Homeschooling can seem all-consuming sometimes. Okay – most of the time. If we’re not careful us homeschool moms can find ourselves easily feeling the stress from the constant struggle of keeping our life (and homeschools) balanced. Today’s guest post gives some great tips on how homeschooling moms can maximize their downtime, which helps keep the stress away!
How Homeschooling Moms Can Maximize Their Downtime
One of the many reasons why parents opt not to sign up their children to homeschooling is the factor that such added workload can bring about unwanted stress. A homeschooling mom or dad will have to manage their child’s daily lessons, ensure their sessions are effective while handling the rest of their chores at home.
There are tips on how to reduce homeschool stress as featured on a post by families.com. But, anxiety is inevitable and it can be a big problem for many stay-at-home parents, particularly work-at-home moms.
In this post, we will feature effective ways on how homeschooling moms can get enough relaxation daily while still juggling their commitments at home.
Deep breathing
Breathing becomes shallow and rapid when a person is stressed out. Improper breathing can affect the body and the mind of the person, leading to various illnesses. To avoid a tense body and mind, one can practice deep breathing. Here are the steps:
- Lie down comfortably
- Place both hands on your abdomen
- Breath slowly and deeply
- Feel the expansion in the abdomen area and the expansion of the rib cage
Do this for five to ten minutes, several times a day and you will notice an improvement in your normal activities. It might also help to spend some time doing yoga and breathing exercises as presented by Caren Baginkski on her YouTube page.
Photo Credit: sean dreilinger via Compfight cc
Playing Video Games
A great way to unwind in your short breaks is by playing video games. Science has proven that playing video games can reduce a person’s stress levels. In a study featured by Make Use Of, it revealed “there’s a clear correlation between playing games and handling stress,” where gamers were found to be able to adopt psychological skills, are less depressed and tend not to get hostile during stressful situations.
Games are now offered in various platforms. Online titles, such as Candy Crush or Slingo, are now being offered across a myriad of gaming platforms aside from PCs. Developer Gaming Realms said that they are working to build new gaming experiences across a broad range of platforms, from mobile devices to social media, according to the information shared on ‘the history of Slingo’.
This will allow busy moms to be able to unwind easier given the plenty of platforms where they can access games. And it will also probably mean that the moms continue to be the biggest demographic playing games like Candy Crush moving forward.
“You get a break, you can sit down and play for as long or as little as you want. And you get a fairly complete experience in very bite-sized chunks,” said David Hoppe, General Manager at Blastworks.
Try Aromatherapy
You don’t need to get an appointment at the massage salon to feel relaxed, as you can try it at home even without a professional masseurs around. Aromatherapy has been known as a great stress reliever.
By applying essential oils on your body, particularly on the neck area, you can relieve tense areas quickly. The soothing, fragrant oil when applied to the skin can reduce muscle tension and can alleviate psychological stress when inhaled.
Oils such as chamomile, cedarwood and cypress have been proven to help ease environmental stress, especially if you’re in a place with low light conditions.
There are many ways on how to relieve daily stress to be more productive with your homeschooled child. We’d love to hear your stories. How do you handle daily stress, homeschooling moms?
Lianne Smalling
Latest posts by Lianne Smalling (see all)
- How Homeschooling Moms Can Maximize Their Downtime - August 23, 2016
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I always have my Bergamot oil at the ready!! Good ideas!
I do play video games! I find that it works for my boys to de-stress also. I also enjoy loosing myself in a book just for 30 minutes or so while I fold laundry.
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