New Foundations

By Katie Crews Coastal Kinesiology

Everyone knows if you want a strong and stable home, you build on good and solid foundations Our health is the same, your foundation is created by several pillars. You must address all the pillars in order to have a strong and even foundation.

Lets look at the Pillars of Health and Happiness

Pillar One - Physical Body:

Your body is the vehicle of the soul, the most human part of you. It is solid dense matter that responds to your environment. As we age the body changes, but change is only excessive when subjected to high amounts of stress Women and Men age very differently as women ’ s bodies generally endure a lot more physical stress due to pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

The physical body needs movement. The better-quality muscle you have in the body the better you will age and the healthier you will be. The more sedentary you are the more your body becomes stagnant, more prone to pain, illness and disease

Keys to building a strong physical body:

·Move, exercise. Weight bearing activities that promote muscle growth. Walking, yoga and resistance exercises.

·Breathwork. Breathing literally shifts stress from the body.

·Bodywork Massage, acupuncture, chiropractic etc all help to keep the body aligned and stress free.

Pillar Two - Nutrition:

Food is medicine. You are what you eat. It really is that simple. Anything you inject, ingest, inhale or apply to your skin impacts your body

Keys to building good Nutrition:

·Eat whole foods.

Listen to your body, how does it feel after a meal.

·Pay attention to what you think or feel before you eat food that doesn’t feel good in your body Movement is a far greater way to deal with stress than eating or drinking

·Supplement where you can’t get adequate nutrition.

Pillar Three – Mental Health:

Mental health is based on what think and believe

Every thought you are having is creating your reality

What you believe to be true will show up in the world. If you believe you are worthless, you will find it very hard to create stability in your life

Keys to building better Mental Health:

·Start to listen to your thoughts.

·Start to question your belief and thoughts about yourself and the world.

·Ask yourself often if what you are thinking is helping or hindering you.

·Look at what you are consuming from social media, television and movies. How does it make you feel?

·Practice Mindfulness

Pillar Four – Emotional Health:

Life is emotional. There is not a minute of each day you are not feeling something. We tend to avoid the big feelings because we hold a lot of judgement around them. Feelings that are not released stay in the body causing imbalances and illness.

Keys to building Emotional Stability:

·Listen to your feelings and give them room.

·Meditation helps soothe big emotions

·Get support with the big feelings, talking them through can help a lot.

·Don’t judge yourself for having negative emotions such as anger, jealousy or shame. They are important messengers that can help with your growth.

Pillar Five – Spiritual Wellbeing:

I believe there is nothing that is not spiritual. We are all part of a large eco system. Regardless of what your religious beliefs are, it is all the understanding something greater is supporting us. Keys to understanding your own Spirituality:

·Practice Stillness in Nature

·Walk outside in bare feet to feel connected to the earth

Connect with like-minded people

Explore your beliefs and higher self with research, meditation and deeply heart opening experiences

There is always an invitation to look at our foundations and make changes As we age, things change and our health will fluctuate Coming back to the pillars and reassessing what is working and what is not is a great way to create a pathway to a better foundation

(and why it’s important to process it)

What does it mean to process your birth and why is it important to do so?

If you have ever given birth, you understand all the powerful emotions surrounding your birth experience!

You may have had a very peaceful and beautiful birth experience, or you may be feeling disappointed or even traumatised by the events surrounding your labour and birth. Either way, it may be very beneficial for you to take the time to process your birth.

In this article let’s take the time to normalise the emotions surrounding childbirth and postpartum, and discuss why it’s important to process your birth and give you some ideas for doing so

Having a baby is one of the most powerful experiences in a woman ’ s life. No matter what type of birth you have had, you will never forget it! You have just brought another human being into the world! There are so many emotions surrounding this experience

While it is certainly important to take childbirth education classes, educate yourself and your partner, build your village, hire a doula perhaps, and prepare your birth preferences for your upcoming birth, many births simply do not go as planned or expected.

And even if they do, the emotions you feel during

and afterwards may be surprising and confusing

If you have had a difficult labour and delivery, you may be feeling lots of negative emotions. Many women struggle with disappointment, regret, resentment, anger, guilt, or shame when a birth doesn’t go as planned There are also women who feel violated or traumatised by a particularly difficult birth

Even women who claim to have had positive

Vicki Jeffrey Vicki's Doula Services

birth experiences, are often surprised by the negative and confusing emotions they may feel postpartum. In spite of the extreme joy they may feel, many women also struggle with feelings of failure, grief or sadness. These confusing and conflicting emotions are totally normal Most postpartum emotions known as baby blues, are caused by fatigue and hormone changes. However, in many cases, it is more than simply “hormonal”. Once your new baby is born, you are quickly thrust into motherhood In addition, you become completely consumed by your new role as mother Most new mothers don’t have time to process the birth and many don’t even take the time to think about what just happened! A new mum needs to adjust to her new identity as a mother. Becoming a mother is a HUGE transition! Although this may not be a big issue for every new mother, many women find the adjustment period to be emotionally challenging When you process your labour and birth experiences, make sure that you take some time to reflect on how your life has changed.

It’s okay to mourn the loss of your independence, previous lifestyle or career, if that’s how you are feeling! Don’t try to dig up feelings that are not there, but recognise, validate and process those that begin to surface. It’s okay to mourn the loss of your independence, previous lifestyle or career, if that’s how you are feeling!