3 Ways to Fill Your Cup
” You can’t pour from an empty cup…. take care of yourself first”
Have you ever noticed when you are in a bad mood or feeling tired and exhausted, that you are more effected by your child’s behaviour or any life challenges you might be facing? We mirror each other and our energies, if we are calm and balanced we are able handle challenging times with more ease and grace. The children and people around us pickup on this positive energy and feel better themselves… it’s a proven ripple effect.
Ellen Galinsky, the head of the Families and Work Institute and the author of Mind in the Making, asked children, “If you were granted one wish about your parents, what would it be?” Most parents predicted their kids would say spending more time with them. They were wrong. The kids’ number one wish was that their parents were less tired and less stressed.
Working with children over the years and having sons of my own, I watch mums (including myself) put themselves 2nd, 3rd, 4th or last! Why do we feel the need to look after everybody else over ourselves? Do we feel that we don’t deserve to spend time and money on ourselves? Perhaps we spend so much time running around for the kids and family that we feel there is no time left over for ourselves, or perhaps we feel we don’t deserve to come first once in a while? When we miss out on taking some time for ourselves we can start to feel burnt out.
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Making some time to fill your cup will prevent this.
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3 TIPS FOR FILLING YOUR CUP REGULARLY
1. Get up 10 minutes earlier and spend some time in meditation or practice mindfulness, even if you just start with 5 minutes.
Sit still, observe the moment, be present, feel the morning sun on your face (if outside) listen to the birds, connect with your breath, feel your body, be completely aware and let life be just as it is for 5 – 10 minutes, it will do wonders for your day!
2. Practice gratitude. I’m a big believer in the practice of gratitude, if we are thankful for what we have it is only universal law to send us more of the good stuff but remember if we are focusing on the negative…guess what, we get more of that.
Everyday focus on the good things in life, even if a challenging day, thank yourselves for getting through it, there is always something to be grateful for.
3. Treat yourself… put it in the diary, make a date with yourself at least once a month!
Take yourself out on a coffee date, buy yourself flowers, go to your favorite spot and just sit, do nothing for an hour, put the music on loud and just dance when no one is home and if they are too bad… dance your little heart out, make a cup of tea and sit in the garden, ground yourself connect with nature, go for a walk meditation leave the phone at home and just walk, feel your foot steps, listen to your breath, look around notice the environment and be totally present.
By Simone from Balance and Flow Kids:
I am passionate about empowering children, families and mums to find peace and calm, and connect with their personal power through creativity, mindfulness and yoga. After being asked by so many of the mums from my kids yoga classes and girl’s mindfulness programs if I would do something for the mums themselves I am now running ‘Mindful Mornings for Mums’, visit my website for more dates. Make the time to fill your cup up.