When athletes open up, it reminds us of how similar we all are. Admittedly, when I see athlete moms continuing to play their sport and find success in their lives, I wonder if they have found a way to navigate the postpartum tides. Reading this note from Naomi, posted on her Instagram, where she expounds on her postpartum woes, was reassurance that none of us skip out on the nuances that come with motherhood.
“My biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body.”
OMG!!! Girl same! I can only imagine how this takes a toll on athletes' mental health due to their lives and careers being centered around their bodies.
While Naomi feels the impact or shift in her body many mamas are also feeling a shift in their personalities and who they are at their core. Realizing that we are no longer the 16 year old athlete who was filled with spunk and a free spirit but a maturing adult with responsibilities like human lives is jarring to say the least.
I’ve been exploring how I can get back pieces of the young woman I used to be and incorporate them in the maturing woman I am now. Here’s the method:
Write out a description my younger self in third person
List all of the activities you had going on in your life and see where you can reincorporate competition, camaraderie, or certain people and places.
Describe your current behavior and where you feel out of wack. Try to dig deeper on why you’re behaving that way or where that may be coming from. Give yourself grace and understand it may be hormones.
Visualize the person you desire to be with how your life and world looks now. How does living harmoniously look and feel for you? Write that vision down.
These prompts will help you to dissect and narrow down how you are currently feeling, what exactly you miss about yourself and how to incorporate your core being into who you are becoming.
Morgan
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