BALANCING MENTAL WELLBEING AND MOTHERHOOD

Psychologist Tanya Dharamshi and her colleagues from LightHouse Arabia share effective strategies for balancing personal and parental responsibilities, allowing you to foster a healthy connection with yourself and your children.

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Sometimes it can feel that the concept of mental wellbeing and being a mother cannot coexist. As parents we work every day to ensure our children’s needs are met and in doing that, the day can often get eaten up, leaving no time for oneself. Twenty-four hours does not feel like it is enough time to do all that mothers need to do. You must be the driver, the chef, the doctor, the nurse, the party planner, the teacher, the playmate, the nurturer and the chief operating officer; often while working full time.

DR. TANYA DHARAMSHI

Tanya Dharamshi says she learned quickly that to ensure enough time for herself and her mental health, while still trying to show up for her family in the most authentic and supportive manner, meant finding small moments of self-care in the day instead of waiting for extended periods to miraculously be available.

Breath work

Every morning when I wake up, I sit in silence in my bed for a few moments, place my hand on my heart and my stomach, take five deep breaths and say “Thank you” for the day. I do not touch my phone for the first half an hour to ensure I am not jolting my brain into stress action mode, but rather allowing myself to stay in a place of connectivity to my body and my breath. When my children were young I would sit with them and “blow our bellies up like balloons”, doing breath work with them as well.

Playtime!