I had my first child at 20 and my body recovered quickly.  At 29 it was a whole different story and losing the weight I'd put on was proving to be much harder.  And then I had my 3rd baby at 31.

 

Time was always an issue for me when I had small babies.  And constant sleep deprivation. As well as soreness from upper and lower back pain from breast feeding and co sleeping.  After childbirth I seemed to hit the ground running and finding spare time and money to join the local pilates studio was difficult.  I would see cheap fitness classes aimed for mums and bubs and yummy mummy boot camps in the park where you could attend with your child but I felt so exhausted from just one session I just didn't see the point in attending.  My triceps would burn for days and I could hardly lift my own child let alone the pram, shopping etc and the session would make me more cranky and tired.   My only form of exercise by this point was pushing the pram along the many bike paths of the Gold Coast.

 

In August 2014, halfway through my first SONW workshop I had this sensation of a pain free upper and lower back.  Amazing.  And practicing the keys first thing in the morning whilst cooking porridge for 10, 15 mins would drastically improve my attitude for the whole morning.  From cranky tired mummy to a functioning optimistic mummy in moments.  Amazing.  My digestion improved.  My quality of sleep improved.  As I saw friends having amazing results with SONW I started to sacrifice valuable sleep time and walk with the keys instead therefore getting in an hours practice most evenings.  Here I had a practice I could do in my pj's in the lounge room.  No travel time to and from a venue cutting into valuable 'me' time.   I noticed my mood and energy levels escalate in my day to day life from my regular SONW and I had less emotional melt downs.  My menstrual cycle became more predictable and Im way more in tune with it and suffer minimal pmt.  I believe as a mother, one of the most precious things that SONW has given me is the ability to relax and be more present with my children.  Being too 'busy' is something that is hard for me to stop and there has always been a level of anxiety in my day to day life.  As a natural byproduct of this practice I am able to relax much easier than I ever experienced before and can enjoy my kids more.  In the past whenever I spent a winter in Tasmania I would gain two dress sizes and suffer circulation difficulties.  Not any more, my dress size is stable and SONW is the only serious, regular exercise I do.  And this winter is the first winter I have actually enjoyed.  The changes of the seasons and the beauty of nature was never something I could wholeheartedly appreciate as I would freak out at my weight gain and be miserably cold all the time.   My relationship with my body is so different now from SONW.  Naturally I'm a lot more kinder and appreciative of this body without any conscious positive self talk mantras of any kind.  In the past it has been a conscious effort to say nice things to myself but now there is this natural appreciation inside, a gratefulness that I cannot find words for.

 

SONW has changed my whole idea of what good health and wellbeing is to me.  I've never been satisfied with western medicines one dimensional approach to health and have sought out different, natural alternatives to good health and healing for most of my life.  I have experienced and enjoyed many different healing modalities, exercise programs and counselling therapies, searching for a happier, healthier and more peaceful me.  Never have I experienced the completeness that SONW gives me in any other practice.  It addresses every aspect of my being in such a deep way, gently addressing core issues and healing my body from the inside out.  It's such an honour to be able to share this practice as an instructor with others.