Knotty Mama

Hello Knotty ladies and welcome to another week and another episode of the Knotty Mama Podcast! This episode is about anxiety. A topic that is so massive it has been covered by hundreds of books, podcasts, scientific studies and at the forefront of effects from the last year we've had during the pandemic. 

For me, anxiety has been present in my life since high school, always present and sometimes literally debilitating. I could talk on this topic for hours but this time around, I want to speak specifically to my latest bout of anxiety that started last Sunday and trailed on through much of Tuesday. 

Over the last few months, I've been eating a plant-based diet about 85% of the time with not much sugar and I've also been pretty consistent with my morning meditations. I truly believe that these are MAJOR factors in the lessening of my anxiety to short moments here and there rather than long periods of time. That is, until the beginning of the week. But this time, I was armed with some tools to help lessen the intensity and help me better navigate my feelings. These are the lessons I've learned:

1. Take deep breaths when I can, and actually feel them fill me up with fresh, new air.
2. Recognize that yes, I am having anxiety and it's okay that I'm in that state. I don't have to hide it, try to control it or feel bad about it. It just is what it is and it will eventually go away.
3. Know that it's okay to ask the boys to play amongst themselves for a few moments while mommy has a "timeout" to be by herself.
4. Find a small outlet that allows you to step away from the current situation and do something for yourself that you enjoy, even for just a bit; for me it's doing a puzzle, maybe for you it's walking to the mailbox for some fresh air etc.

I hope you can find something in this episode that resonates with you and lets you know that we are not alone in our struggles. Dealing with our emotions is not about trying to hide them, feel bad about them or push them down or away, it's about being in the moment and letting it be. That's how we take the power away from those feelings that are less desirable.

Please know that you. are. enough and you have got this my friend! Please listen, review and share! Thank you so much! EnJOY!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hello Knotty Ladies! If you're anything like me then you probably started singing right along with this title. Although I am not a big fan of the movies that made this song popular, I do however love to watch my boys dancing to it...so friggin cute!

I digress. So, a new episode and this one is about my journey through many, many different types of fitness modalities and how they started out as healthy ways to move my body then turned into wicked tools to turn good habits into unhealthy ways to try and control myself and my life. From counting calories, to competing tirelessly with myself and others to being ruled by the scale, I have fell victim to it all. In the end, I have realized that it's important to remember that:

• Workouts are not one size fits all for everyone.
• Don't frickin' run on the treadmill if you hate it just because so and so, whether a person, brand, Instagram influencer or otherwise, tells you it's the best way to get abs, burn calories etc.
• Try it all out and see what you love and...Do. That. Thing!! 
• Even my kids know that 5 is more than 0 so if you only have five minutes, then do the dang thing rather than poo pooing it because it's not your usually half hour, hour etc.
• Know that workouts ebb and flow with our lives and it's okay to change it up, slow down, take a break and most of all...listen to your body...XO!
• Below are links to the two workout programs I am currently doing. If you want a free two week trial at Obe, let me know and I'll hook you up! I believe The Sculpt Society is doing a free 14 day trial on their site right now woot woot!

https://obefitness.com

https://thesculptsociety.com

This episode is a much longer one than all the rest but it really has some great tidbits in it that couldn't be crunched into the usual 20 minutes. So bear with me, I think you'll like it. I get pretty pumped about this subject! 

P.S. It pairs well with Episode 8 on Birthdays & Body Image but you don't have to listen to that one to get the gist of this one. But really, you should listen to it as well...shameless plug:)

Please listen, review and share! Thank you so much! EnJOY!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome! Thank you for joining me on another episode of the Knotty Mama Podcast! I am so grateful that you chose to spend some of your time with me, especially because time is precious and I know we're all super busy.

This week's episode lands on my birthday week woot woot! And as previously stated in the episode about the boys' birthday, I get super reminiscent as well as goal-oriented on this special day of birth! So, as I usually am, I had a reflection and epiphany about what I want to celebrate, during a recent workout I had...it turns out, complete exhaustion of my muscles mean the bad thoughts get worked out through sweat and the good ones float up as oxygen to my brain!

During the ab work part of the workout, I looked down at my stomach and noticed what I like to call my tiger stripes. They are the hard-earned stretch marks from carrying my sweet little babes and being a badass bitch that handled it with strength and courage just like a mama tiger would! I also have stretch marks in so many other places from pregnancy as well as by body expanding and contracting through the years...hello freshman 15 in college! 

This is my shoutout to you, and of course to remind myself, to honor these strips I've earned through the years. To celebrate that they show where I've been, give me courage and strength and a physical reminder of what I can do and where I can go. And as my Papa Pat used to say on his birthday when asked how he felt, "Well, I'm on this side of the dirt so I'd say I'm doing pretty good!" Yup, that sums it up. The alternative to getting older is a bleak one so I'm looking forward to another year in this badass bod that gets me through every day and does amazing things!

Love your body in whatever shape it's in because you are beautiful. You are enough and you are living!

Please listen, review and share! Thank you so much! EnJOY!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome! Thank you for joining me again this week, as always I am overjoyed that you decided to take time out of your day to listen in! This week I am piggy backing a bit off of last week's episode and talking about my reaction to not getting into the masters degree program I had applied to. It dawned on me, during my therapy appointment yesterday, that all of the work I've been doing on myself to be healthier in mind and spirit, emotionally, finally paid off and I didn't even realize it! 

My reaction to not getting into the program was positive, gentle, kind and full of pride rather than the self-hate and ugliness that I would have otherwise raked myself over the coals with. This was a HUGE epiphany and I feel 100 pounds lighter because of it!!

I tied this into having kids and trying to teach them the right things. Sometimes both the work on ourselves and the parent work feel like we're spinning our wheels, banging our heads against the wall, going in one ear and out the other but if we keep at it from a place of consistency, love, kindness and in a healthy way, We. Will. Get. THERE! 

Believe in yourself, believe that you deserve to put in that work, believe in your process and believe that you are enough! So much love to you, please keep this in mind whether you're starting a journey or on one, don't give up on yourself. 

Please listen, review and share! Thank you so much! EnJOY!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome!! This episode is all about my journey to finding peace in the pause instead of the anxiety in the push. Releasing social norms and societal pressure to keep trying to barrel my way through things when they're just not working because "I'm not trying hard enough" or "I'm not doing it right" or "I'm a failure if I don't get this right, or do this right, or master this etc!"

Not true, so so not true. I'm challenging myself to ironically push back in this and instead of trying to push and bulldog my way through every roadblock, I'm going to sit with it, find a gentler approach and maybe even come to terms with the thought that things just have to happen in their own time.

Hear about my recent struggle with applying to grad school and a book that I'm currently "reading" on Audible that is confirming my beliefs in this topic. The book is The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck and I highly recommend checking it out!

Please listen, review and share! Thank you so much! EnJOY!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome! This week I talk about one of my favorite topics...kindness! And more specifically, kindness to yourself, self-love and all that "gushy, feel good" stuff but delivered in a real and straight to the point way!

I talk about the self-love work I've been doing on myself this year. Instead of a resolution, I decided to focus on a goal and being kinder to myself was the one that I picked! So far, it is changing everything in my life in such a beautiful way. Changing how I feel, how I think, how I act and the relationships that I have with the most important people in my life.

I also talk about my belief that being kind to one's self is the seed that feeds everything else that we do and can be the antidote to so much of the sadness, hate and anger that's going on around us. 

Please listen, review and share! Thank you so much!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome! This is a special episode as I reminisce about the last few years because the boys turned FIVE last Friday!! I cannot believe it, my mind is still blown but here I am, still standing with a lot more gray hairs, an achy hip and saggier boobs but I'm here!

In this episode I share the top five lessons I've learned in motherhood over the last five years and the top five lessons learned in womanhood because I've grown lightyears in both arenas in life. Here's the down and dirty for motherhood and not in any order in particular:

1. Be the living example.
2. Hugs & Kisses
3. Kids are a blank, new canvas. Not a scary thing but actually really exciting.
4. Honesty. Respect. Kindness.
5. Kids are like a savings account, not a checking account. It's better to put in the work ahead of time because the payoff is bigger in the end.

Here's the down and dirty, five lessons I've learned in womanhood (again, not in any particular order):

1. I'm always a work in progress but I really like how this masterpiece is taking shape.
2. I am actually learning to love my body. Like George says as he steps onto the scale in our bathroom, "Look mama, look how strong I'm gettin!" Amazing perspective kiddo!
3. Building boundaries and respecting myself does not mean I'm disrespecting someone else or being a bad person.
4. I am strong! We are strong!
5. I am enough.

Thank you for listening! I am so grateful for you and hope you have a great week. Please download, review and share! XO

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome to the first Knotty Mama Podcast Meditation episode!

I hope this finds you alone, in a quiet place and with enough time to feel that you’re not rushed…so vital to really being in the moment and spending this time on you and only you for all the good benefits.

My meditation practice started about 14 years ago when I took a Buddhism class in college. From that point on I have been going back to it time and time again to find myself, remember that focusing on the breath is vital for a calm and peaceful day/life and that thoughts are just that, thoughts. They are the creation of our own accord and we have the power to acknowledge that they're there and then to let them go.

So please,  join me in one of my favorite meditations, focusing on filling the body with refreshing breaths and releasing your unneeded thoughts along with the stale air that they create, with big, clearing exhales. 

Much love! Thank you for being here and enJOY. If you like the podcast, please share it with friends and family. And always remember that you got this! You. Are. Enough!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome! For this episode, I was inspired by a completely random source at an unexpected moment. All while I was sweating and moving to one of my all-time favorite workout instructors at Obe. More on this amazing workout platform in a later episode, all I will say is if you haven't heard of it, now you have and if you haven't tried it, get to it!!

Here is the quote that I couldn't stop thinking of during this moment:

Be kind.
For everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. 

This episode covers:

• My odd obsession with making up stories about people's lives; not in a gossipy way but in a curious and intrigued state of mind.
• How it's really important to remember that there is a story behind the outer shell of what people let you see.
• Remember to take it easy on yourself in this day and age of perfectly primped Instagram and Facebook posts.
• Take it easy on each other and ourselves because there's so much to our complicated and knotty selves and we're all doing the best that we can at any given moment.

Thank you for being here! If you like the podcast, please share it with friends and family. And always remember that you got this! You. Are. Enough!

**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome! This episode was inspired by a quote from yours truly:

Don't drink the lukewarm coffee!

Short, sweet and inspired by the nasty lukewarm coffee I've been passively settling for, for way too long! But not any more! I realized that making a fresh cup of hot coffee that I would enjoy approximately a million times more than that nasty neglected cup of joe, was well worth a little bit of a wait and some extra negotiations with the kiddos to give mama a few more minutes to get herself right for the day.
 
I've challenged myself and now I'm challenging you to figure out what your lukewarm coffee moments are during your day, week and your life. Once you know what yours are, decide that you won't settle any longer and make a change sister, you are worth it! And oh holy moly does it feel good! 

Thank you for being here! If you like the podcast, please share it with friends and family. And always remember that you got this! You. Are. Enough!


**I don't know if I need to post a shoutout for the quote I use at the end of the podcast but here it goes just in case: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt