Self care: start small

What do you think of when you think self care? An instagram-worthy bubble bath, complete with candles? Hours of uninterrupted reading time? Sunrise yoga? An entire workout without kids climbing on you?

Here’s what I imagine as the real story of the pic above:

She set an alarm in order to get out here before the kids get up. She is feeling very in-the-moment with the warmth of the rising sun on her face. Then a mosquito buzzes in her ear and although it doesn’t feel very zen to do it, she squashes that sucker and settles her mind again — just in time to be tackled by the toddler who has gotten up earlier than usual because of a leaky diaper.

Adding self-care to your routine is important, but if you wait til everything’s perfect, you’ll never start.

The mom in our scenario can be proud of herself for getting out there and squeezing in a few minutes of self-care. Going forward, she can adjust her expectations to aim for 5 minutes of meditation instead of 30. There will come a day, eventually, when she can stretch that time out longer but until then she can savor those few minutes of quiet and take that little bit of peace into the rest of her day.

Do what you can reasonably do right now…

Even with the kids underfoot.
Even with the hectic work schedule.
Even with money tight.

Can you squeeze in 5 minutes of stretching tomorrow morning?

Can you take that cup of tea/coffee out to the porch for a few minutes alone (no phone, just you) before the kids get out of bed just one morning this week?

Can you climb in bed a little early tonight and read a few pages of that book on your nightstand?

Instead of going out for lunch at work, could you take your lunch and enjoy it on a bench outdoors? Could you squeeze in a short walk on your break?

Check out these 20 quick and easy self care ideas.

You’ll soon start seeing benefits of these tiny doses of self-care, and eventually, you’ll be able to build onto these little moments. You’ve got this — as long as you start small.