Before I was pregnant, I had a tendency to overthink everything. I would try to see every view point, consider all the factors and confuse myself before making any kind of decision. I felt deeply passionate about many things, but would often end up making the wrong decision or going against my gut, because it would make others happy.
Then I found out I was pregnant and all of that immediately changed.
For me, being pregnant made me better at making decisions, trusting my gut and saying how I felt, or doing what I needed to do, without second guessing. It became a time were my mind had to many other things to focus on (growing and nurturing a tiny baby), and all of the extra worry, anxiety and overthinking seemed to dissolve. It was the first time in a long time that I felt grounded, balanced and very clear-headed. And it was because of one thing: simplicity.
I didn’t stress about what I was eating every day. I didn’t make myself anxious if I didn’t workout one day. If I wasn’t practicing yoga or meditating, I didn’t judge myself. For this first time, I just listened to my body and did what I needed to do. For a few weeks, that meant eating a lot of pizza and chinese takeout, because everything else made me feel nauseated. It meant doing more barre and walking, all the way to 40 weeks, instead of cramming in yoga, barre, running, walking, weight lifting, etc., because it was all my body wanted. And it meant watching tv some nights, reading books others and sleeping when I needed it for as short or as long as I needed it.
This time in my life taught me how to really tune into my bodies needs, in order to take better care of myself physically and mentally, because I had no other choice. I was growing a beautiful, healthy baby and this was the most important thing in the world.
It became all about being healthy and keeping it absolutely simple.
After giving birth, things changed. I had to take care of myself, as well as a new human, and rely on others to help me through it. I was physically exhausted and recovering from an unexpected surgery. I needed food to fuel me, helpers to move me around, and plenty of time to simply sit and care for my new baby. For my health and healing, I needed things to be simple.
It became easy for me to get overwhelmed, depleted and stressed out when I had to clean a house, cook my meals (even just reheating) and rely on only me to take care of a baby, myself and my world. I decided to make some changes, especially when it came to visitors.
I asked for help when I could, from friend and family who stayed to visit – which sometimes backfired, but really let me know who I could rely on when things got tough. Meals became quick but healthy when possible, I stopped worrying about exercise for the moment, and I cut out all that I could to make things easier.
My mind cleared a bit, I felt more balanced in my new role and I started to feel some anxiety and pressure ease up. My new life started to feel really good, until I let some pressure build up again.
I have realized over the last 2 months that I have much less time than I realized and absolutely no schedule. Once I get into a routine, there is a growth spurt, a visitor or something else to throw off the new norm. If I try to stick to a schedule of any kind and make plans to get things done each day, I wake up stressed and overwhelmed, which I take out on my self and my husband.
Because of this, I have made a new pact with myself: keep it simple. This is the biggest thing I learned from my pregnancy and parenthood and it has changed everything.
This is not the blog post I planned to write to you today. I had plans to share with you the biggest thing I learned and announce a the opening of my private coaching program, designed around making healthy living simple. But this is not what I will be sharing with you today.
Instead, I am writing to let you know that I have decided to take a little break from my one-on-one coaching, as well as the blog. I have so much I want to share with you, from what I have learned and continue to learn, but I am finding that searching for time to share it, and to do it well, is just too hard. I am rarely in the kitchen creating recipes, my camera is growing dusty and my mind has very little space for the creativity or writing. As much as I love and thrive off of this, for the moment, I need to focus on practicing what I teach, which means keeping it simple.
This doesn’t mean I will be gone forever, or even for a set time. I’ll still share things once in awhile on my FB page and I’ll continue to share daily tips and insights on Instagram. And I might pop on here for a random post before I officially come back, as well as share some of my favorites from the archives or even share a guest post. This way you might still get a newsletter or a blog post, but it won’t always be at the same time every week, for now.
When I do come back, I’ll be ready to share with you some fresh content that I am enthusiastic about and hopefully a brand new program. I have big plans for what it sot come and this mini-break will help to make it all possible.
Until then, make sure to check out the FB page and Instagram feed, and subscribe for access to the Resource Library if you haven’t already. And if you need additional help, or are ready to start a program to get healthy, you can always sign up for an online, self-paced program.
I look forward to seeing where this leads in the future and thank you for allowing me the time and space to breathe, grow and come back ready to give you all of my energy.
Thank you for all that you do.
Be healthy, be happy, live fully,
