Recent Articles
The Power Of Goal-Setting
Goal-setting is an important and powerful process for seeing your dreams realized. In order to be successful in the goal-setting process, you should set SMART goals. These goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realizable, and time-bound. Goals help provide direction and give you a sense of control over your life.
Let’s Talk About Change
One thing we can be sure of is that change is the only constant in our lives. Change often creates fear, uncertainty, and insecurity about our future. However, our resistance to this change either causes us to stagnate, or it causes us to be battered by unforeseen circumstances. It’s analogous to a surfer in the waves. You are either riding the waves or failing to act, you will be dumped by them.
Diastasis Recti Exercises
During pregnancy, our bodies do a lot of incredible things to accommodate our growing baby. Our abdomen muscles expand and separate as the linea alba (or connective tissue between the abdominis recti muscle) stretches. After giving birth, you may notice an indentation in the middle of your belly, in the region of your “six-pack” area. For some moms, this separation is excessive and is known as diastasis recti.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
Human beings have compared themselves to others since the beginning of time. It is an inbuilt tendency of the mind, and in some ways, it can be helpful. It can give you a blueprint for improvement and inspire you to change, but at other times, comparisons can be a means to pick yourself apart. For example, recognizing the similarities you have with others can help you feel connected, validated, and supported. But for the most part, comparing yourself to others can leave you feeling inadequate and alone.
Letting Go of Mom Guilt
Most of us wonder (all the time) if the way we are parenting our children is right. Worsened by the consistent bombardment of parenting advice through social media, parenting blogs, well-meaning parents, and friends, we’re left feeling completely inadequate. Add a global pandemic, which means working from home AND homeschooling children, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for mom-guilt.
Postpartum Exercises
After the birth of your baby, there’s a good chance that you are keen to get moving again but are feeling overwhelmed with all the new challenges the postpartum period presents. You may be reeling from pregnancy hormones, swelling in your feet, excess weight, and a heavy feeling in your pelvic floor, never mind recovering from a C-section, diastasis recti, or postpartum depression.
Meaning Over Happiness
Few things seem more natural than wanting to be happy. In fact, most people strive for happiness over many other life goals. While it may seem reasonable that happy people have more friends, enjoy more career success and live longer happier lives, there are some surprising negative consequences to seeking happiness alone. Happiness is essentially a narrow and short-lived experience related to what is happening in our immediate circumstances. Meaning is a culmination of our past, present, and future experiences, and its earnest pursuit results in emotional resilience, grit, and personal development.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Prolapse is a common condition where the pelvic organs (such as the bladder, uterus, and sometimes bowel) drop down into the vaginal space. About a third of all women are affected by prolapse or similar conditions over their lifetime. It can be a devastating condition that affects one's emotional health and causes social discomfort and isolation. The good news is that in most cases, it can be successfully treated.
Let’s Talk About Maternity Leave in California
Let’s Talk About Maternity Leave in California.
Employers are not required to pay employees their wages during maternity leave, but many do. In some cases, you may still be eligible for some form of paid leave as most California employees have a right to California’s state disability insurance during their leave. Yes, as weird as it may seem, pregnancy and childbirth are considered disabilities.
Can You Be Pregnant and Still have a Period?
Some women may experience spotting in the first few weeks of pregnancy. The blood is usually light pink or dark brown in color. But, even intermittent bleeding that seems like a period during pregnancy is not the same as menstruation. Read on to find out more about the causes of bleeding during pregnancy.
Troubling Emotions
Meditation is a powerful means for exploring troubling emotions, allowing us to mentally label them. Labeling our emotions helps us to cut the attachment with these negative emotions and develop healthy responses to them. When you go inwards and fully experience these emotions without judgment, you become disentangled or “unstuck”.
The Power of a Meditation Habit
Research has proven that meditation provides positive effects on our health and happiness, even if it’s not a daily habit. However, studies show that we can unlock even more benefits when we meditate for consecutive days. In fact, completing just one 10-minute session a day enhances our focus and decision-making, and lessens our feelings of anxiety and depression. It essentially shifts the way we relate to feelings and thoughts, making us more emotionally resilient and allowing us to experience a greater sense of calm, clarity and focus.
This Too Shall Pass
Everything is cyclical, ever-evolving, and ever-changing. No moment in our lives is the same as any other moment. As women, we are more prone to experiencing these changes than men. Women’s bodies ebb and flow, and each menstrual phase brings with it a transient set of emotional and physical qualities. This constant flux gives rise to a cascade of emotions – from sadness, frustration, and depression during menstruation – to feelings of elation and optimism when we are ovulating.
Postpartum Loss of Hair
Postpartum hair loss is a fairly common phenomenon. It occurs in the first year after giving birth and usually peaks at around the four to six month mark. Hair loss is generally nothing to fret about, but you may want to take some measures to make your hair appear healthy and full. Eating a varied diet and taking vitamin-supplements, focusing on self-care activities, skipping the styling, and only shampooing when necessary can help prevent excessive loss of hair.
Loving Yourself
For just a minute, imagine what your life would be if you fully accepted yourself. Instead of beating yourself up and judging everything you feel is wrong with yourself, take a moment to meditate on true self-acceptance. Focusing on self-compassion will allow you to tap into the knowledge that’s hidden deep down in your core: you are perfect just as you are. Right now.
How Meditation Can Help Boost Your Milk Supply
Many mothers find that their milk flows more readily after a meditation or guided relaxation session. Read on to find out how meditation can help improve your milk supply.
Guided Meditation
Life can be overwhelming and stressful, especially when we are projecting stress from the past into the future. Meditation is a powerful practice that can bring you back to the present moment and allow you to objectively view your mental and emotional processes. This has the effect of creating new neural pathways that increase your empathy, compassion, self-awareness, and improve your ability to learn, plan and make clear decisions. Guided meditations are especially useful for beginners, and can help direct you to develop an effective meditation practice.
Postpartum Depression Action Plan
Postpartum hormonal changes and depression can make it extremely difficult to care for yourself or your baby. Affecting around 1 in 7 women after childbirth, postpartum depression is usually much more intense and persistent than the baby blues. The following lifestyle changes and self-care activities can help to relieve your symptoms.
Postpartum Depression Management
Postpartum depression is defined as “any major or minor depressive episode during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth.” Around one in seven women will suffer from postpartum depression in their lifetime. This article discusses treatment options for postpartum depression.
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum blues due to hormonal changes are common after childbirth. These feelings arise because of a sharp drop in the pregnancy hormones and an increase in hormones that cause anxiety and depression. Severe and prolonged symptoms may be a sign of postpartum depression for which you should seek medical help.