e053 – The Part-Time Jungle Podcast: Honouring Ourselves as Moms with Dr. Gillian Sawyer

03/08/22 • 33 min

Dr. Gillian is a mom of two and a chiropractor who has focused her career caring for moms and their children. She lost her own mother as she entered motherhood. This void, disconnection and loss has perpetually fuelled her passion to create an authentic safe space for women to be seen, heard and feel well taken care of in their motherhood journey. To reconnect to themselves and their body. The opportunity to walk with women through this sometimes horribly lonely, often joy filled, and always exhausting season has been a blessing. Each time another says, ‘same’, offers an assuring nod or let’s their shoulders down, her cup gets filled, the void gets smaller, and her drive strengthens. Listen in as we talk about: Knowing our limits. As a mom and working full-time, Gillian shares that the biggest resource she has tapped into has been learning her limits. Building a practice that’s in alignment. Gillian worked in many different settings, and when she became a mom, her purpose felt even more clear – working with moms and kids. Tips to transition from work to home life. Gillian shares that this has been one of the hardest transitions in her day to day, and gives listeners tips on how to navigate it from her perspective. How to feel better in our bodies. There are a few core techniques Gillian recommends for moms to drop back into their bodies and the present moment. Resources mentioned in this episode: Book: She Grieves Connect with Gillian: Instagram: @drgilliansawyer https://www.instagram.com/drgilliansawyer/ @mamaandmechiropractic https://www.instagram.com/mamaandmechiropractic/ Facebook: @drgilliansawyer https://www.facebook.com/drgilliansawyer @mamaandmechiropractic https://www.facebook.com/mamaandmechiropractic Website: http://www.gilliansawyer.com THE PERINATAL PHASE The perinatal phase is anywhere from pregnancy to after you have had your baby. You could classify it as the four trimesters. There are the three trimesters of pregnancy and the fourth trimester is those few months after you have delivered your baby. What Gillian tells moms, though, is that “postpartum is forever”. “Going through pregnancies, deliveries and stepping into motherhood changes us forever.” So, perinatal is focused around the pregnancy time but really applies to women even long after they have had a baby. Gillian finds that the perinatal phase tends to be a time when women are quite tuned into their bodies because of all the changes that are happening. When things feel off in their bodies, women recognize this. Gillian is able to help them with this through treatments, information as to why it is happening, resources, and in letting them know that they are not alone. KNOWING OUR LIMITS While working full-time and having a very busy practice, Gillian learned early on that in order to “do it all”, she had to prioritize her limits and pay attention to her energy levels. The biggest strategy that has helped her is trying to listen to where she’s at, so that she doesn’t push herself too far in either direction. While boundaries are important, Gillian shares how she prioritizes finding ‘flow’ over setting hard limits. BUILDING A PRACTICE THAT’S IN ALIGNMENT Becoming a new mom changed the way Gillian operated within her practice, and the clarity she received throughout this time helped her build a business that was in alignment with her true purpose. Gillian was clear on her purpose from the beginning, working with moms and kids, and she helps them in every step of their journey together. She also shifted her practice to a group-style environment, which creates the supportive community that she was always craving. TIPS TO TRANSITION FROM WORK TO HOME LIFE Gillian shares that moving from work to home life has been one of the hardest transitions in her day to day, and gives listeners tips on how to navigate it from her perspective. Actionable tips you can do starting today, recommended by Gillian, are:

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e052 – The Part-Time Jungle Podcast: Creating a Conscious Life & Business with Anna Lozano

Are you connected to your intuition? Have you thought about the relationship between consciousness and intentionally choosing our actions? In every moment, we get the opportunity to create our reality, whether it be through our words, thoughts or affirmations. You’re going to love this episode’s guest, Anna Lozano, Co-Founder of Love Powered Co. and a coach to ambitious creators. Anna is raising 2 mindful girls in Kelowna and is passionate about all things health & wellness, and supporting women to reach their audacious goals! Listen in as we talk about: Raising kids mindfully. Anna talks about how much of a responsibility it is to have kids and why we should be having conversations about how we want to raise our kids before they’re born. Being connected to intuition. Anna shares about her connection to her intuition and how it’s been a guiding light for her in both life and business decisions. Why affirmations are important. The thoughts we have and words we speak have a profound impact on our mindset and self-talk. Advice for female founders. Anna gives us her best tips and insight for female founders and entrepreneurs. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Everything Journal Collab with Jillian Harris Connect with Anna Instagram: @lovepoweredco https://www.instagram.com/lovepoweredco/ @_annalozano https://www.instagram.com/_annalozano/ Facebook: @lovepoweredco https://www.facebook.com/lovepoweredco @annalozano11 https://www.facebook.com/annalozano11 Website: https://www.lovepoweredco.ca RAISING KIDS MINDFULLY Anna shares her beliefs around raising kids and says that she doesn’t think many people really go deep into the conversations of ‘What is motherhood?’ And ‘What is parenthood?’ In addition, she suggests we should be having these conversations, especially if you want to raise them consciously and mindfully. We think about growing businesses and we have strategies and mentors in place but we get into motherhood and it’s a big transition without instructions. BEING CONNECTED TO INTUITION “It’s about being connected to intuition, getting the downloads and also being quiet enough to hear the answers. That’s how I move through motherhood and business.” All of us are intuitive beings, but with all the external noise, we don’t necessarily tune into it, listen to it or pay attention to it. Anna shares that the more that we can listen to those little nudges and the more we can take that intentional inspired action, the more our life is going to flow. She is constantly connected and guided to her intuition, and taps into this energy in both motherhood and business. WHY AFFIRMATIONS ARE IMPORTANT “You can start affirmations at any age. It’s a powerful, lifelong practice.” Affirmations are so important. Mindfulness is so important. What you speak in your mind is what you will speak into existence. Anna talks about how affirmations have transformed her self-talk and ability to shift negative thoughts quickly. Having a physical tool, like an affirmation set, allows you to bring focused intention into the words that you’re speaking out loud and into the thoughts that you’re programming into your subconscious. CONSCIOUSLY MAKING CHOICES “Our subconscious mind is always working. When we are thinking our thoughts, when we are speaking our words, those are creating our reality.” Anna says that if we can consciously choose our words and thoughts, we can consciously choose our reality. Rather than having things happen on autopilot, we can catch ourselves in a negative thought and turn it into a neutral thought, and then, a positive one. This can have a transformative effect on our entire life. Wherever you are, just get started and make it a habit so that you can consciously co-create your life rather than doing it by default. ADVICE FOR FEMALE FOUNDERS The best way to get ahead is to learn from someone who has done what you want to do. As Anna shares,

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e054 – The Part-Time Jungle Podcast: Helping by Healing with Jenn Abbatiello

Do you ever feel the overwhelm of trying to “do it all”? Or maybe you’ve been struggling on your parenting journey and are needing a bit of hope that it’s all going to be okay? In this episode, Jenn Abbatiello joins me to talk about peaceful parenting and how it can help us build stronger relationships with our kids and ourselves. Jenn is a mom of two young boys and a Certified Parent Coach. She is the founder of Your Transformed Family, helping parents end the anger, frustration, and guilt to find calm, confidence and ease in their parenting without yelling, threatening or punishing. As a former dominant parent, Jenn learned to become a peaceful parent and is dedicated to helping other parents transform their parenting too! Prior to founding Your Transformed Family, Jenn worked for 20+ years as a senior sales & marketing executive with companies of various sizes and across industries. She helped launch Microsoft Advertising in Canada, built and led the marketing team at Thinking Capital and spearheaded the growth of Reader’s Digest in Southeast Asia. When not working with families, she loves the outdoors skiing, hiking or running with her husband and two boys. One thing she can’t live without is her morning latte with oat milk. Listen in as we talk about: The struggle behind being a mom. Jenn gets honest and real about becoming a mom even if it wasn’t in her life plan. Healing our trauma to help our kids through their big emotions. Jenn talks about her biggest parenting lesson, which is to do her own inner healing work so that she can help her kids. Tips for prioritizing working on yourself. We can only show up as the mom we want to be when we take care of ourselves. Jenn shares her two tips on how to do just that. Connect with Jenn Instagram: @yourtransformedfamily https://www.instagram.com/yourtransformedfamily/ Facebook: @yourtransformedfamily https://www.facebook.com/yourtransformedfamily/ Website: https://www.yourtransformedfamily.com Quiz: What’s Your Parenting Style I checked out Jenn’s “What’s Your Parenting Style?” Quiz and learned that I am a “Balanced Parent”. Take the quiz to see what type of parent you are and receive tips and resources to support you along your parenting journey: https://www.tryinteract.com/share/quiz/6230b3f2452f9b00188a8bd5 THE STRUGGLE BEHIND BEING A MOM When Jenn and her husband started talking about kids, Jenn felt it just wasn’t in her life plan. After a battle with cancer, she wasn’t even sure if she could have them. Jenn gets honest and real about becoming a mom, and how it brought up many fears and a battle with wanting to be in control. She talks about how she hit her breaking point, packed her bags and left. This is what led her to where she is now, helping people through their parenting journey. HEALING OUR TRAUMA TO HELP OUR KIDS THROUGH THEIR BIG EMOTIONS “Parenting is about co-regulation. You cannot co-regulate if you yourself are not regulated.” Our kids, like us, have big emotions. Just because they may be younger, it doesn’t discount how they feel, express and self-regulate. Jenn shares that her biggest lesson as a mother is taking care of herself and doing the hard inner healing work, because it’s so important in being able to show up and be the parent you want to be. When we take the time to work on ourselves, it helps us stay patient in those really hard moments, and gives us the ability to pause and take a step back so we can help our kids. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORKING ON YOURSELF “When you’re triggered by your child, what’s that story that you’re telling yourself? How do you peel the onion of where it originated from so you can change it?” If we’re not giving ourselves the space to become our best selves, how can we expect the same of our kids? We need to give them space to grow into the people they were destined to become. Jenn has two ways she takes care of herself in order to show up as the best mom for her kids: