I only asked for 10 minutes

Written by: Dianne Edmonds Posted on 29 Apr 2013 0

How many times when that 10 minutes mattered to me, and “would have” saved my day from going downhill, in these days of raising children? It was highlighted again this morning, when my walk was short, the mornings being darker now, and I get home still in time for my husband to go to work.

He is kindly doing the dishes from the night before, so I can start the day with a clean sink, and not be “behind the eight ball” from the get go. Even the days with the school routine benefit much more from a clean sink to start with, and it is the middle of school holidays right now so if it doesn’t start right, it could be the start of a wrong day. I can feel it!

So, I get back and he’s still then home longer getting ready (he worked extra on the weekend while some other people were away on holidays). While not much to him and he’s busy getting ready, that 10 minutes matters most to me because I “could have” walked for longer. I deliberately chose to not go down an extra path in my walk, so that I wouldn’t be late!

Why does this matter? It reminds me of the path likely to have caused me to put aside exercise many times to stay home and look after my children, while foregoing my own fitness needs. This was reinforced by the numerous other tasks that were easier to answer the call to, such as the laptop sitting there with multitudes of emails on them or the meeting that needed to be prepared for. I remember a time when the sleep, wake , feed patterns of my children didn’t fit in with timing an early morning walk or gym session (I no longer have gym access living in a small town for the past six years without a gym).

Somewhere I lost the fight to put fitness first in my own life, and let it slide. That battle over “just give me 10 minutes” is a catch cry for so many mothers who 10 minutes would help them to feel freedom in their motherhood role, rather than feeling like a captive at times in their own homes.

I’ve done ‘5 minutes matters’ in a blog before, but 10 minutes is more and I want the more too – not just for me but for you if you are a stay at home mum, or a fitness professional giving mums the time and the break and attention that they need to have an hour of power for themselves (or at least a good part of it if their babies are in the prams with them).

Some people are better at winning the fight than others – how many 10 minute ways can I set myself today to find and feel the taking back of ownership of my time and my body?
Can you help me count the ways? If I had one easy way to exercise for 10 minutes for every week for the last 9 ½ years (since I am saying that I am 9 ½ years postnatal) then I am looking for 494 ways for mums to do 10 minutes of fun and fitness while at home with their children (52 weeks x 9.5 years = 494).

While this might sound ridiculous, I did actually buy myself 400 marbles (they were $2 each and a jar about a month back) to give myself a visual cue for each 5 minutes that I did some of my Firm Foundations Fitness program or my Postnatal Exercises. Looking at the amount of ‘self care’ I had given to myself over the last few years I needed to do something radical, when I heard Dr Sara Gottfried ask “How full is your tank? Are you full, ¾ full or sniffing fumes?”

So again, I need your help to help the women out there who need this too – let’s create 494 ways – well at least 94 ways (so that I don’t over provide)– for 10 minute home workouts that work, and still protect the pelvic floor for postnatal mums. I will put some marbles in my jar for each 10 minutes that I do and fill up my tank to serve you!  Thanks for reading my crazy blog – post your ideas below (these will be published once approved) or send us a comment through our Contacts page – I will publish the best on my site.


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