Pregnancy and postpartum can take its toll on your body and your overall health. It’s so important for your recovery to be doing things to serve and love on your body. It is easy to get sucked into the cycle of overwhelm - you are caring for a new baby, navigating breastfeeding, creating a new schedule, redefining your identity...the list goes on and on!
Here are some ways to reframe your mindset during those challenging times of overwhelm:
🧘♀️Breathe and close your eyes
Taking just a few moments to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths can be mood changing! When I do this I engage my pelvic floor muscles and remember what it's like to feel that calmness, to sometimes be in a tranquil pool of blue/green water and to hear the sound of waves. It truly helps me relax, ground and come back to what a blessed existence I have.
🕺 Move/Shake
Moving your body is key for so many reasons. A way of movement that I’ve been focusing on (along with my usual) is somatic movement. One way to describe this is movement in which you focus on the internal experience and feeling of the movement instead of what it looks like from the outside.
🍪 Choose a healthy feel good snack or stuff your face🤣
Just kidding, don’t just stuff your face. Emotional eating can be very common for many reasons, but regardless it is not the best coping mechanism!
Slowing down, even if it is just for a minute or two can be the difference needed to reset, regulate your mood and get your day back on track.
What do you do when you’re having one of those days?
The holidays are naturally a busy time filled with family get together, exchanging gifts and yummy treats. If you are pregnant during the holidays you may feel an added layer of stress.
Last year at this time I was pregnant with our little man and I was seriously feeling all the feels. It was the holiday season and I was constantly working on the different things I should eat. And boy is there a lot of info out there! I knew there wouldn't be a lot of my usual items that I consumed on the menu (think wine, extra cookies and other less than stellar choices).
Even with my masters in clinical nutrition, there was A LOT of info out there, much of it is of course conflicting. So down the research hole I went.
Sometimes Google can be a great resource and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, which is why I decided to simplify and create a guide for pregnant mamas!
Packed with tips, recipes and ways to still enjoy things, even if it looks a little different for you this year!
This guide will put your mind at ease and make navigating all of your holiday get togethers less stressful, giving you more time to sit back and enjoy the season.
Click here to join the waitlist to get access to the guide for pregnant mamas when it officially launches!
Stress has become such a commonplace part of our every day lives. So many things running through our mental checklists at all times, "Did I remember to get something out for dinner? Why didn't my baby sleep well last night? Did I take my supplements this morning?"
I wanted to share an intentional way for you to focus on relaxing your mind throughout the course of your day. This easy-to-implement habit will help to mitigate stress and improve your overall well-being.
Breathing! - we do it everyday, but can we do it better?
There are so many benefits and even different ways to be intentional with it.
Like yes we breathe everyday at every moment but when you take time to do that slow, deep and intentional breathing it’s an amazing impact on your mind and body ❤️
Deep breathing is the act of slowing down your breath and relaxing your mind.
How can deep breathing help me?
What comes to mind when you think of deep breathing? Things like meditations and yoga?
Did you know it’s actually beneficial for everyone and can be done in any setting?
Taking a moment everyday to do a simple guided breathing technique can have huge positive effects on your body and overall health!
The more oxygen in your blood, the more energy you’ll have; I know we could all use that!
When the afternoon slump hits, take a minute to take a few deep breaths 💕 you’ll be amazed at the feeling.
Do you take time for deep breathing?
The harvest is associated with abundance, prosperity and wealth. Humans too experience an "autumn". If spring represents new birth and childhood, and summer symbolizes youth, autumn represents adulthood and maturity.
I wanted to share with you my must haves for the Autumn season as a new mom.
Diffuser scents : I just got an essential oil called cozy chai and it just brings me right into that fall mood without all those nasty candle chemicals
Sweaters that fit : having recently given birth, I truly have no idea if I even have any sweaters that fit and allow me to breastfeed. eh. So what I'm hearing is that I should go shopping?😜
Cute hats: I have a love/hate relationship with hats. I like my sunhat that I would always wear whenever I was in California, but I haven't yet found a winter hat I actually want to wear that is cute - favorite hats anyone?
A warm fun drink of choice: I talk a lot about this because to me having an exciting hot beverage to enjoy when it’s cold out just makes things that much cozier! what’s yours?
Cute boots!: I love to wear my fall boots, yes even in Florida I can do that in January, I used to love to wear high healed leather boots that went up to my mid calf-these days not so much, more of the short boot style with a little heel -what about you?
🍂What are your Fall Must Haves! Comment below and let me know!
Something I get asked about in terms of pregnancy (well besides food that is) is the all too famous stretch marks!
So I wanted to share some of my pregnancy secrets for your growing belly!
Your skin is literally being stretched by growing a human (which is pretty amazing if you think about it!) BUT can we do anything for those marks that sometimes show up and don’t always make you feel the most confident version of you? Absolutely!!!
First, let me say, YES there is something to be said about wearing them with pride, but also we can do so much to support the health of our skin along the way! It's not only important to support your skin for stretch marks, but with a rapidly growing belly and stretching skin can come lots and lots of itching too.
Every night I would apply what I call the happy belly blend. This is my super simple balm-like recipe that consists of Lavender, Frankincense and Cypress essential oils mixed with coconut oil. It is so soothing for the itching and it’s also very moisturizing which may help with the appearance of any stretch marks.
Here is what you will need:
A glass jar with lid for storage
Coconut oil
Young Living Essential oils (Lavender, Frankincense, and Cypress)
Start by melting down the coconut oil and then give it some time to cool a bit (not until completely hardened, you still want it soft for mixing).
Then go in and add about 10 drops of each essential oil and stir just until it's well incorporated.
To be fair I just threw random amounts in towards the end of pregnancy.
I am extremely picky about what goes on my body and essential oils have little regulation. Young Living oils tick all the boxes for me when it comes to the best of the best in the industry, so only Young Living essential oils for me.
During my last few months of pregnancy someone said to me that I could get stretch marks after birth, which I thought well maybe that is possible?
But also, maybe not!
Luckily for me (as usual, disclaimer here that everyone’s body is different!) that did not happen!
I'm in the process of creating a guide all around nutrition and support for pregnant women to share all my secrets and best kept tips to help you during your journey, join the waitlist here to be the first to know when it's available!
