Being alive today comes with innumerable perks. We can travel the globe affordably (although perhaps not right now), learn different skills with nothing more than our phones, sign up for online classes, get fit and healthy at home (which is super useful for busy moms), and communicate with people from all over the world in a matter of a few clicks. However, that vast number of options makes it extremely difficult to slow down. There just aren’t enough hours in a day to talk to everyone, respond to every comment and text, learn every language, cook every dish, or visit every beach. But we should make room for healthy living.
Let’s not even get into the impact the air and noise pollution can have on our minds and bodies. We are constantly surrounded by stimuli of all kinds, so silence feels strange and solitude scary, especially if you have little ones running around at all times. Have you ever seen a family with a toddler that knows what peace and quiet mean?
In later stages of your life, when you reach menopause for example, or your silver years, you start to feel the impact of such an overwhelming amount of white noise. To prevent that from happening and to safeguard your wellbeing on a holistic level as a mom, here are a few key tips to healthy living to keep this modern, hectic pace of life from jeopardizing your life’s balance.
1. Master the art of saying “no”
Life is about embracing challenges and saying yes, absolutely. But life is also about setting healthy boundaries for yourself and other people in your life. It’s about hearing the subtle cues and signals your body is sending you when you need to take a step back.
The most important commitment in your life should be that to yourself and your health. No social or conventional commitment can trump that. Keep that in mind the next time someone asks you to go out and you feel like reading a good book instead or spending some quality time with your kids. Nobody should be offended by your need to take care of yourself or invest more time in your closest family bonds.
2. Get your dose of daily activities
Sometimes slowing down means you need to pick up your pace in one aspect of your life– your workouts. That doesn’t mean taking up five different fitness classes or forcing yourself to hit the gym when you feel like something different. It means listening to your body and your mind and choosing activities that provide mental and physical benefits at the same time.
Choose yoga or Pilates to give your body the vitality and vibrancy it needs to handle this modern way of living. These activities let you work on your strength, flexibility, as well as your mobility. Modern parents need to invest in self-care through exercise, as it can help you be a more energetic, dedicated parent, and be more resilient for all those daily challenges. Yoga is a great option when you reach your silver year too, allowing you to de-stress and keep your muscles and joints in excellent condition.
3. Tailor your nutrition to your needs
Every stage of our time on Earth has its perks and its challenges. In youth, we struggle when building our self-perception and self-esteem, not to mention managing acne. When we become parents, the sheer number of responsibilities and amount of stress can wreak havoc on your tempo of living. This is where turning to your key energy source–your nutrition, can help you balance your body and your mind. More often than not, many moms fail to consume enough healthy protein in their meals, especially when sticking to a plant-based diet.
Lack of energy and frequent cravings can be reduced and resolved when you balance your macronutrient intake to make sure you consume enough protein every day. For vegan moms, you can turn to healthy plant-based protein that you can consume in delicious shakes, which is both simple and convenient. Your body can benefit from the added energy and balanced nutrition every day. It all comes down to tailoring your menu based on your needs and the stage of your life’s journey.
4. Reduce stress through self-care
Even if you do what you love and surround yourself with people you love, you’re likely overwhelmed by stress in numerous ways. It can be a demanding client, the stress of the pandemic getting to your inner peace, or the emotional challenge of divorce and being a single mom. Stress is the key ingredient in modern-day life, and we need different ways to mitigate its long-term impact on our health.
A simple way to slow down and focus on your breath is to introduce meditation into your daily schedule. When you feel overwhelmed, your heartbeat starting to rise, or that you’re tense, you can take a moment to breathe deeply, and envision your energy transforming.
5. Enjoy Mother Nature
If you live in a predominantly urban environment surrounded by air pollution like most people, you most likely don’t spend enough time surrounded by greenery for your health to benefit. Instead of rushing to explore another city or organize an urban getaway, you can slow down by reconnecting with Mother Nature. The stillness of nature is far from stagnant. It offers a safe haven from concrete jungles, but the babbling brooks, birdsong, and winds caressing the trees are more than enough music for our ears.
Such a setting gives you enough space and clarity to enjoy your thoughts, or the lack thereof. Nature is our home and can be our safe haven for healthy living. It reminds us of just how beautiful and pure time away from traffic and technology can be. It’s reinvigorating and it will be the perfect remedy for your city-infused days.
Yes, there are other effective ways to slow down, take a breath, and cherish the moment. The listed options are just that – options. They can, however, make a tremendous difference in the quality of your life and they can enable you to introduce other healthy living habits while eliminating the ones that stifle and suffocate you. Use them to grow and choose your life’s pace, and not to overwhelm yourself with another list of chores. The wisdom is, as the old saying goes, in knowing the difference.
