Taking care of your wellbeing

By: Katherine Tredinnick, Research and Content at Devie

Parenting is tough at the best of times, but parenting in the time of a global pandemic, well that’s really tough! We salute your efforts and empathise with how hard it is to be the best possible parents to your little ones in these especially trying times.

We’ve been researching ways to support parents to care for their mental health and wellbeing during these difficult times, and found that mindfulness might be something that helps you to take care of yourself and stay calm and present with your family! This is backed up by evidence showing that practising mindfulness can help minimise stress related to parenting.

But I can’t meditate…

We know that mindfulness can feel inaccessible! Living in close quarters and always being around others may make it hard to find a moment for yourself, and sitting still can often make our minds race and worry even more!

We recommend starting small, by simply doing some intentional breathing. If you’re feeling feel overwhelmed or just want to calm your racing mind, try deep belly breathing. It’s a really great way to calm yourself down during times of stress. You can try this out by following the steps below:

• start by gently closing your eyes
• next, inhale deeply into your belly
• then exhale through your mouth
• next, breathe in through your nose for 4 counts, feeling your belly expand
• it helps to put your hands on your belly so you can feel it rising up and down
• hold your breath for 5 counts
• then, exhale out your mouth for 6 counts
• try to do this at least three times
• take a moment to notice how this made you feel

We hope you give this mindfulness technique a try, and that it helps you feel a bit calmer in these uncertain times. For more mindfulness techniques for parents, make sure to download the free Devie app for iOS or Android, and make sure to try the Home Learning Programme now live!

In these unprecedented and immensely difficult times, we know that parenting can feel tougher than ever before! There have been a few common questions on the minds of parents in our community, including:

• How much screen time is appropriate for my little ones?
• Should my family be trying to stick to some sort of routine?
• How do I, as a parent, stay calm and present in these tough times?
• How do I keep my family active during the lockdown?
• How do I get my work done with my little one at home all day?

In response to these questions, we created the Home Learning Programme to keep your little ones happy and learning at home during the lockdown. Through this programme, Devie sends you daily learning activities designed to support your little one’s social emotional, language, health, early literacy, and early math development, and your own wellbeing. Download Devie for free on iOS or Android to try the programme when it launches this week.

We’re also blogging about each of these topics this week to provide research-based, non-judgmental recommendations to help during these tough times.

Remember awesome parents, we are all in this together ❤

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