What is emotional regulation? Have you ever heard that term before? I use it frequently in my practice.
I’m Frances. I’m a licensed professional counselor, a mom of two young boys and a perinatal mental health specialist.
We use the term emotional regulation when we’re really referring to the way that we monitor and modify our internal and external reactions to stimulus in our environment. And this is something that is really important for parents as they’re regulating and adjusting to the postpartum phase.
Here are a couple of tips and just some basic things to keep in mind if you find yourself feeling extremely overwhelmed.
1. First on the list for me is always going to be to move your body. This sounds really obvious, but I want to remind you of the biological impacts of movement are really good for alleviating tension in the body and also properly displacing aggression and tension into physical movement versus in conflict or conversation with your partner or towards your little ones.
2. Secondly, step back from social media. This is the first place you’re going to compare yourself to other people and question all the things you do as a partner and as a mom. If you’re spending too much time scrolling your phone and then consistently comparing yourself to this idealistic view of what life should look like, you’re gonna have a really hard time feeling confident in your decisions and confident and competent yourself as a parent.
3. The last tip I wanna leave you with is obvious, but to always prioritize your sleep. If it’s something that can wait, that is not absolutely vital to be completed at this moment, always choose to sleep. It is so important for your neural-activity and for your recovery for you to have proper rest. So it’s worth considering letting the chores go a little bit so that you can focus on getting some sleep in whatever ways you can.
Click here to learn more about Frances and our Fourth Trimester Postnatal Retreat care team
