Sacred Strength in Motherhood Self-Care tips for busy mama

In this heartfelt solo episode of What’s the Word, host Jaime McFaden invites you to take a walk with her — literally or figuratively — as she speaks directly to the overwhelmed, overextended mama.

J shares 4 simple but powerful self-care shifts that have helped her not just survive, but truly thrive in the chaos of motherhood, work, and life. With honesty, humor, and faith at the center, this episode is a love letter to moms who are short on time, tight on money, and carrying more than they were ever meant to.

Whether you're navigating sleepless nights, endless to-do lists, or just need a reminder that you're not alone — this conversation is for you.

✨ Plus: Jaime teases something special launching next week just for moms ready to reconnect with their sacred strength. 👀

Listen in and be reminded:
You are capable.
Your efforts matter.
And you don’t have to do this alone.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hi, welcome to What's the Word. I'm your host, Jamie McFadden. I'm so excited to have you here. This podcast is all about faith, self-care, and the journey of parenthood. I will be interviewing some of the most inspirational people I know. So join me and let's grow together on What's the Word. Hi, and welcome back to What's the Word. I'm your host, Jamie McFadden, and it is an honor to be here with you today. We are having a solo cast. I invite you to grab your shoes, lace them up, and head outside for this solo podcast where we're going to acknowledge your strength while hopefully getting some movement in. I'm going to dedicate this episode to all of the moms of the world who work so tirelessly to take care of so many people, and hopefully we can carve out a little time for the mamas too. In fact, we're going to be talking about that a little bit today. So what's the word if you are new here, if you're This is your first time checking out What's the Word? This is a podcast where we focus on reinstilling or deepening our faith and our beliefs so that we can acknowledge where we are today in this present moment and also find faith for the unknown, putting our trust in God and supporting one another. So that's kind of the lay of the land here. We are going to share today four of my non-negotiable tips, I'll say, my tools, my tricks, things on my tool belt that I use as a busy mom of two who is working and doing all the things. This is how I not just survive, yes, survive, but also how I can thrive even when things are a little bit chaotic. So hopefully you are outside getting some fresh air and I want to acknowledge the busy lives of moms. the busy lives of those of us juggling multiple things. And like I said, if you aren't a mom and you're listening to this podcast, I hope you can still find some things that will resonate with you. I'm just speaking direct as a mom, sharing my truth in hopes that this will inspire at least one other mom to go out and do these four things today. You are capable. I want to start today's podcast with the reminder that you are capable. You are strong enough And your efforts, even when they are so small, add up and they matter. So please remember and say with me today, you are capable. I am capable. Your efforts matter. My efforts matter. I also want to acknowledge on this podcast, we do talk about God. We talk about faith. I share my testimony and my story and things like that. And even if you and I have different spiritual beliefs, My intention behind sharing these things is so that we can have these kind of conversations and support one another. I'm not the expert when it comes to theology, spirituality. I'm just here sharing as a real-life human being this experience that I've had and many people around me are having. So I hope that this will help to bring the collective energy together. All right, so let's dive in. When it comes to self-care, I know very well firsthand. It's been a decade being a mom. It is incredibly challenging at times to put myself as a priority on the list, right? It's making lunches. It's prepping for the next activity. It's cleaning up nonstop. I swear, as a mom, I'm always cleaning and I'm like, how is there still a mess? I don't understand. This is when I would say the Jetsons Rosie, like if we get some AI Rosie robots just to at least be like mama's helper, that would be great. But It is difficult. I don't even remember the last time personally I went and had like an hour-long workout at a gym. If you get that opportunity, wow. Go celebrate that for me. One tip I want to give you, though. Even when your life feels super busy, kids, work, spouse, this, that, all the things, take some time to embrace the micro moments of the day. Here's what I mean by that. There is... many moments that you're going to have throughout the day. And each one of them is going to have a ripple effect on the next moment. So how you start your day, how you end your day, the middle of your day, what happens during nap time, all of these things add up. So I want you to think just right now as you're walking, what's your morning like? What's your typical morning routine like? Do you get up? Do you check your phone? Do you go outside? Do you make your coffee? Gotta have the coffee. I gotta have the coffee. I don't know about you. I gotta heat my coffee like 10 times a day in the morning and I still end up having it lukewarm somehow. I don't know how this happens, but I still embrace it and I love it. And finding these little moments and these little moments where you can include practicing self-care. Now self-care, by definition, is the act of taking action to preserve or enhance one's own well-being. And we're not doing this for just ourselves. We do live in this kind of new age cultural society where there's a lot of self this and self that and self this and independent this and solo this. And I'm here actually to say and shake things up a little bit that I don't ever think we are actually alone. I think that what a blessing and a gift it is, glory be to God, that we have God to continuously lean on in this life who has created everything. And this is where I think it's a really important opportunity to put these small acts of self-care accumulating throughout our day to make a big difference. So I'm going to give a quick example. In my own personal life, when I get up in the morning, first thing I do, thanks be to God. Thank you, God, for this day. Thank you for this body. Thank you for my breath. Thank you for these children. Thank you for our health. And here's to a great day. Another day. I also get outside as soon as possible. I get outside with the kids. Sometimes it's a little hectic, but we go outside, even if it's just in the yard, in the front. We go look up at the sky. We look at a tree. We say hi to the birds. We acknowledge nature. It's a really big one for me. And moving the body, getting some water. Those are just really simple things that I'll tell you right now. In working with hundreds and thousands of women, coffee usually comes first. Checking the phone usually comes first. The stress and anxiety comes first before a lot of these things. So maybe we can try getting a little peace in our morning first before all that. Tip number two, please prioritize rest. Prioritize your rest. This is one of the most important things that it's taken me many years to understand and acknowledge, but the importance of our rest is so key. Our body is tirelessly working 24 seven for us and the rest is necessary. even for the busiest moms, the busiest people. And so I wanna share with you a couple ideas of how you can incorporate little bouts of rest throughout your day, whether it be a power nap. I am all for the power nap. I know some people are like, Jamie, when am I gonna nap? Well, if you can nap when the baby naps, because you know there's that pile of laundry and everything else that's probably still gonna be there. Anyways, I would just say embrace some quiet moments. Think of this as a form of self-care, being that you're preserving your health and your well-being. as opposed to being lazy or anything like that. When it comes to rest though, here's the caveat, I invite you to think about your rest as quiet so it's not scrolling. I know sometimes that can feel great and for, trust me, I am right there with you. Sometimes I want, at the end of the day when everybody goes to bed, I actually do, I take about 10 minutes and I scroll through my social medias and this and that and I actually like it. It's now knows my algorithm that it plays really funny mom videos. I always get these really fun mom videos that are hysterical and it's a great way to end my day. So I'm not knocking that. What I am saying though is when it comes to quality rest, I invite you to think about, first of all, acknowledge how much rest do you feel like you get? Are you well rested on a regular basis? Do you feel exhausted? Are you going for that cup of coffee and that second cup of coffee or that matcha or whatever it is? Maybe do one of these few things. One, power nap. Like I said, you might not be able to, but if you can, just try it. Close your eyes and relax. Two, wherever you are today, even if you're on your walk, stop and take three deep conscious breaths. Breathing in through your nose, feeling your full body expansion and slowly releasing the breath out of your mouth. Noticing what that feels like to calm your body and your system down. Just noticing it. We're highly activated beings because we're always doing so many things. So slowing it down can feel really nice. Another one that is really great. This is one of my favorites. When I, let's say I'm doing drop off, pickup, or I just have like a moment alone in the car, a moment alone in the bathroom. I know these sound silly, they might sound trivial, but any mom out there I'm sure understands what I'm saying when I say a quiet moment in the car can feel like an entire nap, even if it's just two minutes. Take that time, put the phone down, and whether it's a little meditation, whether it's a little prayer, or whether it's literally just sitting in silence, acknowledging this moment, being in this moment, that can help give your body some rest. So making sure you prioritize rest Next one. This one is so key. This is probably, if not one of the most keys. Asking for support. I have been a mom. In fact, I've been a single mom for a long time. And I could have made the excuse of, well, I don't really have somebody, you know, sometimes my mom can help here and there, or sometimes I have hired help or you know sometimes I could totally make that excuse but I don't make that excuse because I don't buy it because I think that it requires us to ask outside of our what feels okay I don't know how else to put it but it's uncomfortable to ask for help it's uncomfortable for all moms to ask for help whether you're a single mom whether you're a stay-at-home mom whether you got all this work in the world, it's still hard. I find that time and time again. So create your own support system. That's why I've created the village. That's why I hope that you'll join and be a part of this. That's why I'm doing these mom walks, practical ways that you can connect with other people in your community and your family. But remembering that sharing the connection, the responsibility is really important. So asking for support. I challenge you this week to ask someone that you haven't yet asked for some kind of support. This could be on a phone call. This could be reaching out to me. This could be joining one of my walks. This could be calling your mom. I don't know. Whatever it is. But just try. Just give it a try. And another one here. Exercise. Exercise. So we talked about rest. Movement is also imperative for your body. Your body is meant to move. And also, this body of ours is a sacred space. It is a miraculous space that we get to live in, in this one lifetime. Find ways to do this with your kids. Encourage them to do it with you. You may have seen lately, I post sometimes the videos of my workouts. And it's quite funny, actually. You know, the kids first, they start jumping all over and it can seem distracting. But I've learned through discipline that if that's the only way I can get my workout done, well, I'm going to do it, even if it's only five minutes. And lo and behold, one kid now does the workouts with me. The other one still climbs all over me, but he's not even two. So it's all right. And knowing how you feel when your body feels nourished, knowing how you feel when you feel good in your beautiful body changes everything. And this body is really a gift. So if you have the ability to move your body, please move your body. And this is going to be a little special one. I would say this wraps everything up with a bow, but it is the most important in my personal opinion. Cultivating, harnessing, deepening your relationship with God. People ask me all the time, how do you do it? How do you do all this? How do you do all the things you do? How do you run this business? Now, mind you, I've had so many times where I ask myself, I don't know how I'm going to do it. I don't know how I'm going to do it, which is also what has led me to fully surrendering and saying, God, please lead the way. I thank you for the grace every day. Thank you for the understanding. And please lead the way and let me follow God. what is going to glorify your will. Not mine. Not mine. For the best sake, for my family, for my children, and for myself, and for those around me. When we remember that we are not the makers of everything, that we are not the controllers and the ruler and the person that handles it all, we can understand that We aren't alone. And it's a deep and beautiful and just fascinating journey when you actually take the walk down your spiritual journey, down this path. And once again, I am not here to tell you what you need to believe in. I am just sharing my own personal experience. And I hope that this will inspire someone that listens to this today to go, huh, you know what, I'm going to I'm going to check in with my relationship with God. And this could just be literally going out in nature, like you are right now on this walk. And after this, just taking a few moments to ask in nature for some kind of direction in your life, for gratitude for what you have. It also is paying it forward. So Whether it's prayer, meditation, reading scripture, connecting at a local church, being a part of Bible study, or however you find your connection. Maybe it's in your quiet time. Maybe it's in your journaling. I encourage and invite you. I believe the greatest ministry that I have ever been a part of thus far, and maybe for the rest of my life, which would be a blessing in every which way, is motherhood. Motherhood is a very specific and certain kind of ministry. So, four tips here. Remember, exercise your body, ask for support, prioritize rest, and embrace those micro moments throughout your day. Wrapping everything up, it's not really the bonus tip, I think it's the one that goes before everything, is God. Remembering that you're not alone here. You were chosen for this and you're here in this moment. So let's celebrate. Please be sure to remember everything that you choose each day has a ripple effect and it's never too late to change certain choices. It's never too late because thankfully we do have grace in this life. So forgiveness is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. Think of those things as you're working on your self-care journey. I want to thank you so much for being a part of this community. I want to thank you for being here with me. And in fact, after 10 years of being a mom, recognizing that when people ask me, it's the funniest thing someone had said to me, what's the number one question you get, Jamie? And it's, how do you do it? How do you do it and still have a smile on your face? How do you do it? You actually like it. Like you're not so burnt out. I'm burnt out sometimes, trust me. I have my people that I call in the village where I'm like, okay, I don't know. I have moments where I'm like, well, that didn't go so well. And I'm not sitting here saying I'm perfect. I am imperfectly who I am, but I embrace, I am a child of God. And I know that moms just have a certain strength and I call it sacred strength. And in fact, I'm creating a very specific relationship endeavor that I can't wait to share with you about sacred strength in motherhood and the ministry of motherhood. And I would love for you to be a part of that. If this is something that sounds like it is in your interest and in your heart and something that maybe you're feeling called, we will be taking care of our physical health, our spiritual wellbeing, and the community. So if this sounds like something you want to be a part of or hear more about, please be sure to reach out to me. Thank you so much. It means the world that you are a part of. What's the word? Community and part of my village. Please, if you can, share this with somebody that you know would relate, resonate, and hopefully get inspired by. And I look forward to seeing you very soon. If you have any questions or things that I can help support you on, please let me know. And on that note, I will see you next week. Bye. Thank you for joining me here at What's the Word. Follow us on social media with the links on the screen and don't forget to like and share with your friend. Your support helps us grow and continue to make inspirational content. See you next time on What's the Word.