Tag: motherhood

Childbirth, Guilt & Forgiveness, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Self Love

Mom ~ 5 Ways to Show Up for Yourself

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You deserve to be nourished and honored as the radically capable and loving woman you are – and you’re just the person for the job.

But wait, is your inner “guilty mom monster” siphoning away all motivation for you to dip into the harmonizing waters of self-care instead sticking you in a perpetuating cycle of putting your own needs last?

Let’s be done with that – let’s move you up on your list of priorities.

Begin weaving the following practices into your daily way of being so you can blossom into the most vibrant version of you.

  1. Separate Your Emotions from Your Child’s. Do you feel intrinsically linked with your child’s well-being? Do you hurt when they hurt? Do you fill with joy when they fill with joy? While these shared emotions can be a testament to the strength of the mother-child bond, they also prevent you from supporting your child without fracturing your equilibrium.

Read more on Whole Life Times!

Childbirth, Parenting, Pregnancy

SupaPass Channel Welcome Video

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Hi mamas!

My friends in the UK have created a supa (!) fun app and website calledSupaPass where you can stream content from your favorite recording artists, tv personalities, and friendly neighborhood birth professionals 😀

All of my videos and relaxation recordings can be streamed there, and I will be adding exclusive content to the channel such as book excerpts and blog posts.

The site is available to all, not just the Brits. And, it’s less than $3 a month to subscribe. Check it out! https://SupaPass.com/FengShuiMommy

Childbirth, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Pregnancy

Mother & Baby Bonding: An excerpt from Feng Shui Mommy

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There has never been and never again will be a child just like yours. Even though babies are born every day, the birth of your baby is sacred, unique, and extraordinary.

Connecting to this unique heart energy of your baby will be a profound experience for you, allowing your internal trapdoor of love to release. Physical nourishment aside, physically and emotionally bonding with your baby is the surest way to build a secure base that will provide your child confidence, support, love, and abundant health for the rest of her life. Developing a harmonic connection with your baby is what it’s all about.

Your relationship with your rapidly growing and changing baby is fluid and dynamic, and that you have the chance to grow and learn to be a better communicator, better partner, and better parent as you incorporate this new relationship into your family constellation. This chapter will also support you in finding that place that is so deep in yourself there are no words — only love. You have a limited number of vowels and consonants but an unlimited supply of love that will support you in forging an everlasting connection with your child.

Read more on Green Child

Childbirth, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Pregnancy, Video

Live Pregnancy and Childbirth Course

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Hi friends!

I have so many lovely readers and potential clients all over the world, so… I’m super excited to announce that I’m now offering an online LIVE pregnancy and childbirth course! Yee haw!

For more info, click here, or down there.

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Childbirth, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Pregnancy, Self Love

Motherhood Collages

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preggo8

I thought a lot about motherhood yesterday – how it has changed me, how it has reinforced traits I had before pregnancy, how it confuses and astounds me.

Then, I meditated for the first time in five months because I was given the ultimate #MothersDay gift: TIME.

As I meditated, I saw myself as an outline filled with hundreds of images and it was beautiful. It blew my mind… and my body… and my spirit.

We are never just one thing. As we grow and evolve, especially through pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood, we gain new layers, slough off those that no longer serve, and live life as dynamic and complex beings.

This (and all my free time!) inspired me to create collages based on the personalities, interests, fears, and dreams of the powerful women I have worked with – and am.

You can find them all here, http://www.baileygaddis.com/motherhood-collages.html

And I’ve attached a few for your perusal.

xo Bailey

P.S. Because I’m on a “get Amazon reviews for book!” kick, I’ll send you your own custom mama collage if you leave a quick review, and then let me know 🙂

#pregnancy #motherhood #childbirth #photocollage

Childbirth, Parenting, Pregnancy

Excerpt from Feng Shui Mommy

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If you like what you see… order here 🙂

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The most zealous of all the sperm has nuzzled into your waiting egg, and it’s all systems go. Your body (and mind, and spirit) are now pooling their reserves of building blocks to create a new human. How do you feel about that? Thrilled? Terrified? In denial? Whatever your answer is, it is perfect. Pregnancy is the epitome of change, and it’s your prerogative to completely freak out (in a good or bad way) over this development. It’s strange to have a brand-new person growing inside of you! It’s extraordinary! It is an everyday miracle in a global sense, but a cataclysmic shift in a personal sense. You are allowed to break down, whatever that looks like for you. There’s no time when it’s more socially acceptable to “lose it” than when you find out you’re pregnant. And by losing it, you just might find all of it.

Pregnancy can trigger an identity crisis. You are no longer the person you thought you were, but you are not yet the person you will become. It’s a time of awesome transition and change, which is always scary. Becoming a mother doesn’t mean you stop being yourself — your fun Self, your carefree Self, your sensual Self. What it does mean is that you have the unique opportunity to become the person you truly want to be, the person you’re meant to be: a woman who experiences herself as centered, whole, and stronger than she’s ever been before, your true Self. During this time, your feng shui, composed of the energy connecting your mind, body, and spirit, is shaken up in the great cosmic maternal martini shaker — and you don’t even get to have a drink! But once the head spinning slows, you will find that you have more resources, more resilience, and more creativity than ever before.

It’s All Connected 
Because you are a holistic being, your mind, body, and spirit are designed to work together in a state of dynamic fluidity, constantly realigning around your optimal balance point. When you bring awareness to this connectivity, you allow powerful change to happen.

Pregnancy is a profound chapter of life, for sure, but it’s not the whole story. What pregnancy offers is a chance to get your holistic house in order so you are beautifully prepared for the rest of your life. Now is the time to find your joyful and courageous core. Now is the time to connect with your authentic and best Self.

Eating fried bacon–wrapped pastries for breakfast but thinking happy thoughts won’t optimize your holistic connection. Doing an hour of yoga while focusing on the stressful tasks you have to do afterward won’t optimize your holistic connection. Removing your partner’s action figure collection from the bedroom while panicking about your future ability to breastfeed won’t optimize your holistic connection. What will optimize it is becoming grounded in your experience, learning to express your needs, and finding the right kind of support.

Read more at New World Library! Feng Shui Mommy Cover

Career, Childbirth, Mind-Body-Spirit, Mom Humor, Parenting, Pregnancy

Moms Who Inspire: Bailey Gaddis

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Featured on Expectful! Whoop whoop!

After one read of Bailey Gaddis’s About Me page on her site, Your Serene Life, I knew I wanted to interview her for Moms Who Inspire because she’s insanely inspiring and  hilarious.

During our conversation, I mentioned to Bailey that I find it hysterical that she admits in her bio that she can’t stop bragging about attending an event hosted by Michelle Obama at the White House. She laughed and went on to tell me that she was at an event that morning and bragged about it to the strangers next to her. “It’s just such a cool thing to have experienced, why not brag about it?” she said laughing.

This is Bailey Gaddis. funny, honest and high on life.

Bailey is the Author of Feng Shui Mommy (coming out May 2017), a Childbirth Preparation Educator, Hypnotherapist, Birth Doula, travel addict and writer on all of the above. Bailey decided that she wanted to help women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum after the birth of her first child. Using Hypno-anesthesia as a method for her labor, she was able to have a pain-free natural childbirth. This empowered her to want to help other women experience their own bliss during their motherhood journeys.

When speaking to Bailey, I asked her what the first few days were like after she gave birth. I ask this often to other moms as a way to bond over stories of sleepless nights and crying babies, but Bailey’s answer was one that opened my eyes to a different experience than my own.

She replied as if reliving the experience as she spoke, “Blissful.”

This isn’t the typical answer I receive and it’s not even close to how I describe the first few days of my motherhood path, but when she said it, my body filled with love. It was really beautiful to see a different perspective on what’s usually a difficult time.

I learned so much from Bailey in our brief conversation, and I’m so happy to share more below.

Read more on Expectful!

Career, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Video

#DayInTheLife of a Mom, Writer, Cereal Chef, Birth Professional…

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Name: Bailey Gaddis

Home city/ country: Ojai, CA, USA

Current Occupation: (student, current job, etc.): Mom, author (Feng Shui Mommy- coming out May 2017!), childbirth educator, birth doula, hypnotherapist and volunteer maid, chef and handy-woman for my people.

Time I wake up: I set the alarm for 6am- but roll out about 6:32am.

First thing I do in the morning: Coffee. Just coffee. If I’m being “good” I’ll drink some water first.

My typical breakfast: Smoothie with bee pollen, hemp seed, cacao nibs, mysterious green powder, chia seeds, flax seeds, apple cider vinegar, half a banana, almond milk and frozen fruit. (You eventually get used to the taste.)

Here’s what my morning commute is like: 15 minutes to son’s preschool, 20-ish minutes sitting in the pre-school playground marveling at how good children are at life, then back home. A 20-second walk to the room I exercise in, then a 45-ish second walk to my home office.

Read more on Mogul!

Childbirth, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Pregnancy

Childbirth Preparation: A Complete Guide for Pregnant Women

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It’s alive! My new (and much improved!) Childbirth Preparation Online Course was birthed on Udemy today!

I’m offering 50 badass preggos out there a mega-discount ($50 instead of $125!) Use the coupon code FENGSHUIMOMMY when you go here.

There are plenty of Preview videos, checklists, and relaxation recordings you can peruse for free before clicking the Buy button 🙂

 

Career, Childbirth, Family Entertainment, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Travel

How the Band Famous October Tours With Their Baby (Interview)

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When you have a baby it can be a struggle just to put on some pants and walk to the mail box. Well, Sarah Bowman and Rene Coal Burrell of the band Famous Octoberhad the baby, put on the pants and didn’t just make it to the mailbox, they went on tour for the “One Day Baby” album they also birthed. Sarah and Rene are a living testament to the fact that creative passions, career and parenthood can harmoniously coexist as they travel through the United States sharing their music and nurturing their young family.

I was able to get a glimpse into their journey thus far, and gleaned plenty of inspiration for my own journey through motherhood.

Read the interview on Huff Post!

Childbirth, Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Uncategorized

The New Product That’s Changing the Landscape of Breastfeeding

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Breastfeeding can really suck- but it doesn’t have to (well, at least not in the emotional sense.) Much of the anxiety that comes with breastfeeding is birthed from the mother’s uncertainty regarding how much milk her baby is consuming. Sure, we can keep a tally of soiled diapers, but if a baby still seems like she’s hollering for more, many new mamas panic and switch to formula- even if their body is pumping out plenty of milk.

What to do?

Enter Momsense, a new product designed to record and report how much baby is actually consuming by using a tiny sensor placed behind baby’s ear that captures the sounds of baby’s swallowing to determine how much milk is being gulped down- the information is then sent to a program in mom’s smartphone (on Airplane mode) that allows her to keep track of how much baby receives during each meal. Cool!

Read more on Huff Post!

Mind-Body-Spirit, Parenting, Self Love, Uncategorized

5 Lessons to Learn from “Motherhood in Focus”

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Mothers are the ghosts in many family albums- the facilitator of the photos but never the star.

Photographer Ahna Tessler, who began freezing the beauty of moments with her camera after the birth of her twins, was inspired to create the Motherhood In Focus project after photos of herself became such a scarce commodity she was compelled to superimpose herself into family photos. 

After seeing how moved families (that had hired her) were when viewing the photos she had captured, she decided Motherhood In Focus should focus on single mothers who couldn’t afford her services. With the support of Babble, she grabbed her camera and spent five months stepping into the un-posed lives of 23 families, immortalizing equal parts silly and poignant moments.

Ahna eloquently explained why she selected the families of low-income single mothers as her subjects, saying, “In their fight to provide a better life for their children, there is certainly no room in the budget to hire a photographer. There is no proof, no tangible memories, and simply no photos of them with their children.”

Read more on Huff Post!