One of the challenges in our 21-Day Grateful Dancer plan is to write myself a Thank You letter. When I was pregnant, I made it a priority to take time giving myself love and self-care. I would always make time to do my dance workouts.I would make sure to book a massage or chiropractor appointment to take care of my health. Now as a new mom to a 3-week old, the concept of self-care sounds so foreign again. Someone asked me yesterday, what I am doing to take care of myself and I thought.. wow – good question.
In an instant, my days have been completely taken over by our baby Teddy’s schedule. I am breastfeeding which means my days are built around his 2-3 hour feeding schedule. This means that after I am done feeding him and he goes to sleep, I have about 2-3 hours to myself where I can sort of do stuff. This is when I cook, eat, do some clean up around the house and if there is someone helping me, I can even shower! Honestly, a warm shower feels like such a luxury these days. However, I wanted to make sure to do good with my commitment to doing the 21 Days of Gratitude part of the Grateful Dancer challenge. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, gratitude is a muscle that needs to be used to get stronger. I know I’m going to need to flex this gratitude muscle even more know that I am a mom.
@geekcandance
Dear Charlene, 2019 has been quite a year for us! We have been through so much together. I want to take a moment to give you love, gratitude and all the respect that you deserve!Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. —Oprah Winfrey
- Thank you for taking time to love yourself. You carried a baby for 38 weeks of the year which is most of the year. Throughout your pregnancy, you made sure to make time to do things that make you happy. You have been consistent at doing your dance workouts and yoga. You made time to prepare nutritious and healthy foods for yourself and your family. You made time to get massages, see friends and do things that makes you smile.
- Thank you for believing in miracles.When you and Todd got pregnant in February via your 4th IVF cycle, you were in disbelief. You’ve experienced so many heartaches in this 5 year fertility journey that it was hard to give your heart out again because you had a fear that your heart would once again be broken. I remember when you were in the 2nd week of pregnancy on a plane ride home, you were bleeding a lot. You were crying because you thought you had miscarried. During your doctor’s appointment the next day, you and Todd saw his heartbeat for the first time. You faced your fear of miscarriage and gave Teddy all the love that he deserves. You believed in this little miracle and now this little miracle is in your life!
- Thank you for supporting other women in their own health journey. Hip Shake Fitness has evolved to become a beautiful inclusive community where you have met other women, learned their story, shared your own story and support each other to live healthier lives but also to develop and deepen friendships between like minded women. I am so proud of you for being a huge part in making this community happen and for helping this community grow.
- Thank you for giving me a NEW appreciation for all women’s bodies. Your pregnancy journey has showed me how much our bodies can go through. I am in awe of you creating and growing Teddy inside you for 9 months. I am enamored by the beauty of your baby bump which has grown little by little and at 38 weeks, you have gained over 30% of your body weight BUT you continue to be strong and to stay active. I am in love with every single new curve that you have. They are a beautiful reminder of how much work your body put to grow Teddy.
- Thank your showing me that you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. You have always thought of yourself as someone who has very low pain tolerance. The idea of giving birth was something that you knew would be painful, a trauma that your body would go through. You did everything that you can to prepare for the birth and in the end, you grew Teddy and you gave birth to him fearlessly! You were able to have the vaginal birth that you wanted, you were able to tolerate the pain (with a half dose epidural) and you were able to push through. You are a champion and you can do anything that you set your mind to!
@geekcandance
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