Rest is very important for mums. It’s very hard to enjoy your motherhood when you are exhausted all the time.
I have a confession, I am not very good at just sitting down.
It’s something that I have to be very intentional about.
There is always a lot of things to do.
But rest is important.
I know that you know that too.
I’m guessing that also don’t get enough of it either.
So let’s try and make it a priority together.
What is rest and why do I need it?
Motherhood is a lot.
It’s a lot mentally, emotionally, physically – in every single way that it can be a lot…it’s a lot.
If you’ve ever just sat down at the end of the day and thought that you are exhausted – even if you had a good night sleep the night before (the dream) – you are not alone in that.
Motherhood, as amazing as it is, can be draining.
One of the ways to combat this feeling, is to rest more throughout the day.
It’s something that very few of us mums do.
If you are rolling your eyes at how little time you have to do that – I get it.
However, it is important that we do get more rest.
It’s very hard to really enjoy your motherhood when you are feeling completely drained by the end of the day and not in a this has been an amazing day and now I am tired kind of way.
If you are thinking about how you did sit down earlier and scroll on instagram for a little bit…that isn’t the resting that our bodies and minds are craving.
Here is the thing:
Rest isn’t just sleeping.
There are actually 7 different types of rest.
Some of them when you read the list you might be able to say that you do.
Others you might need to start prioritising a bit more.
When we start prioritising all the different types of rest into our day, we feel so much better for it.
That exhausted drained feeling we get, even when we have slept well, tends to start going away.
Which means we start feeling more like ourselves again.
Why do mums need more rest?
Motherhood is a 24/7 job.
Even when you are not actually with your children, you are still thinking about them and their needs or making snacks, or doing their laundry, or filling in school forms or doing therapies with them.
This list could be extremely long.
It is a constant, all-the-time thing.
This is why rest needs to be a priority.
The benefits of rest
There are so many benefits for resting more:
- enjoying your motherhood more
- lower stress levels
- more patient
- feeling like you can cope better
- hormone and nervous system support
- helps boost your problem solving and decision making skills
- helps prevent burnout
I think we all need a bit more of all of these things in our life.
It doesn’t have to be something you have to overhaul your entire life for either – rest can fit in little 5 minute bursts into your day.
I think we all have time for a few of them if we are being completely honest!
Signs that you need more rest:
Signs that you need more rest are very similar to the signs of mum burnout:
- Snapping easily and having less patience
- Feeling a bit numb
- Constantly feeling tired, no matter how much your rest
- Wanting to escape your life
- Brain fog
- Just not feeling yourself
Just a side note, these can be signs of other things and if you feel like you aren’t coping very well, please go and speak to your GP.
What are the seven types of rest?
Physical rest
This is the one that usually pops into our mind if we are thinking about rest.
Examples of physical rest would be sleeping or lying down.
Other examples of physical rest would be active rest such as stretching or gentle movement.
Some ways that you can add more physical rest into your day would be:
- Sitting down, phone free, for 2 minutes – take a deep breath and relax your shoulders
- Have an earlier night
- Do some stretching first thing in the morning, or last thing at night – or while you wait for the kettle to boil
- Going for a gentle paced, no-rush walk
Mental rest
Our brains are busy.
I think most mums will say they always feel like they have way too many tabs open in their brain at one time.
So mental rest gives your brain a little bit of a break.
Some ways you can have mental rest are:
- Do a brain dump – get everything out of your mind and onto paper (my favourite thing to do!)
- Turn off notifications on your phone – just keep the important ones on
- Try meditating
- Give yourself a minute to just sit down, close your eyes and breathe
Emotional rest
There is a lot of emotion in motherhood.
Not only do we hold our own emotions, we also seem to hold everyone else’s.
Emotional rest is really important for mums because let’s be honest – it’s a lot!
Some ways that you can get emotional rest are:
- Just feeling your emotions – saying ‘today has been hard and I am feeling sad’ rather than stuffing it down inside you
- Journalling – sometimes we don’t feel like we can say things out loud – so write them down – you don’t have to show anyone
- Allowing yourself to cry
- Talking it out with a friend or partner
Social rest
We all have different social batteries.
I am an introvert so I enjoy being around the people I want to be around but my battery gets refilled by being on my own and having quiet time.
If you are an extrovert, you will be the opposite way – you love being with people and being alone drains your battery.
Either way we all need social rest and that is either going to look like getting some alone time, or it’s going to look like making a point of being with the people who you love being around and not the people who drain you.
Sensory rest
It’s definitely easier to understand why you would need sensory rest when you are a mum – there is a lot of touching, talking, noise, mess,toys and in some cases beeping medical equipment.
Our senses can get overloaded and overwhelmed being a mum and it’s important to try and get some rest from it all!
Visual clutter can also cause us a lot of stress so decluttering is always a good idea!
Some ways to get some sensory rest as a mum:
- declutter your home (here is how I keep on top of decluttering our home)
- Turning off all the background noise
- 30 seconds in a quiet room (the bathroom works well!)
- Using lamps instead of the big light
Creative rest
This one might be an unexpected one.
Our brain needs to feel joy and creativity.
Something that isn’t always very easy to make time for in motherhood.
It doesn’t have to be some pinterest or instagram worthy creativity – just something that makes you happy.
Some ways to get creative rest:
- Getting outside and noticing nature
- Listening to music
- Do some painting or drawing (or join in with your kids doing it)
- Do some baking
- Take some photos
- Make something
Spiritual rest
Spiritual rest is about taking time to feel connected to something bigger than ourselves.
It doesn’t have to be a religion – it could be the universe, it could be your purpose or just feeling grounded in the earth.
Some ways that you can get spiritual rest are:
- Practicing gratitude
- Meditation
- Prayer
- Stepping outside and being mindful about nature
- Reflecting on whats important to you
- Reflecting on your purpose
Add in little moments of rest
As nice as a night away, a spa day or a weekend away by yourself might sound – you don’t actually need that to get some rest in.
The most beneficial way is to add rest in consistently to your life by doing it in tiny bursts that you can fit in.
You don’t want to be trapped in a burn out-weekend away-feel better-then burn out again cycle.
It’s adding things in to our daily life that prevent burnout from happening that is going to have the biggest impact.
So think about little ways that you can add in more rest in to your day and make a point of doing them – it’s not supposed to be big things.
Small ways to add in more rest to your day:
- Sitting in silence for 2 minutes
- Doing some stretching while you wait for the kettle to boil
- Doing 3 deep breaths
- Box breathing
- Having a warm drink and actually drinking it warm
- Going for a walk (even if its to the end of the road and back)
- Asking for help
- Doing some journalling
- Talking things out with a friend
- Reading
- Crafting
- Baking
It is the little things added into your day that is going to make the biggest difference.
A gentle reminder
Rest isn’t something you earn.
You deserve to rest.
Everyone needs to rest – mothers are not the exception.
I know I say it a lot, but it is a lot easier to be the mum that you want to be when you are actually taking care of yourself.
So find ways to fit in those moments of rest into your day – and you are actually going to feel like you are enjoying your motherhood again and not just completely exhausted no matter how much you sleep.
I hope that this helps you if you feel exhausted all the time.
Beth x
