Using Mindful Movement to Achieve Your Goals

Using Mindful Movement to Achieve Your Goals

Yoga is a great practice for mindful movement, but not the only one

From marathon running to barre to yoga to power lifting, you’ll find these techniques to be game changers for any type of movement.

What is mindful and intuitive movement?

Mindful and intuitive movement are often used as different approaches, but I believe that we can’t have one without the other.

Mindful Movement: Moving with full awareness and focus on your body and mind. Noticing what it feels like to move in space, and every physical and emotional sensation that comes up.

Intuitive Movement: Moving in a way that feels good to you. Tuning in and listening to exactly what your body and mind are craving and whatever movement would honor you in that moment.

These two go hand in hand. I believe that you can’t gain the benefits of one without the other also being part of your movement practice.

Mindful movement is key for reaching goals in all types of movement including lifting

Why mindful and intuitive movement?

Whether your goal of movement is to build muscle, get a new PR or have an outlet for de-stressing, mindful and intuitive movement will help you get past any blockages to reaching your goals. Becoming completely aware of your body and mind will create conditions that are ideal for your personal success, however that is defined for you.

How do you know this works?

You may know me as more of a yogi, but at heart I am a total fitness junkie who has been around the block when it comes to workout goals! I’ve used these techniques while marathon training, lifting, spinning and with recovery goals such as healing (running) injuries and postpartum recovery (pelvic floor re-building).

Okay, let’s get into it!

I’ve used these techniques for marathon training, hitting running PRs and countless fitness goals

Using Mindful Movement to Achieve Your Goals

1. Tune IN and tune everything else OUT

This is the first and hardest step. You’ve got to stop comparing both to others and yourself. I used to think that the trick was to stop comparing to others and ONLY compare to myself and focus on my progress. Do this in the big picture. Reflect on your fitness goals before and after movement practices. For example, when marathon training- check your times and figure out your goals before or after moving whether that be a sprint exercise or a distance run. For something like yoga, practice NOT looking at other and how they are moving and avoid critiquing yourself in the mirror. I prefer studio spaces that do not have mirrors for this reason.

2. Connect your Breath and Body

Start becoming aware of your inhales and exhales, then see if you can use your breath to enhance your movement. The first step to this is the awareness. It may take time to just become totally focused on observing and learning about how you breathe. Give this time. After a while, you will notice how your breath works with or against your body. For example, when lifting- do you hold your breath? Do you notice you feel better inhaling or exhaling at a certain point? In yoga do you feel good connecting one breath to one movement or do you like to take long, slow inhales and exhales during multiple movements? This will change day to day or throughout your workout. Get used to recommitting to your breath and adjusting to what feels good.

3. Allow Yourself to Feel

We’re conditioned to suppress physical and emotional sensations, so it can feel strange to intentionally allow ourselves to feel. This takes a mindset shift and work. You will have to practice allowing yourself to feel. Do this by initiating frequent self check-ins. How am I feeling right now? What am I feeling right now? What physical sensations are coming up for me? What emotional sensations are coming up for me? No judging! Nothing is good or bad- it’s just data from your body and you’re just here to listen!

Allow yourself to feel and check in: How am I feeling right now? Physically? Emotionally?

4. Respond to Your Needs

Time to use the data you’ve collected in your check ins to respond to your needs. This may take a bit of brain power at first, but will soon become second nature. What did you notice? Are you feeling pain? Time to stop. Pain in running, lifting or yoga will not help you reach your goals- you have to address the pain properly to recover and be able to continue conditioning for your goals. Are you feeling discomfort? Discomfort and pain are different. Discomfort is isn’t a bad thing! We are growing! Time to use your toolbox- use your breath to breathe into the discomfort. Use your awareness and newfound ability to tune in, to tune everything else out and focus on your body, breath and movement.

Mini action plans are also how you adjust to fitness instruction or plans. For your own planned workout- is it serving you in this moment or do you need to adjust the plan? For group fitness classes, is the option the instructor presenting what works for you or is there something else that works better? You’ve already learned to tune everything else out so it doesn’t matter what the other people are doing or what anyone thinks of you! You’re a strong badass and don’t need approval from anyone else.

5. Stay Present

Okay, you’ve go the tools you need now! Staying present is easier said than done, but you’ve learned how to create the conditions to stay present. You have tuned in and tuned everything and everyone else out. You have connected your body and mind to your breath. You are allowing yourself to feel and notice sensations that come up. You are responding to what YOU need in each present moment. You did it! If you are doing all of these things, it is impossible NOT to stay present. But it takes recommitting time and time again. That is totally normal. Just keep gently guiding yourself back to these practices.

Starting to notice the yoga across the room who looks like a pretzel? TUNE HER OUT and tune back in!

Are you hearing a message in your head saying I can’t do this anymore when things get hard? BREATHE through it and take it each breath at a time! You’ve GOT this!

Feeling stuck on your goal and discouraged that you’re not making progress? Stay present! This is ONE day, look at the big picture. Take it each day and moment at a time. You’ll get there but you have to be patient with your body and mind in the process. Use your breath to come back to the moment .

Practice, Practice, Practice

This mind work is just like strengthening a muscle. It takes time and will grow stronger and stronger. This process WILL take dedication. You will have to recommit to it time and time again in a single workout and over time. That is normal and trust me, it will become routine eventually and you won’t have to think about it.

I can’t wait for this shift to help you reach your goals! Whether it helps you to let go of stress and enjoy movement more, reach a personal fitness or recovery goal, I hope this will be an absolute game changer for you just like it has been for me.

Pregnancy and Postpartum Q +A

Pregnancy and Postpartum Q +A

Figuring out what to do when it comes to important decisions like your birth, postpartum and baby can be overwhelming. The best resource for me in addition to some of my own basic research, was hearing what worked for other moms. My goal of this post is to organize my responses to the questions I have gotten through DM so that I can easily provide links and information to those who are interested in what has worked for our family. Ultimately, it comes down to what is best for you, your budget, unique situation and needs. Information overload is REAL especially when your feeling all hormonal and vulnerable, so please remember that as long as you are loving on your sweet baby, you really can’t go wrong!

What ____ do you have?

Before I dive into the rest of the Q + A… here are the items I am most frequently asked about and links. They also happen to be the items I use the most! Again, every family has unique needs and different budgets, but these are what have worked for us. Use the arrow to scroll for more.

What did you do during pregnancy to promote a healthy pregnancy and birth?

Find details on a lot of what I did in this blog post. Most of the things that I describe doing to flip our breech baby were things that I did anyways to prepare for birth- just ramped them up during that time! Maya abdominal massage, chiropractic care, holistic pelvic care and prenatal yoga to prepare physically. This isn’t just about being strong and prepared for labor, but also helps get the uterus into optimal positioning. Hypnobirthing course/meditations, acupuncture, reading and listening to natural birth stories, making a birth plan and having a doula also helped tremendously!

What tips do you have for staying comfortable in the third trimester?

Get a body pillow- I liked using a U-shaped one! Also, get a yoga ball! I sat on it all the time while pregnant used one during birth and still use it to calm Harper and bounce him to sleep. I also did hypnobirthing meditation daily, prenatal yoga, went on walks and did the miles circuit towards the end.

Do you have your birth story on your blog?

Yes! You can read about How Our Breech Baby Flipped at 37 Weeks and our Unmedicated Natural Hospital Birth in these blog posts.

What are your postpartum recovery must haves?

I am SO glad that I had some mamas give me these items because I would have had no idea what I needed! A perineal washer for keeping clean, perineal spray for pain relief, belly wrap for core/back support, herbs and epsom salt for sitz baths, body oil for dry skin and self-care massage, nipple cream for painful breastfeeding/pumping (if you need this there may be an issue please consult an IBCLC). My biggest “must-have” is being prepared mentally as much as possible… read my 8 Mistakes to Avoid During Postpartum here.

What are some ideas for postpartum easy meals?

The easiest meals during postpartum were the ones that I prepped in advance, froze and could reheat. These got eaten up so much quicker than I anticipated and wish I had made even more! You can find the ways I stocked my freezer in this blog post. My other go-tos have been rice bowls or toasts with the goal of packing as much calories and nutrition into one meal as possible! It was key during both pregnancy and postpartum to keep my fridge stocked with the essentials for quick snacks and meals. There is nothing worse than opening an empty fridge when you are 9 months pregnant or a few days postpartum, tired and hangry! Find all my essentials for stocking the fridge in my Pregnancy + Postpartum Nutrition Plan.

What were you told about working out postpartum?

I was cleared to work out by my regular OB at my 6 week check up. However, I knew from my doulas and other mamas that I needed to be careful with this. My holistic OB cleared me for gentle yoga/walking at 6 weeks, low impact cardio at 2 months and high impact workouts at 6 months. I also did physical therapy with a practice that specializes in postpartum care (was covered by insurance) to heal my diastatis recti and strengthen my pelvic floor.

Do you have a sleep schedule? What do you do for sleep/naps?

We don’t have a schedule but we have routines. I like being flexible and try to offer naps and feedings on demand when he cues. We did the Taking Cara Babies newborn class and 4-5 month guide, and I have also used her blog posts to learn about infant sleep. I had no idea developmentally what amounts of sleep infants need or what to do to help him sleep. I hate hearing him cry and am not personally comfortable doing sleep training but also lack of sleep has really taken a toll on my mental and physical health. Her resources have helped me know about how many hours are developmentally appropriate to go between naps, how to look out for sleepy cues and things to do to help him fall asleep and learn to fall asleep. I don’t do all of the stuff she suggests but a lot of it really helped! Sleep is unpredictable like most things in baby world, so I try to let go of expectations and just do what works for us.

How did you discover your sons tongue tie? Did you get it fixed?

The pediatrician at the hospital told us his tongue was “tight”. I didn’t know what that meant and when I followed up with healthcare professionals we were seeing nobody seemed worried about it. Fast forward 3 months and he had fallen off the growth chart and was diagnosed failure to thrive. I brought it up again at that point to one of our healthcare professionals who finally thought it could be the issue. She referred us to a pediatric dentist who diagnosed and revised the ties (both lips and tongue) with a laser that same day. Without getting into two much detail, I highly recommend being evaluated by either a pediatric dentist or ENT as soon as you suspect an issue. Chiropractic care, physical therapy and craniosacral therapy were essential to our recovery process and something we were not referred to but needed to have been. This website helped me learn more about tongue and lip ties after we went through it, but I wish I would have found it sooner.

What did you do to increase your milk supply? Did you use supplements?

When I went from nursing a baby with a tongue and lip to to exclusively pumping, I noticed that I did not make as much milk as I thought I did and needed. I was able to quickly amp up my supply with these tips, but please understand that many women’s bodies are not physically able to create all of the milk their babies need. This is nothing to feel guilty or shameful about. It is more common than people think and if you have tried everything under the sun, please know that you are not alone or doing anything wrong.

I would strongly CAUTION against using herbs/supplements. They can sometimes have an adverse effect on both mom and baby. I increased supply mainly with demand. The more your breasts are stimulated either through nursing or pumping, the more demand you create. Nutrition and making sure I was both hydrated (lots of coconut water!) and eating enough nutrient dense foods and calories also helped.

Please also know that breastfeeding does not have to be all or nothing. I made myself crazy exclusively nursing a baby with a tongue and lip tie and then exclusively pumping and trying to latch him 8-12 times a day in addition to bottle feeding him while re-learning to suck. I don’t regret my journey, but now that I have introduced some formula I realize that formula can really help to extend breastfeeding if exclusively breastfeeding is physically or mentally causing distress. Both breast milk and/or formula have everything a baby needs to be healthy, happy and strong.

How do you wash your pump parts?

When I was pumping 8-12 times a day I did the “fridge hack”. This is when you put your parts in the fridge between sessions. I would only refrigerate once so I would use them for 2 sessions. Once I started spacing out my pumping more, I stopped doing the fridge hack. I also got scared when I found out that the CDC warns against it. Now I wash all parts between uses except for the back flow protectors which I wash once a day. During travel, I bring multiple sets in gallon ziplocks and only use them once, then put them in a dirty parts bag to wash at my destination. I bring these wipes in case of an emergency like I forget a part or have to pump at extra time.

How do you travel with breast milk?

I could not figure this out for the longest time and racked my brain for months before traveling! I am sooo happy with both the plans of what we did when traveling with and without Harper.

For traveling with him (this plan is based on exclusively pumping): we bring a days worth of frozen milk and several fresh bottles. I feed the fresh bottles while traveling then serve the frozen milk once it has thawed when we arrive. Why? I don’t want the pressure of pumping and serving immediately during travel thats too stressful so I save that milk and deal with it upon arrival. Since I brought a days worth of frozen milk, I freeze the extra fresh milk I pump on the trip when I get home, This also helps rotate my freezer stash to use up old milk and replace with new. If you do not have a freezer stash, I would bring enough fresh milk to last for the travels if you can and if you are a just-enougher, I would pump directly into the bottles your baby eats from using an adaptor if necessary! ** I haven’t traveled since starting to combo feed and introduce formula so don’t have any tips on that yet!

For traveling without him: I used Milk Stork and it was soooo worth it! I pumped on planes, cars, airports, etc. because I will not waste a drop I just can’t mentally handle that! If you are traveling for work, you can submit a request for your employer to pay for Milk Stork.

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8 Mistakes to Avoid During Postpartum Recovery

8 Mistakes to Avoid During Postpartum Recovery

I’ve learned a lot during these past 5 months. I could have read all the postpartum books in the world, but nothing could have prepared me for this experience. It’s hard to anticipate your needs after giving birth, but this list of what to avoid will help recovery be centered around what is most important… the needs of you and your new baby!

1. Measuring Against your Expectations

It is impossible not to have 1000 expectations and plans from the time you try to conceive. From when you want to get pregnant to what your birth will be like and how and what you plan to feed your baby- it’s hard not to fantasize about the perfect experience. While there is no harm in planing, it is important not to remain attached to these expectations, as more likely than not you will have to adapt. I was lucky that our unmedicated, natural birth became a reality, but our breastfeeding “plan” took an unexpected turn. Because I was so attached to planning on nursing for a year, I was unfairly hard on myself when things didn’t work out as expected. Adopting a flexible mindset to go along with expectations is absolutely key to physical and mental health and wellness during postpartum.

2. Comparing Your Experience to Others

The comparison game is always a tough one, especially during such an emotionally vulnerable period. In the time of social media, it is hard to see smiling new moms out with their happy baby in tow sipping on a margarita. Or a mama cooking a deliciously healthy homemade stir fry while bouncing baby on their hip. How about a 5 weeks postpartum mom hitting the gym flashing a shockingly flat tummy? Those are all things I saw on social media postpartum and couldn’t help comparing to the overwhelming day to day challenges I was facing. I did choose to go off of social media for the first couple weeks, but whether it’s digitally or in real life- there will always be other mamas to compare with and it’s about being at peace with where you are on your unique journey.

Don’t forget that an instagramworthy photo from a professional shoot is not always the full picture

3. Trying to Do it All

During pregnancy I assumed that my introverted self would want as few people around as possible. The prospect of family, friends and professional help in the house gave me anxiety. When we were generously gifted postpartum doula hours for the first few weeks, I reconsidered. I figured that we could test drive a few nights and see how we felt about having someone besides family around. Literally the day after our first night home from the hospital we called to add more hours. We also begged my mom to stay with us through the first two weeks! I never anticipated how overwhelming our challenging feeding/breastfeeding experience would be and navigating first time parenting. During pregnancy I assumed that having help around would mean not spending time with my baby. But instead, having support meant, extra hands to help with the thousands of other things that allowed me to spend even more quality time with baby and make sure to take care of myself.

4. Rushing to Get Moving

6 weeks and you’re cleared to whip yourself back into shape- right? Wrong. Most women are cleared to return to normal activity after 6 weeks despite their bodies being nowhere near what they used to be. A majority of pregnancy and births result in diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles) and pelvic floor issues. These require careful training and can create lifelong problems if ignored. I was fortunate to have mamas warn me about their regrets of jumping back into running and high intensity workouts too soon, leading to long term issues with incontinence and core strength. I chose to hold off on almost all activity other than short walks until 6 weeks, at which point I began 6 weeks of pelvic floor physical therapy (covered by insurance!) and gentle yoga. At 2 months postpartum I added low impact cycling and barre class. I plan to slowly and carefully return to high impact/intensity workouts at 6 months postpartum, prioritizing optimal healing for long term physical health.

Take it slow! A walk outside is an amazing postpartum workout…. save the high intensity stuff for later

5. Saying Yes When You Mean No

This is a sacred time for you and your family. Do not feel pressured to allow others to make it about them. Figure out what you want and what you don’t want. This is different for everyone. For me, I did not want a meal train, which I know is a popular form of postpartum support these days. Instead, I froze my own food and knew that those I am closest with would offer to bring us food regardless. I did not want to “say yes” to people coming by at certain pre-arranged dates and times only to find it to be a stressful day when I wouldn’t want visitors and it was worth sacrificing the help with meals. I instead asked for favors like errands, grocery pick ups and laundry. I found that the people who truly want to help will be happy to do what YOU find most helpful.

6. Neglecting Your Needs

That first week I totally went against my own beliefs on self care and neglected my most basic needs. Although I had plenty of support around me, I chose not to prioritize making time to take care of my physical health. I make a point to say “I chose not to” because it doesn’t feel like a choice, but it is. Our primal instincts kick in to devote every second of energy to baby and feel guilty stepping away and letting others help. A week in I had a day where my mental and physical health came crashing down. I recognized the need to change how I was doing things and started taking sitz baths, made sure to eat more, and sleep through a feeding each night.

Those primal instincts kick in and all of a sudden we neglect our own most basic needs

7. Doubting Your Expertise

From the moment Harper was born, he had difficulty latching/eating. These struggles continued for 3 months until we hit rock bottom with a failure to thrive diagnosis. I knew something was wrong from the beginning and finally was ready to listen to MY intuition and figure out a solution. If I would have continued doubting my expertise, we may not have figured out he had a tongue and lip tie. Finally at 5 months, he is eating like a champ and we have found our new normal. I learned such an important lesson, as I felt strongly like something was wrong from the beginning but didn’t prioritize my own innate knowledge as a mom.

8. Focusing on Whats Next

It is so natural to long for things to get easier. I found myself thinking - I can’t wait for my stitches to heal and to feel better, for breastfeeding to feel easier, for him to gain weight, to sleep more… the list goes on. I had to constantly remind myself to stay present and enjoy these challenging, but precious moments because no matter how hard it felt- I would never get these days back. I realize that just like we did, many families face unique challenges and regardless, we have to find solace in those precious newborn moments to maintain our sanity and stay grounded.

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4 Ways I'm Stocking my Freezer for Clean Eating

Clean eating is so much easier when you are prepared! Typically I try to keep my fridge, freezer and pantry stocked with healthy ingredients and make extra of whatever I am preparing for dinner to eat for subsequent meals. I know that my current habits will have to evolve as I enter motherhood in the next few weeks. My time and energy for cooking will not be the same, but my need for clean and nourishing foods will be greater than ever. In my Pregnancy and Postpartum Nutrition Plan, I mentioned that I am stocking my freezer with both grab and go meals and building blocks for making them quickly and easily.

Soups are easy to freeze and defrost for a nutrient dense meal.

4 Ways I'm Stocking my Freezer for Clean Eating

1. Soups- soups are one of the best nutrient dense meals for freezing and staying fresh. I am freezing a variety of soups including:

   • Nourishing Mama Squash Soup found in this blog post

   • Immune Boosting/Gut Healing Lemon Chicken Soup

   • Sweet Potato + Parsnip Bone Broth Soup

   • “Cream” of Broccoli Soup from the Good Gut Fuel E-Book

   • Zucchini, White Bean and Chicken Soup

2. Protein- I want to make sure I have high quality protein options to add to my veggie/grain bowls. I am freezing:

   • Beet Falafel

   • Lamb meatballs

   • Meat sauce

   • Baked chicken breasts

3. Snacks- There are plenty of packaged options, but homemade snacks are always cheaper and cleaner! I am freezing:

   • Gooey Almond Butter Bars

   • Flourless Banana Collagen Muffins

   • Secret Ingredient Snack Balls

4. Smoothies- I am freezing packets of smoothie ingredients that I can simply add nut milk to and blend. Some of the combinations I am doing are:

   • Frozen cherries, avocado and banana to make the Cherry Almond Recovery Bowl

   • Frozen blueberries and cauliflower to make the Blueberry Cauliflower Smoothie Bowl

   • Frozen banana, pumpkin and peeled ginger to make the Ginger Turmeric Pumpkin Smoothie

These kind of snack balls go way too fast so I love to make a double batch to freeze some for later!

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