Iryna Brown

11 months postpartum and I’m finally feeling ready to push progressive overload again.

Two weeks into this program and I’ve completed 8 workouts so far.

I was already able to increase weights on a few exercises - nothing huge, but those small jumps add up.

The body adapts when you give time and consistency.

Postpartum strength takes patience.

Everyone says breastfeeding is natural.

Which is interesting…

Because it felt like a full-time job with no onboarding 😂

Did you notice how much mental bandwidth breastfeeding took after it ended ?

When people ask about my unmedicated birth, they usually assume it’s about pain tolerance.

For me it wasn’t that.

What helped the most was:
• having a midwife and doula who already worked together
• months of hypnobirthing affirmations (basically gentle brainwashing 😅)
• learning to control my breath during contractions

Of course every birth experience is different, but these were the things that grounded me the most.

If you’ve given birth, what helped you the most during labor?

During breastfeeding, your body releases repeated pulses of oxytocin - especially with direct feeding. Oxytocin plays a role in bonding and lowers stress, increases patience and ‘softens’ your nervous system.

Then you wean.

Oxytocin drops, prolactin shifts, and estrogen starts recalibrating. And your nervous system is like … “wait! We’re raw again?”.

Here comes a tricky part:
Oxytocin is content-dependent.

That’s why some people experience breastfeeding as regulating and soothing, while others experience it as draining or frustrating . Hormones don’t exist in isolation - they interact with sleep, stress, support, and nervous system.

I actually struggled a lot with my first two. Breastfeeding felt heavy and just not enjoyable. I couldn’t wait to be done.

With my third one, things shifted. Same body, but different season of life.

Did you love it … tolerated it… or count down the days?

“Getting your body back” is a terrible postpartum goal.

Not because you should want progress.

But because the outcome goals don’t tell you what to do today.

When your goal is “get my body back”, you create pressure.

But when your goal becomes “lift weights 2x/week, daily walks, eat nutritious food, sleep when possible”, then you create structure.

And structure builds momentum.

Momentum builds results.

Sweatshirt
Ring

During breastfeeding your body is flooded with oxytocin - the bonding hormone.

It lowers stress.
It increases patience.
It literally softens your nervous system.

You’re biologically wired to be calm, attached, and tolerant.

Then you wean.

Oxytocin drops.
Prolactin shifts.
Estrogen starts recalibrating.

And your nervous system is like…
“Wait. We’re raw again?”

So if you’ve felt:
• less patient
• more overstimulated
• less ‘soft’
• more reactive

It’s not that you became mean.

Your body just came out of a hormonally buffered state.

This is why I always say:
Postpartum recovery doesn’t end when the baby turns one.
It shifts.

Confession: I love lifting.
I don’t like mobility work.

It’s the first thing I skip when my schedule gets busy with three kids and clients back-to-back.

But I know better.

If you’ve figured out how to make mobility automatic instead of optional… tell me your trick.