I feel that as a working mum we are pulled in many different directions, ALL THE TIME.

We are trying to keep on top of our school/daycare checklists, our kids activities, our work demands, our meal prepping, or lunchbox making.... even our own self care routines.

And when we don't have the opportunity to sit and be focused, it can be all consuming. I've listened to a few interviews with Johann Hari around his book, Stolen Focus. I haven't read it yet, it's next on my list.

But the general concept of our attention being stolen with the constant demands we have on our time, and our ability to pull our attention back is key.

I don't know about you, but I often find a pick up my phone to complete a task, and then find myself 5 minutes later scrolling insta and I don't even know how I got there.

Creating pockets of intentional focus can be a great way to get our brain back to a less frazzled state.

The first step for me is to consciously step away from my devices.

To leave it where I...

It's been pretty busy with the launch of my book and all of the awesomeness that goes with that. As part of that level of busy, and because I'm always going to physically be recovering from the chronic stress and burnout, my body has been sending me signals it needs to recalibrate.

This sits squarely into the Self-Nurture concept that we find in the month of May.

If we don't choose to show up for ourselves, who will?

And what are the signals?

Let me share them with you:

1. I began to find my coffee wasn't sitting right - it didn't give me my morning zing, I wanted more and more and more, and it really flattened me out sometimes (this is a sure sign my adrenals are stressed at the moment).

2. My sleep turned upside down. I pride myself on my sleep hygiene, and being able to sleep well is of great benefit. I found that I began waking between 2-4am again with my thoughts running away from me, a sure sign that my system was overloaded.

3. Sugar became my best friend. I'm not a massive...

After the last few years, and if you are in Australia, with the heaviness of the politics etc etc still continuing on, us working mum's need a safe space:

To share our whole self.

To be real and authentic.

To celebrate our awesomeness.

To learn about how to support our self.

To support us when we are challenged.

So the WORK MAMA LIFE Lounge is OPEN again to help to nurture the COMMUNITY, CONNECTIONS and CHOICES that working mama's, like you and I, are calling for right now.  

This membership is there to guide you to integrate the elements of the 5 Pillars of Healthy Motherhood... minus the stress and overwhelm!

Each month there will be a masterclass about a topic that matters to busy working mum's.

Beginning with June - why we should check out our poo and what that means about our health (yep... even you coffee addicts out there).

July we will dive with depth in burnout and stress recovery.

August we will explore how I manage time, and ways that I have supported...

Today my heart sank... & then it rejoiced! 

You know that feeling, when your heart literally drops to the floor... and then it comes back up again?

Today I was sitting down, kids happily ensconced on the couch watching a movie, and I was having a quick scroll of facebook, when I got tagged in an article about my new book. It was pure click-bait... something I would never have thought coming. Click here.

And my heart completely sank... I mean, do you ever think you will be in an article saying 'Photo exposes mum's huge lie'... me either!

I rejoiced because this article digs into one of the key elements as to why I began Unfck Motherhood and my Work.Mama.Life. journey. To bring awareness to the pressures that mothers are under, and how we need to expose them to allow our mum's to flourish.

Yes, it uses lots of photos from my instagram (including my giant washing pile), but it also grabs onto content that highlights the reality of working mother life.

The more we have...

I mean, can you remember it? How did you wake up feeling?

Once I had kids, the first amazing sleep if I was blessed with a few in a row, I would actually often feel more tired. You know when your kid goes from waking every 2-3 hours to having a good chunk of sleep... and you somehow feel more tired those first few days?

I remember being amazed at how my body had adapted so perfectly to the lack of sleep, and was able to keep on going with all of the things in the day-to-day on seemingly nothing in the tank. 

I wanted to share with you a little bit of info if you are naturally getting pretty good sleep, and then you have one of those shockers. You know the nights where you are tossing and turning all night long, and you wake up feeling like you've shot 10 tequila's and have to function again.

When I have one of those nights, I do a few things:

1. I move my body. I be gentle with myself, because I know I'm more likely to injure myself if I am tired, but movement is key to waking...

Last night I went to my first Yoga Nidra class with the amazing Courtney Morrison (she is a guest masterclass host inside the Working Mama Reset), and it was magical.

Yoga Nidra is all about slowing ourselves, and having a deep restorative 'sleep' that really re-charges our brain.

And it got me thinking, how can we as mum's harness our breath better when we are feeling wound up and lacking calm?

Our breath is powerful.

Lets think about this. When we are stressed (think a big stress like running away from a lion), we breath short sharp breaths so we can run super fast.

We increase our breath speed, and decrease our depth, so we can get where we need to go. Our body is so clever.

And when we are in the gorgeous restful healing state.... we have the opportunity to do big sleep and deep breaths. The ones that make your tummy stick out as you breathe in and out. The ones that, when you do them, make your body feel calm.

What's great, is that we can harness the power of that calm really...

The last two years have been pretty up and down... haven't they.

Our gorgeous brain is designed to do so much, yet I really feel that the big ask we have made of it the last few years is often a bit much, even for it. 

You see, our brain thrives on consistency in our life.

It thrives on the ability to reset, and to know what is going to happen at certain times. Kinda like a kid who likes routine or boundaries.

In the last two years, we've been thrust into a world that has been dependent on a news cycle for knowing 'what is next', and for relying on what we could do.

We've had to rapidly change our 'normal' environments, and for want of a better word, we've had to really pivot into embracing change all the team.

Then we throw in the bushfires, the floods, the war and the petrol prices... and it's no wonder we are tired all the time.

Our brain needs us to have down time. Yet, it has been trained in the last few years to be 'on' all the time, just waiting for the next big shift to...

I love using a slow cooker for a few reasons.

1. I can often get it going in the morning whilst we are doing brekky/lunchboxes and all those kitchen things.

2. I can use cheaper cuts of meat as they need a slow cook to make palatable and for the kids to be happy to eat them.

3. The sauce/broth, if slow cooked with bones, is often full of minerals that our bodies crave.

4. As the kids get older and we all have different schedules, being able to have dinner ready to go when we need it is a godsend.

So for me, it really wins hands down.

If you ask my family, I'm the queen of the make up recipe, but I do sometimes follow recipes too.

Here are some links to some of the ones I have loved this last few very busy years.

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken

Quirky Cooking Broth Recipes (for when you need some extra immune support)

Coconut Beef Curry (not too spicy)

Korean Beef 

Pulled Pork (great in taco's)

Greek Lamb

What I find extra great about all of this, is that I often...

Why is this not screamed from the rooftops !!!

Whilst I've been continuing to research all of the great stuff that happens with my Working Mama Reset course, and making sure I'm up to speed on the latest research, I came across this stat.

Working mum's are 24% more likely to burnout than working fathers !

It's pretty alarming isn't it. I mean we all know that as working mum's we still do the lion's share of the stuff around the house, as well as work, have dreams, look after little people and being taxi. No wonder we get burnt out. 

This year, if you read my email last night, I'm all about reclaiming personal power. Be it in a boundary sense for you. Be it in your own importance of making yourself number 1 for a while. 

However it is... I'm here to support it. With my book Work. Mama. Life coming out on the 1st April, I just can't wait to get some Life BACK for working mum's. 

Much mama Love.

Ali.

Chiro, Mama and Power Advocate for YOU!

After continuing my move through burnout, getting my book finalised, and finishing out the year with a much needed holiday, I'm ready to help all of you embrace the slow!

Introducing the NEW Slow Down Mama challenge ! In this 5 days beginning 7th Feb we will learn how to slow ourselves & create some calm, connection and health back into our year.

I don't know about you, but the end of 2021 was a shit-show. It was hard. The uncertainty heading into christmas of travel and border closures... all of those things, was really tough.

On top of that, mum life, Christmas shopping and planning, working, trying to not drink too much to get your health from derailing over the new years... all the things.

Anyway, my time away allowed me to reflect on how important it is to slow myself when I fell the busyness creeping in again.

How important it is for my:

• brain
• health
• connection with family
• connection with self
• sleep 

All the things.

And I want to bring those life hacks to...