The Active Soul

Happy New Year 2023

Merry Christmas everyone 🎄

Mum and I recently completed our 200hr yoga teaching training together 🙂

Please support my Mum’s yoga teaching journey by giving her a like and follow at the below page 🙂
https://m.facebook.com/twistingwillowyoga/

Twisting Willow Yoga Relaxed Fitness with a difference!

Celebrating the incredible journey our bodies have been on into motherhood. First time Mums, Mums of multiples, Mums with older kids…Grateful, proud and absolutely no reason to hide.

There’s nothing more frustrating than eating what you think is a healthy snack, only to find it’s actually full of hidden sugars or lacks the nutrition its name implies it has. Here’s our round up of 4 foods and drink that look healthy, but aren’t!

🥭 Dried fruit
While you may find dried fruit in the health aisle at your local grocer, they actually have a higher sugar content than fresh fruit by volume.They also lack the water-soluble nutrients that are found in their fresh counterparts.

🍞 Multigrain bread
Be wary of “enriched” multigrain bread. You can often spot unbleached wheat flour in the ingredients. You’ll certainly find whole grains in this bread but the flour has been stripped of its nutritional value. Look out for breads that list whole grains and wheat at the top of the ingredients list.

🍫 Energy Bars
Energy bars are pitched as a healthy snack, but we find some have similar nutrition profiles to a chocolate bar! Always have a read of their ingredients, ideally less is more with these bars Additives like sugars, flavours and syrups are red flags. Look for ingredients you can recognise like nuts, seeds, and raisins. If you’re a chocolate lover, opt for a bar that uses dark chocolate.

🥤 Sports drinks
Sport drinks are great for marathon runners and those who heavily exercise through the week and need to replace lost electrolytes. For the rest of us though, these amped up beverages contain far too much added sugar for our diets. Hydrate the simple way, with water!

🧡 Happy Mother’s Day 🧡

💚 April is Caesarean Birth Awareness month and we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the enormity and intensity of having your baby via C-section 💚

Every C-section birth is different. Yours may have been associated with trauma or joy. It may have been carefully planned, or an unforeseen emergency. It may have been on your terms, or out of your control.

Having a C-section can raise complex, difficult emotions, and it comes with it's own intense physical recovery which is rarely acknowledged. It can also be a source of joy and healing. Birth, no matter what kind you have, is profound, intense and life-changing.

C-sections carry some risk factors for perinatal mental health challenges. One study showed that people who have a C-section birth can experience higher rates of depression during the postnatal period. The reasons for this are complex but trauma during birth may be a contributing factor.

If you want to talk about your birth, PANDA is here to listen:

PANDA National Helpline (Mon to Fri, 9am - 7.30pm AEST/AEDT) 1300 726 306

We've also developed a fact sheet about complicated births which you can read here: https://loom.ly/zzRqWXQ

Image via Catie Atkinson ✨

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-13/running-after-childbirth-baby-womens-health-fitness-pelvic-floor/100874512?fbclid=IwAR1PBTQXgxfRUDXxDGzYrYBZhOjbqVBwReaoDGvhKulxTU1QQwP-9ihweYs

So you've had a baby and want to return to running, how can you do it safely? Pregnancy and childbirth can bring about a raft of changes to women's bodies, so how do we navigate getting back to running after having a baby?

🧡International Women’s Day 22🧡
Celebrating all the amazing Mums, Daughters, Sisters, Grandmothers, Aunts, Cousins, Friends and Clients…keep being an inspiration and cheering each other on.
Tag your cheerleaders below ⬇️ and let them know you’re thankful for them🌼

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Missed out on a Christmas Day SUP last year being 2 weeks postpartum but managed to get Frankie on with me this year for all of 10 seconds before she pointed at Daddy to come rescue her!

Check out what our friends at Bloom have to say about Ab Separation. It’s amazing what our bodies do to be able to grow our minis.

➖Abdominal Separation ➖

Ab separation, technically referred to as Re**us Abdominis Diastasis (RAD), is the separation of the left and right sides of the most superficial abdominal muscle, re**us abdominis (think your 6 pack muscle) 💪🏼.

Ab separation is very common during pregnancy, in fact studies show 100% of women will have some level of separation by their third trimester of pregnancy. From weeks 7-10 gestation, the hormone relaxin is released into your body to aid in softening your ligaments and muscles, particularly around your pelvic area, to begin your body’s preparation for birth. Relaxin continues to be released throughout your pregnancy.

Part of this softening happens around your abdominal wall too, particularly to the linea alba, which is the connective tissue that sits between the left and right sides of your 6 pack muscle. This linea alba softens, and as your uterus and baby grows, it will gently stretch to allow for additional space through your trunk.

How much everyone’s linea alba stretches is very much independent on the person, including their size🤰🏼, their babies size 👶🏼, whether they have been pregnant before, how much muscle tone is present and their skin/connective tissue flexibility🤸🏽‍♀️.

Following your delivery, there is some natural recovery of your abdominal wall, particularly over the first 6 weeks. How much natural recovery happens is again very independent for each person and some women may continue to experience an abdominal separation postnatally.

Part of your postnatal Physiotherapy assessment involves palpating through your abdominal wall and assessing the muscle tone and whether any separation still exists. You’ll then be given an individualised exercise program that will aim to strength your tummy muscles to help restore your abdominal wall function as best as possible.

MumSafe™️ is partnering with Belly Bands as part of their 12 days of Christmas comp…head over to the BellyBands page for entry info

🎁 BELLY BANDS 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - DAY 9 🎁

On the 9th day of Christmas, we're giving away a FREE ONE-week group/personal training session with a MumSafe Trainer virtually or in-person in your area* to one lucky winner on Instagram!

It’s the MumSafe Mission to provide safe and effective exercise to women at every stage of Motherhood. All MumSafe trainers hold the Safe Return to Exercise certification, have a proven partnership with a Women’s Health Physiotherapist and uphold registration with a fitness body.

Head over to our Instagram page for your chance to WIN here: https://www.instagram.com/bellybands4u/

Competition closes 8am AEST on 14 December 2021. Winners will be notified by comment on Instagram.

FREE 6 Week Exercise Program 👉 👉 👉 Safe Return To Exercise

Here's What You Should Look For in a Postpartum PT You know that exercise and movement as a new mum is important, and you possibly have some awareness to find a Personal Trainer or group class that is suitable for new mums but navigating to make sure that you can have complete confidence in the person you choose to trust your postpartum self with is...

Find a MumSafe Trainer Near You 👉 👉 👉 Safe Return To Exercise