I’ve struggled with body image for most of my life. I shot up to 5’11’’ and was fully developed by the time I was 12 years old. I was teased for being big in late elementary school and tormented by two classmates when I was the new kid when I was in middle school. These early experiences left a massive mark on my ability to love my body and show up confidently in the world.

I shared last month that my intention for 2021 was to foster an environment of strength, balance and energy. While I would love to take credit for doing the work to get myself to these words, the credit is due to my new yoga teacher, Navishka. She starts every practice with a meditation and my second class with her started with the words:

Sthira sukham asanam is a Sanskrit yoga sutra which means strength without rigidity, flexibility without instability. It really means balance.

I grew up away from my extended family and in the 1980s and 1990s the distance between New England and California might as well have been New England to Singapore. I didn’t know any different. My Christmases always felt abundant in love from our “friends who were family” in California and for everything we did leading up to and surrounding the holidays. 

I now understand and appreciate that my Christmases were special because my parents created traditions. Our family traditions have changed over the years as our location, age and circumstances have changed but the magic has remained year after year. 

Keeping toddlers busy and active without over scheduling them is like orchestrating a perfectly choreographed dance. You want your child to be socialized and getting used to some structured time but you also want them to be free to get bored and discover.

This is the first week that I have had writer’s block. We got hit by a little bug and I have no energy at the end of the day, which is when I usually sit down to write. Then it dawned on me that the whole point of this blog is to be a resource for other mamas to turn to and that someone may want to know what we do when we feel rundown.

Living abroad has so many ups and so many downs. Life can look like a constant vacation but we still deal with all the real life stuff. The difference is that we don’t have a “normal” support system in place.

I’ve just embarked on a course of proactive healthcare for the first time in my life with a pelvic floor physio, chiropractor, naturopath and therapist.

I think our breastfeeding journey is coming to an end soon and I’m feeling a lot of feelings. Breastfeeding has been a magical, tough and unexpected journey for me. 

As soon as I knew I was pregnant, I had a deep knowing that my body was made to deliver a baby. The goal was a drug free, water birth and I was determined to do as much as I could to achieve it.

I was equal parts excited and super nervous about using cloth diapers. It was something I always had in the back of my mind that I would do with my babies one day but, when the time came, I was frozen by absolute overwhelm. I had no idea where to start.