21 February 2017

5 ways to nourish yourself

This year I chose Nourish for my guiding word. After being a full-time stay-at-home Mum for the past eight years, I felt it was time I put my needs first (for a change), and to start taking better care of myself. I want to make sure I balance my time better, so I am not feeling so drained by the time school holidays roll around. 

As a Mum I often find myself mentally drained and feeling rundown (especially towards the end of a school term) because I have been so concerned with the girls health, getting things done for them, helping my Mum out with chores, or dealing with the housework and clutter etc. I usually find an excuse not to exercise or make my own health issues a priority, resulting in me getting sick or not feeling 100%.

Today I thought I'd share with you some of the different things I do to nourish and look after myself.

My vision board for Nourish

These are just 5 ways I have been taking time out for myself:

* Create - As you may already know, I love to be creative! Whether its drawing or painting, taking photos or baking I love to create something. I find when I spend a little time (even if it's 20 minutes) to create something, it perks me up for the rest of the day. It had been a few weeks since I painted and had been really missing it, so last Friday I spent an hour or so creating this painting.

An aqua jug with some Eucalyptus leaves and a sprig of Wattle in gouache

* Music - Lately, while I have been washing the dishes or tidying the house, I turn the music up on the ipod. I like to listen to the latest songs by Ed Sheeran, Michael Buble or my all-time favourite Bon Jovi on YouTube.

* Coffee - savouring a good cup of coffee is important on my daily to-do-list, especially in the morning. Once I've dropped the girls off to school, I like to come home and make myself a nice cup of coffee, which I can sit down and enjoy.

* Reading - I haven't really read a proper book for ages, I mainly read blogs and articles online. So a few weeks ago I bought myself Ellen Degeneres book "Seriously...I'm Kidding", which is a good laugh, and a nice, easy to read, non-heavy book to lead me back to reading books.

* TV - My latest show weakness has been the American house renovation shows (Masters of Flip, Listed Sisters) that have been on TV. While I've never loved ironing (I'd rather iron something when I need it, then iron a basket full of clothes and hang them up, only to get creased again!) I have been ironing Hubby's business shirts for the week, along with the girls uniforms on a Monday morning while watching the renovation shows I had recorded the night before. I may take a little longer to iron them, as I like to enjoy the show while savouring my coffee!

I hope one of these ideas helps you to take better care of yourself :)

12 comments:

  1. As mums sometimes I think we are programmed to put everyone else's needs before our own! Even in hospital yesterday I was checking to see if the kids were organised re attending their HSC study talk that night until I realised I needed to take the time to rest and recover and let their dad deal with all the day to day dramas for now instead of me!

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    1. I think you definitely need to take care of yourself and rest up, and let Hubby deal with all the dramas. I hope you recover quickly. :)

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  2. I marvel at the cheap cost of some houses in parts of the US on those house hunting shows sometimes! But I also like to mock people who walk in and complain about the shade of pain on the kitchen cabinets :)

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    1. I know right, especially when they baulk at the price for how big it is...love to be able to buy something that cheap over here and do it up! :)

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  3. Reading a book! I read my first book "The Girl on the Train" in around two years last week. What a luxury to spend 20 minutes lying on my bed READING! Awesome ideas.

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  4. I am so glad you are nourishing yourself. For far too long I did not. Now, a much older person than you, I am doing much more. Discovering time for art, music and reading is a gift. Keep giving it to yourself. I make some time for each every day now. Denyse #teamIBOT

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    1. Thanks for coming by Denyse :) I agree I need to prioritise my days and allow myself time to enjoy each of these gifts. x

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  5. All my favourites!! Nourish is my all time favourite word I ever used. It is a great guide and anchor

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    1. Thanks Deb, I'm really enjoying Nourish, its a great word :) x

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  6. Your vision board looks amazing Julie!!! I think I'd love Ellen's book. She cracks me up! Will add it to my list xx

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    1. Thanks Elisa, I really love the colours and quotes of my vision board. :) Yeah I love Ellen too, I thought some light reading would be a good start to me getting back to reading more books this year :) xx

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