Mindfulness WILL change your life—I’m confident about that. And yet, if you’re like most of my clients, you find it so challenging to fit mindfulness practices into your day. That’s why I want to talk with you about mindfulness for busy moms, because even as a Mindfulness Life Coach, I have to set my intentions so that I make it a priority, so I certainly get it.
This makes sense, too. Modern motherhood leaves barely enough time to shave your legs, let alone to sit down and meditate.
So with this in mind, I’ve come up with a few strategies to help you practice mindfulness as a modern, busy mom.
1. Adopt the rule “one is better than none.”
It can feel like if you’re not meditating, journaling, reading, and practicing yoga on a mountain in your free time, then what you’re doing isn’t enough.
It’s as if doing one mindfulness practice won’t help. That’s the mindset we can come into it with, anyways.
And it couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is that doing one mindfulness practice is better than doing nothing.
So, adopt the rule that “one is better than none.” It’s better to do one mindfulness practice than nothing. One is enough. I promise.
For example, if you did 10 Minutes Of Silence every single day for a year and nothing else, you would radically change your nervous system and become more regulated (i.e.: decrease stress, anxiety, worry, snapping, yelling, etc.).
This is the power of the “One is better than none” rule. The compound effect works like magic.
2. Attach a mindfulness practice to a habit.
Choose one habit you’re already in and attach a mindfulness practice to it.
For example, you probably brush your teeth every morning and night. This is a habit that you don’t have to think about, try to remember, or plan. So you can attach a mindfulness practice to your teeth-brushing as a way to make the habit stick more easily.
Let’s say you want to become aware of your top feelings (a mindfulness practice I highly recommend). While you’re brushing your teeth, you can look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself what your top emotion was that day. It will be a one word answer (overwhelm, anxious, stress, excited, happy, motivated, etc.).
Just by focusing your awareness on something in the present moment, like how you’re feeling, you will become more mindful of how you’re showing up in your life. And attaching this practice to a habit is an easy way for busy moms to do just that.
Resources:
- Anxiety In Motherhood (podcast)
- How To Become A More Mindful Mom (free class)
3. Miss one but never two.
An effective way to get in the habit of practicing mindfulness in your everyday life is to allow yourself to “miss one but never two” with respect to days in a row.
Let’s say you start a journaling practice. It’s okay to miss one day of it but don’t allow yourself to miss a second day. When you do the thing you want to do more often than not, you’ll build the habit. And this catchy way of thinking about it leaves room for those “crazy days” while still holding you accountable.
Resources:
- 75 Journal Prompts For Moms (free download)
- Feeling Like You’re Just A Mom (podcast)
4. Know your why.
Regardless of how busy you are, if you got a call that was to come pick up your child because they fell off a swing at school and were hurt, you would go.
The reason is because you love your child madly and you want to be the type of parent who shows up for your kids, especially when it’s as important and/or as urgent as their health and safety. The key words here are “as important.”
Whatever we think is the most important or more urgent thing in any moment is what we end up doing. Because urgency isn’t something you want to associate with mindfulness, making it the most important thing is key.
The way to do that is to have a strong why.
Why is mindfulness important to you?
Here are some of the benefits of mindfulness for moms that may help you uncover your why:
Benefits Of Mindfulness For Moms:
- Decreases stress
- Reduces overwhelm
- Lessens snapping, yelling, and overreacting
- Helps manage mom rage (anger)
- Boosts resilience
- Empowers you to overcome challenges
- Improves your brain function
- Enables you to enjoy every day life
Mindfulness isn’t “fluff” or a luxury. It’s the most important thing because when you are aware of how you’re thinking and feeling, you can show up on purpose as the woman you want to be.
5. Include your kids.
On default, it’s easy to blame our kids for why we can’t do what we want. It sounds like, “I can’t meditate because of my kids” or “I can’t go on daily walks because my kids would never let me” or “between work, home, and the kids, it’s just not possible for me to do that right now.”
When we feel like we’re at the effect of our lives (like we don’t have a choice), it’s very disempowering. We always have a choice.
One way to really get into a rhythm with mindfulness is to include your kids, instead of thinking they’re the reason you can’t do it.
Often, our kids want to come into our world, too, so it’s a win win.
For example, you might go on a sensory walk where you all walk together and you talk about the senses you’re focusing on during the walk (30 seconds of each smell, sound, touch, feel, etc.). This will help you get grounded and can be a fun way to incorporate mindfulness with your kids, too.
Resources:
- Podcast Directory (free download)
- Thursday Inspo (weekly email)
6. Create a few mindfulness rituals to have in your back pocket.
The human brain loves nothing more than to do something new. It loves it so much that it will risk long term results just because of boredom
James Clear said it beautifully when he said, “The greatest threat to success is not failure, but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us. The outcome becomes expected.”
This is why I have a new topic of the month every month inside Grow You. Otherwise, the members would likely get bored. This keeps it interesting and engaging.
As the busy mom that you are, this means it can be really powerful to have several mindfulness practices that you can rotate between. This way you don’t sabotage your success because of boredom.
See this post for 7 Tools To Help You Become More Mindful.
7. Listen to mindfulness practices on the go.
Set yourself up for success with mindfulness ahead of time by putting some tools in place that make it easy for you to have positive input in your ear, when you’re on the go.
I have a podcast—The Design Your Dream Life Podcast—that you can listen to every Wednesday morning for a new mindfulness episode.
CLICK HERE to get the Podcast Directory.
I also have a Free Mindfulness Class for moms that you can listen to (or watch) on the go. CLICK HERE to get the How To Become A More Mindful Mom Class.
Make sure to have your phone loaded up with resources like these so that when you have “in between moments” (whether that’s getting ready in the morning, driving to pick up the kids, or doing laundry) you can press start on a mindfulness lesson to keep your mind in the right place.
A Final Note
Feeling busy in your life is the best reason to start practicing mindfulness. It will help you destress, feel better, and improve your overall wellbeing. Give yourself permission to prioritize mindfulness and the rest will fall into place. You got this, my friend.