Self Care For Moms | How To Reduce Stress at Home (3 Tips)

Hey there, mamas. Welcome back to my channel. And if you're new here, hello, my name is Nicole with Kids OT Help. I'm back with another episode in the newly founded series called Self-Care for Mamas. So if you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so and make sure you hit the bell notification so you don't miss any of our future Self-Care for Mom episodes. So today I wanna share some tips and some insights on how we can better manage stress in our lives. Because honestly, sometimes it feels like stress manages us and that just ain't sustainable. Trust me. I'm thinking we should start a tradition where we enjoy some type of beverage together during these little chit-chats. Let's say tea if I'm feeling balanced, espresso if I'm on a struggle bus, and wine if it's been a rough one. This morning I'm enjoying some tea, so cheers to that. So a lot of you guys already know that I am a pediatric occupational therapist and a lot of the content on this channel is geared towards that. But I'm also extremely passionate about self-care and our mental well-being, especially for us Mamas, because we cannot pour from an empty cup. So this series is dedicated to sharing ways in which we can help fill our own cups. That way we can be better aligned with the best version of ourselves. That way we can show up as that person for the people that we love most. So my genuine hope for this series is that this is a safe place where us Moms can share, connect, and relate to one another while inspiring one another to do the things that we love and to connect with who we are at our core so that way we can thrive in all areas in our life and not just as the role of mother or wife, or you get the point. So my question for you guys today is when stress starts creeping in and you start to feel that sense of overwhelm, what things do you guys do to reduce stress and promote balance? Leave a comment down below, that way we can all get some awesome tips from one another and start implementing some of these strategies in our own lives. So I wanna share three tools that I utilize when I'm starting to feel super stressed and overwhelmed to start the ball rolling so you guys can think about what tools and what tips or strategies might help you guys manage stress a little bit better. So the first tip I have for you guys is to identify your reset button. What do I mean by this? I think all of us have something in our life that can flip our mood from worse to better relatively quickly. So for some of you, it might be exercising. Some of you guys, it might be turning up the music and dancing. While someone else, it might be cleaning. So what is it? What's that one activity or what are several activities that are game changers in terms of flipping your mood relatively quickly? So for me personally, I do yoga, I'll meditate. What works almost 100% of the time for me is cranking the music extra loud and just getting down, making my own little dance floor and letting loose. So the second tip I have for you guys is to step outside of your physical environment literally so you can change your perspective. So if you're inside and it's chaotic and maybe you're packing a bunch of lunches or you're trying to figure out a schedule, you're responding to emails, put it down, walk outside if weather permits. And there have been times where I will lie on my back on the grass, in the backyard, stare up at the sky, watch the birds and just hear quiet and it immediately shifts my perspective and my energy and I'm able to take that like stress relieving sigh, you know, where you just breathe it all out. So sometimes we literally need to change our physical environment to shift our mindset. Final tool that I use to help me reduce stress when I'm feeling overwhelmed or that stress is managing me is to act as if. What I mean by this is acting as if things are the way in which you hope them to be. So if you're feeling overwhelmed or nervous about an upcoming event, maybe some sort of interview or something big is about to happen, you're going to act as if you already have that job, you've already overcome that struggle or that uncomfortable situation that is pending. And how do I do this? Sometimes I'll use a positive affirmation mantra. So just a positive saying like, I am strong and I'm capable of overcoming this and I'm capable of coming up with a creative solution to the problem that has presented itself to me. And you know, repeating that multiple times because your mind is so very powerful and your environment will reflect what you truly believe on the inside. So working on shifting your mindset and what it is you truly believe in your core to reflect the outcome that you're hoping to get. Now, if you truly start to work on repeating these positive affirmations, you really will see a mental shift in how you view the stress and the overwhelm of certain unexpected events in life. And without getting too woo-woo on you guys, you'll find that nine times out of 10, you actually are able to manage that situation that was causing you so much stress. And once you learn that you can handle situations like that, going forward, you might feel a little less anxiety when something unexpected or overwhelming presents itself to you because you've had the experience of, I've overcome this in the past and I've had the ability to meet these challenges. So my heart isn't gonna jump to 200 beats per minute when something comes out of left field. I know I can handle it. Okay guys, so those are the three tools that I use quite regularly when I'm feeling overwhelmed or that stress is managing my life and that I'm not managing the stress. So again, please leave a comment down below and share your tips with us because I would love to incorporate some new tools that I haven't thought of or make some modifications to things that I'm currently doing that I feel might have a positive impact. I hope that today is a tea day for you as well. And if it isn't, perhaps try implementing some of the strategies that either I've shared or some of our other lovely mamas have shared and make it a tea day. All right, mamas, thanks so much for watching this video. And again, if you haven't subscribed, make sure you do that so you don't miss our next episode of Self-Care for Mamas. Until then, I will catch you in the next one. Bye.