Imagine that you’re preparing for a cross-country road trip. You get all your bags packed and carefully map out your course. You gear up your car with your favorite snacks and playlists and set out for the adventure ahead.

There’s only one problem: when you begin driving, you realize that your fuel gauge is completely broken. You have no idea how much gas is in your vehicle or how far you’ll be able to drive before needing to refuel.

Most sensible people would argue that this is a completely unsafe way to drive. How can you be assured that you will make it where you need to go without having a complete break-down on the side of the road?

No matter how else you have prepared, the fact that your fuel gage is malfunctioning completely overrides your ability to journey anywhere safely. In fact, you are jeopardizing your life when you get in that car, putting much at stake without proper safety mechanisms in check.

Self-Care in Motherhood

As women, and mothers in particular, this is what is occurring in our daily lives when we neglect our own self-care and wellness. In a similar way as driving in a car with a broken gas gauge, we are attempting to navigate the course of our lives without knowing when we might experience a breakdown.

In the face of all the responsibilities we are juggling, caring for ourselves gets pushed to the backburner. But at what cost? If we are trying to manage motherhood by reacting to our circumstances rather than being proactive, we cannot thrive.

Few goals we make are ones that replenish us. Most mothers are trying to live their lives from a place of total exhaustion, and many are constantly running at a deficit, lacking adequate rest, proper nutrition, and soul-filling activities.

In order to change this around, it is important to begin by defining what self-care is and why it’s essential to our well-being. Self-care is more than a fad word or rare indulgence. Self-care comes from a place of necessity, not selfishness.

Self-care can and should be practiced in a sustainable, life-giving way that nurtures a whole-hearted mama, in body, mind, and spirit and establishes a complete kind of wellness.

Practicing true self-care is an investment in your whole family, and the consequence of neglecting your own wellness can be detrimental to you and your loved ones.

Incorporating Self-Care in your Own Life

What does self-care look like in the parenting years? When you are in the trenches of raising little ones, it can be difficult to know how to find space for life-giving activities. Many mothers feel lost in understanding their own identity and worth or unsure how to pursue wellness in all its forms.

There are many practical steps that can be slowly incorporated into your daily routine to better nourish your body, mind, and soul so that you can move from a place of merely surviving to thriving.

If you are a mama feeling depleted in your own motherhood journey, I would love to help support you. As a mama of (almost) 5 and motherhood wellness coach, I have created a simple and free guide that can give you some tangible steps to begin developing life-giving practices in your own life. As you constantly give of yourself in motherhood, it is essential to replenish yourself, so you can give from a place of fullness.

Download, “Better After Baby: 10 Simple Ways to Get Your Mojo Back in Any Stage of Motherhood” today and commit to becoming a whole-hearted mama, in body, mind and soul (hint: it has nothing to do with weight-loss, dieting, or changing your body in any shape or form). This is your one and only life, and you can choose how you journey through it. You are deserving and worthy, and there is always hope to grow and thrive.

What ways do you hope to incorporate self-care in your daily life?