Improving Family Relationships Through Self Care
Lizzie Brown-Cordero, March 17th 2021
As a family, learning healthy lifestyle strategies together can positively influence your child’s future. Implementing simple healthy strategies into your daily family routine can go a long way in improving both your family relationship and achieving a healthy lifestyle together! This blog post is not specifically for individualized self-care time, but offers self-care activities to do together as a family.
You don’t need to purchase anything to practice self-care as a family. In fact, it will not even take up much of your time and can be really enjoyable for anyone who takes part! Adding simple self-care strategies into your family’s daily routine can help improve everyone’s physical and mental health.
First, maintaining a regular routine as a family can help establish healthy habits. These routines can be through eating together as a family on a regular basis, designating family time for mindfulness, or even exercising together! Another space in the day to implement self-care as a family can even be through playtime.
We can also incorporate self-care into family by engaging in mindfulness practices together. It could give you and your child an opportunity to connect on a deeper level. You can meditate together, practice yoga, or teach them how to take deep breaths. Designating family time for these activities can teach your kids some healthy ways to cope with any stresses in their lives. It is important to teach kids how to nourish and care for their minds so that they can develop strong mentally.
Limiting screentime can be another healthy habit to consider practicing with kids. Too much screentime has been linked to irregular sleep routines, a decrease in social skills, and obesity. If children are seeing their parents on screens for a majority of the day, children will want to follow suit. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests children younger than 18 to 24 months to not utilize screens at all. For children between ages 2 to 5, it is suggested to limit screen time to one hour a day.
Engaging in self-care together as a family can help strengthen and deepen your connection. Sharing favorite activities together is a great opportunity to learn new things too! For instance, you can learn a new hobby together as a family. Some examples could be reading books together or “Show and Tell”. You can also play favorite board games together through “Family Game Nights” and play multiple games that everyone enjoys!
Still need more information on implementing self-care strategies as a family? Check out these resources below to help you!
- https://www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/parents/family-self-care
- https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/2020/07/tips-to-practice-self-care-as-a-family/
- https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/activity/create-a-family-self-care-plan/
Transformer Lizzie 🙂
The Transform Lifestyle Medicine Alliance Team
Transformer – Lizzie Brown-Cordero
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