4 WAYS TO LET GO OF SELF-CARE GUILT

The other night I was driving to hockey…and I felt GUILTY. Since my kids have been home from school, I have had zero time by myself. I was so excited for a little self-care! Because that’s what ice hockey is to me. For you, it might look different (remember, it’s not always bubble baths + spa days).

I was so excited to have a couple of hours to myself, and the moment I got into the car, I felt stressed, anxious, and guilty. Why? Hello…meet Mom Guilt. Mom guilt is feeling like you’ve done something wrong, as a mom, when you haven’t done anything wrong (or have made a mistake).

So, how do we stop feeling guilty about self-care? Here are 4 ways:

Stop viewing it as a luxury or “guilty” pleasure

Self-care should be a non-negotiable part of your weekly routine. In the same way, you need sleep to be healthy, you need to take care of your emotional well-being!

Self-care doesn’t have to be complicated

Sometimes we think that self-care needs to be extravagant or look the way it does in the movies, but the truth is self-care is about doing anything that makes you feel good and rested (yes, sitting on the TV eating pizza and binging TV counts)

Take it off your TO-DO list

As I said before, self-care is non-negotiable, so don’t act like it’s a chore. You don’t add sleep to your to-do list (no shame if you do!). Try to think about it as part of your daily or weekly routine, and it won’t seem like it’s a luxury or something you “HAVE” to do. That just creates more guilt

Know that you are SO worthy

This one’s especially for the mom’s out there because YOU give so much of yourself to other people that it’s hard to remember that your time is YOURS. You get to enjoy your life. Hard to believe, right? Sometimes it takes a little simplifying to see it in a way that you don’t have to earn the right to self-care. When I started feeling guilty the other day, I remembered how worthy I was of joy and how important my well-being is to my family (in case you needed another reason to take care of yourself)!

What does your version of self-care look like?