Summer has officially started in the Afdahl household. The transition to a different schedule is both exciting and challenging. I am off call for the month of June and it has been nice to know I can just chill with my kids and take off for the weekend or hike in areas with no cell service. My big kids enjoy staying up later and sleeping in, but that is throwing off my 6-year-old who doesn’t want to miss out on anything. I want to hang out with my kids at night, but still need to wake up before the sun to get my day started off the right way. Are you feeling the tension too?

Twenty years ago I could get by with burning the candle at both ends pretty easily. All that adrenaline and cortisol caught up with me several years ago. I had to be very intentional about replenishing my minerals, prioritizing my sleep, and choosing to walk instead of doing HITT style workouts. It’s been quite a journey and thankfully I’ve rebuilt my resilience and reached a point where not only can I cope with normal life better I can also attend three births in three days (it was a wild month of March) and recover faster than I would have ten years ago from one birth.

Part of my personal health journey included learning about fascial release, nervous system regulation, and the various ways our bodies hold tension and stress. Don’t you love it when all your worlds collide though? Everything I’ve been learning for myself has added to ways I can better support the families I serve. One of ICEA’s partners, Lindsey McCoy, from the Body Ready Method just had her three-day Better Birth Pro Virtual training. Did any of you attend or maybe even sign up for her deep dive BRM Pro Training? In the three-day training, she scraped the surface on fascial release, nervous system regulation and how the laboring woman’s mobility and her support system understanding it is a game changer for preventing labor dystocia. If you don’t already follow her on social media, look her up. You may find ways to improve your own mobility too. We can end up in lots of crazy positions as birth professionals! If you’re finding yourself feeling weak or stiff and sore for days you can also check out another partner Emily Wannenburg with 4th Trimester Fitness. She offers a Fit4Doula program that would offer accountability so many of us need to be consistent.