Reflections

with Holly Lo

This is an unedited transcript.

Welcome to the Mondays podcast. I’m your host, Holly Lowe. And today is a solo episode to wrap up an amazing theme. This is something that I have thoroughly grown from learn from, I really just experienced so many insights. And I really hope and trust that you did as well have some great takeaways, and really amazing nuggets of truth that were shared over the past few months, our theme was all about trauma, and everything that could go along with that there was so much to unpack. And I don’t think we even scratched the surface, to be honest. But it’s a starting point. And as we wrap that up, I just wanted to take some time to offer some reflections. And I heard back from many of you, and I love hearing your feedback and your emails and your comments. Honestly, I answer all of them myself, I read them all myself. And I so appreciate your insights. And really just knowing that I’m not the only one who’s gaining from these incredible interviews and the chances I’m getting to speak to such you know, really, in depth specialists, but also other Mama’s and women who have walked this path as well and have learned from these experiences. And in some cases, you know, made a career out of their growth and what they’ve been through. I think that’s a really beautiful part of that journey. So as we wrap up the year, I mean, it’s we’re in December now. And I’m planning on taking a few weeks off be with my family. And I I’m really looking forward to just, again, soaking up all the things I’ve been learning over the past few months putting some of those into practice and into action myself. As I journey forward. Just like with all of you, I know it’s a process, right? Healing is a journey. It is not a one one and done type of thing. We may have epiphanies, right, we may have moments where a light bulb goes off, and we realize this is it, this was the thing. Maybe there are dots that are being connected for you patterns in your life. I know that worked for me, that was definitely the process I’ve been going through, even through, you know, our latest miscarriage and

the holidays, you know, walking through loss, kind of just all the things that come up seem to come up around holidays, maybe from years past, maybe from childhood. But it really, it’s been a very eye opening experience to learn from these women. And I’m really grateful for that. And also to learn from all of you as you share your comments and your feedback. One thing I want to share with you and I don’t talk much about this, but this really was a culmination of a lot of these experiences over the years in my life, I want to share a little bit about my own healing journey as well. And I know I’ve shared just our you know, in August, when we lost a pregnancy, we lost that baby was a big event for me, as it is for any woman, it’s it’s something that we tend to take and brush it under the rug in many cases as that’s just life. You know, we’re sorry, that happened. But that’s just the way your body worked. And so be it. Right? So it’s something that I spent this whole time really through this unpacking, acknowledging, honoring the grief and the pain of that experience. And even now, just thinking that would have been two more months before we would have seen that baby was due in February, my children remind me, you know, every so often, hmm, Christmas would have been, you would have had a big belly at this point. You know, we’ve been getting ready for baby. And that’s hard. It’s heartbreaking. Because it’s still such a passionate still such a desire in our whole family to see this come come to fruition. And, and I’m still holding out hope right? My daughter decided the other day to use one of my teaching baby dolls that I use for classes. Very realistic baby doll. And she asked if she could use the car seat that we had, you know, set out for this baby and we’re starting to get some things ready. And again, I had a moment where I could have just said no and put it away and never you know push those feelings down. But instead of it gave me a chance to to kind of share that pain with her and in an appropriate manner. Obviously I’m not I don’t want to dump that weight on my children either but she understands She’s almost 10. And for me to be able to say, Yeah, you know what you can play with it just, you know, be very careful, don’t drop it, and to take the carseat out and to show her that and to have her say, you know, I really wish we could have been putting a real baby in there and, and for me to have tears in my eyes, and to tell her I was sad. And to share that emotion with her, it acknowledged her feelings as well, right? And it showed her that it’s okay to feel this. And it’s normal to feel this way. And even as adults, we have a hard time processing these things, too. So the pain of that, you know, that journey of healing and grief, it’s not fast. It’s a it’s a step by step thing. And it can take years, and I honestly feel like it never ends. And I don’t say that in a hopeless way. I say that in a realistic manner, that there will always be things that remind you, you’ll, they’ll always be something that will trigger a memory that will trigger that thought process. The key that I’ve learned over all of these few months of just learning from everyone, the key that I’m pulling out of all this, and this reflection I have from all of this is it’s being equipped, it’s being equipped to have the tools to heal, realistically, whether it’s, you know, with a natural remedy of sorts, added into some therapy of sorts, added into physical care for your body. You know, osteopathy or pelvic floor therapy, massage, energy, work, any of those things that we’ve talked about. On top of that, again, just respecting the process. And knowing having a realistic expectation, knowing that you’re not expected to just be over it, you’re not expected to be okay all the time. And I think having that permission to know that there are moments you might fall apart, there are moments you will feel wonderful. And there are a lot of moments and a lot of days where you’re just living life and going from day to day. And that’s okay, too, right? We don’t have to be exceptional all the time. We don’t have to be at our lowest all the time, we don’t want to stay there. But to understand that there is a process to this and that there is help to go through that process is really a beautiful thing. And I hope that you’re able to take a lot of these away these tips and this advice and these healing modalities and be able to use them to your benefit I know I have, and I’m still using them. And I love that.

One thing that eye comes up all the time at this time of year is missing my dad, right I know many of us, many of us have loved ones that we’ve lost over the years. They be recently my dad passed away 12 years ago now, but it honestly still feels like yesterday. And one of my favorite memories. And I’ve shared this publicly, I remember speaking of a very large event once and I opened with this story. But I will never forget the idea. You know, the the memory, not the idea, the memory, but the feeling of walking through fresh snow with my dad. And he was a very hands on kind of dad very nurturing. You know, he was our best buddy. But a good teacher and all the good things. He was just one of the good ones really, really one of the best men I’ve ever known in my life. And we lived up North and so we get a lot of snow. And he would walk it was great. The government was great big winter boots, sometimes they were mukluks his leather mukluks. But he would go out and walk in like knee deep snow and me with my little tiny legs. There’s no way I could trudge through that even if it was through our backyard or he take us through down to the river or cross and into the trails and go hiking things like that. We were always outdoors doing fun things with him. But he would always tell us myself or my sister, just step in my boot prints you’ll be okay. And it seems really simple. And maybe to him it was super common sense, right? He already made the path to step where I’ve stopped. But I will always remember a couple of things about that. As a kid I remember the feeling of security in that in that process of knowing he’s got me it’s all good, right? I’m not gonna get stuck in the snow because I’ve got steps to take I can just step right into this giant holes of snow where he put his boots. The other feeling was I didn’t even have to look up. I didn’t have to see where he was because I could just look down at the blueprints and know he was in front of me. He was taking care of the path. I honestly I’ve held on to that feeling not intentionally. It’s definitely a legacy type feeling and as an adult now, it there’s so much more So that right you can, you can create so many great illustrations with what that means to your life. And as a mom, now, I keep that feeling and I keep that image in my, in my mind as much as I can. Right? We’re definitely far from perfect. But it is a legacy feeling that I, I really attained to be and to operate out with my children, the idea that they are following in my footsteps, whether they realize it or not, they see great children do as I do not, as I say, is often something we don’t want to acknowledge, I think as parents, because we’d rather just tell them the right way to do things and not worry about our own behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, right, the way we live. And yet, ultimately, that’s your responsibility now as a parent is that you have to be that footstep, you have to be that footprint of an example for who they’re going to become as adults. And that’s a heavy burden. It can be especially if you’re doing it alone. And but it is definitely something we can’t ignore. And Mama’s you have been endowed with such incredible abilities. Whether you feel like it or not, you are worthy of the that title you you are in a role, whether you meant to be in this role or not, whether you started late started young, whether you have a lot of support, or none. Regardless of where that that stems or how that has come to be, you are legacy, you are creating a path that these people that you’re raising, are going to walk in. So you know, I wear that weight, as a good thing, I don’t wear it as a heavyweight, I wear it as a inspiration. Put it that way, kind of like wearing a medal around your neck, a badge of honor. It’s a good responsibility. And it’s a beautiful responsibility. If we take care of ourselves in the process, right, if we have the capacity, because we’ve taken some time to heal up the spots in us that are wounded. And like I said, it’s a process.

It’s not a, it’s not a snap your fingers, and we’ve got this figured out, it’s an everyday process, we’ll get it wrong, we’re going to wound our own kids, we’re going to have regrets. But at the end of the day, the footsteps you’ve taken and the footprints you left for them, you can always change your path. That’s the amazing thing about all of this, you’re not destined to walk the same footprints your parents left you, you get the choice of forging your own path. And you know, as exceptional as my dad was, and even my mom is, it’s still my path to choose. And it’s still my daily steps that I choose to take, whether I go off the trail or not, whether I sometimes just stand in one spot, maybe for a while, because things need to be taken care of for me or because of life. That’s okay. So I hope that’s not too drawn out as an illusion illustration for you. But that’s just something I’ve been reflecting on as a mom. And as you know, someone who works in the wellness field with new mamas and expecting mamas. Releasing and shedding, right, molting speak. And, you know, we always think of that as a springtime thing. But winter, that whole cocooning idea. There’s a beautiful process to looking inward, taking some time, especially at this in this seasons, not to get too busy, taking some time to reflect and taking some time to think on the things you’re grateful for the things you’ve learned, but also the things that you want to attain in the new year the things you want to reach for, and I’m not talking about New Year’s resolutions. No, that is a big fat. No, for me, I’m not a fan of new year resolutions, I am a fan of goals. I’m a fan of personal growth. I’m a fan of just taking it one day at a time sometimes too. So whatever that looks like for you, whatever the process is going to be for you for your family for your footprints. It does help to have a plan, it does help to have a direction in mind. So take some time and reflect on some of the things that we’ve learned over the last few months. Look at you know, where you want to take your family, your children yourself, what your inspirations are, what your you know, what lights you up, think on those things too and give yourself the credit of the abilities that you have the giftings you have, because we all have them. I know you do. So take some time to think on that and I’m gonna be back Just a minute, because I got a big announcement for you. So hang tight

All right, listen up, we have themes coming up for the new year that I am. So looking forward to this has been a bit of a, maybe a heavier topic for the last few months and I write, we can breathe and breathe it in a little bit and, and sit in the knowledge that we’ve been learning, but I’m heading into January. And then we’re going to be talking a little bit about through the month of January about just health and wellness in general. But I will tell you two things we won’t be talking about, we will not be talking about New Year’s resolutions, we will not be talking about dieting, and we’ll not be talking about fitness to get into shape and shedding all the stuff. Okay, I’ll tell you why. And there’s nothing wrong with those things. I mean, maybe dieting, I’m not a fan of that. But the reason I’m not focusing on those is because our wellness goes so much deeper than that. And I want to touch on topics leading into things like fertility, pregnancy birth. So definitely if you’re an expectant mama, or you know you’re planning on getting pregnant, or you’re going to be delivering in the new year, you will want to be ready for this for these upcoming months. But having said that, this will be for everyone. It’s not just for that stage of life. So we also going to talk a little bit about shifting with hormones. We’re going to be talking about menopause even, we’re going to be talking about Perry Mehdipatnam, perimenopause, we’re going to be discussing all kinds of things thyroid, and you know, not to get too specific, but some wellness tips and really practical information to help you as you move into the next you know, maybe season of your life or a new stage a new phase, or just heading into another year, and taking a look at your wellness goals or how you’re feeling physically, mentally, emotionally. So we’re going to cover a lot of that through January and into February. As that leads us into some of our prenatal section, we’re going to talk to doulas and talk to midwives, we’re going to have some great information for you. Really, honestly practical things that are 100% in my wheelhouse as well. So I’m really looking forward to diving into this. The reason I’m excited about this, the reason I mean besides it being some of my favorite topics, is we have something new and exciting launching in the spring. So we’re starting to gear you up for it now. Because there’s going to be a really special opportunity in this process. So since an oil babies has its brand new online shop, and you can always check that out. And thank you for the commercials on on our podcasts for that and giving you the information. I really felt that I wanted to create a space for our families, our our customers and clients to be able to get the education they needed. Right. And retail is not the place to do that necessarily. So there will be a brand new site launching. Yep, you ready for this? And it will house my courses. So I’ve been doing courses for years, I used to teach them all in person. prenatal classes, fertility cleanse, course. Newborn basics, right postpartum breastfeeding, that goes on and on. Baby 101 Baby food. Oh my gosh, a lot. There’s a lot of content. So this is something that I’ve been feeling really strongly in the last few months, it needs to be available to you guys. So I I really held back because I wanted to make sure everything else was up and running smoothly. First, the podcast, you know, you all knew where to find us. And all these good things that are coming in the plan is in March. There’s no set date at the moment because it’s all laying on my shoulders to get some of the content up and I wanted to be

spectacular. And put it that way won’t be perfect. But it will be spectacular. And it’s going to house all of those programs. There will always be new content added as well. Some will be mini courses, some will be free, and some will be extras, but you’re going to love it. And like I said it’s going to be available to everyone. It will be housed as a membership site. So that’s a big, big exciting announcement for me. I’ve never done something like this before. I’ve only done these in person and it is a lot, a lot of time and work and travel. And we were traveling the world doing these courses and these classes. And as much as I love that, it’s just not doable right now. So we will get back to in person trainings and all the good things. But I really felt strongly that a membership site was the perfect way to give you access to all of it in a one stop shop. And for one monthly fee, so it’s very, very cheap. I just want you to know this at a time, like you’re going to be shocked. I’m not giving you all the details yet. However, this is what you’re gonna want to make note of mark it down, pay attention, because we’re going to keep giving you little bits of information coming up over the you know, starting in the new year about how this is launching, you are going to get the chance to be founding members of our membership site. And founding members are going to have a crazy, amazing opportunity involved in that. And it’s going to be a one time offer. So you’ll want to pay attention to that. Like I said, it’s coming early spring, but the membership founding offer will start before that. All right. Oh, my gosh, I’m so excited to get rolling on this. I have been writing up content. I’ve been working on course content. And there are such good things involved in this. I don’t know how to describe that. But it’s juicy. There’s there’s stuff that you will not find elsewhere. Let’s put it that way. There will be all kinds of, you know, extra goodies for you in there as well. So that’s what’s coming. I hope you’re excited about that. Maybe excited as I am. I don’t know. But I would love your feedback. That is something I always welcome. I would love to hear from you. Do you love membership sites? Do you already use membership sites? Are you a part of any other mom groups, Mom memberships, anything like that. If you are, let me know, tell me who they are, I’d love to check them out. But that is something that we are working on behind the scenes. And you’re going to hear a lot more about it as we go along. But I’m not going to inundate you with it because obviously that’s not my focus. But you’re going to get enough dripped into your, into your information each each podcast so that you’ll know when it’s coming, you’ll know what’s coming. And you’ll know how to get you know, involved in the startup of all of this. So I’m looking forward to that. I’m looking forward to partnering with a bunch of you as our founding members. And there’s so much more to come. There really is. So as we take the time off over December the rest of December. I just really welcome you to enjoy the past podcast, listen up, maybe catch up on some of the ones you’ve missed. Don’t forget to leave us you know reviews, and subscribe on YouTube. If you’re on there. I love to hear more about what you think of the episodes and some of our guests. They really like your feedback as well. So take some time over the holidays to rust, spend time with your family be safe. Please don’t do more than you need to this is such a good opportunity to just slow down. It sounds like an oxymoron December and slow down. But it can be done. So as you go through December and finish off the year, know that we appreciate you at Monday’s we appreciate you listening. We appreciate your support and we are always looking forward to hearing from you. And knowing more about what you want from us and what I can bring to you and how we can support you have an amazing holiday time. And we will see you I’ll be back in January.