Hey Stressed Out Moms! Here Are 4 Quick De-Stress Therapy Tips

The demands placed on modern moms have never been as great. As nearly 1 in 4 new moms are returning to work within just 2 weeks of having a baby, they have to overcome all the challenges that nursing newborns presents, and balance e that with their relationships with spouse and family, careers and running households.

 If you add to that list that having more than one child and that is the perfect storm to create incredible stress for new moms. So if this situation resonates with you, let’s take a look at how you can be your own therapist and easily incorporate stress-reduction into your everyday routine.

 1. Nutrition

There is increasing research on the links between eating a healthy balanced diet and reducing stress and anxiety levels and improving mental health. Stress has the effect of weakening the immune system, destabilizing moods and increasing blood pressure.  Increasing your intake of healthy foods and therefore essential nutrients such as:

Vitamin C -  (oranges and citrus)-  boost immune system

Magnesium - (spinach and leafy greens) – reduce headaches, fatigue and menstrual mood changes: and

Omega-3 Fatty Acids - (salmon, tuna, walnuts and flaxseeds) – protect against heart disease and depression

2. Outdoors

Try to increase the amount of time you spend outside in nature at the park or the beach and get sunshine to boost your Vitamin D levels which has been shown to be a valuable mood enhancer and has a multitude of health benefits. It is also healthy for newborns to get a little controlled sun exposure (ideally no more than 15 minutes an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset), so take baby for a walk with you.

 Take off your shoes if you can, and walk barefoot on the grass or sand, and you will feel closer to nature and that in turn presents a sense of mindfulness and wellbeing that will help melt the stress away.

3. Social Media

If you are always connected to the outside world by smartphone, you will inevitably fail tobe truly present in your own thoughts and actions. On average an American adult checks their phone once every 12 minutes, and will spend 5 years of their lives on social media.

Moreover, social media can be a very negative experience, with the presence of anonymous internet trolls and bombardment of stress inducing news. Then there is the insecurity that can be caused by comparing your own situation to other people who seemingly have it all, another trigger for stress and depression for new mom.

Instead of mindlessly scroll through your feed, set up particular times during the day, and limit yourself to no more than 15 minutes at a time – you’ll find that usually those notifications are not urgent enough to require your immediate attention.  Use the extra time to deal with clutter in your home, exercise, or and maybe read that book that you have been meaning to start for the last year.

4. Exercise

This is usually toe most difficult activity to find time for – you have had a sleepless night with the young one, but you still have to be up early to make breakfast and take the children to school, all before 9am – how are you going to find time to exercise?

Most new moms worry about carrying extra pounds, and the prospect of exercising is daunting enough, aside from finding the tine to change and travel to the gym. These are all major stress inducing factors for moms and can present a serious health risk.

There is often no easy answer, but the key is to become more active, whenever you can, in short burst, and you do not necessarily need to become gym rat: try

Walking – instead of taking the car

Exercising at home – use DVD or streaming app fitness programs that can be done in 30 minutes per day (save time, travel and stress)

Join a meetup group - find a buddy to keep you accountable. A problem shared is a problem halved

In conclusion, try to be mindful of the thoughts and feelings that trigger your stress, and incorporate these stress-busting routines into your lifestyle, as prevention is far easier than cure and it will be far more manageable when it does occur. Or find out more about professional therapy by visiting a site like betterhelp.com . What are your best stress-reduction tips for moms?