Hello and welcome back!

May is National Mental Health Awareness month. On this episode you’ll get to hear from Wellness Cindy as we get vulnerable and discuss mental health in motherhood. Cindy is a Postpartum and Breathwork Practitioner on a mission to help overwhelmed postpartum moms find a simple way out of their chaotic mind with simple mindfulness tools. She is a mama of two young kiddos and opens up about her journey into her career and why she is passionate about what she offers to fellow mamas. Make sure to catch the whole conversation for her great advice and a quick breathwork demo!

Main Topics included in this Episode

  • Cindy’s journey into motherhood and eventually mompreneurship
  • Her passion for all things postpartum mental health
  • Her tips and advice for overwhelmed mamas before, during and after the postpartum stage
  • A breathwork demo for mamas to incorporate into their busy days

Connect with Wellness Cindy

Connect with Alysha

Music Licensing Info

Music by Eli Lev - Dancin' on the Lawn

Link

Episode Transcription

Speaker 1

Hello and welcome back to the Messy Mompreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Alysha Sanford, and I am so happy to have you here. So May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and in today's conversation, we're going to be getting a little bit vulnerable and chatting about mental health. But specifically addressing mamas and postpartum help. Mental health, I should say we're chatting with Cindy and she is a postpartum and breathwork practitioner. You can find her on, I believe, most platforms with the handle at Wellness, Cindy and we'll have all of her contact info in the show notes, of course. She graciously made time in her very busy schedule with short notice to have an evening conversation for me for the podcast because I did not want to miss the National Mental Health Awareness Month and. She definitely put it as a priority, so I am so grateful to her and I am so excited for you to get to hear her journey with postpartum mental health and to hear all about how she has turned it into a mission to support other moms. So without further ado, let's get to it. Thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 2

Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1

Before we get started, can you tell our listeners a little bit about who you are and your family?

Speaker 2

Well, my name is Cindy. I'm a stay at home mom of two boys. They're age 3 and 6 and I'm a postpartum in Bedford practitioner. I help overwhelmed moms find a simple way out of their chaotic mind using mindfulness tools, so the focus of my practice is based around communities. Stress relief tools and lifestyle. You know, and so I am from Montreal, Canada. So my accent if. You hear it. Is my first language is French, but I now live in a beautiful mountain town in Northern California and I live with my husband. We've been married for 14. Years we love spending time outdoors and. We met back in in Europe.

Speaker 1

Ohh, I love that. Well, tell us a little bit about your journey into your career, of course. What you do? What brought you there and all the good things about that.

Speaker 2

So if I'm, you know, talking too much, let me know. Because I tend. Is so personal to me as to how I got where I am right now. What led me to what I'm doing today is basically my own diagnosis of severe postpartum anxiety, rage, depression, and OCD. After my first child. From the outside, everything looked fine. I had a great pregnancy. I felt great. I loved being pregnant, didn't have really any symptoms, and I'm on the thin side, so I felt super happy to have to finally have curves. So you know everything is. Going right after birth, my friends and family were like, oh, you look so good on the outside. But I was dying inside my friendships and relationship. It took a. I resented my supportive husband. I was angry at the. But we looked like a happy family. And I couldn't continue like this because like I said, I was dying inside. So I reached out to my OBGYN and found a postpartum therapist. I was put on antidepressants and I continued to pretend that everything is fine and then slowly, with the help of a supportive mom that I found online, I was going through a similar situation I started. Feeling like myself again. I was enjoying time with my family again. It was finally bonding with my baby and I felt that love, that unconditional love that every mom was talking to me about. So that was about 8 months to a year postpartum after my first. And then Fast forward being pregnant when my second baby, I was so scared to go. Back to that. Place, so I prepped myself immediately for postpartum. So after birth, even though I was tired, I had no symptom of any disorder. With my second, despite the fact that I was scared for my life. During the birth, the life of my baby, my baby was born premature. At 34 weeks, it was during the pandemic, so despite. All of that. I felt fine and I think it's because what I did differently is that I prepped myself and I created a postpartum plan. I reached out to my therapist as soon as I knew I was pregnant. I educated myself on postpartum, which I. Didn't do the first time around. And then something that I think all moms can relate, I let go of the expectations of what pregnancy should look like. What postpartum should look like? I stopped comparing myself to other moms on social media, which is very hard to do. And then I also set clear boundaries. I said no to visitors. It was during. The pandemics which helped it helped a lot. First time around I was saying yes to everything and I. Was just completely. Burned out second time around, I was just. Like no, if this doesn't feel good to. It doesn't feel good to my baby, I know I can go back to a really hard. Please I need to just, you know, listen to what's good for me. And then most importantly, I surrounded myself with a. Few like-minded mamas, who were super supportive? They were non-judgmental. They were really there for. Me and I think this made a huge difference, for me this time around. So with all that said, after struggling and recovering from various perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, I've. Made it my mission. To shine a light on what postpartum is in general. And the challenges that. We all face as new moms. So now, six years later, I'm here after many certifications and functional help, breath work postpartum. I'm a volunteer with postpartum support international. And I lead. Mindfulness group support sessions twice a month with them. I just now launched my free community for moms. Like you and I, who want to share and connect in a really genuine and vulnerable way and find simple tools to get out of our overwhelming and, you know, chaotic mind. And so yeah, that's basically why I'm here today. Because it's it all started with my, my own experience.

Speaker 1

Ohh man, I'm just thinking about how much I identify with everything that you. Well, the majority of what you just said and how much I wish that a community and group like the one that you've just created. I wish so badly that that had existed when I was fresh postpartum. Because I'm 18 months in now. I'm telling you, I was so focused on trying to prepare for the birth and everything I wanted with the birth. And I just completely bypassed any like postpartum mental health preparation or even leading into trying to figure out systems and plans ahead of time for jumping back into entrepreneurship while becoming a first time mom. And trying to balance that, which is a whole full conversation in itself, but I just think it's so important what you're doing and I'm so excited that I crossed paths with you casually in. A Facebook group, I think is where I found you, but I'm so glad that you have squeezed in this conversation, especially during this month. Being national mental Health Awareness Month and to be able to really dig in deep for moms, postpartum moms and. Everything that you specialize in. So I have a few questions for you that are very much of course about what you specialize in. So let's just get into it.

Speaker 2

OK.

Speaker 1

What are some practical tips or resources that new mothers could use or? Yeah, that they could use to take. Care of their mental health during the postpartum period.

Speaker 2

So my favorite tips and resources are free because I feel like that's another thing you're being sold left and right. So many things, and it's so overwhelming postpartum and you don't have the time, the capacity, the money often to do all these things and we have ourselves that we can rely on and we forget about it most of the time so. My go to. Yeah, it's so crazy how, by coming back to our breath and learning how to breathe optimally, we can heal our body because literally, the breath is the bridge between our mind and our body. So it does have the power to send signals straight to our brain to get us out of that fight or flight mode, which is basically. All the stress and the anxiety state that. We're stuck in, so it has the power to do that so quickly. So that would definitely be my favorite tool. And then something else that's free that we all have access to is going outside the sunlight, whether it's cloudy outside or not. I we have Four Seasons where I live, so even during winter time when you do have a disorder, that's for everybody that's anxious, everybody in general. But when you do have a disorder, sometimes it's just hard to get out of bed. So I get it. I'm not saying go for a 30 minute. Walk, even though that's what's. Recommended you know, but just. Drag yourself outside. Go sit on the porch. You know with. A coffee, breastfeeding baby, whatever you can. Or go for a walk. That's also really good. One movement for me helps clear my mind. So if you can try and do that first thing in the morning, that's my favorite. But I know it's not always possible, but just going outside and start small one or two minutes if. It's hard for you. Build it up to 30 minutes, but. I think that sometimes it feels. So overwhelmed with all the advice and. It's it says 30 minutes and I can only do 15 so I won't do it, you know. So don't overwhelm yourself or you won't do it. Start small if it's two minutes every morning, do 2 minutes every morning and then build up from there. So that would be another tip that I would recommend. And the last one that. I could talk about right now would be. I use that not all the time. But usually when I feel stuck, I like. To do journaling so. It's hard for me to express my emotions, even though I'm an impact. I feel a lot, but when I try to explain how I feel, I'm all up in my head. So journaling is amazing because you could just start writing just a stream of consciousness writing about how you feel. Not long, just 2 to 5 minutes and then sometimes magic happens, other times it. Doesn't, and it feels like a waste of. Time, but really just. The there's something about writing it down that's very liberating, and if you are old school like me, pen and paper, there's just something about writing. Seeing it on paper. So I would say that those are my three favorite tips, so breath going outside and journaling.

Speaker 1

I think those are great. I have caught myself quite a few times in my really stressed out overwhelmed moments, realizing I wasn't breathing or it was really gritting my jaw and just grinding my teeth. And even in the middle of the night, of course. You know, when you're extremely sleep deprived and up what feels like a million times, it's just so easy to. Just hold your breath, grit your teeth, cleanse your jaw, and not realize you're doing all of. So those are awesome tips.

Speaker 2

You're so right.

Speaker 1

So I know you kind of shared your background with your postpartum journeys and how they were. Basically polar opposite after your preparation work, but for. For other moms out there who may not be quite as aware of what to watch for, what would you say are some warning signs that a new mom might be experiencing postpartum depression or anxiety, and how? How their friends and family could best support them in seeking help.

Speaker 2

I just want to thank you for asking that question, because I think that's such an important question to ask because we hear those terms, you know left. And right. But. Often the problem is that we don't. Know what it means? So everything that I'm going to, you know, tell you tonight about this, I'm not a doctor. So that's not medical advice. And it's not like just. Me giving you symptoms. It's actually from the postpartum Support International website which everybody has access to. So there are 7 perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Sometimes you might see that as with the acronym PMAD. So I'm going to give you the list, but then I'll focus on three. The most common ones. So there's postpartum depression anxiety. OCD, PTSD, bipolar mood disorder, and psychosis. All of those can happen during pregnancy and up to a year postpartum, and even sometimes more. Than a year. So let's focus on the 1st three for today. The first one is postpartum depression. That's the most common PMAD. That's what we hear about the most also. So the symptoms may include and when we think of symptoms, it's usually it lasts for a long time. And it's also kind of on the extreme side of things, so. Feelings of anger. You can feel a lack. Of interest in the baby, you don't. Really feel connected with baby. You have a hard time eating and sleeping. I know, mom. You'll be like. Well, who doesn't? So, but this is to the. Even when you can't sleep, you actually won't fall asleep. You know, even when baby does sleep. Extreme, you know. Crying and sad, sadness, feeling of guilt, shame and hopelessness. And then the loss of interest, anything that? Prior, you used to like and love now. You really don't care about. And then there's also possible thoughts of harming the baby in yourself, so that would be postpartum depression, the second one postpartum anxiety. Sometimes it can be experienced alone or in addition to depression, so the symptoms might include like constant worry you're always worrying about something. Feeling that something bad is going to. Happen to your baby. A lot of racing thoughts, like you can't shut up. You know your brain. It's like you wish you had an off. Switch to turn off. Your brain sleep and appetite disturbances again, and then you cannot sit still, even though you're tired. You can sit still and then physical symptoms like dizziness, hot flashes and you can feel nauseous. That for me that was the. The main one, and that's what I was diagnosed with first, was postpartum anxiety. And then the third one that I just want to bring up, since you. Asked a question is. OCD Postpartum OCD is the most misunderstood, misunderstood and misdiagnosed P mad, and that's why I want to bring it up tonight because it the symptoms that you can that can include sometimes are intertwined with depression and anxiety, but. If you feel like you have obsessions, also called intrusive thoughts, which are really persistent, it's repetitive thoughts of or mental images related to your baby myself. Personally, what I experienced with those thoughts was that I would literally see my baby. Me, it might be triggering mama's my baby dead on my chest. My baby was not dead. He was asleep and I was awake. But these are the thoughts I would literally think that. It was true. Even though I knew in my mind it wasn't. This is what I was actually feeling and. Seeing so, that's what I. I say what I mean, like mental images related to the baby. These thoughts are so upsetting and they're not something that the mom has ever experienced. Before, for the most part. And then, compulsions, we've heard of that one. It might be things like needing to clean constantly. I've heard her mom. Saying that she was wanting to clean the baby bottles like many times, 20 to 30 times and she wouldn't let anybody do it because she thought that the. Bacteria would go in. There, if she wouldn't clean it. Properly and then would kill her baby. So these type of thoughts and then a sense of horror about the obsessions, cause you're like, why am I thinking about that? And then the fear of being left alone with the baby and then hyper vigilance and protecting the baby. So moms with postpartum will see they know that their thoughts are weird and bizarre. And they're very unlikely to ever act on them. What we see and hear sometimes in the media is, you know, postpartum psychosis. When, like really big thing might really actually happen to baby, that's super rare and that's emergency. You call 911 if a month because the difference. Is that usually? The mom believes that these thoughts are true. Difference with OCD is that the mom knows that it isn't true, but she's scared of those thoughts, so I would say. How family and friends can best support their mom in seeking help. Again, that's not medical advice, but in my own opinion and experience, from suffering from those disorders, how to best support a mom. It's really just to be there for her, and that means really, like active listening, not trying to fix anything, creating a place where she feels safe, where she actually will want to share with you because a lot of moms don't, especially when you have OCD, because those thoughts are kind of. You find your thoughts. So you don't want to share, so if you can have someone that's there for you and it's creating a safe space, I think that's the best. And then educate yourself also, you know, families and friends just reach out for help as well. Again, postpartum support International is an excellent resource for. Both individuals and families going through this help her reach out to friends, therapists or anything but be there for her. Just be there to hold her hand. I think that's what I would say.

Speaker 1

Again, I wish that I had access to a group like what you've just recently created. When I was in the trenches. But I do have to mention I had a really good friend. She kind of talked me down in my. Most stressed moments, and it was just nice to be able to text her, but I and I know that she was always available. She told me she was always available. I just always felt like I was burdening her by venting or by, you know, just anyway, just voicing it to anyone felt like I was burdening so I completely. I understand when you're saying that they may not want to reach out, but just to be persistent and remind them that you're there and ask them to share instead of just telling them they can share.

Speaker 2

Thanks for bringing that up.

Speaker 1

Well, so my next question for you would be how can mothers prioritize their mental health while also juggling the demands? Sorry the demands of running a business and caring for their families. So we're kind of moving into. Maybe postpartum, but maybe also a few years into motherhood and juggling work life, of course.

Speaker 2

This is another big question and I believe that a big part of this is I'd say our mindset because we have to be able to. Let go of so much. And pressure, whether it's cultural or it comes from our society, work, family or upbringing, we have to let go of the pressure of being perfect all the time. It's not possible. So. And then I think also unfortunately self-care nowadays has a bad Rep because. Self-care doesn't necessarily means to go to the spa with your girlfriends or getting your nails done. I mean, it's amazing and if you can do that, great, but it. Can look like. This, but it can also look like you know just what we talk about setting boundaries, taking 5 minutes for yourself to breathe, explaining to your kids that we need to step out of the room for a second to collect ourselves or showing up for ourselves, but doing it messy, I think. That we live. In a world that it's like we have to have it all together. All the time and it's just not realistic. I think that's how we can avoid, you know, falling in that dark place of overwhelm and anxiety and wondering how you. Can juggle everything. I really believe that that's how we can be everywhere without losing. Our mind in. So really baby steps and just letting go of expectations that most of the time we also. Put on ourselves as moms.

Speaker 1

Ohh, I just keep thinking about all the moments that I should have just. Let things go. Yeah, or build in maybe a little bit more of a grace period for my deadlines or just, I don't know. Oh my goodness. It's so hard doing everything at the same time because it just seems like when one thing needs your attention, the other thing makes it clear that it feels like it's falling behind and it's. Just it's so hard. So you do a lot with breath work and I know that you offer services and extended breath work sessions, but I wondered if you'd by chance walk our listeners and myself through maybe a teaser of a breathwork session.

Speaker 2

Well, UM before I start, can I share some context so that we kind of understand, you know, where I'm going through with this? So there are therapeutic, sorry my French breathwork, which is the long session, I call it the spot day. That's where like. You have time. I leave those monthly. And you have like, you know you can. Lay down and you can just. Really. Take care of yourself. But there's also functional breathing. And this is my favorite because you don't need that one hour time. You can do that at anytime during the day. It's gentle and it's safe for either pregnant mama's postpartum anybody. And you can do that while doing the dishes. You can do that while nursing your baby. You can do that when you're stressed because you. Have a work deadline. So this is what I'm. Going to share. With you today. So if you're like me. I love mind and body connection and trusting my good. But I also love it. Even more, when it's backed up by science so. Now, science is actually catching up on techniques that have been practiced for a long time by various cultures. And there is a recent study from Stanford Medicine that found out that what's called psychological sign or cyclic signing, it actually leads to a decrease of anxiety, better mood, and an overall sense of calm. And it was even compared to meditation. And this was actually overall. You know easier and better to decrease anxiety. So I think it's amazing because. You only need a couple minutes. So let's just. Imagine for a second that you're, you know, you've just experienced something super stressful. Maybe your daughter had a huge meltdown in. Maybe you're sleep deprived and you have a deadline at work and you were planning on working at night and your baby's working up for the fourth time and there's nothing you can do about it. Maybe you you're supposed, to go to work and your kiddos or. Sick. So whatever it is. As soon as we start worrying, we're you'll notice and we all know this that our heart rates going to go. Up will fill tense. You were just mentioning, you know you're jogging all. We forget to breathe. We might get all sweaty and. We'll feel restless. So that stress it's a normal response. There's nothing bad per say about stress itself, but if you do have anxiety disorders or you start worrying constantly, it's going to create a snowball effect, because now your body is reacting. So your brain is like. Oh, wait a minute now, we need to. Panic. So just. The vicious cycle of your body is sending signals to your brain, and your brain is sending signals to your body. So you're kind of stuck in a. Loop, so most of the time those stressful situations are. Out of your control, but what you can. Control is how you react to this situation. And we can all control. So that leads me to psychological size. So it's basically something that again you can do at any time. It's the most effective technique to decrease stress on the spot. So I'm going to explain what. It is and then we'll practice, if you don't mind. So it's a two-part inhale through the nose. So you'll first the in the inhale, what you're going to want to do is basically inhale about you're about 8090% capacity. Then you'll do a quick pause and then another quick deep breath to expand your lungs to 100%. And then you'll slowly exhale through your mouth. Until your lungs are. Completely empty, so let me repeat that one more time. So two-part inhale through the nose, one part exhale through the. So let me just demonstrate it one time you might hear me breathing and then we'll try it for three breaths. Does that sound good? OK, so it should. Be like this. So first inhale it's going to go. So let's try it together. You can find a comfortable position. If you want, you can close your eyes, but you don't have to. So we're going to start, inhale, inhale, pause, inhale and exhale. Empty your lungs. Let's try again. Let's try one more time. Inhale, pause, inhale and exhale. So after just one or two of these deep sighs, you'll probably already feel calmer, so the study does recommend to repeat these for about 5 minutes. But between you and I, I mean two or three is really what you need. And once you really know how it goes now, it was, you know, our first time doing it once. You know how it goes and you do it two or three times really focus. What the exhale does, it activates our, it's a big word, parasympathetic nervous system, but it's basically our rest or digest. So it's basically saying. To our brain. I'm going to make you feel calmer, so that's pretty instant. So just as long as you do those two inhale kind of quickly and then you extra completely your lungs, you can do two or three of those while you're breastfeeding and you're feeling stressed or at work or in traffic and you'll it's been proven that you'll actually your body is going to feel. Homer, so it's safe, gentle. So I would just challenge you to try it next time you feel anxious and see how.

Speaker 1

That was great, I. I could definitely use more of those little breathwork sessions in my day-to-day. It might help me to. Slow down and release some stress before I react instead of meet her where she is, you know in the moment, which she's only 18 months, so it's not like I have. Kids running around all day crazy, you know? But just the one.

Speaker 2

Well, I mean, I think that you know. I remember there's challenge. You know, the sleep deprivation is really hard. So sometimes it's not necessarily the baby, but. It's us in. Our brain where we're going and it's a lot. It's a lot to. Try and you're you know you're working right now with me at night and you. Know that's we just have. A lot going on and your body. Went through some. Major changes so. 18 months. Three years. Of those challenges along the way, so yeah.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I've slowly kind of realized what my triggers are for. My I would say that I experienced quite a bit of postpartum anxiety, but I've already been an anxious person. The majority of my life, so I knew going in that I would battle anxiety. I just didn't realize that I would have triggers that would just send me from zero to 60 in a moment just out of sleep deprivation. And then I also feel that I have. ADHD, well inattentive, ADHD. So when I'm really trying to focus on something and she demands my attention right there, it's just so hard for me to not be impatient when I'm having to snap back to focusing on her in that moment when I already struggle with focus. So I've been really having.

Speaker 2

No, I can only image.

Speaker 1

So the breath work I will be implementing some of that and I'm excited to follow along with your challenges and. Everything in your group for support, so thank you for sharing that with everyone else listening.

Speaker 2

That's exciting. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Well, aside from what we've talked about already and the breath work, what does self-care look like for you? And how do you make time for it?

Speaker 2

So I am. I don't really have a rigid A rigid routine because I think that when I do that then I'm such a perfectionist. I set myself up for failure because if I miss one step, I'll be like, oh, no. Now, now I messed up. You know, so I try. Not to have a rigid A rigid routine, but what I try to do is. What makes me feel good? So I know now that breathwork or optimal breathing. Journaling, walking in nature and movement. Those are usually my go to, and I usually try and do little bits here and there and take the time either. In the morning. Before the kids wake up or I try my best to not skip it and bring the kids along if I can. But breathing exercise, morning and night, that's now my go to. That's something that I make. Again, it could be two minutes. It doesn't have to be that long session. And what I like doing when I really need to recharge or you know, press on the reset button is movement especially through dens. I used to dance and compete when I was younger for over 20 years and was. Such a big part. Of my life and who I became. So when I feel like that need to just reset, I put some music on. I dance mostly alone in my bedroom. It's just a way for me to release some of the tension and let go and sometimes. I'll even dance to prime myself up before a breathwork session or a kind call. And I was a little nervous today, so I just put some music on 5 minutes before jumping on to this call. Being an introvert type a perfectionist, I feel. Like I live in my. Head so dancing is a super fun way for me to just connect with my body and my emotions and let it all go without. Feeling like it's work. Like you know, I'm meditating right now, or you know. So I would say dance is definitely my favorite way to just. Reset and let. Let loose a little bit.

Speaker 1

I love dance. I have a background in dance as. Well, it's, it's. Yeah, I hesitated bringing that up. But yeah, I do. So I totally understand what you're talking about and just kind of connecting with the music and just letting your body flow and. It's definitely a form of self-care for sure, yeah. Well, also if you this is just something I'm asking all my guests, because it's just kind of fun to find out if you had a free hour for TV time at night, what is your guilty pleasure TV show?

Speaker 2

Ohh my gosh I. Love that question because I have to. Kind of like. Make sure that. I want it's dangerous for me. TV shows are dangerous on. The type of like, it's all or nothing. I'm gonna binge watch it. So I good thing I'm. Busy because I definitely. Have to try and limit myself. But I would say it sounds silly with. My you know. But I love crime shows. One of my favorites was Dahmer like that. That was on Netflix, and then I'm one. Of those that. Even listened to Crime podcast, it's probably. Because I was in. The middle of completing my master degree. In criminology, when I met my husband, I'm thinking that must be why. But if I really want to disconnect and get out of my head. I like anything that's like funny like. What did I watch? Recently it was working moms or Firefly Lane or any my, my friend she calls, she calls Reality TV, trash TV. Love is blind. I'm going to definitely binge watch that and I also like stand up so umm Matt Rife. I'm a new you. Know he's way younger than me, but he's so cute and I think he's so funny. I love watching his stand up, so I love binge watching when I have. The time? Not really. It didn't really happen. But yes, thanks for asking this this. Is fun. What? Do you like?

Speaker 1

OK, it's a very wide range similar to what you mentioned. I love everything that you've already said. I haven't tried. Was it fire? That's not one that I'm familiar with, but I think I've seen the cover art crime shows. I've been a big law and order fan forever and ever, and all the documentaries. And I don't know what it is. They just suck you in. I think it's just maybe the investigative part. I love watching the process unfold. And you said love is blind. That's my very favorite. Dating reality show, even though I'm sure it's fully scripted, I don't know. I just, I love it.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I know, I know, I feel the same.

Speaker 1

And I love any kind of home renovation shows HGTV all that. Those are those are good. I'm probably forgetting some. I'm all over the board.

Speaker 2

Well, I think we're pretty similar in our taste. We probably have the same like all over the place type of like you know when the algorithm is trying to recommend something, they're probably like confused like I don't know what she likes.

Speaker 1

Ohh yeah, everything just bring it. OK. Well, if you could go back and tell yourself something as a tired, fresh first time parent, what would it be?

Speaker 2

UM, let's see. I would, I would say three things. OK, so I would say follow your God, definitely. Set clear boundaries. And find your people so. For the follow you got part, I feel like if you feel like something's off with you, or even with your baby. You know, reach out, reach out for help. If it's for you. Too many moms wait. Until you know, they're spiraling out of control before they do. And like you mentioned, I think myself too, I was struggling with anxiety before becoming a mom, so I kind of knew what to expect and I reached out right away. And I'm so glad I did. So I said just follow that. Voice inside that says something. Off because you know your own body. And then the. Setting clear boundaries. I've read that or. I've heard that somewhere and I love it. Now I'm trying to use. That all the time. Is a full sentence I depleted myself trying to please everybody because. On top of all of that, I'm. A people pleaser. So which it didn't. Even work anyways, so you cannot please everybody. So it's OK to take care of. Yourself and risk. Sometimes hurting people's feelings along the way, especially if it comes from a kind place. I mean it, it might happen, but especially during the 4th trimester, early postpartum. It should be a period of rest for moms in many cultures. It still is. So I think we need to remember and honor that because unfortunately our modern society doesn't really do a great job. I think to reminding us that with all the, you know, the bounce back trend and all. I think we just really need to. Set clear boundaries. And I'm going to say that I think forever. But find your Mama try. Find people where you feel safe, heard and validated with to talk about your struggles. It's key sometimes just. Talking about it, you know, makes you feel better. So could be a therapist, a friend, another mom, someone in your community locally, or someone online. But just finding people who are truly cheering you on. And are there just to support you, to me. In my opinion, it's. Crucial because it's way easier to face any challenges that are thrown at us when we when we don't feel alone.

Speaker 1

Yeah, such good advice, man. I love this conversation, and I'm so glad that you again squeezed this conversation in last minute for me to catch the mental Health Awareness month. It's such an important topic like and I feel like it's still a little bit taboo. I don't know. It's just you don't. I remember seeking out. I just wanted to feel like someone else might be feeling something that I was. And it's not that I wanted someone to be struggling. I just needed to feel less alone in it and. The more that it's talked about, the more helpful I find it and I hope other moms find it wherever they are in their postpartum or just motherhood journeys in general. So I really, really, really love what you're doing. And I'm so glad that you are. Taking your experience with it and just turning it into such a positive. Of journey and I'm just excited to watch everything that you have in the works and be along for the ride. So thank you again so much for joining.

Speaker 2

Just what you're doing. I'm so happy when you inviting me. Was like, Oh my gosh, someone. Wants to talk about the real deal. So I'm just right back. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1

Well, before we wrap up completely, if you would like to allow any listeners to follow or connect with you, can you tell us where to find you?

Speaker 2

So I'm mostly active on Instagram, but you can also find me on LinkedIn and Facebook. You just have to search for Wellness. Cindy, if you're pregnant or postpartum, Mama. And when I say postpartum in my head, it's really like early motherhood. So zero to seven years postpartum, I. Would love for. You to join. And our new mindful community is for overwhelm moms, and I'd love for you to come help us grow our tribe. This is completely new, so you can find the link on my Instagram file as.

Speaker 1

And we will have all the links that I have from you. We're going to put those in the show notes so that they can quickly connect with you on Instagram and. The group as well so.

Speaker 2

Awesome. Thank you.

Speaker 1

I just thank you again for this. I hope more and more moms feel a little bit more at peace, less alone and. Maybe start to communicate how they're feeling a little bit more if they're not already.

Speaker 2

We appreciate it. Thank you. So much again for inviting me.

Speaker 1

Well, I hope you. Have a good evening. Thanks. You too. Thank you. Thank you for spending some of your valuable time with me today. If you haven't already, I'd be so grateful if you take a minute to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. If you share this podcast with others that may find it helpful, that would also be incredibly appreciated. I'd really love to connect with you on social media. Shoot me a DM with any specific topics that you'd like to hear more about, or any questions that you'd like me to ask fellow Mompreneurs during guest interviews to come. You can find me on most platforms with the handle @messymompreneur. I'll share my contact info in the show notes as well. All right, friend, have a great week.