Infuse Relaxation Daily: The Antidote to Mom Burnout and Postpartum Fatigue

Modern day motherhood isn’t a walk in the park. It is becoming far too common for moms to feel stressed, overwhelmed, and downright exhausted. These are classic signs of mom burnout and postpartum fatigue.

My burnout came in the form of developing a postnatal thyroid autoimmune disorder, becoming quick to snap or cry, and temporarily losing my sense of humour. I had no reserve of resilience left in me. Obviously, there were other factors here, but the constant need to be “on” during the day and night wore my body down.

How is your body telling you it needs a break?

There are four key pillars to giving your body and mind the break that it needs every single day. The great thing is that these don’t have to take more than a few minutes and can be integrated into your already busy day quite seamlessly. Building these skills into my time with my kids not only helps me calm but also teaches them positive, life‑changing habits. It’s similar to the intentional integration of small, positive actions I talk about in micro‑shifts and small choices that create a vibrant life, where tiny daily habits add up to big energy and mood shifts over time.

You can infuse these skills into your daily life in bite‑sized two minutes here and there or carve out more intentional time for deeper practices. Why not involve your kids in these new habits and let them reap the rewards of not only having a happier mom but calming their own little brains too? Hey, I don’t know about you, but when my kids are calmer, so am I.

Relax: Prioritize Postpartum Health with Deep Breathing

Relaxation and recharging can be a part of your everyday life. In fact, they need to be. Give your parasympathetic nervous system, the one that promotes calm, rest, and good digestion, more time to shine and you will feel less wired and more restored if you implement what you read in this section.

As moms, we have become experts at reading our little ones’ energy levels and tired signals. We help them rest several times a day. Isn’t it time we become attuned to our own signals and prioritise our own rest as we do theirs? I think so.

Good breathing is the cornerstone of true vitality and deep relaxation.

Imagine what a few slow, deep breaths can do for your health and mood? Breathing may seem like a small thing, yet you breathe thousands of times a day. Don’t be tricked by the simplicity of breathing. It can be the key to a much more vibrant you! Proper breathing can literally be life‑changing!

During a lecture on the foundations of nutritional and environmental medicine, Dr. Nicole Nelson discussed the importance of good breathing. She noted that your breath is all you need to stimulate the vagus nerve and let the relaxation ensue.

Your breath is all you need to stimulate the vagus nerve and let the relaxation ensue.

This diaphragmatic breathing is foundational for supporting our adrenals, cultivating calm, and moving us back to health and vitality.

Deep breathing is also a foundational piece in many holistic practices, some of which are much older than modern medicine. These include meditation, yoga, tai chi, qi gong, visual imagery, hypnosis, and other mindful practices. Good breathing is one of the key reasons why these techniques help calm the body, bring about more brain power, and help you be a more joyful and present mom.

A simple relaxing breath is one in which you breathe in slowly, letting your belly expand. Pause briefly. Then breathe out slower and longer than the inhale. Pause before beginning the next breath in. This breathing is so powerful that it can stop a panic attack in its tracks. Ideally, the breath is through the nose, or at least the inhale is, though sometimes a strong exhale through your mouth can be the best medicine.

Deep breathing is all you need to relax. You can involve your little ones by placing a toy on your belly and watching it rise and fall with each breath.

Be Mindful: Intentional Motherhood in the Present Moment

Paying attention to life in the present moment is arguably one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. I guess that is why they call it the present. The beautiful skill of mindfulness is available to you in every moment, the hard ones and the easier ones. Noticing your life and being consciously aware of your little ones as they learn, change and develop frees you from the hold that the past and future can have on you.

You can mindfully notice your emotions, thoughts, or sensations in your body. You can focus on what you can notice with your senses or what someone else is saying. The ways to practice mindfulness are endless.

Once you are in the habit of more mindfulness, see if you can get your little ones involved too. Not only can it be fun to do together, but this will also teach your children useful skills they can carry forward.

Mindfulness can be fun and easy to do with kids. They can reap all the benefits that we get from building this skill too. Imagine if your kids also became less reactive, calmer, and slept better… mindfulness is starting to sound pretty great, isn’t it?

Intentionally paying attention to five things with each of your senses can be the simple break you need to centre yourself again. This one is great to do with the kids. It is like mindfulness “eye spy.”

Be Grateful: Cultivating Joy to Combat Mom Burnout

Sometimes it is the simple things like appreciating the moment or your day that are quite literally life‑changing. It seems far‑fetched but the practice of gratitude can move you toward the vibrant, thriving life you want in only a minute a day.

You can practise gratitude whenever you want. Maybe it is the first thought when you wake or something you write in your journal with your morning coffee. I have built this practice into my evening routine. It is the last thing I talk to my family about before we go to sleep. We all cuddle up and take turns telling each other what we are grateful for. Some nights I forget, but since it is a family habit, one of my boys is sure to bring it up. By creating daily habits and particularly getting others involved with them, it takes so much of the overwhelm out of it, no longer is it just another thing on the to‑do list, but something automatic that we now do.

Play: Joy and Creativity as Antidotes to Overwhelmed Mothers

We spend our time setting up epic sensory play stations, buying toys to promote play, and chasing the next best strategy to help our little ones develop through play. Yet in the exhaustion of motherhood, we can easily forget how joy, creativity and silliness help our minds and bodies too. It isn’t just for children. It is necessary and fun for mamas too!

Play can pop up in any moment in your day but it is great to have some playful habits built in. Maybe it is turning music on in the mornings, so everyone has a little dance party as they get ready, or dedicating ten minutes when you get home from work to be playful with your little one. Follow their lead and play whatever game they choose. Or perhaps it is listening to a funny podcast when driving in your car. The options are endless. What is important is finding ways to consistently build up your play muscles each day.

This echoes the spirit of the forgotten art of play for moms, slipping small moments of joy and movement into daily routines makes all the difference not only for children but for mums too.

We so often look outside ourselves to find calm. While changing things in our environment can be helpful, we must look inward to create lasting calm and happiness in our lives. At the moment, going inside may be the furthest thing on your to‑do list, yet without it, burnout is inevitable. I don’t want to go back there, and I don’t want that for you either. Building calm and joy from the inside out not only buffers you from burnout, but it also spreads like wildfire to those around you. That means happier partners, calmer kids, and a world filled with things to appreciate.

Are you ready to step into the present moment and have a whole lot more fun and relaxation in your life?

For gentle support on navigating motherhood burnout and embracing thriving motherhood, consider the insights in Nourished Mama. You might also enjoy my Wild and Well podcast where I dive deeper into intentional motherhood and postpartum health.

 Take these small daily steps and reclaim your vitality one breath, moment, and pause at a time.

References

Brogan K. & Loberg, K. (2017). A mind of your own: The truth about depression and how women can heal their bodies to reclaim their lives. Harperwave.

Nelson, N. (2020). Mental Health; Biochemical Pathways [Conference Session]. Foundations of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine. Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine Part 1. https://online.acnem.org/

Rowsell, H. C. (2024). Nourished Mama: A Clinical Psychologist’s Guide to Abundant Energy in Motherhood. Oak and Moss Press.