Self-care

Amy Holland on self-care that works for you and your family

February 4, 2019

Amy Holland, 34, is a single parent to two boys and a lover of high waisted jeans, sausage rolls and hot green tea. She had PND with both of her children and set up I Can Cards after finding affirmations a really powerful tool to manage her mental health. Amy is also the co-founder of Single Parents Wellbeing and Warrior Women Events. Her contribution to #thebigselfcareshare covers the steps she’s taken towards creating her businesses and finding a self-care practice that works for her.

Amy Holland self-care

What’s brought you to where you are?

The affirmations that were out there seemed very cheesy or the subjects weren’t so meaningful to me. I developed the first pack with some single parents as they had so many pearls of wisdom. I met them through the Wellbeing Workshops I manage for the Social Enterprise I co-founded, Single Parents Wellbeing. That snowballed into other affirmation cards covering subjects such as depression and anxiety and even I Can Children packs. There are seven packs in total and two new ones are to be released this year around health and work.

Everything I do is centred around wellbeing, empowerment and positivity, something that led me to create my business and run events.

How would you define self-care?

Self-care to me is the small things that we do throughout the day to make sure we’re keeping our cup filled up. That could be a hot cup of tea, a cuddle, checking in with our emotional wellbeing or choosing an affirmation. Daily rituals are essential to keeping our mental health in check.

Daily rituals are essential to keeping our mental health in check.

Of course, it can be huge things like climbing a mountain or long-term counselling, but that tends to be needed when I’ve let things go too far. But generally, self- care is diverse and individual, and not everyone likes a hot bath, a face mask, yoga or chocolate. Find out what methods of self-care make you happy and do it daily.

What do you find most challenging about self-care

Being a single parent, I hear a lot about the time element. But if you recognise that you can do this with your children then it’s not instead of doing something, it’s ‘as well’. My children hear me a lot saying ‘I just need 5 minutes’, and they respect this. They know that I’ve reached a point where I need that time. It is more difficult, logistically, for parents to work around self-care. But it shouldn’t stop anyone. I also build weekly yoga into my working week. So look at other ways that will work for you.

How do you incorporate self-care into your daily routine?

I always start with making sure that my phone is in another room, and I don’t check any social media until at least an hour after I have woken up. I prioritise a cuppa and an I Can Card, where I take the time to absorb how I am feeling that day. My children do this ritual with me, we all have a drink and discuss our I Can Cards.

Loving these self-care tips! Thank you, Amy, for taking part in #thebigselfcareshare, and for telling us more about what inspired you to create I Can Cards. You can find out more about Amy’s businesses, events and projects by visiting:

I Can Cards:

www.icancards.co.uk
www.instagram.com/icancards

Single Parents Wellbeing:

www.singleparentswellbeing.com
www.instagram.com/singleparentswellbeing

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