The Unstressed Mama

Alison, Kelsey and Melissa had AWESOME interview with Tara De Leon. Tara helps people feel badass and confident by teaching them to lift heavy weights.  She is a body positive personal trainer working out of Edgewater Fitness. She shares how she got into the fitness field and how she used fitness for fertility! 

Tara has her BS in Exercise and Sports Science from BYU-Hawaii and then my masters in Human Movement with an emphasis in sports conditioning. She has been a personal trainer, collegiate strength coach, even worked with professional athletes. She has taught all sorts of group fitness, specialized in prenatal and fertility fitness, worked with kids, coached a marathon team, volunteer with the special olympics powerlifting team, ran her own water aerobics business, you name it, she's probably done it. 

She has won Best Trainer 2019, Best Lifestyle Coach 2020, and Best Prenatal Fitness 2022 from the What's Up? Annapolis Magazine. 

Join us with postnatal fitness specialist Tanya Schwamberger as she shares her methodical plan to return to movement, including those first weeks after baby number 3! 

Tanya Schwamberger is a former Physical Education teacher, turned stay at home mom, turned postnatal fitness specialist and a side of yoga. Her passion is teaching women about their core and pelvic floor through education, exercise, and yoga.

When Mark Goblowsky was a kid, he loved the television show Kung Fu. Growing up in a home that was sometimes violent, the show's depiction of a powerful, yet peaceful, warrior was a powerful influence in his life.  He wanted to find a way to get this calm and peace in his life. 

He didn't get the chance for several more years, but as a young man, he finally found himself enrolled as a student at a kung fu school in Korea. After earning his black belt, he returned Nebraska and opened a Kung Fu school of his own to great success.  

Many years into his martial arts journey, life would deal a tragic blow to his young son that called upon every ounce of his strength and will to handle. Tune in for this episode to hear how martial arts has helped Mark navigate the struggles in his life. 

Do you look forward to your kids being out of school for the summer?  Do you count down the days and celebrate, or do you feel a mounting sense of dread knowing that soon they will be with you every waking second (and some of the sleeping ones...)

It's not that we don't love our children with every ounce of our being.  But sometimes trying to juggle work along with all of the other things can get very overwhelming.  

If you've ever felt like this - or if you wonder how I could ever feel like this - tune in to catch the latest episode where I share my thoughts on summer summer summertime! 

Another episode with one of our own as our guest! Dr. Kelsey shares her day job where she focuses her physical therapy work on working with kids helping them move and be more functional at school in her role as a school physical therapist, what it is, and how this important service is delivered in her school.

In her "spare" time, she works with women showing them that women and moms can be strong and move without pain, injury, or nagging problems like peeing or persistent pain. 

She enjoys working out, playing with her kids, and participating in tactical competitions and is 100% a self proclaimed nerd with all things musculoskeletal or neurological!

New mini series! Following up on the last episode, all Fitness should be fun! 

Use these summer months to get outside and do something fun for your cross training! 

🚨 New Season Alert!!! 🚨 

But first... Kelsey is back!!! She had taken a brief leave of absence to focus on some things and now she has returned!!! 

This next season on the Unstressed Mama podcast are designed to help you find ways to approach fitness without all the stress that often comes along with it!

Listen in as Alison & Melissa recap the awesome season on nutrition, unstressed.  We had 4 amazing guests who all treat nutrition as a lifestyle and not a diet, working your way to sustainable healthy living. 

You can listen to the Diet Killers on Season 3 Episode 2. Elizabeth Harris, RD, talk about intuitive eating on Season 3 Episode 3, Greg Fearon, a fat loss coach for women in their 40s on Seaons 3 Episode 4 and our last guest on this series was Linda Lederman of Balaboosta's Secret where she shares some simple (and well, very simple) tips on how to encourage community at your family dinner table!

This quick summary will tell you where you want to listen in first, but I'm guessing you will want to listen to all of them. 

You don't need to be born with innate chef abilities. Linda’s cooking skills were so bad, her own family banned her from cooking when she was a teen. Happily, her skills have dramatically improved. She now has over 1000 cookbooks, is a graduate of Rouxbe Cooking School and the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and has countless cooking courses from the International Culinary Center and Natural Gourmet Institute under her belt. She is a kitchen confidence coach and owner of Balaboosta’s Secret where she teaches busy moms how meal plan, prep and cook with speed, ease, yum and lots of fun. Hook up with her for some 1:1 or group virtual coaching. Your inner dinner demons will thank you.

Greg Fearon is more than just a nutritionist who will guide women over 40 to fat loss. You may just have your bestie on a call with you, or even your signifiant other. Fat loss is more than just what you eat and what activities you do. The other 23 hours of the day are just as important to you reaching your goals and Greg is the man to help you look at those areas, in a sustainable, NOT overwhelming approach.

What a fantastic interview Elizabeth Harris, an Intuitive Eating RD. Melissa has worked with her for nearly a year through her Thrive Tribe group coaching and continued working with her as a member of her Non-Diet Collective. From Melissa: "My entire perspective on my body, what I eat and how I feel have changed, for the better, exponentially since working with Elizabeth"

While we did talk about Intuitive Eating (IE), we spent a lot of time talking about the mindset that goes along with IE and making the transition from dieting to living a non-dieting lifestyle! Listen in if you are ready to stop the yo-yo diet culture!

Join Alison & Melissa as they introduce the next season toward less stress! They both share about some of their nutrition challenges over the years, and have found a variety of guests with an array of less-stress approaches to nutrition with the "no diet" mentality! This episode is just the tip of the iceberg to the guest line up that they have waiting for you in this season.

So listen in, as there is likely an approach for you whether you are looking to feel better physically, feel better about your already strong and amazing body, or want to learn to fuel your body for your next performance goals!

Alison & Melissa wrap up season 2 which was all about the chakras. They each give the tool from Dawn that they have used most, and which one they would still like to include in their lives!

They also gave a quick summary of how 2022 has started out for each of them, spoiler, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, but they're still shining through! 

This is it! The last of the seven chakras in our series with Dawn Heywood! If you are just joining, go back and listen from the beginning of season 2 to get the full effect of each of them and how they may be affecting you, and what you can do about it, to be less stressed!!!

I bet you do! But it's not exactly a third eyeball on your face. Listen in as Alison & Melissa get all the details about what our third eye chakra does and ways it can be blocked and of course, how to clear it so that we can live our daily lives unstressed!

Froggy in your throat? Cat's got your tongue? Thyroid issues??? All of these could be pointing to a blocked Throat Chakra! 

Listen in as Dawn shares how to know if this is you, AND, most importantly, some easy, stress free ways to clear that throat chakra!! 

This episode is actually not just about breaking hearts, but it is all about the 4th chakra: the Heart. Your heartburn, neck and shoulder pain, and challenge to deeply connect with others could all mean that your heart chakra needs some work. And one of the best things you can do... breathwork (as has been a theme) as well as journaling. Dawn Heywood, our resident chakra expert will go into more detail so listen in! 

Welcome back to the Discussion of the 3rd Chakra: the Solar Plexus! You may have heard of this when thinking of boxing or getting punched in the gut (we hope you don't get punched in the gut!!!) 

But that is exactly where the solar plexus chakra resides! The gut! So if you have been feeling the effects of your stress such as heartburn, nausea, loss of appetite... this episode is for YOU!!! 

Dawn will tell us how to know this chakra is blocked and give you some simple tips on how to clear it if it is blocked. Listen in and let us know wha you think!!!

We're back Dawn Heywood as we continue our Chakra Series!!! This episode is rereleased as we work our way through the Chakras. Dawn will tell you where the Sacral Chakra is, what is "blocks" and how to clear it. 

The second chakra is associated with sensuality and creativity, and its primary function is pleasure and joy in life! So, if you've been just feeling off, perhaps a bit that creative side of your brain has shut down, or you feel like your sensuality/love life is in a slump, you may need to clear your Sacral Chakra.

In this episode, Dawn gives you basic movements that can help you clear this energy so that those creative juices flow and the passion returns! 

As we revisit our grounding episode with Dawn Heywood, our deep dive into each of the chakras starts now! On the previous episode, Dawn gave us an overview of the 7 chakras, or energy centers. We will start off with a grounding meditation as an introduction to the root chakra.

Have you ever craved walking barefoot through the grass? The sense of your bare feet on the earthen ground is re-connecting you to the earth. Makes you feel kinda like a kid again right??

And speaking of kids, they seem to gravitate toward these innate needs that, as adults, we tend to push those needs aside.

This is all just a tidbit of the value of information that Dawn shares with us today. Kelsey and Alison both were able to relate the message into their own areas of expertise, which just goes to show that aligning our energy centers can help in all facets of life!

And the best place to start is the base, at the root. And as Dawn says: “You practice yoga every day you just don’t realize it.”

So tune in and see where you already do yoga and how you can turn that into an intentional practice.

Dawn Heywood is a 200 hour registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. With training in LifePower Yoga and its roots in Ashtanga yoga, she offers a practice that balances movement with breath. Dawn’s passion is to teach her students to take time for themselves, slowing down and cultivating a practice that turns the attention inward.

Today we launch Season 2 of the unstressed mama podcast. For this season, we will be put all of the conversations about the Chakras, or energy centers together. The first four are being re-released, so you may have heard before, but the last 4 are brand new. So listen in and get ready to be blown away with these simple tips how determining how to open a blocked energy center! 

We have Dawn Heywood to give an introduction to the 7 Chakras, or energy centers. With an area we hosts are very unfamiliar, there are many questions we have and will have Dawn back on the show to get deeper into the topic of chakras.

We will learn what they are, what they mean, the color association and how we can open a blocked chakra.

As we wrap up Season 1 of the Unstressed Mama podcast, Melissa will round out the month of September with her individual episode giving you the down and dirty on what the StrongMom RunClub is, who it is for, and what it is NOT!!!

Additionally, she will describe daily/weekly/monthly flow and if you are interested SMRC is a free Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/strongmomrunclub

The Unstressed Mamas go solo this week.  The episode is with Alison.  She discusses what can happen when you start following your passion. 

Recently inspired by the book, "The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari," by Robin Sharma, she has made some pretty big changes in her life recently.  From changing the focus of her business to taking up the piano after a 35 year hiatus, she'll tell you all about it here.  

PODCAST UPDATES!!

Making some changes to keep us hosts as unstressed as you are mama! 

Switching to a season format and biweekly episode release are a few of the changes.

As pet owners, we are all too familiar with how much our kids love our pets. 

And as much as the kids enjoy having the fur-siblings, do those furry kids of yours bring you joy and relieve your stress too? 

I'd love to say the answer is a resounding YES! here, but, spoiler alert... Alison's family has a new kitten and Melissa's family rescued a 18month old pup in 7 months ago. 

So, we give some suggestions as to how you can make the transition with a new pet less-stressful, based on our experiences, heavily weighing on our most recent adjustments!!!

So listen in to see how those furbabies make their way into your families and your hearts!!

It's that time again! Back to school is coming soon, if it hasn't already!!

Not everyone in the US starts back at the same time, so you're kids may already be back or you still have some time if they start after Labor Day (like Melissa's kids do)!

But nonetheless, the stress of summer is still hot on our heels as we transition back to the School Year.

Bedtime enforcements, busy mornings, packing lunches, breakfast on the go... just to name a few of those returning stressors in life.

We go through some ways to minimize the stress of the changing schedule as it will be here before you know it.

Join us as we chat with Nicole Orji - mom of 4 high achieving children. To say each child has excelled in their area of talent would be an understatement.

Her children are a published author, graduate of the Juilliard School, 2x Olympian and a dance student at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Nicole shares with us how she guided each of her children to their own greatness, with goal setting in their youth and the unending support of a mother.

We have Dawn Heywood, of Dawn's Yoga & Wellness back again to talk about the 3rd chakra: the Solar Plexus. 

Have you ever had butterflies in your stomach? That is your solar plexus talking to you! In this episode, we talk about what the solar plexus is, where it's located and what you can do at home to clear it if it's blocked. 

Dawn also answered Alison's question from the last episode with Dawn about the connection with the colors that are associated with each chakra.  

Join Alison & Melissa as they share what they would say to their younger selves. 

We each came up with three items (not planned) and as you listen, none of them were the same, however, there was a relationship between them that just made recording this episode super fun!

I'm sure you will find at least one of these useful to you, or even as a parent!!! 

So many people build up summer like it will be some mythical and awesome wonderland.

The kids will have a blast, Mom will get a chance to relax and read so many books, and let’s not forget summer trips!

It’s going to be incredible!

But then it happens and we are often just as stressed out as we were every other time of the year.  Maybe even more so because the schedule gets a little loose.

Join Melissa, Alison, and Kelsey as they dish some real talk about summer with businesses, jobs, and kids!

Welcome back to the seventh episode in our parenting series.

Everything from weight gain to chronic illness can be traced back to a lack of sleep.

It’s basically a given that having a newborn will greatly impact your sleep.  But what after those first few months?  Shouldn’t we be able to sleep again?

How do we teach our kids healthy sleep habits?

Listen in to find out what guest, sleep expert Erica Threet, has to say on the matter.

And learn why she says “toddlers are short on skills but long on will.”

This episode is a bit different than most of ours, but it does have a good ending. Our guest is sharing with us how her son was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) while in college. 

From the onset of symptoms to post-diagnosis care, we have Alison's sister, Dianna Wilson, to share her story, as a mom of a child with a chronic illness. 

Listen in as Dianna shares how her life changed during the time between severe symptom onset, how she assisting her son's management of the autoimmune disease today, and how he managed her stress throughout all of these events. 

Coming back for the 5th episode in the parenting series where we each share some of our favorite #momhacks. 

From getting your kids to eat their veggies, get some movement in, read good books and sleep through the night, listen to what we do with our kids to get them to do what we want (wink). 

Leaving a lot out so you can check out what we have to say. We definitely had fun here and all of these are totally doable for you and your kids.

Welcome Back to Part 4 of the Parenting Series.

We take a bit of a turn here to talk about "me time" and why you NEED it. Being upfront, this is not equivalent to "self care". 

We give our interpretation of what "me time" means as a mama and how it looks different for every one and how it differs from the buzz word "self care". 

Tune in to hear our thoughts and some examples of how you get some time away, even on a budget! 

As we return to the 3rd episode in our parenting series, this week we talk about traveling with your littles. 

This can be overwhelming and sooo many questions, regardless of your kid(s) ages!

• Do you fly or drive?
• What all do you take?
• How much time will you need?
• Are they too little?
• Will they drive you bonkers?
• ARE WE THERE YET?!?!

We know that traveling with your kids can be STRESSFUL, but it can also be FUN!!!

So, we share stories of our experiences of traveling with our kids and ultimately give you 3 tips for succeeding in having more FUN and less stress.

Back with the second episode of our parenting series this week!!! Sometimes a bit of a touchy subject... Money $$$ 

When is too soon to talk about money with your children? 

How do you approach the subject? 

What do you do if you've "started too late"? 

Listen in as we discuss some approaches and how you can talk about money without having to really talk about money. 

We're back after a week off (for those of you listening real time!)

And we are excited to offer another series for you, this time on Parenting. While we aren't parenting experts, between the three of us mamas, we have a total of 30 years of parenting so we have some exposure to share with you.

Starting off, we will share how we have introduced fitness to our children, and how that may look different not only for each family, but for each child as well. 

Some say exercise in front of you kids to set the example, some say: that's your time, don't let your kids interrupt and others take a more functional approach to just letting kids run around!

Listen in and see how each of your hosts have approached fitness with their kids!

As always, our point of views come from different angles and we hope that at least one of us will reach you where you are! 

If you like what you have heard, subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review! 

The 5th and final episode of The Business Series is here!!!

As independent online business owners ourselves, we have been there, literally! And we want you to know the ins and outs before you get started. Or if you are already starting, what you should do next.

So we have provided a summary of the top three “hacks” when you’re starting out, and WHY!

1. Join a group biz coach
2. Ask for help
3. Just do it! (Be like Nike!)

By “hacks” you can think of these as action items that what we know helped us along the way and what we think will help you as you are considering taking on the role of biz owner!

This week we have The Course Creation Coach: Britney Thorton-Homco as our guest! Alison & Melissa chatted with her about what it was like to pivot in her own business as she has done just that, successfully, several times, and currently honing in to help the fellow introvert entrepreneurs.

One of the biggest takeaways you'll find in this episode, is that once you start your business, it will change. So if you're thinking about it, get started! 

Britney walks through the pivotal moments that changed; the why, how, when... and how they improved not only her business in terms of jobs, but in terms of quality of life! 

As a work-out of the home mom, you may be saying "I wish I was my own boss". As a stay-at-home mom, you may be saying "I am missing something." In both of those cases, I imagine that you have at least tossed around the idea of starting your own, possibly online business.

Well, that is something that all 3 of your hosts have done. And while none of us are throwing in the towel after 2-3+ years, we have some thoughts and comments on what to expect when running your own online business. 

Bottom line - you get complete flexibility #youretheboss, but it isn't all cupcakes and rainbows, and while I don't think any of us would take away what we started, we want you to know where some of the biggest stressors are, so you can go into the process with the expectations and keep yourself "unstressed"!!! 

So tune in and check out what what our perspectives on starting your own, independent, online business looks like for us!

As mamas, we're often looking for ways to provide for our families, have a purpose for ourselves and ultimately do these things in ways that bring us less stress!!! 

As mompreneurs ourselves, each of us hosts have our own independent businesses, (which we tell you about in Episode #1: Meet the Mamas, check it out if you haven't yet!) 

While we all have a passion for what we do in our businesses, there is a lot that we have learned along the way and collectively we will share those with you as well as have some guests on. 

So if you have been wondering if mompreneurship may be something to look into, we are going to address it from several angles. 

First up is Multi-Level Marketing Businesses. Love'em or hate'em??? I feel like this is a an answer that is usually either a hard YES or hard NO for many people! 

In Part 1, we talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of MLMs. And guess what, these have been around for ages! Melissa's grandma was an Avon lady for decades! Did you know that Avon was an MLM? This was something we had to look up!

Full disclosure, Alison and Kelsey are both reps for MLMs, however, their current success is not their first MLM they have worked with. We discuss what we think is what helps make you as a rep a success in the MLM that you choose to represent!

And maybe being a rep isn't for you. Next episode we will talk about the ins and outs that we have learned about being independent online business owners!

She's baaack!!! Dawn Heywood is back again!!! As we learn about the Sacral Chakra: where it is, what is "blocks" and how to clear it, we also found some interested connections, as we always do, as we embark on the journey to balance our chakras.

The second chakra is above your root chakra (number 1) and can also be a factor in feeling grounded, as we talked about in Episode #10. If you've been just feeling off, perhaps a bit that creative side of your brain has shut down, or you feel like your sensuality/love life is in a slump, you may need to clear your Sacral Chakra.

Talk about areas that can really cause some stress! Let's get unstressed!

In this episode, Dawn gives you very basic movements that can help you clear this energy so that those creative juices flow and the passion returns! (No promises, but we can say doing some hip openers are good for just about anyone who sits all day).

Also, can you guess the color of the Sacral Chakra???? 

Dawn Heywood is a 300 hour certified yoga teacher with My Vinyasa Practice. With training in LifePower Yoga and its roots in Ashtanga yoga, she offers a practice that balances movement with breath. Dawn’s passion is to teach her students to take time for themselves, slowing down and cultivating a practice that turns the attention inward.

To the mamas in the thick of it, I’m sure your wondering similar questions:

Will I ever be able to just sit back, relax without one more interruption?

Am I doing enough for my child(den)? Am I doing TOO much??

How will I survive the teenage years? [barely surviving now, and recalling what you were like at 12-20 🥴]

This week we interview a very special guest. Not only has she always been Melissa's number 1 fan, but she has been one of the Unstressed Mama's biggest supporters from DAY 1! She is a marathoner, health coach, and an inspiration to being for over 50!

I’m super excited for you to listen to Alison and Melissa interview Melissa's mom, Diane Michel!

Not only a great mom to 3 adults, but an amazing grandma to 6 awesome humans, and 3 furry-grand pups!

She gives insights to the #momlife to #grandmalife.

Oh and those handmade gifts you made 25-30 years ago, some are still around, like this bag!!

A couple of the gems I took from this interview:

“Two things you can bequeath to your children: roots and wings”

“It may feel impossible but sometimes you just have to take the first step”

But there are definitely more!

So you’ve finally started looking at your finances.

You know you need to have a budget, but what stays and what goes?

On the next episode of the podcast, you will find out what our own money coach, Alison, says what MUST stay in.

Here is a sample of items you may find in your budget

Utilities, Groceries, Buying in Bulk, Nutrition, Health, Pest Control, Vacations, College Savings, Maintenance-Car/Home, Retirement, Amazon

What do Kinesio (KT) Tape, building your child's credit and zero drop shoes all have in common? 

These are the 3 listener questions we answer for you on Episode 13! 

We polled our audience in the Unstressed Mama facebook group for questions you have for us and we chose the following to address this week

The first audience question we address is about using KT tape: What does it do? Can you do it at home? Can it be more damaging than beneficial?