Wellness for You and Your Family
May is Family Wellness Month. Maintaining our own person wellness can seem like a challenge at times, let alone managing the wellness of our families. But there's no need to over-complicate things. Much of what you would do for yourself, you can help your family do as well.
When it comes to sleep, there are guidelines about what is needed at various ages (school age 9-12 hours, teens 8-10, adults 7 or more) but we know ourselves best. So find what works for you and your family and stick with that. If kids sleep less than the recommendation but can still get up and get ready and maintain focus at school, that's ok. Try to stick to an evening routine that includes some chilling out time (meditation, no screens etc). That might not work every night, but stick to it whenever possible.
Keeping physically active can take a lot of different forms. Making the time to play with young kids, taking a walk while older kids are at sports practice, walking the dog together, or getting everyone involved in yard work.
Eating healthy and eating together can both be challenging. But if you can do it more times than not, that helps create a good foundation. And there are certain days/weeks/seasons when that might be easier said than done. Making an effort to keep healthy snacks available (cut up fruit and veggies, cheese and crackers etc.) can take time up front, but is probably well worth the effort. And when fast or processed food is all that's available, you do what you gotta do and hopefully tomorrow will be a more nutritious day.
Managing stress is a skill that can benefit all of us. Encourage your family to check in with each other to see what kind of a day everyone is having. Send a little encourage text or meme. Gather whoever is available and take a 3 minute sanity break. Reach out to a friend or schedule some time to do something you enjoy, either alone or with someone in your family.
Just like managing your own wellness, it doesn't need to mean a complete family overhaul. One of the best ways to impact the health and wellness of your family is to be an example of someone who puts a little time and effort into taking care of yourself. Those little tips and tricks that you implement can start a pattern of healthy habits to last a lifetime.
