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Episode 68 – Nutrition and Exercise in the First 6 Months of Giving Birth

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The transition to everyday life after the birth of a child has its challenges, particularly if you are a new mother. While it’s important to care for your baby, you also need to put your own needs first. It’s often said that the first six weeks after giving birth are a critical time for healing. What can you do to take good care of yourself during the first six months of a new baby without the added pressure of losing the baby weight, bouncing back, and others? We’re discussing answers with our guest today, Dahlas Fletcher.

One of Australia’s most successful and respected Postnatal and Pregnancy Trainers, Dahlas Fletcher is passionate about helping expecting and recently pregnant women maintain their physical and emotional well-being through safe and appropriate exercises. Having been a National Marketing Manager, a mother to 3 young children, and working as a Group Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer for 20 years all inspired her to create BodyFabulous and Preggie Bellies Brisbane. By providing real, effective, evidence-based solutions that she personally applied before, during and after her own three pregnancies, she wants to help you be the happiest, most fabulous version of yourself, inside and out.

Key Learnings:

Tune in to my conversation with Dahlas Fletcher and learn:

  • What led her to her passion for working with mums
  • The many changes mothers go through during pregnancy and after the baby’s birth
  • Her firsthand experiences as a mom during her pregnancy and postpartum
  • How she works with mums and supports them connect with their bodies with exercise and nutrition
  • Why every experience of motherhood is so different
  • Reasons why your bodies can feel so sore and stiff and full of aches postpartum 
  • Eliminating the confusion and myths around exercise and nutrition
  • How mothers can really take control and be proactive about their health and fitness during the first 6-week appointment at the clinic
  • Her advice on how mothers can care for themselves and the baby 
  • How to deal with self-comparison and comparison with other mums around motherhood or the expectations around bouncing back after giving birth
  • Why connecting with your body and listening to yourself about what you need is so important
  • How having a community and support system around you can help you better care for yourself
  • How mothers can use nutrition to feel good and help heal their bodies

Quotes:

“Healing and creating space in your body and connecting to the body is my key thing in the first 6 months.” – Dahlas Fletcher

“Trust that very wonderful thing that is your mother’s instinct and keep coming back to that and listening to your body, and listening to how you feel each day, and if something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it, don’t be afraid to speak up.” – Dahlas Fletcher

“It’s not about the quantity of exercise its the quality, so let’s just focus on the quality of movement and how you’re feeling and how our moving and connecting to your body.” – Dahlas Fletcher


 “Motherhood is so physical. You’re lifting, you’re twisting, you’re carrying, you’re called in all different directions. So if you can tune in and use what you’re doing in your exercise, your program, your movement, and then apply those same principles as you move throughout the day, that’s when you’re just gonna get a myriad of benefits.” – Dahlas Fletcher

“You also need to be making sure you’re eating nourishing foods to fuel your baby as well.” – Dahlas Fletcher

 

Links:

BodyFabulous website: https://bodyfabulous.com.au/

Rushing Woman’s Syndrome by Libby Weaver: https://www.amazon.com/Rushing-Womans-Syndrome-Never-Ending-Do/dp/1781808163

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Episode 67 – Self-Care for Kids, Teachers and Artists

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With the countless rapid technological advancements occurring in the world today, many of us still rely on the power of books to help us think, slow down our brains, expand our minds and cope with life’s experiences. In this special crossover episode, I chat with Dani Vee about the power of books in our everyday life, how they can change our brains, the problem with being busy, and our own self-care routines. If you are an overwhelmed mom with the hustle and bustle of life, hopefully this episode will make you consider taking a moment and care for yourself.

Dani Vee is the host of the popular and incredibly entertaining literary podcast Words and Nerds, where she interviews authors to discuss books, the social and political influences of a writer’s work and how literature has the power to change the world. She is a mom of two kids, an English teacher, avid reader, book enthusiast, self-confessed nerd, and overthinker. 

Key Highlights:

Join me in this podcast episode with Dani Vee and learn:

  • How books have played a huge part in my personal and professional life working with parents, carers, and children
  • Dani’s childhood falling in love with books at a very young age
  • How to make your kids become readers and love reading having kids understand the function and the purpose
  • How reading different books can change our brains
  • How books can teach children and young adults key elements of self-care
  • What we often get wrong about the busy culture and what a different way to approach it
  • Dani’s self-care practices for teachers, artists, and for herself when dealing with anxiety
  • Creating space to reconnect with yourself and spending a few minutes in silence
  • How centering yourself can prepare you to be more responsive than reactive 

Dani Vee’s Self-Care Tips for Teachers and Artists:

  1. For teachers, spend time alone in silence to nourish and rebuild yourself.
  2. For artists, push back against self-doubt and believe in yourself. Do whatever it is you love doing, don’t care about failing. 

Quotes:

“Books change your brain for the better.” – Sonia Bestulic

“You can have a full day but how do you make it fulfilling. and for me look at and consider, how much am I consuming and doing versus creating and being?” – Sonia Bestulic

“Once you center yourself, because you’re prepared and you now have purpose, I think then you become a bit more patient, and probably a better person…. That centering is really important.” – Dani Vee


Links:

Words and Nerds Podcast website: https://www.wordsandnerds.com/

Flourish for Mums website: https://flourishformums.com/

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Episode 66 – Looking + After Yourself = Looking After Your Money

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When it comes to the topic of money, are you comfortable talking about it with your friends or family? While most of us may have unhealthy patterns with money and use the money to shape the way we feel about ourselves, it is possible to heal our relationship with money and achieve financial health or abundance. My guest today delves into our perceptions of money and shares how this influences our relationship with it. She then describes how we can break free from these unhealthy money blocks and see money simply as a means of exchange, not something which should define our value. Find out in today’s podcast how looking after our finances helps us to look after ourselves. 

Karen Eley is an experienced and former financial advisor who has worked in the financial services industry for 22 years. Karen now helps women who feel confused or overwhelmed with money matters to feel financial competence and confidence through coaching. Karen practices a unique, step-by-step coaching process that uncovers the deep-seated money blocks that subconsciously hold women back personally and financially. With this awareness, she assists clients to move from financial confusion to financial clarity by providing them with the practical tools, knowledge, support, and strategies they need to become fully financially empowered. As a reformed shoe addict, she does understand the temptation of wants versus saving and she is committed to showing women what’s possible with money from both a practical and psychological perspective.

Key Highlights:

Tune in to this episode with Karen Eley and learn:

  • what motivated Karen to enter the financial services industry
  • why she left her financial planning practice to help women and couples manage their financial behaviours and relationship with money
  • how is looking after your finances equal to looking after yourself
  • the negative emotions most of us have around money
  • when do women reach out to Karen and seek her help
  • focusing on the money mindset or the internal solution rather than external
  • the neuroscience behind our relationship with money and our money story
  • where our beliefs about money come from
  • reasons why we tie our self-worth to our net worth and why we shouldn’t
  • practical tips and strategies we can do to become more aware of our money beliefs
  • the top obstacles to financial abundance and health
  • Karen shares her own personal money story 
  • couples’ communication around money
  • ways we can implement to become better with our finances and financial health

Karen’s Tips on How to Care for Ourselves by Looking After Our Money

  1. Self-awareness – Understand your money story and beliefs by going back and exploring what life was like for you as a child, what your parent’s money behaviours were like and which traits do you share with them as you grew up.
  2. Forgiveness – Be kind to yourself and forgive yourself for past financial mistakes.
  3. Take ownership. 
  4. Write an inventory list of things you’re really good at and identify which strengths you can utilize to earn money from.
  5. Write a list of 5 things you can do to focus on your money and schedule a time to do it once a week.

Quotes:

“We need to be looking at the internal issues because that’s what we need to be making the change from and when I talk about internal issues its really bout money mindset.” – Karen Eley

“Acknowledge all the really good things about you rather than focusing on the negative things, that goes back to our instinctual brain to keep us safe, so it’s very responsive but we need to override that and say look at all the positive things.” – Karen Eley

“We’re only limited by our belief.” – Karen Eley


“Wherever we have our conversation about money, we’re really having a conversation about our values. we will always as human beings defend our values to the death.” – Karen Eley

 

Links:

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Episode 65 – Flourish for Mums: The Inspiration, The Purpose, The Mission

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I am excited to introduce to you a new segment series dedicated to mums all over the world. I want to celebrate motherhood and inspire women that they can cultivate inner strength, develop a healthier outlook on life, and feel empowered. This has become my motivation for authoring the book Flourish for Mums: 21 ways to thrive with self-care and acceptance. In today’s episode, I share with you how this book came to be, as well as a few important insights I believe all mothers need to hear right now.  

Sonia Bestulic is an award-winning children’s author, speech pathologist, conference speaker, and the creator of Talking Heads Speech Pathology clinics in Sydney, Australia. Motherhood is important for her, as she believes in the wellbeing of mothers, the value of children, and living a life fueled by love.

Using a combination of her own personal experiences and her professional expertise, Sonia Bestulic argues that ‘loving right is living right’. Filled with encouraging stories and supportive strategies, while addressing common misconceptions, Flourish for Mums: 21 ways to thrive with self-care and acceptance cultivates a self-empowerment specific to mothers with its unique, strong, yet gentle messages. 

Key Learnings

Join me in this episode as I walk you through:

  • My inspiration for writing the book “Flourish for Mums”
  • What I have observed from working with children and their mothers over the past years
  • The joys and challenges faced by mothers all throughout the world
  • My own experience of raising three children all born in a span of 2 and ½ years
  • An excerpt from the first chapter of my book: Honor your Humanness
  • What my 4-year-old daughter taught me about motherhood
  • Someone we often forget to include in our circle of nurture
  • Valuable tools, tips and strategies in the book to experience a deeper, more fulfilling life
  • The mission of Flourish for Mums

Quotes:

“Do not let the roles you play in life make you forget that you are human.” -Roy T. Bennett

“Mums, your permission note has been granted. You matter, you are loved, and its is your time to thrive, and to flourish”. – Sonia T. Bestulic

Links:

For more information about the book, you can visit:

Flourish for Mums website: https://flourishformums.com/

Order the book here: https://soniabestulic.com.au/shop/flourish-for-mums/ 

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Episode 64 – Raising Emotionally Intelligent Children

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Nowadays, children are very much being impacted by technology and social media. This is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it is an undeniable fact that because of what they see, hear, and read on those platforms, their minds are slowly adapting to the virtual world by getting emotionally unstable and not having much time conversing with real people in the real world. Today, our guest is someone who is passionate about teaching about emotional intelligence to children, high school students, and even adults. 

Jacqui Preugschat is a Special Education teacher who has a bachelor in Justice Studies, majoring in Criminology. She is also a University lecturer in the area of Criminology and is an emotional intelligence practitioner and coach and is studying a diploma in Leadership and Management, majoring in Emotional Intelligence. She shares her expertise as a Freelance Writer, contributing to KidSport, NewsCore, and Thrive Global. Through Jacqui’s business, Integrity of Heart, she provides one-on-one, group coaching and support in the area of EQ for children, high schools students, and businesses. Jacqui has also written a book series called Tessa’s Books of Elegance, which are activity and storybooks to encourage girls aged 5-15 to show kindness and use their talents and learn new ones. In late 2020, Jacqui received two awards from the AusMumpreneur Awards. She came second in the Queensland Author category, and third in the Queensland Author category for the People’s Choice Award. In her spare time, Jacqui loves exploring Brisbane and its surrounding areas, and of course supporting local businesses.

Key Takeaways:

Join me and Jacqui Preughschat in this fun conversation and learn:

  • About what emotional intelligence is and what its goals are
  • The set of six skills that would help people evaluate their emotional intelligence
  • The impact of technology on children’s emotional intelligence and self-awareness
  • How parents and carers can build healthy habits to have a balance between human interaction time and gadgets time
  • Signs your children are developing into emotionally intelligent individuals
  • The importance of modelling and  empathy and positive influence on your children                                                                                      
  • Involving children in physical acts of showing empathy and kindness to others
  • Jacqui’s top strategies to help nurture kids’ emotional intelligence

Six Emotional Intelligence Competencies:

  1. Self-awareness – This is a fundamental skill that involves being aware of how you respond to things (how you handle criticism and feedback), making yourself present in regard to when you have conversations with people; and thinking about how you could have done things a little bit better when the pressure is on.
  2. Awareness of others – This is practised through putting yourself in other people’s shoes or being empathetic; not immediately judging how someone reacts, taking all factors into consideration, and stepping away from the situation a little bit before you say or do something you might regret.
  3. Authenticity – This simply means being genuine.
  4. Emotional reasoning – Someone who is emotionally reasonable has an expansive look at the world—basing their decisions not just on facts and knowledge, but also on a range of other information.
  5. Self-management – This talks about resilience, “What am I going to do to help with my resilience and self-manage my moods?”
  6. Positive influence – This involves empowering yourself and other people, and not being critical, judgmental, overreacting, or tearing down.

What Parents and Carers can Do to Build Healthy Interaction Time Habits with their Children:

“Time slop into a schedule for this. Otherwise, weeks will pass, and technology is going to raise your children for you.”

Actions Children Do that Reflect Healthy Emotional Intelligence:

  • Having empathy towards other people, being kind and caring
  • Giving nature (not self-focused), sharing with others
  • Having a good world view, knowing that the world is bigger than themselves in their own home
  • Showing courage

Effective Way for Parents and Carers to Model Empathy to Children:

  1. Be thankful in situations.
  2. Focus on the bigger picture outside of yourself and outside of their lives.
  3. Discuss other people – what happened to them, their situations. Have conversations, ask questions.
  4. Involve them to do things for other people. Ask questions like, “What can we do to help?” “Let’s send them something.”
  5. Let them get used to the fact that the world does not revolve around them.

Top Strategy to Nurture Children with Their Emotional Intelligence:

  1. Allow for failure.
  2. Sort out criticism.

Quotes:

Sonia Bestulic

“As adults, we want to be listened to. Kids are no different.”

Jacqui Preughschat

“Because everyone is so ‘busy, busy, busy, well, I believe that everyone needs to pull back from that busyness and actually lock in time to spend quality time—whatever it is, whatever you call quality time—with your children, and having those face-to-face interactions. Otherwise, children can come across now as being disconnected, insensitive, limited in how they think, temperamental.”

“They need different life views other than what they might be reading, saying, and hearing on social media and other places like that. They need a good grounding and variety of their parents and their extended family and friends speaking into their life. Otherwise, we are going to really have a future generation that is just really not empathetic, can’t have conversations.”

“Children watch everything, hear everything. They don’t miss out on anything. You might think that they’re not listening, they are listening.”

“It’s okay to fail. It’s a good thing if you fail because you learn from your mistakes.”

“Sort out criticism from well-known trusted sources to other sources that are not very trusted. And, look at the positive as much as you can in everything.”

Links:

Daniel Goleman’s book: Emotional Intelligence – https://www.danielgoleman.info/books/emotional-intelligence/

Jacqui Preughschat’s Website – https://www.tessas.com.au/

Integrity of Heart – https://www.tessas.com.au/integrity-of-heart

https://chataboutchildren.com/episode35

https://chataboutchildren.com/episode42

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Episode 63 – Spotlight on Children’s Author – Georgie Donaghey

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There are particular moments in our life when we desired to pursue something for a time and ended up forgetting it because we just ‘grew up’. We went on with our lives and lived for the things that we now love. But somehow, those desires that we have kind of swept under the rug still manage to come back and stay. Turns out, these are the things that would truly give us joy, be the light in the midst of our loneliness, and the thing that we need to be able to fully express who we are. For our guest today, those passions that give her joy, are the light in the midst of her loneliness and her self-expression are writing and reading! Today, her burning passion has helped thousands of children develop their passion and talent for it too.

Georgie Donaghey was bitten by a redback spider. That same year, she won her first writing competition. As a grown-up (that’s if children’s authors ever grow up), Georgie is an internationally published award-winning author, wife, and mother of three. Never knowing where inspiration will strike next, Georgie carries a notepad wherever she goes, and she even has a waterproof notepad stuck to her shower wall. Georgie is terrible at keeping secrets. Just ask the thousands of children around the country that she has shared writing secrets with at her school visits. Georgie’s obsessed with helping kids to bring their stories to life. She has structured a number of workshops and presentations designed to harness kids’ imaginations and free their inner author. Georgie believes all emerging authors and illustrators should have a voice. So, in 2011, she founded Creative Kids Tales. Through this industry-recognized resource, Georgie has guided many authors towards their first publishing contracts. In December of 2019, Georgie also launched an exciting new direction for Creative Kids Tales—the Creative Kids Tales Speakers Agency.

Key Takeaways:

Listen to this podcast episode with Georgie Donaghey and learn:

  • What she did before she became a published author
  • How she got bitten by a redback spider and what part this event played in her journey
  • Being creative in mixing facts and fiction to create interesting and entertaining stories
  • The importance of letting kids make their own choices and involving them in non-pressuring activities
  • The big takeaways for kids after leaving one of Georgie’s workshops
  • Observing (as parents and carers) what kids are drawn into
  • One of Georgie Donaghey’s writing secrets
  • Georgie’s take on self-publishing vs. traditional publishing
  • Georgie Donaghey’s published (and upcoming) books
  • About the organization she founded—Creative Kids Tales

Georgie Donaghey’s Take on Dealing with Parents that Force Their Kids to Read:

Bring your kids to the library. Go to the library. Have a look around. Let your child go to the bookshelf and have a look. Let them go and pick it up, feel it, smell it. It’s all different sensations and it’s really important.

The Big Takeaways of Kids After Attending One of Georgie Donaghey’s Workshops:

  1. The workshop would leave them feeling inspired. It would leave them learning a lot of things afterwards.
  2. It would remind them that they are in charge and that they shouldn’t be dictated. They can do whatever they want in their story. They can create whatever they want. It’s just total freedom. 

One of Georgie Donaghey’s Writing Secrets for Aspiring Authors:

“It’s about entertaining, and not preaching… Kids have enough lessons from school, from parents. Let them be kids, let them enjoy—the adventure, the story. Let them be kids, don’t preach. Never preach to kids in books.”

Georgie Donaghey’s Top Tip for Aspiring Authors:

  1. Invest. It’s more than just writing. You cannot just pick up a pencil or pick up a pen and write or sit at your computer and have it published.
  • Get to know publishers.
  • Know where your story’s going to fit in.
  • Know what you need to do.
  • Know how you need to get out there to schools.

Georgie Donaghey’s Books:

  • Lulu
  • Clover’s BIG Ideas
  • In the Shadow of an Elephant

 

Quotes:

“If you can’t go through the front door, go through the back door or the window. There’s always a way in.”

“If kids don’t like reading, it’s because they haven’t found a book. They haven’t found their adventure that they need to fall into.”

“Don’t force kids into something just because you want it for your child. Allow them to find their little niche—the book that they love, an adventure they love.”

“It’s really important that kids find the book that they need at that particular point in their life.”

Links:

Creative Kids Tales website – creativekidstales.com.au

Creative Kids Tales FB group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreativeKidsTalesNetwork/ 

Georgie Donaghey website – georgiedonaghey.com.au

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