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I'm Shinada Moore, and you are listening to everyone on the podcast.

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Everyone on the podcast was created for one reason to get honest about parenthood, about the realities, the joys, the surprises and the fears, the moments that foremost and the ones we don't hear people talk enough about, which is why we are so proud to partner with water wives as our sponsor for this season as they share this mission with us and are such an essential brand for everyone.

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Together, we are committed to providing more reassurance for parents with trusted products and this podcast helping us to all take those important steps towards greater confidence while building a community of support for every mom. Pregnancy and birth transform our bodies, and so when it comes to exercising safely, it's so incredibly important to do it with the right expert guidance or we can risk injury.

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But with gyms closing and that network of support from other women becoming smaller, we wanted to hear from maternal fitness experts.

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Emma Dowling, creator of Empowered Mama, about how she is committed to building strength, connection and a tribe of empowered mamas through her classes and online programs.

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We talk about how, even as a trainer, Emma experienced a postpartum pelvic floor injury, which prompted her to educate herself and other women on how to exercise safely and how these classes are more than just fitness for women. They are friendships and essential to our maternal mental health.

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Emma, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast, and we've just been having a quick chat before we press record on you said something which is so perfect about what it is that you do and why it is that I was so drawn to having you be part of this podcast, because as a businesswoman, what you do is you create space for women and you've done that in your beauty before hand. But now, more specifically, when it comes to the physical well-being, what the type of physical well-being that that allows emotional support systems to happen as well through empowered mama.

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Thank you for doing that. Oh, it's absolutely my pleasure and I know it sounds kind of corny when you say, but it's just what I absolutely love doing. It's my passion creating that space for women to be, to become, to just see what they're made of, to see what they need. You just got so much from that hour, whether it was as a client, my massage table when I was a beauty therapist or, you know, and one of my classes or as a one to one client, I just want to make a person just feel so cared for and looked after in whatever means that I can.

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And I think because of my background and beauty therapy, I'm really good at reading women and reading what they want if they want to come in and have a chat or if they want to just got the headlines and work and enjoy their work or whatever. And I think it's being able to read that body language and pick up what that woman wants, which is going to change from week to week, is just really important. And I think it's actually more important than any program.

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You can have the best program in the world. But if the person is enjoying it and if there isn't that connection, you know, it's quite futile, really. Why do you think that we need.

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Because women are the beginning of everything. It all starts with us, it all comes back to us as mothers, as daughters, as friends, if there's an issue, generally, it'll be a woman there, I think at the bottom of picking up the pieces, gluing everything together. I strongly believe that we are the glue of our society, our community, and we are happy and cared for. We can give more care. We are happier and our homes are going to be happier if we're happy as well.

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And that just has a ripple effect. Then again, we're happy. Our kids are happy. If our kids are happy, they're going to be great kids in school and in all of their clubs and with our friends and like is really just what it's all about.

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Do you think that need has gotten even stronger since covid and locked in and twenty, twenty and all of these things that we're trying to figure our way through am absolutely 100 percent.

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And it's funny, the week before lockdown, I did a sunrise hike and here it was absolutely gorgeous. And most of my followers and science are women. So it was all women who were there. And I remember at the start just saying something similar to what I said there about women being the glue of society and actually getting quite emotional. I think it was because all of the covert stuff was starting to build. And I just thought, oh, my gosh, you know, I'm concerned about what is ahead for all of these people standing in front of me because we we had so much, so much to do.

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I think that for some of those girls, that was the last bit of time I really that they had for quite a while because their at home, some of them trying to do full time jobs or support somebody at home, was trying to to work from home and mind and children educate children somehow, you know, get a little bit of me time in there somewhere. And yeah, it was unbelievably tough, I think. And that's not even going near the kind of pregnant mamas and women who've just recently given birth.

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That was a whole different ball game, really, again, on top of us.

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But like, you're you're in that boat. You know, you're you have a three year old at home. You're trying to run your business. covid is trying to shut down your business.

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You know, it's it's it was frightening. And you're you're trying to look for other ways to create support systems, other ways to create connections, whether they be online or adapting, how your business can be delivered in order to fit within the restrictions. And that's that must have been incredibly frightening. You know, it wasn't I never got fearful because I just really wanted to stay calm. I knew any fear came into it for me that creativity would just go out the window.

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So I was like, you just have to stay calm. This is what is happening. You freaking out isn't going to change anything. Control the controls. I just I thought to myself, always want to control all the controls, do what you can. And it was really just brainstorm, talk to people, what you need, what you want to develop on the back of us. I had this, like, vision of myself, and it was like saying, like, you're always keeping your foot in one foot in a safe place and then moving the other one, getting that into a safe place.

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And I'm like, OK, but then we'll try this. And it was just kind of moving around, trying to find a way to make it work and. It actually, from a business point of view, was kind of grace in some ways because it just made you think differently, made you look bigger picture. You know, I was so caught up in being on the ground, more classes, more coaches, you know, that I probably wasn't the best way for me to reach as many people as possible.

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And it was just kind of obviously pulled me out of it because the doors are closed. And it was like, right now we just have to find another way.

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And I loved the challenge of what did you find a new level of resilience within?

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Oh, yeah, definitely.

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And I love that word resilience, because I think if you if you can, you know, when you can't be resilient all of the time, but when push comes to shove, if you can find that you can face anything like I always have a plan, I generally never happens. And there'll be a plan B, C plan and I'll just keep making plans and keep changing and keep adapting because of I do have a level of resiliency and I think that's coming from competing in sports and stuff as well, because things never go right.

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So you just have to go with it and do your best.

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How did you cope with having a three year old at home amongst all of us? Yeah, it was really tough. And my husband is also self-employed. So we were both it was kind of like his bigger priority and it was going to go, boss, we worked it out just, you know. But that's not saying that was some really challenging times. And sometimes things until the winds are ready to live working classes and Jacob would be like screaming at the door and the wife, I would go, oh, but it was just it was just do our best.

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And really we got much more productive with our work. And we would have I would have got up very early and gone through a sizable chunk of work before Jacob even got off. And it really made me look at how we've been living pretty locked as well, been so busy amongst us. It was lovely time, the three of us, that we could really spend together. We loved going in our walks and having picnics in the garden and all the things that we did.

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And, you know, I think it's very important to know that we weren't in any way affected by coverage on a personal level. That was No. One in our lives that was vulnerable and there was no one to us who was sick or we're not frontline workers. So I think once you didn't have that worry, if you just keep looking at this was just perspective, I suppose, was make the best of it. We have a really nice family time.

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And that's not to say there were some moments of, oh, my gosh, how are we going to do this?

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In episode one I spoke of this season and I had a chat with Alyda. Something that came up for her was a newfound appreciation for how exercise and supported her emotional and mental wellbeing and how like, yes, she's running on empty.

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But it's actually the discovery of exercise and the commitment to exercise. And no matter how tired it's it is, what has given her that resilience? It's what it has given her that strength to kind of like physically recover after carrying triplets, both emotionally prepared to take on the rest of the day of caring for triplets. And I think it's like it's it's such a powerful thing to learn. And often women drop out of of well, girls drop out of exercise, drop out of kind of competing in things.

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And so we're really and we forget about it in our 20s. And then we find ourselves in our thirties in motherhood feeling like, oh, hang on, where is that thing gone? That gave me energy and gave me connection and gave me strength and made me feel powerful. Again, as somebody that trains women in discovering that, you must see that all the time. I love that part of my job. And and that's what I love about what I loved about our classes in particular, is that we often had women coming in who like that were saying, like, I'm not I haven't done exercise or sports since I was 13 or 14.

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But because everyone's coming in with their babies, they feel on a level playing field, everyone's back to basics. Everyone is starting from scratch and building up again and just seeing and when at the start they come in, they might not be able to do something. And then you're like, oh, my God, a few weeks later, you're doing it. You're doing really well. I just think they got so much from that. From a mental health point of view, it's just great to succeed like that with all those little small wins and they just keep building a building and adding up.

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And it's just amazing to see a man from a physical side. They start seeing their body change shape, their genes are fitting again and all this kind of stuff. And they're just feeling really good. And it's just it's just great. It really is. I think it's addictive. Oh, my God. 100 percent. It's absolutely addictive, I think the the feel good factor is addictive and you got that to exercise. You know, energy creates energy and sometimes sometimes there is times when you're like, you really need to take a rest.

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You know, it's OK to chill out and do nothing today, maybe take a gentle walk. But sometimes it's like rice, you know, if you're tired, just do retired. Just do a little bit slower, you know, just move and you will feel more energized afterwards. And I think that's what people are addicted to do. And the community and the connection and online online program from Shakila. I do like a weekly email check in with The Times.

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And I think that was a really powerful tool or coping mechanism for women in Lockton, because it was very like at the end of the week writing down their whole sequence. And it wasn't necessarily just training and nutrition. It was everything. It was sleep, stress, anything that you know, that any obstacle that they faced in the week they chat about. And there's something so cathartic, I think, about writing down how you're feeling. And I think they get even just so much from that.

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Yeah.

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Journaling is another thing that just keeps coming up and I get it out of your head. And I think that's where it's similar to exercise in a sense, actually, because you exercise, you're getting at a sweat, you're getting it out via like effort and pushing your body and pushing it further than your limitations tell you. And then with the writing, it's it's it's getting it out of your brain. So that swirl stops. You can stop that that looping of I felt this or I was tired of I thought or I'm annoyed about this.

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So like from all of these conversations, everything just seems to be about get it out of you. Yeah. Whether it's a cry or a workout writing, standing on a mountain, shouting.

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Yeah, I'm as I always say to my clients, I don't have all of the answers, but if I know somebody who does, I'll send them to send you their way. And sometimes just saying it and being a sounding board for someone and saying that's really tough, but you're OK, it'll be OK next week you'll be feeling a bit better. And if you're not, that's OK too. It's just being a sounding board for somebody. How does it make you feel when you really push your body further than lets you share a lot of when you're lifting and the routine that you go through within your own training and performance, what does it do for you when you feel like you're looking at that far and then you've achieved us?

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I suppose, before I go into a lift? It's just no days. Like even if even if it's like I can't lift it or do what I meant to do, I'm going and going, oh, my gosh. You are going to do exactly what you're meant to do and this is happening Middleford, sometimes you're either going, we got this or you're going well and hold on for dear life and do your best.

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And when you get a lift, that's a tough one. Or do a workout that the whole way through the whole workout you're going, oh my God, I just want to stop. At the end of it you're just like I did us build that resilience that we talked about earlier is such a good way to do that because everything is starting, you know, everything is turning into you account. Everything is saying, stop, this hurts. This is going to hurt.

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You could hurt yourself. We just have to when you know that it's safe and that you can keep working through some. It's I think it's very, very good for you if you can do that.

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So do you think that you take it through with you into other aspects of your life then if you're sitting down to think about your business and the first feeling in your head is that negative feeling of, no, I can't do this, this won't be a success. It'll fail. Do you go back to. Well, this morning I thought that and I still lifted a. I think it's just so ingrained into me after all of the years of training, like I will try anything, I really will, I'll be like, this is a good idea.

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Let's write this down, brainstorm and see if we can come up with something and throw it out there. And if it works great and if it doesn't work, you can give it a try. I really don't have any fear of failure at all. And I think that is one of something that has served me so well, you know, and. Yeah, I think I'm probably my own harshest critic as well, so it's not that I don't really care what other people think, it's more if I think it's OK and I've done my best, then it's OK.

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That's all you can do. So now that we have to be in this, like, dispersed world where you used to gather these pregnant women who would form relationships, get to know each other and connect and bring them through pregnancy and out the other end through your post-natal programs, feeling back together and stronger with friendships, with having and for me, the last time on maternity leave, one of the most important things was having something in my diary, just having somewhere to be on a Wednesday.

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Yeah, I totally got just that little bit of routine. It was it's just great having something to get dressed and put your makeup on, even if it is just a bit of mascara and be somewhere so powerful and really important. We're human beings just need connection. I think so. So much and especially connection with other people going through the same thing as you, especially in new motherhood, something so new and wonderful, but also terrifying for someone else to just say, yeah, me too.

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I'm going through that same thing. It's just so important to have.

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Of course, you're still in contact with lots of women because of the business that you run. How do you think they're experiencing this loss of that connection? And I think it's funny because I think maybe the women who are in my programs. Even though it's not they're not physically together, they have that sense of community. We have like WhatsApp groups posting in recipes and sometimes it's just your kid ever do this and all the different things. So even though it's not meeting up somewhere, they are together but separate.

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And we do live, work, eisenbeis. So, you know, they can come and log in Tuesday at 11:00 and do their training session even though they can't talk to each other. I can talk to them. And if I see ageism, I'll be going, you know, you can do this and keep going. And, you know, I think I think that's the way that we're trying to build it. I don't think anything will ever be, though, getting a hold from one of your friends or that's just the nature of it at the moment.

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But we have to just make the best of us. And so what can people expect from this type of online program? Because I'm due any day now and physically very unfair. Yeah, it's like a seven point turn, just trying to stand up for by doing a work. I am. And that is something I think is there's definitely an intimidation post pregnancy around returning to physical strength and what is safe and what isn't safe and what should I be doing.

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And what if I harm myself when I can't afford to harm myself because I have to be physically able to get up in the middle of the night to this baby and to lift this baby? I can't afford an injury in my back or to do something silly. It's a it's a hard place to start. When you get back. It is a really hard place to start, and I think that's why it's so important to have a coach is fully qualified and experienced to take you through that.

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And, you know, I think as well, because obviously I've had my own child. I've been through a. I remember after having Jacob like, oh, this is what people were talking about when they say that my core is really weak or, you know, I'm really tired, I'm like, oh, this is this. Yeah. So I think being able to relate on a professional level, on the experience level, but also on a personal level, just really makes us a little bit more real, I think.

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And it is making sure that every person who walks in the door is getting an exercise or a work that is suitable for them. And making sure that when they leave, they go, I did that really well, even if it's just the dead basics, they're gone. I did pretty good at that. And then the next time they come in, let's do a little bit more. That's out a few more reps. Let's try and out a little bit more range or whatever it might be, and just building it up so slowly that it never is scary.

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There's never a moment of mean, like, I can't do that and that they just feel really safe and they trust you. It's all trust, really, and connection. And so that's the other thing actually that I love about the homework is that you can do your workout in your face, you know, you don't like no one's going to see you, Joe. And I love that. From an intimidation point of view, it takes like a huge obstacle that so many people face.

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They don't want to go to a gym because they don't feel like they belong in a gym. They don't feel like they fit in there. They don't know what clothes to wear. All of this kind of stuff. And that whole obstacle is just gone because it's just you and your sitting room, me on a screen or whatever, and you're just doing your thing. And I Lothos, you know, I think that's where the WhatsApp groups come, Grace, because the girls will pop in their scores and the reps and all the different things that they've been doing.

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So it kind of gets that little bit of competition going as well. But the other thing is that our work are only 20 minutes. So if you can work or push yourself on days that you're able to and at a time, I suppose, that you're able to in your post-natal recovery and it's really short, it's only for a short amount of time.

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And I'd be asking you on your seconds to do what I do love about it, though I do think it's a massive benefit is sometimes the biggest barrier to postnatal anything is just physically getting out of the front door. Yeah.

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And that the like that was the biggest learning curve for me where I used to just grab my car keys and go things like the program of activity that would need to kick off and you'd be like, OK, so I need to be somewhere at eleven, which means I need to leave at half past ten, which means that I need to be ready at ten, which means that baby needs to be fed us nine to have enough time to wind and then change and Toonami and and all of a sudden, like six, fifteen a.m., the operation would begin in order to get at the door.

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And I love the idea of, well, I love the experience now of like opening your laptop and just getting into us, you know, getting started.

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Oh, it is great. It's so efficient from a time point of view and from a stress point of view because it's so stressful. I remember going places a shake and like you'd be flashing by the time you started the car, by the time the book was in, the baby was and everything like, oh, it was. It's like motherhood is a work of art itself, isn't it? Absolutely. Just focus for twenty minutes and then you're done.

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That's all you have to do. So no, I think it is. And I actually had this conversation with a couple of times this morning that the real perk actually from the work from home for the girls coming to town as well, because often they have the other half at home so they can leave the baby for their hour and go home, do their class, their back. And it's just really, really nice to see them being able to take their time and not just arrival flusters to positively.

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What are the signs that your body isn't ready to start a program of exercise? Posnanski. Well, we would definitely always say and wait until at least at least six weeks post-natal, and that is both for vaginal and a C-section delivery, before that, it would just be like focusing on your breathing, maybe some very gentle stretching and just letting your body recover, focusing on trying to get some nutrient dense foods and protein and and all that. Just you're just focusing on healing, resting or recovering after that and once you're signed off by your doctor or your consultant or midwife.

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I would love to see every single woman go and see a pelvic floor or a women's health physiotherapist to be completely assessed and know exactly where they are, even if they have no symptoms of, you know, if they're like, my recovery's going great. I'm absolutely fine. It's just so good to know. And from a coach, it's great to know that they're good. Really good to go. And a good friend of mine just had a baby there.

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Couple of months ago. And she couldn't believe the six week checkup with her GP that the GP barely even looked at her. She she was like, OK, are you going to check for diabetes? Is rectal abdominal separation of the GP was like, no, like this is really just to look over the baby and how are you feeling? And she was actually really shocked. So it's really important for the moms to get a proper emoji after having their baby and the possible once they've done that, then once they're not having any symptoms, the pelvic floor dysfunction, like you might have a little bit of leaking.

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We can always work around that and make sure that your staying symptom free and exercise was any severe, leaking pressure, bulging pain, pain and joints and anything like that.

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I would definitely say you need maybe a little bit more time for physio and assessment before starting anything. I had a lot of pain in joints from the from breastfeeding, from Prolacta, and I wasn't expecting this. I it was not something associated with breastfeeding that kind of crossed my path beforehand.

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Um, and obviously we know about prolactin and that it's it's enables your body to transform, to face, you know, a human inside you and come out of you. But it can stay in your system for a lot longer when you're feeding as well. Yeah. So we would always say up to maybe six to 10 months post feeding. We would still be checking in with those moments after all those other risks. And I feel OK. And it might just be doing like non weight bearing movements off the floor.

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So maybe anything that they're like downward dogs or anything like that, it might not be what they need at that time. And but that's it's a really common thing that we come across on a really common thing that people are like really like. Yes, yeah. We have to be so careful. We're so prone to injury. And that's why it's so important to be strong, robust, stable, because we're doing, as we were talking about and getting out of the house and loading up the car like it is so physical.

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What I remember so many times, lifting things in and out of The Boosh thing, like I was a competitive Olympic weightlifter for like five years. And I'm struggling to do this. Like, how are people who don't have never trained are really doing this without really hurting themselves? You're right. Like it is so physical. Sometimes you feel like you don't have the physical energy to do the actual exercise best. But yes, it's the conditioning in the exercise breath that will enable you to have the strength for the everyday parts that are really challenging.

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Yeah, kind of the fitness of motherhood. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And it is just keeping all of the, the joints and the ligaments and everything and the muscles as strong as possible is really, really important. What do you suggest women start off with. So OK, so assuming you're at that six week mark and assuming. You are physically you know, you don't have anything you don't have anything serious to recover from following birth and following pregnancy, what are just the year at home?

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And you just want to feel you want to introduce a little bit of movement. What did they start with? So first of all, I would always the foundation of all of our wellness, especially in pre, pre and post natal mamas, is our breath. So learning how to breathe properly is so important. And I remember someone saying that to me and I was like, that is the most boring me I've ever heard someone say training. But oh my gosh, the more educated I became and I just thought, this is just so powerful.

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So learning how to breathe properly and on a kind of like strengthens the core from the inside out, helps our pelvic floor, helps our stress levels and even my back pain like it's so powerful. So learning how to do that properly would be the very first thing. And you can do that from Josh, you can do that from the day after the baby's born. That is so important. If they're doing all that and they want to start doing a little bit of movement at home, doing things like I always think, like postural correction exercises and stretches from hip openers, loose and strengthening exercises, things like squats to arrange that feels very comfortable for you, glute bridges and full of parts and stuff like that for upper body and some gentle hip openers.

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And there's loads and loads of different types of structures you could do. It's a really nice place to start and really enjoying movement and flowing through us. And just, you know, being like this actually feels really good. Is is you you wouldn't obviously be upping the intensity at all and probably not even using any weights at all.

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Just enjoying movement, I would say, will be a really good place to start, especially because the other big learn from main postpartum was his sedentary. It is. You know, you're you're really you're you go from a busy life with a bump to sitting under a baby for quite a number of hours a day and night. And yeah, there came a point for me definitely where I was like, oh my God, I need to move on.

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Even if it's just a gentle stretch or what, like Pelada Roldan's or I just felt like so locked in, like the cat goes on the floor in your tabletop position.

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Like I just think all of that stuff, some spinal rotation and some chest open. And it's like it just is so even talking about, oh my God, that sounds really nice. And the other really important thing about that kind of sedentary lifestyle that just naturally comes with especially early motherhood is that from a pelvic floor point of view, it's not necessarily the best thing for it is that constant breast. The pelvic floor is a type of muscle that needs to be used or else is occupied.

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Essentially, the muscles actually stop working, so. A lot of the time, even myself and I had a pelvic floor injury after Jacob healed and already well and I suppose I find if I'm sick in bed for a couple of days, there's weakness in my pelvic floor. There could be a little bit of leaking and that. And I know that's just because I haven't used my pelvic floor. There's been no gravity. Nothing hasn't worked at all. So it's just getting it working again.

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And so it is quite important for that breathing beast that I talked about, connecting our diaphragm on our conference floor and doing our key goals or whatever our post-natal physiotherapist or midwives have told us to do. It is so important to do that and do us religiously, I think, as women were.

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So we jump straight into. Yeah, but what am I going to how am I going to exercise to lose weight, how to exercise to get my body back. How am I going to exercise. Because I really don't like this new flabby tummy or you know, and we don't stop and think about how do I need to exercise so that my pelvic floor is strong enough that my diaphragm is strong enough, that my internal structure is strong enough to support me.

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When I do want to get onto a cardio aerobic exercise to burn energy like there's so many, it's like a building block. Again, you really need to start internally and work your way out what it's like building a house with no foundations.

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You see, if you jump into it too quick, yeah, you can probably all the blocks up there would look OK, but it will all come crumbling down at some point if there's no foundation there. And it's so important to to remember that and it might not. Come on, I don't want to do any scaremongering, but a lot of the time it's not until menopause that these particular injuries even become apparent. So it's important to respect your body, to give it the time that it needs to heal, to do the work, because it is kind of boring sometimes the work that you're doing, especially if you come from a training background, you know, that was what happened to me.

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I was like, you know, I was squatting really heavy weights and whatever before. And Jacob, like, go with your breathing for me. I got a perfect orangery and that took a long time to and a lot of money around physiotherapy to to hear a that was starting again. So I just so wish that I knew then what I know now. I could have saved my time or save myself all of that time and effort.

[00:37:01]

But that's such an important message because here you are an expert in your field, as you said, Olympic athletes, and you even fell into the trap of of of having an injury and, you know, caused by how your body had changed in pregnancy and postpartum.

[00:37:22]

Yeah, it was caused by me returning to exercise too quickly after having Jakov because I did not have the knowledge and my ego was too big. I didn't respect the role and didn't respect what my body had gone through. And so it was really caused by me returning to exercise too quickly, returning to doing workouts that were not suitable for my postnatal body. And I did that because I didn't have the knowledge. I couldn't find the knowledge. You know, I was a personal trainer for a couple of years before that.

[00:37:55]

I trained as a elite athlete and I didn't have the knowledge. So what what is everyone else doing? You know, it's it's it's really scary, actually. And you can read up online.

[00:38:12]

I remember looking online for work. I am doing workouts that were labeled as post-natal work. I wish they weren't, you know, it was just available on the Internet. There was no research or science behind us. Yeah, unfortunately, that didn't end to end for me. And I went to a great physiotherapist in the mealtime clinic in Dundrum and did my rehab. And then I went and educated myself. And that's where the empowered mom was really born from.

[00:38:45]

So you don't want others with such limited information to begin with in comparison to what you were starting with, fall into the same trap? Yeah, exactly.

[00:38:55]

And quite often actually the hardest people to train of the people with a training background, the women coming from across the background or Rokeby background or that, you know, that's my line. But I always say your ego is not your amigo. Got to start from base and work up again.

[00:39:13]

Just reading out really hard. It's it's such a good leveller, though, as well. You know, I think mentally it's so great for me as a coach. I'm actually so thankful that I went through that experience because I can say to them, like, this is what happened to me. I've been there like I've made the mistakes. Like, you do not want this to happen to you. So let's do this the right way and do it really the short the short way, you know, a short injury free rather than a long injury ridden process.

[00:39:50]

So going out and seeking, like the real expert support and information is just so critical when you're starting from scratch, don't assume your body is built the same way that it was before and can do the same things that it can do before. Because think about us like your entire structure has changed in order to grow a human and bring it into this world and respect us, you know, respect your body and let's. Let it be cared for post nightly as you go towards a newfound fitness.

[00:40:27]

I think it was and I think it was only after I went through obviously pregnancy, childbirth, then getting the pelvic floor injury and coming back from that, that I really just find this new respect for my body that I never had before. It was just like, wow, like women are amazing. You know, what we do is just incredible. And that's why at the start of the podcast, I said women at the beginning of everything, because it all starts with us.

[00:40:56]

So we need to mind us and we deserve to look after us and put ourselves pretty high up on the priority list and the to do list every day. And it's not just the day that you go on a retreat or it's your birthday or whatever. It's a daily thing and that's OK. It's OK to take a bit of time for yourself every single day. So exercise for recovery and kindness as opposed to. Not hurting ourselves, but sometimes we just use exercise as a way of of burning those calories and restricting the manipulation of your body, you know, stock manipulation body, just let it be like punishing us for one or.

[00:41:42]

Yeah. Yeah, all lottery Springsure, OK, trees are all part of the wellness. I'm also a firm believer in that.

[00:41:57]

But you've got you've taught me so much already in this from following you on Instagram. You've taught me so much. You've taught me so much today in this conversation. And I'm so happy that there are people like you in this world that have taken a learning from their own experience and pain and have turned it into trying to prevent other women from having to have that experience. And it's you know, you could have just continued on about your life doing your your gym training elsewhere.

[00:42:29]

But you have and you've built a business around making space for women and around helping us all through pregnancy and postpartum and feeling like empowered Mollas. So. Thank you so much for creating that business and for sharing your knowledge with us today and joining us on the podcast. It's such a pleasure.

[00:42:50]

I'm so, so delighted to have to be on today. And thank you so much for asking me to join you. It's Grace.

[00:43:00]

Thank you so much for listening, if you enjoyed this episode, it really helps our show to grow. If you subscribe or leave or if you share this episode across social and get in touch with this week's expert guest, Emma Dowling at Empowered Mama on Instagram. Talk to you again next week.

[00:43:19]

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