Shantel Baltazar: Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga and Doula Services

Do you have 'older kids' who still ask you to lay with them until they fall asleep?

Until they don't ask me anymore, I will sit and listen. Most nights I take time with each of our three kids at night.. usually until they fall asleep.

It's often in this sweet space between wakefulness and sleep, where they share their hearts. I get to learn important things about the older kids days. As for the 4 yr old, this is the time where her imagination runs wild until she gives in to the sandman.

Yes, it can also be exhausting and I often think "can you just go to sleep??" Especially after the youngest continues her 20 minute story about weddings and her imaginary puppies.

This connection helps to foster their physical and psychological health.

And I am honoured to be their 'safe space'.

Lying down with your kids until they fall asleep is not a bad habit Soon there will be closed doors and independence, and we will pine for the days when she needed to feel our hand on her back before she could sleep.

I like big butts 🍑

As my 4yr old is sitting on the toilet, she asks me, “when can I have a butt like yours, (and she spreads her arms out)..
That fills the whole toilet seat!?” 🤦‍♀️😂

She’s at that stage where butts are the favourite topic of conversation.. and whoever dances with the most expressive ‘butt shakin’ gets the prize in her eyes.

I don’t step on the scale often (it was a promise to myself after obsessing over the scale)

Most days I feel so alive. Especially when I stick to my daily morning-mini-movement sessions and get some fresh air.

On the rare occasion I put on my jeans and go into public, that’s when I start hearing those old, unsupportive whispers in my ear..

But nothing a little dancing can’t shake off. 🕺🏾

In this chapter of life, working beside .baltazar, re-creating , it is challenging, but most of all, bursting my heart wide open. 🤍

Yes, taking care of my body brings me joy. In this chapter of life (as home school teacher, entrepreneur, birth worker, partner), that joy might include a bigger butt, and jeans that don’t fit quite ‘right’.

So for now, I’ll choose the leggings that allow me to stretch, move and breathe freely.

Do you feel radiant today?
In those moments you forget, what brings you back?

yxemom

Creativity

My main goal right now..
To nurture and support creativity in my children, my partner, myself, and my clients.

It’s sometimes challenging to step outside the ‘instructions’

To build lego without the step by step guide or play piano without the app. 😬

My partner has a very active creative brain.

My creativity requires a little more deep breathing and letting go to feel it and express it.

The more I learn about homeschool, the more I embrace the importance of seeing things from many perspectives.

I remind myself daily it’s never to late to ‘unlearn’, even though it feels daunting at times to teach an ‘old dog new tricks’.

As we continue to evolve in our online offerings , each day brings new territory, new concepts and the question to myself..

“Will this help me create a beautiful impact in my children, and in the world”

Do you love getting a foot rub?
Maybe the answer is no.. lol

Parents can usually feel their babies response to touch and know if they love it or not.

The feet are a great access point to helping ease many physical and emotional discomforts and worth incorporating during calm moments so it is more familiar to parents during no-so-calm moments.

Parents may also find the pressure points useful in redirecting their own energy. We often want to calm a baby's crying and 'do' something. But their cries are their voice and our calm response will help them move through.

My older kids still love a foot rub when they get one:) especially during this time when our hug-loving family relies on one another for touch.

Z: mom, can I help babies out like you do (lol)

Me: how will you do that?

Z: I will go check on the mom and feel her belly and then tell her I’ll be back tomorrow and then I’ll go home to get my dr. Kit 😂
And then I’ll go back and ask the baby to come out
😂

??

The last sunset of 2020 opened the sky to the full moon 🌕 that lingered till the first morning of 2021.

The magnificence enveloped me with gratitude for all the students and clients who supported us this year. And those who have joined us Thank you!

I have spent a lot of the last months observing my thoughts.

Gratitude has been my focus, yet there are days when other thoughts fog my vision.

Counting is a bit of a habit (and almost comfort) for me, and sometimes, along with observing, I also find myself counting.

Out of the last 10 weeks, I have seen my husband less than one week in total.

Most days I am doing well, and on the days I am not as well, I count.... my exhale.

I breathe in deeply, and see how long I can exhale.

I don’t count the chocolates 🍫 anymore. My body is pretty quick to remind me that too many don’t feel so good and I’ll eat fewer next time 🤪

Just like the sun sets each night and the full moon greets us in the morning, I am reminded each day is a chance to start fresh.

Each day gives me choices:
🤍how I want to guide and learn from my children,
🤍how I want to communicate with my partner (from afar),
🤗 how I can connect with my students and clients in new ways,
🥬 how I want to fuel my body
💃 how I want to move my body
☀️ how I want to embrace the sun
🧘‍♀️ how I breathe

And then tomorrow I get to do it New again!