Self-care is a win-win!

Hello everyone, and Happy Spring! May the 4th be with you! Ha!

When I started Living Rhythm and Joy 10 years ago I had a Christian focus. I wanted to help people discover their passion and purpose in life. I still love when I am able to do that. But during the past 10 years I found a subset of the population that could really use some coaching around self-care. I found it because I belonged to it... parents of children with mental illness. Its a hard road. And its exhausting. We want to help our children. All we want is for them to be happy and care-free. And every day is a new battle.

You know how when you are flying somewhere and before the airplane takes off they do the "safety dance" where they tell you how to buckle your seat belt, where the emergency exits are and about the oxygen masks etc.? They always tell you to be sure to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you help your child or anyone else. Have you ever wondered why? It is because you won't be able to help others if you don't help yourself first. You need to make sure that you are able to breathe in order to help others.

Parenting children with mental illness is like that. You NEED to take care of yourself and make sure that you can BREATHE if you are going to be able to help your child. While is seems easiest to put ourselves on the back burner because our children are in crisis, we won't be able to be there for them if we are completely depleted. This is why self-care is so important. Not only are you taking care of yourself, but you filling yourself up so you can be there for your child. Its a win-win.

Blessings to you,
Kara