Your beautiful, luscious, capable, sexy body? The one that does all the heavy lifting, makes dinner for your loved ones, carries sick children, gets shit done, makes things happen.

The same one that you talk smack about 😐 –  ‘I hate how my tummy looks in this’ / ‘I wouldn’t even dream of wearing something like that again’ / ‘There’s no point even trying to look sexy / hot / good cos my body is just so hideous’…
Sound familiar? 😐

I know our bodies change during and after childbirth – they stretch and get squishy in places we didn’t even know could feel squishy; we have extra, flabby skin; our tummy muscles don’t even feel like they are part of us anymore; our pelvic floor has taken a beating; we are more hunched over from breastfeeding and lugging around our little ones; and as they grow, so does that niggly pain down the side that we always carry them on.
Hating on your body, punishing it, distancing yourself from it and wishing it was different isn’t going to help.

So….

#1 – Own it. Own all the awesome bits and funky bits and flabby bits because they are yours, and no one else’s.

#2 – Know that it isn’t about “getting your pre-baby body back”, it’s way cooler than that. It’s about finding and nurturing your beautiful, delicious Muma-bod.

#3 – Understand that you are in control – you are in the driving seat, you get to make decisions, you get to decide how and when to prioritise your health and fitness.

#4 – Be kind to yourself. Take small steps, celebrate small wins.

#5 – Start with your core – strengthening your pelvic floor muscles and deep abdominal is key to any successful movement practice.

#6 – Understand in your soul you are absolutely worth it. True change comes from knowing you are worthy.

Yes our bodies have changed, yes we have Muma battle wounds, and things feel different and somewhat disconnected but that doesn’t mean that your Muma-bod can’t feel amazing, can’t do all the things you want it to do. It doesn’t mean that you can never jump on a trampoline again for risk of accidentally wee-ing yourself (yep, it’s a fear for a lot of women…), it doesn’t mean you will always have that lower back pain, and it definitely doesn’t mean you will never feel like a fabulous, sexy creature again.

Love your body for all the awesome things it does for you everyday, be kind to it and celebrate the small wins.

You only get one body in this lifetime, be kind to the beautiful one you have. X

And of course this also applies to all the beautiful women who haven’t carried and birthed babies – we all need to be a little kinder to ourselves and our awesome bods xx