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BIRTHFIT Podcast: BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar Venice, CA (Our First Seminar)

BIRTHFIT Podcast Episode 52: BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar Venice, CA


[0:00:00]


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What’s up, everyone? This is Dr. Lindsey Mathews, your BIRTHFIT founder, and I was able to take a mike with me and record some people after the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar this weekend. I wish I could have asked everybody after lunch, at the breaks, just what they were feeling, what they were thinking, because by Day 1 lunchtime I was blown away at the responses that both the men and the women in the safe circle were giving me. I have some people that you’re going to hear from, but the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar was beyond all expectations, I think, that my team and myself had in mind. It was more than fitness, it was more than nutrition, and it was such dynamic energy, a safe place, and every human being there, they felt the calling to show up. They may not have known what the heck they were getting into, but I guarantee they left a better human being and every single human being had told me how grateful they were for the experience. I cannot urge you enough that if you work with pregnant or postpartum women to sign up for the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar. It’s hard to put into words something that needs to be felt and everyone on the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar staff comes from their own unique backgrounds and they have so much to offer, and just getting everybody in the same room together shapes out to be a beautiful experience felt by all 30 of the sold-out seminar here in Venice, California.


I’ll let you listen to some of the little interviews that we got, but the next BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar is happening in Dallas and it is about halfway full. So get in where you fit in because there won’t be a BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar again until August. You can find all the seminars online at BIRTHFIT.com. Go to the Education tab and look for Seminars and sign up there. If you have any questions, please email us, info@BIRTHFIT.com, and I just want to thank everyone for flying in, driving up, driving down, and showing up as their true authentic self for this past BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar in Venice, California. Thank you and I will hold a special place in my heart for this experience for the rest of my life.


All right, who are you and where are you from?


Kimberly: My name is Kimberly Bowden. I am from New Jersey. I currently live in Pittsburgh.


Lindsey: All right, and what is one thing that you know you’re going to walk away from this weekend with?


Kimberly: It’s kind of hard to narrow that down. I have to say it’s two. It’s empowerment and it’s intelligence. I feel so much smarter.


[0:05:00]


As a CrossFit coach, as a woman, as person, as a trainer what we learned here is applicable not even just to pregnancy, just to life, just to your own wellbeing. You don’t have to be pregnant to benefit from any of this. I’m not. I don’t even have kids, and I already feel like I am a thousand times better human than I was walking in here Friday morning. And I feel just a thousand times smarter, and I can’t wait to share this knowledge with my athletes, my fiancé, my family and my friends. I can’t wait. It’s going to be great.


Lindsey: Awesome, thank you.


Kimberly: No problem.


Lindsey: All right, who are you and where are you from?


Jill: Hi, I am Jill Cameron and I’m the Regional Director for Roaring Fork Valley.


Lindsey: Awesome. And what is one thing you know you will walk away with this from this weekend?


Jill: That women are strong no matter what stage of life they are at, and that it really does take a community to grow throughout life, and through birth and connecting with other women. We’ve just create this network, and I think it’s going to reach more and more and more people. It’s awesome.


Lindsey: Thank you. All right, who are you and where are you from?


Lane: My name is Lane Gauntt. I’m from Port Orange, Florida. I’m the Regional Director for BIRTHFIT Volusia County.


Lindsey: All right Lane, what is something you have learned or been enlightened with through the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar this weekend?


Lane: So much good stuff. But one of the biggest takeaways for me is the strong sense of purpose, not just for me as the coach, but also for the athlete establishing that why from the get-go, and not just getting from point A to point B, 3, 2, 1 go mentality. It’s understanding why we’re here today being in the present moment and really just enjoying and embracing all that is pregnancy, postpartum and beyond.


Lindsey: Thank you. Perfect. I’m waiting. All right, who are you and where are you from, and what do you do?


Kristin: I’m Kristin. I’m a coach in Jersey at Long Branch CrossFit. What I do for a living? I’m a nutritional therapy practitioner/beer distributor.


Lindsey: Amazing. I know you got derailed a little bit on Friday by arriving on time, but what’s one thing that you’ve gained so far throughout the weekend?


Kristin: The biggest thing, honestly so far, is I expected a lot about obviously prenatal and postpartum, but the amount of this that is applicable to everyone in general training has been the biggest kind of eye opener just moving with intention. And just because you can do a movement doesn’t mean it’s appropriate and all of the trunk stability. And even in mindset that we’ve been talking about that I just think is so directly applicable to everybody all the time and not necessarily just when you’re getting ready to get pregnant or are currently pregnant. There’s so much prep work that can be done way before you’re even thinking about it, or even if you’re men, there’s so much of this that can be applied. It’s so much bigger than just a pregnant woman. So that’s for me been the biggest what I’m really excited to bring back.


Lindsey: I love it. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for having this.


Who are you and where are you from?


Lisa: Hi, my name is Lisa Lewis. I am a part of BIRTHFIT Los Angeles.


Lindsey: What is one thing that you’re going to take away from this weekend?


Lisa: So many things. But one in particular is that common is not normal. There are so many things that you hear over and over again, and they’re just not right. You can relate that to anything. There’s a lot going on, on the news, in politics, in different categories of things. Just because it’s happening all the time doesn’t mean it’s normal.


Lindsey: Nice. Thanks for sharing.


Bree, you’re up. Who are you and what do you do?


Bree: My name is Bree Bower, and I live here in Santa Monica and I’m working on becoming a coach.


Lindsey: What’s one thing that you’ve gotten out of this weekend so far that you’re like, “Oh, my God!”


Bree: Everything. Well the thing for me, I’ve always just been had this weird fascination for pregnancy. And all my friends, when I go to baby showers, go, “How many kids do you have?” I don’t have any children, but I know all of this stuff. But I feel, honestly, like I’ve had those moments this weekend where I’m like, “This could be what I’m supposed to be doing.”


[0:10:17]


Lindsey: Thanks for sharing. Yeah, yeah.


All right, next up, who are you and where are you from?


Jenny: My name is Jenny Werba and I’m from San Francisco.


Lindsey: And what do you do?


Jenny: I own United Barbell, and I am the Regional Director for BIRTHFIT SF.


Lindsey: Nice. What is something you’ve gained or you know you’ll walk away with from this weekend?


Jenny: Just the ability to really meet a woman where she’s at, when she comes in that day. And I think it’s good lesson for even ourselves, for a woman’s permission to meet herself where she’s at, but then also as a coach to be open, to really seeing where they’re at, and how you can take that as an opportunity to really help them deepen their awareness and appreciation for themselves, and acceptance of themselves and how much that really goes into training, but also how much that goes into your overall experience as a woman, a parent, the whole gimmick.


Lindsey: I love it. Thank you for sharing.


All right, who are you and what do you do?


Juan: My name is Juan Guadarrama. I am a DEUCE Gym strength coach, a dad, husband, just all in it.


Lindsey: Awesome. What is one thing you know you’ll take away from this weekend at the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar?


Juan: Well, I do some work with some moms already. I think the biggest thing is empowering them. I’m super comfortable with the training side of stuff, but I mean they spend a lot of time venting with me. “Hey, this coming to training with you, it’s hard, it’s difficult.” So just figuring out how to mentally make them feel more confident, especially in their own body, because some of them trained with me before and we were making progress and doing stuff, and making them feel comfortable takes some time. You’ve got to become cool with it. You now are in a newer role, your mom role, and you’re just going to have to own it. So that’s super cool that I want to take away from this weekend. Thank you!


Lindsey: Thank you.


Kylie!


Kylie: Lindsey!


Lindsey: Who are you and what do you do?


Kylie: I’m Kylie. I’m a coach and I specialize in coaching kids and also kettlebells.


Lindsey: Nice. What is one thing you will take away from the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar?


Kylie: Just one?


Lindsey: Just one. We got 60 seconds. No, I’m kidding.


Kylie: Man, there’s so much to take away from it. I think that one of the biggest takeaways for me is definitely the post-mom series, and what happens after that pregnancy, and the importance of that skin-on-skin connection, things that I didn’t really think about. And it definitely relates back because I have an interest in autism and understanding all of that side of stuff with the nutrition side. But definitely that whole, that it’s not just three weeks and then fine, you’re ready to go. It is a lifelong process and it’s at least nine months after.


Also the fact that when we have a miscarriage as well, that we have that time after as well to heal and understand that side of stuff. Really, it still is a birth and it’s just opened up my eyes, like it’s opened up my eyes to so much. And the chiropractic side of things, that was huge for me as well because I’m a big fan of acupuncture and I understand how that works, and understanding the chiropractic side of things can really work in helping that through the childbirth and focusing on where your pelvis really is, throughout the pregnancy, like you’re adding this weight and I honestly didn’t even think of it, that you would just naturally are going to turn, so you’re going to want to be readjusted and put in back into shape. So for me, there’s lots that I’m taking away from it, and looking forward to implementing it, even with just my general clients.


[0:15:00]


Lindsey: I love it. Thanks for sharing.


Laura: I’ll go.


Lindsey: come on up. All right, who are you and what do you do?


Laura: My name is Laura Bruner. I’m a certified CrossFit trainer in Santa Cruz, California and also a certified nutrition consultant.


Lindsey: Nice. What is one maybe two things that you know you’re going to walk away from this weekend with?


Laura: Well, I am five plus months pregnant, and so I’ll be walking away with a new sense of empowerment and excitement and emotion and just like energy in regards to having this kid and then being a mom. And then after that, even though that’s forever, is energy and excitement and empowerment to help other moms who go through this. And I’m walking away with an understanding I already kind of knew, but now I know on such a deeper level that this is so much more than just fitness, and the pillars are so powerful and the whole thing is just — it’s really a movement.


Lindsey: For sure, for sure. Is there anything — you mentioned you’re pregnant.


Laura: Yes.


Lindsey: Is there anything that you are going to change halfway through your pregnancy? Or I know we talked before, but is there anything you’re like oh, I want to integrate this or implement that or try this?


Laura: Totally. The progressions for me, it’s something that I’ve seen in videos and talked to Erica. But now, having done them with your guys’ eyes on me and really feel I feel like I feel the power of them more where it was kind of like this is something I can just do a couple of times a day, and now it’s nonnegotiable. It’s going to be start my day with it, start every workout with it, finish every workout with it, finish the day with it. Not just for the strength that it builds and the core stability but also for the mindfulness piece. It’s amazing how moving your body, and I’ve always known this but now that I’m pregnant I know it in a new way, moving your body allows you to connect not just with yourself but with the baby growing inside you, and everything is just way more intentional now than it ever has. I have a new understanding and appreciation now for how these things not just affect my body and my ability to recover after but also my little one.


Lindsey: For sure. Thanks for sharing. That was good. Good.


Ness, come here. All right, who are you and what do you do?


Nastaran: My name is Nastaran Whitson. I’m from New Jersey. My husband and I own a gym and I run BIRTHFIT Hawthorne.


Lindsey: Yeah, and you’re part of the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar staff.


Nastaran: Yes.


Lindsey: So being on this side of things, what’s one thing that you’ve learned like from this weekend?


Nastaran: Well, I’ve learned so much, but it’s just a great reminder to create space for people and just allow them to open up and communicate. I think that has been one of the best reminders for me. The other one too is this time, postpartum time, can be used to recalibrate. I really like that word and I just like just taking the time to explain why we do what we do, like to slow things down a little bit and say this is the reason why we’re working with you. Yeah, love it.


Lindsey: Awesome. Thank you.


Nastaran: Thank you.


Lindsey: Give me Jess or Embo or Mel. All right, who are you and what do you do?


Jess: I’m Jess Brown and I am Regional Director with BIRTHFIT Logan.


Lindsey: Awesome. And you’re on the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar staff. So on this side of things — I just asked Nast the same question — what’s one thing you’re going to walk away from this weekend with? Like something you’ve learned.


Jess: The biggest thing which seems really simple is just going over, going through it all and seeing how it resonates with people, which stresses the importance of it even more. I knew it was important, I knew it was amazing, but now it makes me just even that much more excited about it. And it’s the simplicity, it’s functional movement, it’s the basics that are going to help our women that are going to change things, that are going to change the birth world. It’s nothing crazy and elaborate, but just being here feeling this awesome energy and being a part of what it can become is something I’m super grateful for.


Lindsey: Awesome. It’s hard when you’re in it and we’re like surrounded by the birth world every day, all day every day. So it is kind of nice to connect energies and space with somebody that’s not in it. Are there any surprise or stories that you’ve heard this weekend just being in your role?


[0:20:15]


Jess: I just love how in awe people were the first day of the information and when Mark mentioned, “My wife is 21, 22 weeks pregnant, and I’ve learned more in these couple hours of being here than I have in all this time of her pregnancy with the doctor,” and, that again, I know there’s limited information out there but again eye-opening of, wow, this is so helpful.


Lindsey: Awesome. Anything else you want to add?


Jess: No. I just love this.


Lindsey: She’s smiling really big. Thanks for sharing.


Jess: You’re welcome.


Lindsey: Pick the next one. Embo hasn’t gone. Embo is finishing a story right now. We’re live. It’s on air. It’s not really on air but who are you and what do you do?


Emily: Hey, guys. I’m Emily, EmboSlice. You may have heard me on the podcast a little bit. I’m a BIRTHFIT coach with BIRTHFIT Los Angeles. I’m a doula. I am a coach at DEUCE Gym. Lots of things. That’s mainly it.


Lindsey: What is one thing that you’ve learned or gained from this weekend so far? It’s interesting because you’re on the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar staff on that side of things. So just watching the 30 plus people that have signed up for this seminar, what do you got?


Emily: Something that really stands out for me is that someone in our seminar said, “The information is out there. It’s been there. Now, we’re just sharing it?” And I think there’s a sigh of relief amongst the crowd of like, “Oh, we’re good. This is okay.” And yeah, just relief, and it’s really amazing to watch everybody just be very excited about not being scared. Yeah.


Lindsey: Yeah, not letting fear drive the bus, huh?


Emily: Yeah.


Lindsey: Yeah. I know there are little stories and victories going on around the group of people. What is one of your favorite stories so far?


Emily: Oh, man. I think one of my favorite stories was Mark.


Lindsey: That’s what Jess said.


Emily: Oh, really? He was just wowed that we were giving him physiological evidence of what happens during pregnancy and he was just blown away. It was quite simple because the information actually is out there. We were just sharing it and he was like, “Why don’t I know this stuff?” And that was kind of like, yeah. And then I love learning from Erica about the importance of motor patterns and true functional movement and getting down to the basics from birth to adulthood. So just absorbing all that.


Lindsey: Awesome. Anything else you want to add?


Emily: I can’t wait to teach more of these.


Lindsey: Amazing. Look online for the schedule.


Emily: Who am I sending?


Lindsey: Whoever you want.


All right, who are you and what do you do?


Erica: I’m Erica from BIRTHFIT Wisconsin and I’m a chiropractor and doula and all those things with pregnant women.


Lindsey: Being on the similar staff side of things, what is one thing that you’ve learned from this weekend?


Erica: I think it has been awesome to see the effect that this has had on coaches but especially the males that have been here. As a doula, Kyle, my husband, would talk about the benefits the he received from that. So I think it’s important for us to learn that this is as effective or it affects males as much as it does females and for them to have that deep understanding of it is huge for them to advocate for us in the birth world and carry that back to their gyms and create that safe space for women and other men.


[0:25:04]


Lindsey: I love it. So I’ve asked them this question too. It’s going to be hilarious if you give the same answer. There’s been lots of little stories happening to moms like the 30 people that are here. What has been one of your favorite stories that you’ve either overheard or watched or been part of throughout the weekend?


Erica: I would say — can I say two? Okay. So one, when a woman or a mom here shared her story of her C-section, and it really hit home for everyone in the crowd to just realize how real this is and we’re not just like putting out stats, we’re not just throwing out information that we’re affecting people’s lives with this and it’s so deep for them. And then also, I think it’s Mark that said that he learned more in two hours from you and your beginning portion of the seminar than he had in over half of the pregnancy for him and his wife. And even watching him, I was watching him watch, sorry Mark, if you’re listening, it’s kind of creepy. I was watching him watch Mumma’s birth story and like the light in his eyes just — it’s almost like he could feel like, oh, man, I’m going to get to experience this? And so does the fear of, holy shit, what’s coming, he has a whole different view on what’s about to happen. It’s like this exciting fire instead of this fear of who knows what. So, yeah, that’s been awesome.


Lindsey: Those two both said Mark. Anything else you want to add?


Erica: I mean, I think it’s always humbling, super humbling, to come into an environment with people that are on the same mission as you are. And they may not have even realized it until they came in here but then they learned and you’re on this mission to create this space for what’s going to change the world because we’re affecting so many generations. So to kind of step back from it and realized what you’re part of and being so thankful to be able to be a part of that, it’s humbling and really freaking amazing, so thank you.


Lindsey: I love it. Thanks for sharing. Go get Nellie. All right, my dear. Who are you and what do you do?


Nellie: I am Nellie Cohen and I work for Patagonia.


Lindsey: She’s wearing Patagonia. What is one, maybe two, if you want a little bit longer, what are two things that you’ll walk away from this weekend with?


Nellie: Oh, my God. I think, honestly, this is like maybe the most basic part of what we’ve learned today but changing our breathing and how empowering that is. Like I think you put it as the connection between the physical and the self. Every day it’s taken in the world. And I grew up like, suck it in, and stand up straight, which is all of course posture is important, but the idea of filling your belly with air and nurturing that and breathing into that space. Yesterday I came in class, I think I was tensed, and I have a couple of groups that have been out and they were just all day long just like going at me. It was really uncomfortable actually. And then today is like, I’m going to belly breathe all day. There’s no pain today and I just feel more connected to myself. That’s really it. I mean, I learned a lot of things but that’s like every minute of every day, breathing like that.


Lindsey: I love how you said connected with yourself. That’s good stuff. Anything else you want to add?


Nellie: I’m kind of almost just like overwhelmed with the goodness because I only heard about BIRTHFIT ten days ago. I emailed you on Sunday and tomorrow is Sunday. So it’s my first week with BIRTHFIT.


Lindsey: One hell of a week.


Nellie: Yeah. At first I came in and I thought I just needed to find my tribe because I didn’t feel like I fit in at birth centers. I don’t fit in with the yoga crew. I’m an athlete and that’s who I am. And I needed a place that understood what that means but also could help empower me to go beyond just being an athlete and to be a woman.


[0:30:05]


Lindsey: That’s freaking it. Yeah. Being an athlete is just a small fraction of who you are.


Nellie: Yeah. It doesn’t define who I am. It’s part of who I am. But it’s a big part and the fear of losing that was the loss of identity and it’s something I struggled with, even thinking about conceiving. I spent a year thinking about, “Am I going to be okay to not be able to surf and ski?” That sounds crazy to hear that.


Lindsey: But if you’re having those thoughts, so are many other women out there.


Nellie: Yeah. And nobody talks about that. They all just talk about how you’re going to get you pre-baby body back. And now I can’t wait to see what my post-baby body is. It’s going to be amazing because it’s going to do something way bigger deal than running a marathon or hitting a sick line. Yeah.


Lindsey: Thanks for sharing.


Nellie: Thanks for having me.


Lindsey: And thanks for being here. I love it. Good.


We’ve got a special guest next. Who are you and what do you do?


Logan: My name is Logan Gelbrich and, I don’t know, I do lots of stuff.


Lindsey: Gelbrik. Gelbrich?


Logan: Gelbrich. Imaginary K.


Lindsey: I’m kidding. So you’ve got a special role. You’ve seen this whole thing and preparation, living with me, sorry, what is — what are you feeling? What’s one thing you’re going to take away from this weekend? What have you seen?


Logan: I’ve seen a lot, so this has been big. But I think separate of knowing you and loving you and seeing the team put in so much work, I think human beings just recognize and are attracted to a total human effort, and you guys, you girls, everyone involved are giving a total effort and it’s inspiring, and so that’s one side of it. And then there’s just the whole seeing it come to fruition is insane. I mean, it’s been a packed room all weekend with people traveling a long way to come here and learn this stuff and there are some high caliber coaches in the room and they’re walking away affected. It’s amazing. I always say when people ask me about this stuff, I always say you, Lindsey, you’re too close to it to appreciate it fully. I think it takes seeing this to sort of get scope again and recognize what’s really happening. It’s changing the world. It’s changing how we understand one of the most beautiful processes in a human being’s life and it’s just crazy to be in the eye of the storm.


Lindsey: Awesome. What’s one of your favorite stories that you kind of witnessed this weekend?


Logan: I think Lindsay Mumma’s birth video was essentially watching a highlight reel. It’s like watching an ESPN SP video for birth. And one of the coolest things there is, Erica actually said it today, which is she made that look as beautiful and easy as it was or appeared because she earned it, she put in the work. And just from the performance side, I really appreciated that just as a coach, like our friends at Power Athletes say, we never really rise to the occasion as humans. We fall back on our training, and what we watched there was a woman who put in the training to earn an experience that was beautiful and remarkable and different in her own. That’s not something that just happens. Adversity is coming your way, regardless of whether you’re pregnant or not, and you’re either trained or untrained. So that was huge.


[0:35:00]


Then of course everybody’s personal stories, I mean, like I told you, I’ve been secretly crying in the corner over and over and over again. It’s that total human effort, a lot of love in the room, a lot of people who are being authentic and vulnerable, and the thread is all the goodness.


Lindsey: Thanks for sharing.


All right guys, you’ve heard from some individuals that were at the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar and these recordings are live. This next one is live. This is Dr. Erica talking about the core and pelvic floor. This is just a dose of what she gave on Friday, but picture yourself in this room, sitting there in the chair, front row, listening to Dr. Erica.


Erica: Movement stereotypes can be functional or compensatory, and what’s really cool is that you kind of have a choice. When I get in to working with the core with my patients and with moms, a lot of times the first thing I’m starting with this is just breath, the diaphragm, because we talked about how crucial that is for core activation. And I get the question all the time of, well, if these motor patterns, if we’re born this way, with these motor patterns, then what happens? Why do we start chest breathing up here? Why do we quit moving well? Well, in my prediction, which I haven’t seen any studies on this, but my prediction is that we’re pretty sedentary from about the age of five years old when they stick us behind the desk all day, and that inhibits your diaphragm. Also the plastics, like putting the kids in the plastics, because if they can’t sit up on their own and you’re propping them up on the Bumbo or whatever those things are called, then they’re struggling, they don’t have the stability here to accomplish it so they’re pulling whatever they can to get through that movement.


So the external work that you do, the external work that you choose to do, well, is going to affect the internal signals going on and your habits become your unconscious habits, right? So how you train becomes your unconscious habits and what you’re going to go to without even thinking about. So if you’re sitting slouched like this or if you’re choosing to just focus on single muscle activation instead of looking out how our core in every muscle works within a system and how we move within that whole system instead of singling things out, that would lead you towards training for compensation. But if you’re willing to grow and open your mind to training this like total movement pattern, you’re going to be a lot much more stable. And Melissa says slow is fast. So especially in the postpartum period, but across the board, even if you have someone that has an injury or you see is at risk for an injury, and you have to scale it back a little bit, it’s good to let them know that if they take the time to slow down and just focus on their building blocks and these natural movements that we’re born to do, then over time you’re going to increase your strength, increase your stability, your mobility faster with less risk, which is awesome.


So we have to train with intention, and when you’re developing programs for moms, prenatal or postpartum, know why, and we’ll get into that a lot this weekend. But know why you’re doing it, what’s the goal, and then always return to these building blocks. So if you look at these functional core movements as your building blocks, and we’re going to progress from here, if you were going to do a 250 pound dead lift, that was your goal and you got there, you wouldn’t just stop lifting. You would never just quit, right? So we can’t just quit focusing on these natural movement patterns especially if there’s quite a few things that are working against us within society, like you look at where we are with technology and things, like there’s a lot of just simple poor posture that’s going to affect everything.


Okay, so that relates to even during our time at rest let’s say like posture, as well, but also your time during your sleep. Like if you are breathing opposite of how you should, and you’ll see videos online, especially for postpartum moms, telling you to breathe all sorts of crazy ways that are really inhibiting to your diaphragm and frustrating once you’re educated. But just I guess all I can say, well, that is like keep fighting the good fight. But if you’re going to train your diaphragm to work that way, then that’s what’s going to become habit. So take the time now to work towards more of a stability.


[0:40:15]


You can go to the next slide. Do you have any questions before I get in to this at all? Any questions on everything we just discussed before I get in to DNS? A little bit? Okay, we’re just going to go with it then.


So through BIRTHFIT we use DNS, which is Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization and general anatomy, and biomechanics, to train and study our core movements. I think I shared a little bit with you earlier about my travel abroad and that is when I was exposed to DNS or when I was exposed to the pelvic flooring core work within DNS. My basis with the movement was just helping people with injuries or kids with issues. And then when I was there, I realized that they’re not doing Kegels and they’re not telling their patients to hold their stomach together while they do crunches in order to bring their diastasis close. And they’re not telling people to try to zip their transversus. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard this, try to zip your steps. Anyway, don’t do it.


They’re working on this intra-abdominal pressure and the integrated spinal stabilizing system and the breath. It’s huge, the things that the breath connects. And these women are having really good results. So it really takes it back to the basics. All of their treatment, so for me, as a chiropractor, it’s an assessment in the treatment, for you as a coach, it will be an education for your members, right? And I encourage you to start to apply list across the board with your members and not just the females but for our purposes, here we are.


We’re focusing on strengthening and exhilaration movements based on the role of the muscles in the entire system, right? So, here’s my favorite example with that. If I was seated, I don’t choose to stand up and walk back to our Airbnb with my pelvic floor. Do you really ever think about activating your pelvic floor when you’re walking and going about your day? Honestly? I mean, in last year someone that’s been told to do Kegels or like vaginal weights or anything crazy like that in your — yeah, that’s a thing — and you’re doing reps of those, then any other time, you’re not really thinking about how it’s working. So we have to train it to work together with intention so that we aren’t compensating in other movements, right? And this is where we get a little bit later into issues that we’re up against with this type of movement.


So we observed the movements of babies, the development of babies. Babies are born with a diastasis and they heal it on their own through their movement. So it’s totally normal when they’re born with this diastasis because they’re neurologically at a lower level, and then they’re simulated to become involved with the environment. And if they have siblings, they’re simulated to move superfast and like keep up. Either that or they’re just being held and cuddled all the time. So it’s directly related to that, and how they train or close, I guess, I would say their diastasis, is when they begin to roll. So building those patterns like our slings, our anatomical slings, which most of you probably heard about, so from like left shoulder all the way down to right toe really. As the brain matures, our movements mature, and as our thinking brain develops, we get more and more involved with the environment. We can develop this higher movement patterns, and then we have the ability to intentionally continue to train our primal movements. We use the functional progression. It is basically a sequence of movements from about three months old until about 12 to 16 months old in a progression of just repeatedly building those innate motor patterns that we talked about, and taking the time to move through them slowly. It’s definitely a little bit of a change for someone that’s always balls to the wall in the gym to slow down. You have to accept the slowdown of it. But it should be done consistently. And I want you to remember that I get the question of why and what next. Those are two of the biggest questions that I get.


[0:45:23]


So why do we use this for prenatal, and how come there’s not something different postpartum? And why are you having this guy that’s competing in whatever lifting competition do the same movements as mom is 16 weeks pregnant? Because we all move the same, we’re all born to move the same way. Whether you’re prenatal, whether you’re postpartum, whether you’re in the United States, whether you’re in Africa, we were born to move the same way. Unfortunately in our country, we have become so far removed from natural that it’s a mess. You have heard that this morning within other aspects of the birth world, but then also within our training or rehabilitation and exercise through the whole motherhood transition.


Next slide please. So when we talk about the functional core, well, first of all, does anybody have questions on DNS at all? Does it make sense to you? Go ahead.


Female: This is like a really quick question, but when you say we’re all born to move this way, we all move the same way, are there a set of general movement that you’re speaking of?


Erica: Yes, and they’re coming up next. Yeah, we’ll go through those and we have pictures of cute babies. I’m slightly biased because one of them is mine, and the rest of them are BIRTHFIT babies. But yeah, we’ll go through the movements just so you can become nerdy and analyze babies, and also so that you can see why we’re doing the movements that we’re doing.


And just while she’s at it right now, when we’re going through those slides, I want you to think a little bit about how do some of these basic movements translate into the movements that you’re training in the gym right now, because they’re really not that much different. The biggest difference is probably added weight. It’s not just body weight.


So the BIRTHFIT definition of a strong core is one that can maintain intra-abdominal pressure while coordinating all of the key players to dynamically complete stability and movement. So it’s stable but it’s dynamic, and so today we want to teach you how to accomplish that, but also how to teach that. If you can understand it enough by the end of the weekend or at least have a really good grasp on it by the end of the weekend to be able to at least start practicing it right away in the gym, then that’s a good sign, and there are videos and things that you can refer to.


But as I said, all of our movements come through here. So we need stability here to adapt to postural changes during pregnancy, to support the demands of labor, and definitely for healing during the postpartum period. So we build up over nine months, 43 weeks for some people. We build up these postural changes, and then really quickly, it’s a huge change at the end of the huge change in a short amount of time. Usually less than two days. So your posture is growing, growing, growing with pregnancy. And then baby is born, and now we’re back here. So if we’re continuously working on these movements all throughout pregnancy, it’s going to help us return to that function in the postpartum period.


The other thing that we talked about too is there is no other time. Literally no other time, sorry guys, like the postpartum period to recalibrate your system. So it’s kind of like a reset mentally, physically, everything. So if you’re educating moms on the front end of what they can look forward to on the other side, then it’s going to be that much easier for them. Plus, if you have babies already, you know that when you are learning all about this new human and how this new human is going to fit into your family and this whole new dynamic, the last thing that you want to learn is a bunch of new information on your core right away. We’re doing a little bit of catch-up with some people, which is totally fine. But if you are working with pregnant women or women that know that they want to become pregnant some day and talking to them about these things, you’re setting them up for success in the pregnancy and postpartum period which is awesome.


[0:49:55]


Everyone should have an initial internal pelvic floor PT assessment done. Hopefully that eventually becomes standard. And then pending there’s no issues, go from there. But if there is, let’s say everything was fine at six weeks postpartum, and then 12 months postpartum all of sudden they’re having pain during the intercourse, then you want to refer them back to the pelvic floor PT to have it. Because if we are not looking, we have no idea what’s going on and you can’t look. So you have to refer to someone who does. But the exercises that we’re going to go through are what we recommend to help to maintain that stability or regain that stability, and when you regain that stability, usually those issues start to go away.


So we have to remember that the diastasis and urinary incontinence and all that, those area symptoms of dysfunction within the whole system, or somewhere within the whole system.


Lindsey: All right, my BIRTHFIT community, I love you all and I want to thank each and every one of you that showed up to the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar this weekend. And to each and every one of you that have listened to this episode, I hope you felt like you had a little window inside the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar.


I strongly, strongly, strongly urge each and every one of you to sign up and take the BIRTHFIT Coach Seminar. The next one is happening in Dallas, and that is March 17th through the 19th. And then after that we take a little break and then we come back in August. You can find all of this information online under the Education tab where it says Seminars. We will talk to you soon and hopefully see all your beautiful little faces soon.


[0:54:11] End of Audio

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