Mothers’ Health and Wellness: Ways to Take Care of Yourself as a Mother
By: Dr. Tania Hormozi, PsyD, LMFT
Clinical Director of Family Therapy Services
It is important to share that mothers do a lot for everyone. They are the primary
caregiver for a lot of their children, elderly parents, and even their spouses in most
cases. Mothers tend to put everyone else over themselves. Especially, middle eastern
mothers. Women and girls are taught at a young age to put others first before
themselves. They are taught to be maternal even if they may or may not become
mothers as adults. Middle Eastern culture is all about warmth, welcoming, food, culture,
and family. Who brings everyone together? Typically, the matriarch of the house is doing
the cooking, cleaning, and making sure everyone is taken care of and fed.
When can mothers take care of themselves? They tend to forget about themselves and
put themselves on the backburner. They don’t practice “wearing the oxygen mask first
before helping others” as we learn every time we hear the emergency protocols on an
airplane. Middle Eastern mothers haven’t been taught to also take a break and take
time out for themselves, aside from maybe sleeping and daily hygiene practices.
Here are some important coping skills and strategies, woman and mothers can take,
when they want to take time to themselves. Research suggests just 10-15 minutes of
self-care a day will help reduce symptoms, distract yourself from negative thoughts and
feelings, and put you in a better mood.
Self-Care involves taking care of your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects
of life to stay healthy. Types of Self Care can be minimal: taking a shower, consuming
your favorite food or drink, organizing or cleaning your space with intention, reading or
watching a movie. Some self-care activities can take 10-15 minutes also, such as going
outside in the sun, going for a short walk, calling a friend or family member, or listening
to music. Sometimes mothers would want to involve their children and family members
also, and that can be possible, as long as the activity is still something the mother wants
to do.
Another way to take a break for self-care is engaging in Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a
way to practice being fully present, being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and
surroundings. You can take a moment to take some deep breaths, you can take a
moment and look for certain colors that are around you, sitting on the ground at home or
on the grass, taking a moment to do some coloring, or writing down your thoughts and
ripping up the paper. There are a lot of different ways to take care of yourself that won’t
take too long. These coping skills can help not only distract you in the moment from
your negative thoughts, but it can also make you feel good and enjoy different activities.
Remember, all you need is a few activities, 2-3 times a week, for 10-15 minutes each
day. Practice it for 2 weeks to ensure that it is helping and you can implement it into
your schedule.
