As a therapist for new mums, I firmly believe you need and deserve to be nurtured and supported on your journey into motherhood, not just on a practical level but also on an emotional and spiritual level, too. You can read Why Mothers Need Mothering for more on this. While I’ll always advocate for this support to come from others first, I also believe in the transformative power of self-care. In this article, I’m sharing three simple mood-boosting daily habits for new mums…
3 Mood-Boosting Daily Habits for New Mums
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Get As Much Rest as Possible
Being gentle with yourself and prioritising rest are essential for recovery. Rest is particularly important in the early days and weeks with a newborn when feeding, bonding, and attachment are being established. Your body has been through a huge event, and you need to heal both physically and emotionally from being pregnant and giving birth.
Some people find rest difficult because they feel like they always need to be busy doing things, but being too active, too soon after giving birth can slow your recovery. Read 7 Types of Rest and How to Incorporate Them into Your Life for more help with this.
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When You’re Ready, Gently Move Your Body
Gradually, and only with the approval of your GP, re-introduce light activity into your day. Going for a walk around the block or doing some light stretching will boost your endorphins and give you a sense of achievement. Exercise can be a natural antidepressant, and while your hormones are all over the place, it may help regulate and increase the feel-good chemicals your brain needs.
Moving your body isn’t always easy when you’ve been up all night feeding your baby and you’re feeling depleted. My recommendation would be to rest when you can while also trying to include some light exercise in your day, even if you’re feeling tired. Doing a small amount is better than doing nothing at all.
In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), we use the mantra ‘follow the plan, not the mood’. If the plan is to go for a short 10-minute walk, but your mood is saying ‘I can’t be bothered because I’m too tired’, follow the plan anyway and see what happens. The chances are you’ll probably feel better having been outside for some fresh air and gentle movement. However, if you’re physically unwell or unable to exercise, you should definitely prioritise rest instead.
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Schedule Relaxation
The final mood-boosting self-care habit for new mums is to incorporate some kind of mindfulness, meditation or relaxation into your daily schedule.
This is about slowing down and calming an anxious or busy mind by focussing on the present moment. Often, when we’re anxious or overwhelmed, we are in the future worrying or trying to work everything out. Over time, this can take a toll on the body and how we feel emotionally.
You can find short relaxation and mindfulness exercises on YouTube and there are also various apps you can download like Calm and Insight Timer. I’d recommend trying this for 5-10 minutes a day. To track your progress, you could try rating how anxious you feel on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is no anxiety and 10 is the highest. Do this before the relaxation exercise and then re-rate your anxiety afterwards. If you notice your anxiety scores going down, you’ve got some evidence it’s helping to improve your mood.
Daily Self-Care Habits = Medication for Your Mind
When we experience physical symptoms, we’re often given medication to cure or control them. The strategies and self-care habits described above can act like a form of medication for your mind to help you feel better while you’re in the thick of caring for a newborn.
However, just because these tips are simple, it doesn’t mean they’re always easy to implement. Sometimes self-care feels like yet another thing on a never-ending to-do list. Not making time for self-care, and therefore never ticking it off this list, can feel like failing. Our capacity for self-care also changes throughout our lives. Although I would argue it’s when we need it most, self-care becomes harder when we have children. Not only do we have less opportunity while parenting, it’s also common to prioritise caring for your children over yourself. Read Why Self-Care Isn’t Always the Answer for more on this.
Nurturing You Through Motherhood
If you’re a new mum and you’re struggling with your mental health for any reason, I can help. Reach out for support by booking a consultation here or subscribe to The Nurture Toolkit for free, actionable tips and prompts straight to your inbox. I also share lots of encouragement and support via Instagram.