Working Moms Group - UT
December 8, 2017: Gratitude and Self-Care
Topic
Gratitude and Self-Care
Date
Attendees
Presenter: Vicki Y Packheiser
Other Attendees: Courtney Ann Sy Abby Pollard Kelly Frazer Julia D Chinnock Talley, Sarah B Kayla Ford
Discussion Notes
- Discussion Prompt: What has it been like thus far as a working mom?
- Challenge: Not in an environemnt where other people are in the same situation/no models or mentors
- Best: nice to be at work to have some fulfilling pieces and purpose in life/having a second identity outside of being a mother
- Setting boundaries with work: in some ways having a kid makes it easier to set boundaries because you have to (i.e. kid is sick, partner is out of town, I have to leave to pick up kid)
- In the work setting, I felt like had to be a role model of how to be a working mom for younger colleagues
- Opens up new relationships with our own parents
- After our discussion, Vicki noticed a few takeaways/trends from our comments:
- Tune into ourselves and honor that
- Do what works best for your family
- Keep a sense of yourself
- Make space in the moment to have your feelings
- One path to burnout is feeling like we are indispensable
- Another opportunity kids give us: the opportunity to heal through the perfectionist
Other general notes about gratitude, self-care and resilience:
- Listen to those that love you: sometimes, we can be resentful of critical feedback from those closest to us, but if you are able to step back and really listen to what they are saying, you can engage more in self-care and be a better version of you!
- Barbara Fredrickson's Research on Positive Emotions:
- she found, that in order to thrive, we need a 3:1 ratio (positive to negative)
- Broaden and build: when we are in a state of positive emotion, our thinking is more expansive and we can see more possibilities, and we are far more open to learning new things
- Gratitude: A practice to help us rewire our brain; a heart opening exercise (it softens and opens our hearts)
- Gratitude journal, catch yourself in the moment, make a call, write a gratitude letter, reflect on the day before getting home
- Change the world through one act of kindness at a time.
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