It's been one heck of a year! But it's not over yet. We still have a chance to refocus. A chance to pivot and make some beauty out of this mess.
In this episode, Nancy Elizabeth discusses how her family keeps their energy and mindset focused each year. How with some intention and gentle reminders they choose to work on a shared theme to help bring joy and happiness into their family.
The practice of making a family theme as a greater part of cultivating a family culture has been a simple and fun way to work together. With the unprecedented challenges of 2020 - Nancy has decided to make a decision.
It's not easy. Concerns about health and wellbeing. Concerns about academic rigor. Concerns about social and mental health. Concerns about getting people back to work and surviving financially.
There is a lot for both families and educators to consider about the transition back to school this year. Much as with everything else about this time - it looks different all over the country.
Duality exists with both wanting to stay safe and wanting to get back to school. And that's okay.
I hope that with this you can feel heard. That you can accept your decision or make progress in coming to one. That we can see and accept the decisions of our neighbors and friends with understanding.
What happened down there? Dr. Rose Schlaff discusses some of what might be lingering for a woman after pregnancy. How our hormones can have further implications on our desire and comfort during intimacy postpartum. Honor your inner wisdom and be gentle with yourself. (Go back to Episode 5 on ways to communicate with your partner if you're experiencing discomfort or pain and set healthy expectations.) Ever wondered how to pronounce Diastasis Recti? Have you heard of this possible cause of the "mommy pooch"? I don't love that term but diastasis recti can affect our core, lower back, and pelvic floor leading to strained muscles, pain, incontinence, and pain during sex. Feeling tired? Feeling unsexy after a day of playdough and perpetual snack serving? We discuss getting creative with foreplay, connecting to each other, and connecting to ourselves in order to shift between the aspects of our lives and feel ready to connect physically.
Dr. Rose and I discuss sex through the lens of being an individual person, a partner in relationship, and as a parent. Discovering our own sexuality and what intimacy looks like to each of us. What is success for you? Orgasm? Pleasure? Connection? Rose guides us in talking to our partner about intimacy especially for those experiencing pain. She also provides a guide for our listeners to help start the conversation in a fun way. Check out the link below! We talk further about what be causing or what pain during sex might feel like, and how pelvic floor therapists can assist in endometriosis. Did you know when you watch a scary movie it's your pelvic floor that tenses first? And that 95% of people with lower back pain have some sort of pelvic floor dysfunction? And that it's also related to incontinence, in adults and both bedwetting and constipation in children? Whoa, right?
We do hard things. None of us get to escape facing hard things in life. But the good news is as we endure these things, we gain endurance and skills to face the future. But how can we practice and build this skill? How can we help our kids foster a sense of resiliency?
I've broken it down into an easy framework to get us started. And it all centers around the acronym GRIT.
Today is part 2 of a conversation with Erin Shurtz. We continue talking about marriage and how we strive to find a balance between each others' needs, careers, and childcare. Erin shares her journey of creating a company and working in whatever slivers of time she can find - but that's her jam! We talk about her growing family and an unexpected journey involving fertility and miscarriage. Finally, Erin shares her heart and encouraging words as we continue into challenging times.
Today we are talking with a woman who is fully immersed in life as a person following her heart, a marriage partner, and mom of 4 kids! A leader in business and great friend – Erin brings refreshing honesty to choices she has to make to maintain work-life balance. We reflect on unexpected transitions, asking for help, and building our community no matter where we are.
All relationships have disagreements. Sometimes we can talk it out, sometimes we fight. In marriage arguments can help us express what we are feeling, advocate for what we care about, and resolve unaddressed hurt. But they can also be opportunities to create safety and build trust with our partner, learn about what truly matters to them, and resolve conflict in a way that strengthens our foundations. Today we talk about one easy to implement method to help us reshape how we approach an argument in the moment of conflict. One way to tune our hearts towards love and productivity so that we can fight fair and welcome space for everything else.
