I’ve been doing a lot of research on motherhood challenges and I have learned so much! I’ve learned that every stage has a challenge but most of them come down to insecurity. I believe this starts at pregnancy and that working on confidence building before becoming moms is extremely important.
During pregnancy, we realize our body is creating a human and we question if we will do a good job. We start taking extra care of what we eat and what we are doing so that baby will grow healthy.
We focus on the baby and forget that we must put the oxygen mask on ourselves first. The truth is I am guilty of this as well and even though I did take care of myself during pregnancy.
I realize there are 6 important areas to consider to build a confident mom life:
1. Mindset
Feeling anxiety is very common during pregnancy especially if you are a new mom. So it’s important to work with positive affirmations, meditation and searching within to understand any insecurities that you might have.
I was actually gifted a mala bead necklace to meditate with and I would wear it every time I felt doubt or insecurity. It still is a great reminder for me to believe in myself and not let insecurity fill up my mind.
Another thing that helps a lot is hypnosis. There are many apps or playlist that can help with unconscious positive thinking, so try it out.
If you prepare your mind beforehand things will be so much easier. I realize that all the preparation I did during pregnancy helped me get ready for the initial months with a baby. Even now when things get hard I refocus and check if my mind is in the right place.
The best thing to do to reset is either take a bath, meditate or go for a walk in nature. The idea is to empty your mind and focus only on positive things that will make you feel confident.
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2. Fitness
At the beginning of my pregnancy, I was working out regularly. But as I got bigger I would get tired easily and I remember getting overwhelmed because I wasn’t keeping at it.
The key is that as long as you keep active, that’s what’s important. Once I understood this I felt more at ease and enjoyed hiking, walking my dog, moving around or even dancing.
Now almost 9 months into motherhood I am back at it and even registered at a Crossfit gym and feel great! I have more energy and strength to take care of my little one.
I know not everyone would want to register to a high-intensity training like I did. Do what is best for you, maybe that means 20 minutes yoga session or taking the baby for a stroll. The idea is to keep healthy so you stay confident and strong.
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3. Nutrition
Sometimes we think that pregnancy gives us a green light to eat more because “we are eating for two…” But in reality, the best thing to do is to eat great quality food that will provide more energy for us as and the baby.
Think about it: “We are what we eat”… So if we don’t eat well it will affect us physically and mentally, plus it will affect the baby as well.
It’s very tempting to eat processed foods while taking care of a baby. They are convenient and taking care of a baby is hard enough right! But the more healthy nutrition you get, the more energy you will have. So consider this next time you are tempted to order in…
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4. Environment
It’s very important to feel at ease during pregnancy or even after having a child. Everything around us can impact our mood.
We actually live close to nature, so when I feel overwhelmed I can go recharge outside. Inside the house, we live a very minimalistic life so we can feel at ease when we are at home.
Also, the use of natural products might not seem important, but as someone who suffered a chronic painful condition, I can say that it makes a difference.
I used natural products throughout my pregnancy and continue to do so and it makes a huge impact in my level of energy.
Keeping a calm environment doesn’t necessarily mean you should have your house super clean and everything in order. It just means you should surround yourself with simple things that inspire you inside and outside your home.
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5. Relationships
This is a big one and realizes most of my research regarding motherhood suffers from lack of close relationships and helpful communities.
In the past villages raised children, so other mothers would help moms to be. I believe nowadays we are lacking this plus we want to be “Supermoms” and do everything, so this can feel very overwhelming and can lead to insecurity.
The best advice I can think of for this is to maintain a few close relationships even if they are online. I know it really helps me when I feel frustrated.
Of course family is very important, so if you can spend as much time as possible with your loved ones!
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6. Play
Yeah, play! When you put yourself in child state of mind it relaxes your body and releases stress. I practiced play when I was pregnant by connecting to my inner child. Whatever play means to you, for me maybe it’s to open the sofa bed in the living room and pretend we are camping there for a night.
Once your little one is born it’s much easier to play, simply because they play all the time. So practicing beforehand helps. Now I play with my daughter all the time and just pretend I am a child myself!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BW_O8aTl-NU/?taken-by=onapraderas
I worked on all of these areas when I was pregnant and continue to do so now that I am a mom. I believe listing these areas and rating them can help establish new approaches to motherhood. Plus it does help to have a specific number of areas that are important to you to keep a certain amount of balance and energy.
What areas are important to you?