How To Exercise in the Second Trimester

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EXERCISING DURING YOUR SECOND TRIMESTER If you’re in your second trimester,  you may be feeling more energetic now and relieved to be beyond the first trimester! There are so many milestones throughout pregnancy, congratulations on being here! You may be thinking more about exercise these days and although you may not start to “show” until a bit later, you should …

How To Exercise in the First Trimester

Prenatal Fitness Seattle

TOP 5 TIPS FOR EXERCISING IN THE FIRST TRIMESTER You’ll be pleased to know there are very few exercises that you can’t continue doing in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.  Although you may struggle with fatigue and nausea, if you do no exercise for the first trimester, you’ll probably feel more tired, your fitness level will drop and chances …

Push-Up for Upper Body Strength in Pregnancy

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Upper body strength is often overlooked–especially for women and it seems to drop off  our radar entirely during pregnancy as we begin to think more about core, pelvic floor and lower body strength. The thing is, upper body strength is vital to maintaining alignment, overall strength and stability as well as to prepare for the work of delivery and postpartum …

Squats: Prenatal & Postpartum Strength Training

Squat, Squat, Squat! If you work with me there are a few guarantees and squatting is one of them; so let’s get started!  Squats are one of my absolute favorite exercises to strengthen the lower body, the pelvic floor and the core.  You might be surprised to hear that the core is trained as well, but core stability and strength …

Mother’s Day Thoughts

In Between An indigo veil of early morning luminescence swaddles us in quiet I watch your tiny fingers contentedly paint the air and stroke my chest Our hands meet and move in unison and suddenly, vividly…I see you so many years from this moment Your rosebud mouth tugs playfully while your legs splay and kick With the promise of sleep …

Postpartum Guided Meditation

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Every mom I know needs at least five minutes of quiet time and usually quite a bit more than that! I stumbled upon a beautiful guided relaxation originally meant for children by Mellisa Dormoy. Melissa is the founder of ShambalaKids and is on a mission to teach self esteem, stress management and goal attainment to children everywhere. Inspired by her …

Cardio During Pregnancy

Prenatal Fitness

And, What’s the “Right” Amount of Exercise During Pregnancy Exercise during pregnancy should leave you feeling energized and never exhausted; the goal is for you to feel better than before you started.  This means listening to the feedback from your body throughout your workout and adjusting appropriately to work with the body you have each day. Your body is constantly …

Safe Core Exercise in Pregnancy

This can be so confusing!  Sit-ups?  Crunches?  Leg-lifts? Planks?  If you are pregnant, hopefully you are no longer performing traditional abdominal exercises such as crunches or sit-ups.  If you have been, that’s okay…but this might be a great time to transition to more beneficial, safer core exercises.  I will explain more about why and how to do so safely in …

Postpartum Exercise Guidelines: Return to Sport Safely

Exercise postpartum can be just as confusing as during pregnancy and maybe even a bit more overwhelming since you are now juggling motherhood and caring for your little one–whether it’s your first or your fifth! I remember being so anxious to move my non-pregnant body, but also being completely exhausted, overwhelmed and struggling to recover from a very physical birth …

Safely Strengthen the Core and the Mind Simultaneously: Active Diaphragmatic Breathing

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Strengthen the Core and the Mind Simultaneously?  Seems to good to be true, doesn’t it?!  However, I’ve got just the way to strengthen both at the very same time and it all comes back to your breath! Diaphragmatic breathing helps to keep you calm in mind, helps to reduce that “fight or flight” response that happens when you have feelings of …