Self-Care Strategies for Parents & Caregivers

The life of a parent and caregiver is certainly a busy one. With ‘back-to-school’ supply shopping right around the corner, the high levels of stress, late nights and work demands can cause a trade-off in your mental and physical health. Consequently, the combination of these stressors can significantly reduce the quality of sleep, immune system resistance, muscle coordination and metabolism. While our general health and well-being can be often overlooked by everyday priorities, underestimating the importance of self-care strategies can undermine a wide range of health benefits. 

With the start of a new year and a promising new year’s resolution for 2023, learning to incorporate self-care strategies during periods of high stress, can be beneficial for improving everyday functionality and performance with the family and in the workplace. 

Here’s how you can incorporate self-care strategies into your lifestyle, despite the busy new year ahead:

1. Recognise the warning signs

   The first step in addressing the problem is to recognise the problem. The warning signs of stress include headaches, constant fatigue, mood changes, tense muscles and a weakened immune system. Knowing when to recognise the warning signs to stop and take a break is incredibly important for you to recover from prolonged work exposure. Learning to take a break alongside your busy and demanding schedules, means that maintaining a ‘self-care’ lifestyle does not have to be mutually exclusive to your working schedule. Everyone deserves the time to unwind and whether that’s to have a relaxing massage, a detoxifying sauna or a peaceful float, we give our bodies the best chances to overcome those warning signs.

2. Treat the mind and body equally

   While we see the obvious physical changes that appear when our bodies are overworked such as muscle soreness, tension and lack of coordination, it’s a little harder to see the changes in our mental health when we’re in a state of constant fatigue. However, learning to look after both physical and mental health requires strategies to minimise the impact on our general health and well-being. Self-care methods like a massage, infrared sauna or float therapy offer the body to detoxify itself and improve blood circulation to areas being frequently used. Promoting healthy habits to safeguard our well-being, is the first step in reminding yourself to take some time out for recovery and healing - both physically and mentally.

3. Engage in prevention rather than cures

   In every decision in life, it’s always ideal to avoid a problem in the first place, and then to seek a remedy after the damage has been done. The same thing goes for healthy habits and the importance of practising self-care. While it is normal to experience levels of stress and physical exhaustion every day, the problem with our health arises when the accumulation of these stressors can cause long-term health problems that are easily preventable.
   
   Engaging in interval treatment massage services is a great way to prevent long-term problems such as bad posture and back pain and even burnout! Early pain management allows the receiver to rejuvenate and prepare the body for more high-energy activities. Give yourself the best possible head start to the new year by preventing any long-term damage to your health, so you can keep doing the things you love most!

4. Enter into a meditative state

   Sometimes all we need is to isolate ourselves and enjoy the peaceful serenity around us. If you have a repetitive lifestyle embedded with deadlines, busy schedules and overwhelming workloads, the frequent use of muscles and mental stamina can throw off the work-life balance. Entering into a meditative state like floatation therapy can immerse the mind and body to heal from high body functions and into a state of deep relaxation and optimal healing. Floatation therapy can rejuvenate the body by easing joint pain, and fatigue, healing muscles and can help you enter into a state of meditation and reflection. Take some time for yourself and appreciate the change from fast-paced schedules to slow, self-reflective me-time.