I'm a writer, parent mentor, and resilience coach. My passion for helping parents to protect their children and raise them to be resilient has extended to creating resources that have helped thousands of refugee and migrant families on the Thailand/Myanmar border through my work with The Charis Project. - I am also the mother of 6 amazing and rather resilient humans, who have managed to thrive in spite of their unconventional upbringing and being dragged around the world by their parents. - Join me here for words to heal and fill your parent heart and shape the words you give to your children.
Come Home to Your Body
Five Years AgoMy living room was almost completely dark, illuminated only by the soft glow of the Christmas lights that I hadn’t gotten around to taking down yet. I didn’t want to turn the main lights on. I didn’t want anyone to see what I was doing. My children were all asleep. My husband was already upstairs for the night. I was alone. No one was watching. Earphones in, music queued up, I started to dance, all by myself, in the dark. The day before I had begun an 8 week exercise plan designed to help moms get their postpartum bodies back into shape without injury. I hadn’t told anyone I was doing it. I was afraid that if I told anyone what I was doing someone would manage to discourage me, or talk me out of it. After tucking in the kids for bed that night I checked the instructions for day two. The only words I saw were, “Dance for 15 minutes”. How long had it been since I had danced? I couldn’t remember. I was so embarrassed at the thought of someone seeing me dancing that I decided to do it my darkened living room, while my family slept. But then something remarkable happened. I started to have fun! I started to enjoy moving my body to the music. I started to occupy my body again in that moment, to feel how it moved through and took up space. I began to notice how it felt to be present in my body, to move freely, to loosen up my muscles, to relieve tension, to smile. It had been so long! How had I forgotten the sheer pleasure of movement? Becoming Friends With My BodyMy body and I had never been on the best of terms, not for as long as I could remember. I was never one of those people who was comfortable in her body, or moved with ease, or embraced movement and exertion. I hated to even get sweaty. My younger self would rather sit on the corner of a couch with a good book, escaping from my present reality into the marvelous world of fiction than engage in any kind of physical exertion. That was before the baby years when my body was constantly needed to nurture and sustain a small person; pregnancies, breastfeeding baby after baby, walking the floor at night soothing fussy infants, and chronic sleep deprivation. In that season my body wasn’t mine anymore, or something I thought about at all beyond how uncomfortable or tired I felt all the time. But in that moment of dancing there was a glimmer of gratitude for her, this body, for the way she could still move, could feel, could carry me, even after all the ways I had neglected her. That night in the living room, dancing in the dark, was the beginning of an intentional journey toward becoming friends with my body again. It included paying attention to what I eat and how it affects my moods and energy, and trying many different forms of exercise; Pilates, HiiT, running, soccer, Muay Thai KickBoxing, resistance training, etc. I learned to enjoy that feeling of totally sweaty exhaustion after giving it your all in a high intensity workout. (I get now why people like to do it. Beta endorphins are awesome.) But the form of movement that felt the friendliest, the most like I was giving myself and my body love and care, was Yoga. Rather than a punishment, which some of the other exercises felt like occasionally, Yoga felt like a partnership with my body, moving toward strength, flexibility, and balance. Yoga has given me resilience in ways that other forms of movement haven’t. That’s why I became a Yoga instructor. I wanted to be able to help others like me find that same friendship with and “at home-ness” in their own body. I am passionate about helping you become better friends with your own body, and your mind. Most of us treat our bodies in an adversarial way. We don’t notice them unless they hurt, or fail at a task, or we don’t like what they look like in the mirror. But your body is a gift, a partner, the means by which you experience this amazing and beautiful life. Your experience is limited by what your body can do, which is usually directly proportional to how you care for it. Your body will also respond very quickly when you start to give it the care it needs, whether you struggle with pain, or reduced mobility, or lack of balance. I’ve found that Yoga helps me with all of those things. If you have would like to become better friends with your own body and mind, I would be honored to be part of your journey. I teach private online yoga classes, tailored specifically to you and your body’s needs, your own strength and mobility level. You can do this all in the privacy and comfort of your own home. No need to go into a Yoga studio full of bendy people in tight yoga pants showing off advanced arm balances while you try find and get comfortable in your body. It’s just you and me. You also get a video recording of each lesson so you can use it to practice in between sessions.
I have weekly time slots opening up for just 4 new people, beginning in February. If you want to get in on one of these classes, just email me, or put your info into this webform. The first 4 people to sign up will get the open slots. I know from experience that you can feel better in your body than you do right now. You can be friends with her. Love, Carrien |
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Hi! I'm Carrien.
I help parents raise resilient children, without feeling overwhelmed, so that they can be brave to try hard things.
I'm a writer, parent mentor, and resilience coach. My passion for helping parents to protect their children and raise them to be resilient has extended to creating resources that have helped thousands of refugee and migrant families on the Thailand/Myanmar border through my work with The Charis Project. - I am also the mother of 6 amazing and rather resilient humans, who have managed to thrive in spite of their unconventional upbringing and being dragged around the world by their parents. - Join me here for words to heal and fill your parent heart and shape the words you give to your children.
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