3 Things for Good Health and Wellbeing
Yesterday I had a rare afternoon out on my own. A friend had organised a christmas party of like minded women who are into health and wellness. With most of my weeks mainly consisting of baby babble it was really nice to be social and talk with adults.
My friend is quite inspiring with all she does for her wellbeing so on the way home I was contemplating what I’m doing for myself. I came up with three things that are part of my wellness toolkit that at the moment I can’t do without.
A good night’s sleep…..ha ha not sure when I’ll ever get one of those again. At the moment we are swinging between 4-50,000 wakes a night. My daughter is almost 6 months so 2 of those wakes are for a feed, another 2 are for the dummy to be put back in, another might be a nappy change and usually by the morning I can’t remember why I got up all the other times. There is the random night where my daughter sleeps from 7pm to 3am and then there’s nights like last night where she is awake from 3:30-6am!
So, how do I cope with the sleep deprivation? Yoga Nidra! Fortunately, my daughter has a good sleep in the morning so when she goes down so do I. And, I do a 30-50 minute yoga nidra. It gives me a much deeper rest than if I just lay down for a nap. I remember from my yoga teacher training that a 45 minute yoga nidra is equivalent to 3 hours sleep! So for me it is a much better way to catch up on all that lost sleep during the night and try and stay a sane mummy.
Since breastfeeding I have found my skin to be a lot drier and I get these little patches of dryness on my face and other parts of my body. My lips are also a lot drier and my usual lip balms just aren’t cutting it. During a draw clear out one day (the things I now do to entertain myself) I came across the tube of Lansinoh I’d used to help soothe my sore and cracked nipples when I first started breastfeeding. It suddenly occurred to me that lanolin (which is what Lansinoh is) is great for the skin because it is a natural emollient that forms a layer on top of the skin trapping the water in. It also has a molecular structure that closely resembles and mimics the skins own oils. Since then I’ve been dabbing lanolin on my dry patches and using it on my lips and have definitely noticed an improvement. If you’re interested in getting a lanolin based lip moisturiser then I recommend Lanolips as it is made with pure medical grade lanolin.
My activity shoes! After my daughter was born my feet had changed size so I needed a new pair of runners for all the walking (thus the reason I call them activity shoes….I don’t run) I was determined to do to loose the baby weight. I bought the Brooks Womens GTS running shoe after a great shoe fitting at the Athletes foot. They are the most comfortable shoes I own and the most comfortable “activity” shoe I have ever owned. They actually make me want to do more exercise! They’re comfortable, light and look good. The colours brighten up my day! I have definitely been glad to find these little beauties are on Amazon and a lot cheaper than at Athletes foot!
So there you have it. As a new mum adjusting to the life of motherhood these are my three top things I can’t do without at the moment.
The Geriatric Mum
PS With all the tiredness at the moment I haven’t been doing any shiatsu. To help bring in income for my family I am using my blog to do affiliate marketing. For any product you purchase through my blog I make commission.