In this solo episode, I want to talk to everyone about the ideas of stress and feeling like there’s never enough time. Part of what prompted this topic is the US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, just issued an advisory on parents’ mental health and well-being, citing that many parents feel overwhelmed to the point of not being able to function throughout the day. While parenting can be stressful, there are things we can do to reduce those feelings and get back to feeling more balanced. I want to walk through my five self parenting tenets to get back to your emotional well being and find your inner peace whether you’re a parent who feels overwhelmed or you’re someone who feels like the day gets away from you and you could use some extra time.

Mastering the Pause

Where are the moments of reactivity in your life?
The more you pause, the less reactive you become and you can reflect on your fears surrounding your child’s behaviors.
When you slow down, your child will also be able to slow down.
Overreacting in a moment usually escalates the situation rather than calming it down or stopping it.
Pausing helps you stay calm and steady in a stressful moment.

Practicing Stillness

Stillness does not mean sitting in meditation for a long time.
It could be one minute of deep breathing, taking a few minutes to write in a journal, or taking a walk outside.
When we practice stillness we are releasing our emotions and thoughts and giving it a space to go.

Honoring Simplicity

Try reframing your perspective to include gratitude when you feel stressed or overwhelmed.
Parenting is full of transient phases - what moment of joy are you missing out on by sitting in stress.
How can you shift your schedule or routines to honor your needs rather than add to the irritation?

Embrace Change

Think about where you can embrace change to help take the pressure off of yourself.
There can be a lot of fear around change, but working through that fear can have wonderful outcomes.

Trusting Your Intuition

The moment you’re in will get better.
Everything will always work out the way it’s supposed to work out.
Release the feelings of doubt and trust what your intuition is saying.

Resources:

FREE Workshop - Parenting YOURSELF: A personal process to Inner Peace

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 12pm EST

https://stan.store/theparentingreframe/p/free-workshop-parenting-yourself

Surgeon General’s Advisory on Parental Stress: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/08/28/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-mental-health-well-being-parents.html

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Five Tenets to Reduce Everyday Stress

Resources: