Allison Samon is a Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner helps people to get out of chronic illness, escape from mystery symptoms, and help re-design their lifestyle so they can be fit, energized, and pain free in ways that are easy, fun, and sustainable. Allison struggled with unexplained chronic pain for over 10 years. Her remarkable healing journey became the basis for her programs: Reboot from Chronic Illness and the Chronic Illness Recovery Blueprint. She’s also written an ebook “Detoxing Endocrine Disruptors: Essential Checklist,” and is a featured author in the Amazon International Best Seller: Teach Your Expertise.
Download and listen here or find wherever you get podcasts!
Abbie Halberstadt is a happy wife, homeschooling mama to ten rad kids, bestselling author, blogger, fitness instructor, and reigning family Nertz champion. But most importantly, she’s a Bible-believing Christian who desires to know God and make Him known. She lives by the motto “hard is not the same thing as bad” and loves encouraging women to dig deep in the everyday trials of motherhood for the treasures of joy and growth that are there in abundance if we’re only willing to look. She, her husband Shaun, and their double handful of children live in the Piney Woods of East Texas. She is the author of M Is For Mama and the upcoming release, Hard Is Not the Same Thing As Bad.
In this discussion, Erin picks Abbie’s brain about motherhood misconceptions and how to make choices as a mom that put you on a path beyond survival mode. Download here or find wherever you get podcasts.
My grandma was never told “I love you” growing up.
She eloped with her childhood sweetheart when she turned 18, then struggled with infertility for years before she had a procedure done that allowed her to give birth to my uncle, then my mom. She wasn’t a perfect mom, but she began to break the chain. I never once doubted how much she loved me. She told me and she showed me. I miss her.
My other grandma was a mother before she wanted to be. She was the caretaker for her siblings, devoted to them to the point that she put her own dreams on hold. She gave birth in a twilight sleep, and wasn’t “allowed” to comfort her sons when they cried (according to her, that wasn’t how things were done). She wasn’t perfect, but she did the best she could and offered the gift of laughter and joy, especially to her grandkids.
My mom married young and mothered 3 kids under 2. She was always present. She taught me that it’s okay to cry and feel. It’s okay to be anxious, it’s even okay to be depressed. It’s okay to feel big feelings and not know what to do about them. It’s okay to not perform and fit the mold you are expected to fit. It’s okay to be a little inappropriate at times, because that’s just keeping it real.
My other mom by marriage sacrificed the freedom of her youth to give birth to her son. She blazed a trail bravely, choosing single motherhood as a teenager, despite advice of others advocating for the alternative.
I never anticipated to be ushered into motherhood and adulthood at the same time. It wasn’t how I planned it. I’ve never lived alone. I don’t remember what it’s like to not be “on call.” Showering or going to the bathroom in peace is always a luxury. But my road was paved by strong women who overcame generational bondage and trauma. They did hard things, made choices (some good, some bad), but they laid out the bricks to walk a better journey than the ones who came before them.
As mothers, we break chains. We build upon what went before us… all the good, bad, and really bad. We change patterns. But mostly, we learn as we go. We make mistakes, and we ask for forgiveness. We strive to do better.
I am who I am because of the ones who came before me. I am grateful for my time with the mothers no longer here on this earth and for every spare second I can get with the ones who are. I hope to continue to break chains and build upon their foundation of strength, love, grace, and hope.
With everything going on in the world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I recently sat down with my friend, fellow health coach, Melissa McGaughey, and we discussed how to simplify our daily needs into just THREE things we are focusing on for our continued health.
But we didn’t just stop with us and our needs. We expanded the conversation to include the top three things that our kids need every day. You can listen to the entire episode here.
Key topics include:
Our favorite easy ways to include more whole foods into our daily diet
Why sunshine is the best way to “charge your battery”
The types of exercise we’re loving right now
Sleep hygiene and why it’s time to find some blue light blocking glasses
The importance of meditation and intentional breathing
Mindset and gratitude and the impact it makes on our whole body health
No matter where you are in your health journey, this episode will help inspire you to keep going and incorporate tiny habits to make a big impact.
I don’t have to remind anyone that the last few weeks of this pandemic and period of social distance have been unlike anything experienced or seen in our lifetime. My work schedule has been interrupted, my husband’s work schedule has been interrupted, our social life has disappeared, and my kids are completely thrown off. Field trips were cancelled, basketball season has been delayed, and school went online until…when? Do we even know? Dates spin in and out of my head, fighting for the return of normalcy. Is it April 9th? 21st? Or do we wait for the 30th to resume prior activities? I can’t even keep track.
This kind of disruption and uncertainty is difficult for me. Change of all kind is hard for me, especially as one who fights to stay mentally stable. I get the opportunity to verbalize that, share about it with my friends (via phone or text only, of course), and have long discussions with my husband.
My kids, however, don’t know how to express their fear or anxiety as well. For them, it comes out in misbehavior, aggression, moodiness, hyperactivity, tearfulness, or even closed off apathy. That is developmentally understandable. As their prefrontal cortexes are still developing, it is difficult for them to access emotions or positive decision-making when they are in fight or flight mode. A stressful trigger, like being told they can no longer see their friends or go to school, is going to take a toll on their bodies. Stress hormones get ramped up, contributing to more fear and anxiety that is difficult to process. Chronic stress can also affect the immune system and its function.
This is true for adults as well. Even though we have the luxury of developed brains, it is still difficult to access our frontal lobe and respond appropriately to hardship when we are faced with extreme stressors.
My brilliant dad, Gary Brandenburg, recently said that in a sermon. It hit me so hard I had to do some major self-reflection.
I am a person who always wants more. This started at a young age:
Why have one Whopper when you can have two?
Why have one doughnut when you can have eight?
Why join one sport when you can play them all?
Why audition for just the school play when you can audition for the community theatre play, too?
Why volunteer in just one church ministry when you can volunteer in multiple?
But it doesn’t stop there. I don’t want to simply DO everything, I want to EXCEL at everything. So I can not only have more activity and excitement, but I can have more accolades and achievement.
I know I’m not the only one. I think our current culture drives this mindset through all the pleasant distractions that trick us into fulfillment.
The result? This “myth of more” causes major boundary issues, and it is completely unrealistic.
When I am consumed by the myth of more, I say yes to too much. I overdo it. I crash. I let myself down. I let others down – typically, the ones who matter most to me.
I can’t do everything and do every thing well.
When I’m rushing to find satisfaction from achievement or excess or MORE, I can’t be present. I can’t be satisfied.
This Thanksgiving week, I have purposefully taken a week off from my usual schedule to meditate daily, enjoy good meals, have fun with my family, read fiction instead of non-fiction health books, spend quality time with my husband, and just BE. When I catch my mind spinning on things I “have to” or “need to” do – usually those things driven by a need to find fulfillment in distraction – I stop my thoughts, take a deep breath through my nose, and tell myself, “This week I am resting. That can wait.”
It is a beautiful thing. I always find contentment when I choose to be present and grateful.
So wherever you are reading this, take a deep breath, hold it, let it out slowly, and tell yourself that you already have everything you need, right in front of you!
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:19
