Empowering Women's Health With Amanda

You're pregnant! Congratulations! This is an amazing time in your life and you have a lot of decisions to make. One of the most important decisions you'll make is what kind of prenatal care to have. Our society has programmed us to believe that we need to have an OBGYN and be monitored, tracked, and checked throughout our entire pregnancy. And, what this does for most women is cause more stress during a time when that is the last thing you need. That is not fun. It actually may even lead to problems that would not have occurred if that added stress of going to those appointments weren't there....

The sun is our friend - we need it. Twenty minutes per day with no sun protection is how we get our vitamin D and happiness. You want to protect your skin from burning with non-toxic sunscreens. So what should you use? Mineral Sunscreens are the way to go!Chemical Sunscreens absorb into the skin, Mineral Sunscreens with non-nano ingredients, such as Zinc Oxide, are barrier sunscreens. Basically, they sit on the skin. Here are a few ingredients you want to avoid: oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and octinoxate.

There's no denying that pregnancy and childbirth are amazing, life-changing experiences. For many women, becoming a parent is the best thing that's ever happened to them. If you're one of those women who loves everything about pregnancy and childbirth, then becoming a birthkeeper may be the perfect career choice for you.What is a birthkeeper? A birthkeeper is someone who helps to guide and support a woman through pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum, more than a doula and yet not a midwife. They are also known as traditional birth attendants. You will generally find that a Birthkeeper...... 

Sweet Summertime. The sun. oh how I have missed you. Pool or lake days, BBQs, getting outside! Summer is the season of being outdoors. It’s also the season of forgetting to hydrate, sunburns, and bugs. BUGS! In today’s blog and next week's, we will dive into each of these further.Hydration is key to many functions in the human body, and in the summer heat, it can be challenging to maintain hydration. One of the most significant roles that water plays in the body is regulating internal temperature. The body’s ability to stay cool in hot weather depends on proper hydration.  

Mother nature is in full bloom and this is a beautiful time of year! But for some, seasonal changes make it difficult to be present and enjoy the outdoors. You are not alone if seasonal changes make you a sniffing, sneezing, teary-eyed mess! I have been there, and I am here to share with you some ways to support your body's natural response (all the praise hands)!As with this whole essential oil lifestyle, you must stay consistent. Research, use, see what works for you, and keep on using it, consistency is KEY!Today we are going to be talking about how we can help our bodies fight off those seasonal reactions, the natural way! First, let's talk about what's going on beneath the skin.......

Do you ever feel like your body is a little sluggish? Do you have trouble losing weight, no matter how much you diet or exercise? If so, you may need to give your lymphatic system a cleanse. Your lymphatic system helps remove toxins from the body, and when it's overloaded, it can cause all sorts of problems. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to cleanse your lymphatic system. Keep reading to learn more! 

I know organizing a home is typically a big topic for springtime, but if you didn't quite get your house in order, there’s no better time than now! Getting organized will leave so much more time for fun and family when the weather is nice!To keep things simple and manageable, let’s tackle one thing at a time. I don’t know about you, but clothing clutter is killing our house right now. We still have winter clothing and outdoor gear all over, and now we’re starting to think about tank tops and shorts.

You are not alone on your journey and I myself was unable to conceive for over twelve years, where I wasn’t on contraceptives or doing anything to prevent pregnancy. During those twelve years, I was in a few different relationships that were anywhere from a year and a half up to six years. The problem had to be with me right? I felt like I was never going to be the mom I had dreamed of being and that I was destined to spend my life alone. Was I broken? What had I done wrong? Was I to blame? I had a lot of thoughts and feelings that I needed to work through as I’m sure you have experienced yourself if you have had your own struggles with infertility. 

As far as I’m concerned, it’s never too early to start thinking (and dreaming) about summer…. So, this month we are going to talk all about preparing for the summer months!Up first, let’s talk about skin. Summer skin is much different than winter skin and the skin on our face is much different than the skin on our feet. One of the best ways to get all skin in summer shape is to exfoliate!

A few months ago I was doing GREAT! I had consistency and was showing up in ALL the places, our home was running pretty smoothly and homeschool was moving along at a nice pace. I had routines that were working great for all of us and I was on top of the world. Until I wasn’t. In a week I lost all that momentum and am still working through this episode of procrastination. So here is the thing, sometimes I think we get good at doing all the things and then we throw a wrench in it just because we are making positive progress. I don’t mean to say we throw ourselves under the bus but yet that is kind of what happens, like all of a sudden we want the chaos and struggle that we had before back. Weird I know but if you know then you know and you are following me, right? This is why I’m sharing this with you because procrastination is a form of self-sabotage and we can learn to move past it with some easy, time-tested skills that we all possess already.Here are a few things.....