can be a great way to practice self-love and self-care. Giving yourself some daily unconditional love through personal affirmations can be an easy way to remind yourself that you’re a good mom.
You might be a new mom, a working mom, a busy mom, a single mom, or a mom battling mental illness or postpartum depression… wherever you find yourself, positive self-talk can be really helpful to remind yourself that you’ve got it and that you’re doing the best you can. And it’s more than enough. You are enough.
Parenting is not always easy. The most important thing is to go easy on yourself!
Check out my blog post on great affirmations for moms for inspiration!
Why Is Self-Care Important For Mothers?
General wellness in motherhood, and self-care is vital to be a good mother. When you’re not taking care of yourself, you cannot take care of your family as well as you could if you were feeling your best.
Yes, you might be able to get by, but you won’t be functioning at your optimal capacity, and you won’t be able to give as much as you could if your cup was full.
Motherhood is a role that requires your full attention, presence, and love. But if you’re exhausted, burnt-out, overwhelmed, or unhappy then you won’t thrive in the role, and you’ll probably feel inadequate too.
If you’re feeling inadequate, as opposed to putting in more time and effort and giving more of yourself without proper thought, this is the perfect time to take a step back to self-reflect.
Move forward by putting yourself first. Meet your own needs first before trying to meet the needs of others.
Trust that when you look after yourself first, you can naturally be the best mother you could possibly be.
Conclusion
As your identity changes through each stage of womanhood and motherhood, it’s really important to learn how to love yourself. This is going to ensure that you treat yourself with kindness, respect, and compassion. Along with making sure that you put yourself first when needed. Remember that self-love is not selfish, in fact, it’s often the foundation of happiness in all areas of your life!
How would it feel to have an entire step-by-step plan on how to wake up from autopilot and overcome your survival mode cycle once and for all?
Take my hand and join me in The Balanced Mom Method Course to take back control of your time, energy, identity, and life, one nap at a time!
My signature course helps to rid the overwhelm of how, whilst simplifying your transformation over 12 weeks. I teach simple strategies that you can implement into your life for the long term.
You’ll learn where to start and how to take it one habit at a time, based on your struggles, your goals, your schedule, and your LIFE using my I.A.S.I 4-step approach within The Balanced Mom Method formula.
Let’s do the groundwork. Build the foundation. Build your inner habits. Which results in outer habits that can’t be shaken—because you’re finally building them all the right way.
Learn how to connect to you and create sustainable habits so you can start living your life with peace, presence, confidence, clarity, and balance.. reclaim control of your life in motherhood to feel like you again!
Want to learn more? Click here for more details, or schedule your FREE clarity call with me!
