Those of you in my email list know why this Thanksgiving was so much more meaningful to me than the ones before. What I wasn’t expecting was to have an even more “Ah Ha!” moment to follow. That seems to happen sometimes doesn’t it? Right when you think you get it you realize there is something else there that you didn’t see before and yet it was right there in your face the entire time!
This Thanksgiving I noticed there were more conversations about what life is all about to a person, values people want to pass down to their children or wish they had passed down, and finding what truly makes us happy. I have been working a lot on answering those questions and I feel I have come a long way and know my answers. But then it hit me….I talk to women about passing down health as a family legacy during pregnancy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for overall family health after birth BUUUUT I say nothing about how this ties into passing down values, what life is about, and happiness, .
Part of me felt it is practically obvious but practically obvious is not good enough! In my head it just goes with the advice of living healthy but I have trained myself to think that way over the past 7 years and just in this last year more puzzle pieces have clicked into place due to the journey. I almost couldn’t believe myself that I haven’t mentioned this before!
So to start let’s ask ourselves, how does living a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy and postpartum teach our children what life is all about, values, and finding what truly makes them happy?
As I have discussed in many posts, everything the mom experiences during pregnancy the baby experiences in utero. When you are taking care of yourself by sticking to your integrity, choosing happiness over anger or fear, and searching for the life you want; your baby is exposed to all those feel good hormones and physiological responses. I can get very scientific here but that is not the point today so stay tuned.
After your baby is born and their biological foundation of health is set, they then have the opportunity to build upon that foundation and learn from your actions, outlook on life, and the advice you give. When you choose healthy foods and stay physically active by doing something that brings a smile and empowerment to your life your children will see how food and physical activity are necessary pieces to a fulfilling life.
When your children see how you stay in your integrity, handle stress, live your life to be filled with happiness, and do what brings meaning and joy to your life; they have an example of how to do this for themselves.
Yes their life in utero sets the foundation but you must continue to give them the tools after birth to build upon that foundation. It is much like building a house to be a home.
It is often what is unspoken that we teach our children the most. Their little eyes are always watching, little ears always listening, learning and soaking up life lessons from you. We always want our children to live a better life than our own and it starts prior to conception, their life in the womb, and their life after birth. To make their life better than our own we must figure out what exactly about our life we must make better to teach them how they can do the same. We need to figure out who WE are to help our children be able to figure out who THEY are and how to shine through the potential they have deep inside.
To take this one step further I want to take this time to introduce to you my friend Shira Nelson, founder of Mom Beyond Baby. Next week she is going to be our special guest and discuss what it means to live the healthy mom lifestyle. You don’t want to miss out so make sure and come back next week!
Shira Nelson, founder of Mom Beyond Baby