Setting Healthy Boundaries in Motherhood
When we talk about setting boundaries, it can often be perceived as being selfish. But setting healthy boundaries can actually help us feel safe and respected with those around you, including your family members. They create a state of calm and keep us focused on the bigger picture, bringing more authenticity and purpose within our lives. When we are clear with our boundaries, we teach our loved ones, including our children how we can love ourselves and prevent burnout.
It isn’t always easy to set healthy boundaries and there are times where our routines will shift which may, in turn, gently remind ourselves to re-set and examine our priorities and what. our mind and bodies are telling us to do. To get us thinking about setting healthy boundaries, we listed four ways on how you can begin practicing within your own life":
Simplify
Explore ways you can simplify in your life. Whether that’s day-to-day or looking at the bigger picture, creating more space and less stuff - whether that is physical items (buying new toys and seasonal clothes), scheduling (less after school activities), not overcommitting, it allows time to rest and go within, helping you feel more calm and present in your day.
No Phone Zones
Create no phone zones during your day or week. This can look like having a no phone zone Sunday or setting a timer on your phone for when its time to unwind for bed reminding you to shut down all devises for the day or putting your phones in a basket by the front door when you come home after work, allowing yourselves to be fully present with your family at dinner and bedtime.
Teach your children
You are a role model to your children. Modelling when healthy boundaries looks like through your personal needs as well as what it looks like for them can provide such an incredible opportunity for them to respect not only your boundaries but also allows them to develop their own and have healthy ways to self-regulate their emotions.
Tune In
Your body will always let you know what it needs. There are times when we are so busy, our adrenals are on overdrive and we may need to slow down more than we think. There are also times we could carefully push ourselves to finish a special project, or stay up later than you usually do for a fun family movie night. But most importantly, you need to do multiple check in’s with yourself, look inward and slow down before you over do it. You know what you need best.
Be Flexible
When setting healthy boundaries, they don’t need to be set in stone. They can change, depending on your lifestyle, career, relationships and even when there’s a new little addition to the family. We can go through many trial and errors before we really know what works best for us, and that’s ok. Allow the flexibility.