As young women
we are taught that the demands of motherhood either dominate us, or that we dominate them.
As young women,
we are taught that the demands of motherhood either dominate us, or that we dominate them.
We are taught that we’ll either lose ourselves
physically, emotionally, and psychologically
to those demands, or that we’ll stay ahead of the game, we’ll stay on top, and we won’t be limited.
Popular mom accounts on Instagram, with massive followings, are posting...
postpartum body pics proud that they’ve already “bounced back”
their latest career wins with their newborn latched at the breast
pics of themselves back at work at 6 weeks, pumping in the breakroom
praise for moms with dangerous high-risk jobs that involve spending an extended amount of time away from the baby
The photos are different
but the narrative is the same:
“Motherhood doesn’t have to change you!
It doesn’t have to limit you! You can have it all, and you can have it all right now!”
And young women
who’ve never given birth or experienced the demands of the fourth trimester, are reading those popular accounts — they’re watching and they’re nodding along, while thinking:
“Yeah! I’m not going to let motherhood limit me, either!”
That’s the narrative, that’s the programming, that’s what’s been (and is still being) normalized for young women.
And that’s why, when a woman enters postpartum whose worldview has been influenced by this narrative, it can feel like she’s taken a 180 mph train straight into a brick wall.
She might feel:
like a total failure
like she’s struggling to let go and enter into the metamorphosis
completely surprised and unprepared for this new stage
that parts of her are unfed and withering
she’s buried under all the new demands of her baby
her body is foreign, uncomfortable, and irreparable
she can’t keep up with her old pace or with the things she is responsible for
she’s being pulled in a million different directions
she’s not doing it right or doing it well
and that there must be something wrong with her because her new reality doesn’t match her expectations
After all, the narrative was: “Don’t let motherhood limit you! You can have it all!”
Something has to give, right?
The false and deceptive narrative shatters and the truth begins to reveal itself to her: the pace of pre-motherhood isn’t attainable in the early stages of motherhood, nor is it a worthy goal.
The narrative that motherhood shouldn’t be limiting is, of course, carried over into every area of a woman’s life including her health, fitness, and her body image.
In an effort to keep up, new mothers everywhere are running on fumes — trying to “get their bodies back”, while cutting calories, and doing cardio and/or high-intensity workouts that ultimately tax their nervous system.
These same mothers who think they’re doing the right thing, are not experiencing the necessary recovery their body needs because they’re stressing their body with the wrong workouts, and at the same time navigating sleepless nights with their baby.
The lack of true rest and recovery these mothers receive...
negatively impacts the quality of their breast milk
which then negatively impacts the quality of their child’s sleep and development
which adds to their overall stress level and causes an increase in cortisol
which causes the body to produce and store fat
which can lead to postural imbalances and further injury
All of the above can lead new mothers to believe they have to push through and go harder to see results, and the cycle continues...
It’s a vicious cycle that I’m here to disrupt.
Hi, I’m Cynthia Spenla
I was so afraid to lose everything I had built in the life I knew before I became a mother.
I was terrified to fall behind and so unfamiliar with the new territory of motherhood that I didn’t know how to navigate my way through it all.
With the new demands on the amount of time and energy I had available:
What truly mattered?
What should be my focus?
How should I direct my energy?
Could I keep the pace I used to keep?
And if I could keep that pace, should I?
The reality of new motherhood forces a woman to sort through her life, to evaluate what really matters to her.
It was foreign to me to have to drastically reduce what was on my plate, to “accomplish” so much less than I was used to, and to surrender to this new chapter of my life.
Personally, I didn’t even realize that I was programmed with the narrative that I could do it all, hold it all together, rock my career, regain and maintain my strength and fitness, and be a great mom all at once.
I WAS TOTALLY UNPREPARED
No one told me that...
the larger cycles of a woman’s life are not linear, but that they’re cyclical
postpartum is to be deeply and thoroughly prepared for
there are consequences when postpartum is not prepared for
motherhood occurs in seasons
the postpartum period doesn’t last forever
life as a woman is a series of births and deaths
what I cared about would change
I’d need to learn to rest, receive, and be rebirthed/restored, and that doing so would deeply challenge my old way of living… I myself would be birthed anew
I’d be confronted with the reality that I had been living according to the non-stop pace of a society that’s linear/designed for men
I was habitually overriding my female body’s needs
I would need to learn to accept the invitation to rest and regenerate
So when I gave birth to my daughter, and entered the phase in which I was supposed to let go, and deeply rest, I resisted.
I tried to skip the hard part. I tried to stay on top, to stay unchanged, to do it all perfectly, to not skip a beat.
I refused to allow myself to descend.
Until I was forced to descend.
And this is where the journey begins. This is where the invitation presents itself — to let go, to turn within, to shed the lies, and to connect with the truth of living in harmony with the cycles of womanhood.
When a woman says yes to this invitation she says yes to embodied motherhood.
Embodied motherhood is what a woman starts to experience when she stops skipping the hard parts, when she stops trying to stay on top, and when she deeply and fully surrenders herself to the transformation that’s before her.
You see — being a mother, a truly embodied mother, is not just something that automatically happens after the baby is in your arms.
Actually, becoming a mother is a process that extends far beyond pregnancy and physical birth — a process that encompasses hundreds of seemingly small daily decisions and their natural consequences.
This process is the metamorphosis of the maiden into the mother, of the young woman into the empowered authority of her body, her baby, and her life, after having passed through the fire.
A woman who is truly embodying the mother:
doesn’t see becoming a mother as a setback in career, status, or body, but sees it as the passageway to accessing her true path and calling
is no longer grieving the body she once had, she’s building from where she’s at
awakened to a heightened connection with her body
divorced from the narrative that she needs to stay “on top” or keep it all together
no longer competing with her former self or trying to be that “do it all woman” to bolster her self-worth
harnessing her feminine genius through her creativity and intuition
shedding the victim/damsel-in-distress narrative and is taking full responsibility to secure the nourishment, care, and healing she needs
not outsourcing her authority to institutions and systems that profit off the fragmentation of her role as a mother
partnered with her instincts, her power, her intuition and is confident to walk the narrow path that goes against the grain of what society wants mothers to hold
no longer treating her body as a roadblock that needs to be plowed over to get to her goals and smash her to-do list but regards it as the vessel for her feminine wisdom and her guiding force in motherhood
This experience of mothering is not widely publicized.
We aren’t shown these mothers as examples unless we have one in our own life or in our own sphere.
And that’s because the majority has lost touch with the truth.
The knowledge that women need in order to navigate the shift into embodied motherhood
is not found in popular influence.
Rather, this knowledge is found off the beaten path.
And, it’s being reclaimed and passed down from woman to woman, in hearts, in homes, and then beyond.
What is this knowledge that we’ve been lacking?
It’s that true vitality as a mother cannot be experienced without a foundational understanding (and centering of) the female hormonal cycle in every area of your life.
Your cycle is your vital sign, your compass, and your roadmap.
Your female hormonal cycle is not a burden and a detour, rather it’s a doorway.
Now I stand at the threshold of that doorway, with my hand outreached, ready to guide you into a completely different style of living — one that’s going to catalyze your transformation into the woman and mother you know you’re meant to be.
Are you ready to get started?
Cynthia Spenla
is a Chek Certified Holistic Lifestyle and Exercise Coach who Specializes in Health and Performance for Women.
She designs fitness programs that centralize both the female hormonal cycle and the complexities of motherhood while supporting her clients to create the sculpted, strong, and attractive bodies they desire without destroying their health, increasing their risk of injury, or disrupting their hormones in the process.
Her prior experience serving women who’ve struggled with eating disorders, exercise addiction,
and body image issues, in addition to her transition into motherhood, has helped her adopt an approach that addresses the mental, emotional, physical, and nutritional components of a woman’s life.
Cynthia accompanies the women who’re ready to go off the beaten path — women who’re beginning to recognize that mainstream health + fitness advice isn’t working for them. She lights up an alternative pathway for new mothers — a pathway that leads to restoration, vitality, and healing after the life-altering Rite of Passage that is pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood.
10 WAYS MAINSTREAM FITNESS ADVICE
FAILS MOTHERS:
How to Find Your Unique Path to Fitness and Optimal Health as a Woman and Mother
Inside of 10 Ways Fitness Advice Fails Mothers I’m going to help you understand the popular (and deceptive) fitness approaches you need to avoid so that you can feel deeply content in your body and embodied in your experience of motherhood.
You need to gain this knowledge and information if you’re going to avoid the negative long-term health implications that most women unknowingly set themselves up for!
What’s inside:
a clear breakdown of what not to do if you want to be in excellent shape AND create long-term health as a woman and mother
the one mindset (that most new mothers have) that you need to release if you want to create lasting vitality and feel whole on your motherhood journey
nutrition advice: an overview for breastfeeding women who want to feel fit and strong again
must-know info about the most important phase of healing that most new mothers completely skip without realizing
5 Key ways my approach as a strength trainer is different:
HARMONY WITH YOUR HORMONES:
We don’t push through, we work in harmony with your hormonal cycle. This approach allows you to know your body’s rhythm and break the cycle of on off yo-yo dieting as you learn to eat live and train with your cycle.
CENTERING MOTHERHOOD:
We take your phase of motherhood into consideration. You may be 3 months postpartum, or you may be 3 years. Each natural cycle, or stage of womanhood, has a purpose. Instead of overriding your body’s intelligent design, we work with it. We take the demands of motherhood — time, energy, nutrition and values into account and then map out a program that supports the whole of your life rather than adds to the stress of it.
INDIVIDUALIZED SUPPORT:
One-size fits all approaches are not what you’ll find here. Generic workouts that try to serve everybody, that have no individualized assessment or program design are ineffective and can waste your time, energy, and resources. That’s the last thing a new mom needs! My customized support ensures you’re on the right track for your body, your hormones, and your goals!
MINDSET + LIFESTYLE SHIFTS:
My approach focuses on building a new worldview, one in which you acknowledge the importance of each phase of your cycle. In order to give yourself the necessary rest you need to recover, you’ll have to unlearn, deprogram, and start over. Not only will working with me focus on outer work, it will guide you into the inner work that will support your long-term health, success, and transformation.
COACHING AND MENTORING EXPERIENCE:
The tools in my bag are specifically impactful for women entering motherhood. From my training as a Chek Holistic Lifestyle Coach to my experience as an Integrated Movement Specialist, I stand ready to mentor you through your challenges and into a place where you feel confident and empowered as you meet your fitness and health goals.