balancing self care as a mother

As a mother self care looks different for me. Having a toddler makes me get creative with the ways I sneak self care in my daily routine. I finally figured out how to love on me and pour back into myself. Lately a simple shower has been transformative. The simple cleansing of my skin has become meditative to me. Starting with exfoliating my skin, I wash my body and remove the days stressors and worries. Next I close my eyes and visualize the negative energy leaving my body and filling myself back up with a higher frequency. I take long deep breaths and focus only on the water. 

Backstory: Something about water since I was a child has been so calming to my spirit. Probably why I love the beach so much. Water is so useful in its many forms and everything is practically made from it. Including us. 

I engage all five senses to center my mind on the water. How it feels against my skin, how my pores spring open from the temperature, how the shape changes every time it touches me, how it dissolves the soap on my legs. During these moments I am not worried about how long I’ve been in the bathroom or if I left the stove on by accident(thankfully not this time). I am just being. Being. And it’s all been kind of magical. If it’s not obvious by now I definitely recommend it. The meditation portion as well as bathing on a regular. It’s something I get to do everyday, which establishes a healthy habit that allows me to pour into me. 

Following this shower I give myself a well needed oil massage. Staying in the bathroom, that is now filled with steam and my skin is still wet, I use Dr. Bronners Organic Coconut Oil to massage and moisturize my body. I take my time with this step and make sure I am giving each part of my body intentional love and care.

Other ways I get my self care on:

Reading a book. It's simple, it is adaptable to all lifestyles; meaning you can fit it in anytime and anywhere in your day. Growing in knowledge inspires me to take action and follow my dreams.

Cooking. Okay so in no way am I a chef, but as of late cooking new meals or signature ones has been a “moment” in my day that I look forward to. I get to ignore everything else around me and just focus on this one thing. Perfecting and learning my way around the kitchen since like I said, I’m not chef. 

Coffee in the morning. This. Is. Needed. No matter what, I must have my coffee. No exceptions. I don’t play with my caramel macchiato. Period. 

Writing. Always been my go to for everything. This is my way of documenting moments, feelings, thoughts, notes, scribbles, etc.

Cleaning. Okay stay with me, because I know I am sounding like your moms mom(grandma) right now. But when I clean my space it just feels so freeing and fresh. It’s like getting a clean slate again. With cleaning comes fresh scents of essential oils(My Fav!) I am loving the scent of Lavender lately and since Dr. Bronners products uses organic essential oils I LOVE cleaning with their Lavendar Castle Soap. I can clean my body and my house with it. It's a two-fer! Also, It doesn’t leave a harsh chemically smell nor is it harmful for toddlers(bonus plus). Dr. Bronners Castle Soap is made with organic and certified fair trade ingredients aka it is liquid gold(bonus-plus-plus).

Doing my hair. Ok, if I’m honest I DONT enjoy the process of “doing” my hair. Only because I’m impatient(but who isn’t?) and like I mentioned I have a toddler so this process has got to be quick and painless. For both of us. But it does make me feel joyful when my hair is being properly taken care of. When it is healthy and flourishing by my hands. Normally I achieve this by wearing a protective style and making a DIY hair spray. I use it to strengthen, moisturize + make me feel better about not doing my hair. I mix water, Dr. Bronners Organic Hair Creme(leave in conditioner) and aloe vera juice together in a spray bottle and shake it up. Boom! Spray my hair every morning and go about my day. 

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IMPORTANT NOTE TO REMEMBER-- Self care for you doesn’t have to look like mine, nor does mine look like everyone else’s. It’s called SELFcare for a reason. What is fulfilling to yourSELF? What is for YOU? What makes YOU smile? What fills YOU up mentally and spiritually? In what ways do YOU find time for YOURself to pause and love on YOU? Get it now. 

QUESTION-- I'm nosey, what does self care look like for you? If you're a mother or not, how do you add time and what do you do with that time for yourself? Comment down below.

Moral of the story: Self care = Self love. If you love yourself, you will take care of yourself. Unapologetic and Unconditionally.

To learn more about Dr. Bronners Products visit their site here.

receiving + releasing

I was recently prompted to journal about the following question: What is my relationship to having or receiving?

Immediately after reading this I thought to myself, ‘we’re supposed to have a relationship with having?' Needless to say I was confused about the whole thing. Like many other people I associate having things, and the things in my life, to worth or self value.

I meditated deeper on the question and the idea of money interrupted my stream of thoughts. I begin to journal about my relationship to money. In the earlier years of my life i’ve always witness money coming and going. My family didn’t talk about money or if they did, it was about not being paid enough or just simply not having enough. I wasn’t taught to save, invest in myself, or invest in my future. So today, as an adult, I find myself applying those same principles of money to my current financial situation. I say things like, we don’t have enough for that, thats too expensive, or just simply not doing things I enjoy. These limited beliefs hinder me from truly receiving all that is for me. I shifted my mindset and spoke only the things I wanted to manifest in my life. I deserve abundance and I am now walking with a much more opened heart to receive the things in life that are already mine. I turned those false statements into positive fulfilling ones.

What I learned from this shift: 

• There is enough money for everyone.
• Let go of the things that no longer serve me, so I am able to be in a position of receiving.
• I deserve abundance.

Evaluate your relationship to having. Comment one thing you could be resisting due to your false beliefs.

Moral of the story: filter through your negative self talk + remove all things that could potentially block your blessings.

here’s to letting go

Lately I’ve been feeling led to declutter my life and let some necessary things go. Instead of starting with my beauty products, which need some serious help, I decided to start with the things clouding and filling up space in my mind. 

When it came down to begin I realized I don't know how to let things go. It was something I had to relearn. I had to learn how to intentionally remove things from my life that no longer served a purpose. There were thoughts and things mentally taking up space in my mind that was ultimately effecting me and my everyday decision making.

So here is the list I came up with:

• False beliefs about myself  (saying things like, “I am not good enough to do _________”)
• Self doubt
• Looking for the negative in new ideas
• Comparing myself  and my work to others
• Finding new things wrong with my body
• The idea of having it all together
• Procrastination

Moral of the story: Make time to remove the things, people, thoughts that no longer serve your higher self. Your future you will thank you.