Dr Rachel Young, Director of Young Chiropractic, is a holistic chiropractor who works a lot with mums and has some great advice to reduce mum stress. She shares her top 4 tips for helping you to reduce your stress...
Dr Rachel Young, Director of Young Chiropractic, is a holistic chiropractor who works a lot with mums and has some great advice to reduce mum stress. She shares her top 4 tips for helping you to reduce your stress and reclaim your Zen!
The demands on women and families are so high these days and life is very fast-paced. And so it is often the simple things that we dismiss that actually have the biggest impact in helping to moderate and regulate our stress levels.
4 Simple Ways to Reduce Mum Stress
1. Get the exercise in, even if it’s a simple walk.
Just making sure you get out for some sunshine makes a difference, it doesn’t have to be a huge weight training or HIIT session. If you’ve only got half an hour or 20 minutes, sometimes it’s just going for a walk to get the heart rate up and some Vitamin D, which can improve brain function.
2. Spend a mindful moment laying on a rolled up towel.
Spending a moment grounding yourself in your surrounding while lying on a rolled up towel is one of the really simple things that can help reduce your cortisol levels. Focusing your brain on the moment and allowing your body to be still allows you to slow down and reset in a fast-paced day.
3. Avoid caffeine before 10am.
While most people are aware that drinking coffee/consuming caffeine too late in the day can impact their sleep, many are unaware that it is best to avoid consumption when cortisol levels are naturally high in the morning. Adding a stimulant at this time of the day can put stress on our adrenals. You might be surprised what a difference this simple change can make!
4. Watch your posture.
When we are stressed we often tense our bodies and create discomfort for ourselves. There’s a lot of research being done to understand how the brain and nervous system are affected by poor posture. Particularly the regulation of stress and the body’s response to stress.
Mums in particular commonly struggle with neck and back pain, due to carrying their little ones or breastfeeding in an awkward position. Maintaining positions for long periods of time, like holding an unsettled child for long periods, also strains the neck and back.
Being mindful about your posture is important. Examples would be; ensuring you sit in a well supported chair; ensuring that your shoulders are relaxed and use pillows for back or elbow support when feeding your baby to reduce tension; and ensure that you engage your core and use your legs instead of your back when bending, kneeling, bathing and lifting your child to minimise spinal problems.
Parents do amazing jobs and put their bodies on the line for their kids but at some stage, there has to be an investment in yourself, which will also ensure that you can also look after your your children.
This may mean going and having a chat to a chiropractor and having a discussion about your concerns and your in regards to posture, pain or discomfort.
What we offer at Young Chiropractic
We are a family-centred practice with a special interest in children. We also love seeing mums and dads thrive and do the best in whatever they do.
And we really work hard to provide honest and effective communication about what’s going on and take a holistic approach looking at how we can help at every level.
Sometimes that’s referring to colleagues or associated health professionals if we think there’s something else that needs to be addressed at the same time.
You can find out more via our website.
This post was sponsored by Young Chiropractic.
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