by Prue Henschke | Mar 17, 2019 | Two minutes with interview series
When was the last time you had “me-time” and how did you spend that time?
This past Saturday I got to ski, which is my favorite sport/ hobby. It started off a disaster, my feet hurt on my first run so I went to get my boots reshaped. I waited an hour to have them reshaped and could not stop thinking of the time and money that was being wasted. Since my son was born, we make it up to Mammoth only one weekend a year, so there is pressure to make it count. The victimy thoughts started going through my head sitting there.. I just acknowledged them, sat in them and let them pass through me so I wouldn’t hold onto them. I had adjusted my expectations for the day right around the time my boots were finished.
Skiing ended up being magical, I had perfect moments in the trees where no one was around, it was snowing, silent, I felt confident and so serene. That is the flow that I crave. Motherhood has made it more difficult to stay in the present, to shrug things off, perhaps this will get easier as time goes by. Now it takes more to clear my cache and find the NOW: where everything is okay, where everything is magical, where the brain isn’t calculating, analyzing, planning, etc. Where I just am. I try to find this when I take ‘me time’.
What are some of your favourite ways to practice self care?
My first year postpartum I got a membership to a spa. The membership included one massage per month and felt a tad luxurious. It felt important to make sure I was getting that quiet self care time.
I also love the power of journaling and emptying my head onto the page. There is magic in writing your way through all the big feelings of motherhood.
Lastly, therapy has helped immensely. My partner and I have couples therapy every other week and I have my own therapy once a week. My therapist had me start group therapy after becoming a mother. She facilitates groups for people who have childhood trauma. It consists of weekly homework, a lot of inner child work, re-parenting our child and it keeps me accountable to be and become the mother I always wish I had to inner child and my son.
What advice would you give to mamas struggling to create “me-time”? How do you make time in your schedule for yourself?
Having healthy communication with my partner about personal time is where it starts for me. My partner, Kevin, can spot when I need to step away usually before I can. We are good with dividing personal time on weekends and we push each other to do so. We have a routine of drinking tea before bed and sometimes I take it into the bedroom to read or journal. Just those few minutes can be a great start and do wonders.
I also feel setting goals is important. When I was newly postpartum I signed up for a marathon and committed to doing it. It was my second marathon and I would need to really train after gaining half my body weight during pregnancy. Training for that marathon was the biggest teacher in forcing me to take ‘me time’. I would not recommend anyone do a marathon as newly postpartum as I was, 8 months, but having a goal and committing to something is another great way to start ‘me time’. I just finished doing a 100 days of yoga, well I didn’t get to 100 days, but it got me on the mat and jumpstarted me back to taking care of myself by slowing down. Next up might be 30 days of meditation.
My default would be to spend every moment with my son. Fortunately, I know how important it is for both of us that I have autonomy. We cannot give if we are empty.
by Prue Henschke | Mar 3, 2019 | Two minutes with interview series
When was the last time you had “me-time” and how did you spend that time?
I actually have a girls weekend away planned in a couple weeks! My husband travels a lot for work and this year he has more overseas trips booked than usual….so it was my hubby that actually suggested that I book a weekend away for some me time! So I booked a hotel (only 1 hr away to make it easy), both my sister and sister-in-law will be joining me for a relaxing weekend doing nothing! We plan on sleeping in, reading by the pool and going to the beach….we might even squeeze in a massage too! I have never done anything like this since having children, so this will be my first weekend away from my family in over 4 years!
What are some of your favourite ways to practice self care?
*Self care for my soul: self care to me is recharging my soul and clearing my head space.
I am a creative person and I need to be constantly using my hands in a creative way to keep my soul happy and at peace. So I try and do something creative every day as a way of care for my creative self. I love to macrame, sew, press flowers etc. My eldest daughter is at the age where she loves doing crafts so we spend most days doing crafts together which makes my heart sing! I also love pottering around the house, moving homewares around and changing up the spaces around me. I am a homebody so I love having the space around me visually appealing. I also believe in smudging my home and body when I feel the urge to, using a palo santo stick and essential oils is a great way to cleanse my body and space.
*Self care for my body- to thank my body for the day I practice self care every night….once the girls are asleep I love to do some slow stretches followed by breathing/mediating exercises. I love ending my day slowly and mindfully…and of course finishing every night with a warm lunar latte and a big piece of dark chocolate!
Another body self care practice I love to do is rolling an organic face elixir oil on my face using a rose quartz facial roller. Its an amazing way to release any tension and helps rejuvenate your skin!
What advice would you give to mamas struggling to create “me-time”? How do you make time in your schedule for yourself?
My advice is to know what you as an individual specifically needs to be happy. That means understanding your body/soul and learning how to recharge it. Often as a Mumma we feel guilty taking time for ourselves, but self love is just as important as love for your family. Everyone around you will feel the benefits when you are fully happy within yourself.
I am a typical pisces …so I’m introverted and need ‘me time’ to recharge my soul. I have learnt this from a young age; so I know when if I am feeling overwhelmed or run down, that I need to give myself some ‘me time’. So if that means missing a social event to stay home, not answering your phone or simply doing something I love to do for myself….I make sure I take some time out to care for my soul.
I make time for myself at night. I am a night owl, so when everyone in my house is asleep I stay up late and it is during this time that I focus on myself. During the day I always have at least one of my kids with me, but I have learnt how to recharge myself even with my girls with me. We are all nature lovers and get recharged by her beauty, so every day I go outside and explore our surrounding environments with my girls. During this time in nature, I feel like we are all making time for ourselves. The beach is our happy place so we make sure we go there once a day, we don’t take any toys for the girls, rather we explore our surroundings and switch into mother nature. We also love going for barefoot bush walks and collecting nature treasures which we then repurpose in our craft activities. Walking barefoot on mother earth is the best way to ground yourself and recharge. This practice of earthing , transfers the earths electrons from the ground to the body and has so many benefits for our body and soul.
I have also learnt that by doing all my house chores/admin at night, allows me to fully embrace the day and frees up some me time. When my youngest is napping I spend my time with my eldest in our backyard. We never take any toys outside, rather we choose to do crafts together, or gardening or just simply lay outside reading a book or staring at the clouds. I am a sun worshiper , so I definitely get recharged by her light!
My husband knows that I need ‘me time’ to recharge so on the weekends he always takes the girls for a walk to get coffee in the morning , so I can just be at home by myself.
