Transcript:
Welcome to Episode 31; How to Nurture Your Family's Gut Health During the Holidays
Feeding your family is a deep maternal instinct. When you have the awareness of how damaging processed foods are on your child’s gut health and therefore their overall health and happiness, there is no going back. You can’t just turn that awareness off. Even though sometimes in the moment, it seems like it would be so much easier. But we all know in our hearts it wouldn’t be. And plus, we aren’t in motherhood for the ease of it. We are here to lead our family’s with intention.
So how do you participate in holiday gatherings and live in alignment with your desire of fueling your family with only gut nurturing foods? I am going to teach you in today's episode! And, if you are a more visual learner I have created a lovely workbook for you. I will attach it in the show notes for you. Listen and then download the workbook so you can implement everything you learn.
Seven and a half years ago my family and I sold everything we owned to travel full-time. For the holidays we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere with nothing and it was the best year we had ever had. That space allowed me to get in alignment with my maternal instincts and our family values.
Over the years I have incorporated what we have learned from our many years of living on the road to finding our own ways of navigating holidays and social gatherings in a way that align with our hearts and family values.
Instead of dreading the holiday madness I have figured out a way to live in alignment with my personal and family values when it comes to gifts, activities and especially foods. All while enjoying the holiday season more than ever before. This episode is about so much more than the holidays and food though. It is about living in alignment and while we will be focusing on how to nurture your family’s gut during the holidays, all of this can be applied to living in alignment and honoring your family values all year long. I am going to walk you step by step on how to incorporate everything I learned while living on the road into your own life.
First we are going to talk about symptoms of misalignment because it is important for you to be able to pick up on your cue’s before you spiral and get lost. Listening to your mama heart and honoring your intuition is extremely important all the time but especially this time of year. Culturural pressure, family norms and fear sometimes get in your way but it is never too late to realign. The holiday season tends to be a time when we neglect our desires and values but it CAN be a wonderful opportunity to set boundaries and align with our hearts and intuition WHILE enjoying the season even more.
There are four main symptoms that will never fail in letting you know you are not living in alignment with your intuition and values. These are frustration, dread, loneliness and overwhelm.
If you find yourself feeling any of these feelings it is a wonderful opportunity to reflect inward, get clear on what you actually want and ask yourself the right questions.
I know you are here listening to this podcast because you are a very intentionally mama and you are learning what it means to nurture your family’s gut. We are all put in situations where sometimes pressure overtakes our intentions though and we succumb and later regret it really bad but aren’t even clear on how we could have done it differently. The purpose of this episode is to help you avoid this from happening this holiday season. So that come New Years and you feel like one badass leader of your family.
Let’s jump into a scenario we have all been in before. Because honestly, those of us who are mindful about what we feed our family’s are the odd ones. Let’s say you are expected to attend your aunt Betty’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner. You like going because you love gathering with your family but mostly you dread it because you know that all the food there is not what you normally feed your family and you don’t want to deal with the aftermath of meltdowns that are sure to follow all of that processed junk food. The thought of it makes you feel frustrated, lonely and overwhelmed.
It is natural for your brain to follow old patterns so without even realizing it you are already asking yourself questions. “why does it always have to be this way” or “I don’t want to do this but I have no other option, what am I supposed to do”. Instead of being a victim to your mind you can intentionally step in and ask yourself empowering questions. Ones that will help you get back into alignment. These questions might go something like this “how can I change this scenario so that I feel good?” Or “What could I do to make this an enjoyable experience without compromising on my family’s values?”
Do you hear the difference in these questions? The last two questions will challenge your mind to brainstorm ways to make it a positive and aligned experience whereas the first ones didn’t leave any space for you to expand. Those negative questions make the experience worse because they feed the problems without offering space for solutions.
So if you are feeling frustration, dread, loneliness or overwhelm with the holidays what can you do to expand your mind? To participate in the festivities without compromising your desires and values?
I am going to share four ideas with you . . .
- Get clear on your family values. Make a list of your family values. What matters most to you? Is it conforming? Or is it making decisions that feel right in your heart and learning how to stand by those decisions no matter the situation? There is no right or wrong answer. The point of this is to become clear on what matters most to you so you can make decisions from an intentional place. Here are a few of my family's values just to give you an idea . . . "We honor our bodies needs no matter what." "We always support each other." "We honor the animals and the earth." "We honor experiences over things.” If I budge on these I feel misaligned. When I honor these I feel empowered and proud. You will too.
- Don’t be shy or afraid to take your own meals with you to holiday gatherings. Just because you do not want to eat the processed foods that are at your family or friend gatherings does not mean you either have to give in or not attend.
It is okay to take your own meal. People actually LOVE this and are so intrigued to learn what you are bringing and why. It is an opportunity to share your wealth of knowledge. Without judgement you can share that as a family you value wellness over norms.
I always pack our whole meal with us. Plus a lot of extras to share. It simplifies our whole experience. My children menu plan and make the meal with me and are always so excited for the goodness we bring that they don't care at all what other people are eating. They are very aware of why we eat the way we do and they are so proud. They are 100%. NOT missing out. In fact the only way they would be missing out is if we compromised our values to conform to norms. Which leads perfectly into tip 3.
- It is important to choose intention over fear. This isn’t something that happens naturally - you need to purposely make this choice. Intention over fear.
Again, this can be applied to all parts of your life but for this episode we are focusing on food over the holidays. Jump back to our made up Aunt Betty earlier - You know that you don’t want your family to eat all of that junk food so what would it be like if you didn’t? If you participated by showing up but instead of showing up misaligned and being a victim to the foods that are there you brought your own and you showed up perfectly aligned. You chose intention over fear?
Now, I know what you might be thinking . . . because I hear it all the time “I can’t do that - I just want my child to have fun or fit in”. This could be true for holiday gatherings or birthday parties, really any scenario where you make decisions that go against what you know is best.
This statement comes from a place of fear. A fear that if you commit to something that resonates with your heart it would mean your child wouldn’t have fun or fit in.
Instead I invite you to be creative, think outside the box and believe it is 100% possible for your child to have fun AND "fit in" in a way that honors your family values.
When thinking about social or holiday gatherings decide how you want it to be and make it happen. Because mama, it can be EXACTLY how you want!
- Make life your own. It is okay to be different. It is okay to honor your heart. It is okay to create a life of your very own.
You do NOT have to conform to norms. Your best motherhood lies in you embodying the life you want to have. Right now!
Your children are absolutely NOT missing out if you decide to only offer them organic candies. Or even if you decide to give them none at all.
They are so damn lucky because they are learning from you how to honor their hearts and live in alignment. Teach them why you decide not to eat traditional candy. Teach them about high fructose corn syrup and what it does in their body. Teach them where gelatin comes from and ask them if they support that.
Make this life your very own and feel proud of it!
Now I have three tips that I have to share that make all of this easier.
- Visualize. Close your eyes and visualize your dream scenario for whatever occasion is on your mind. How is it going to go, what are you going to bring, how are you going to feel?
- Choose to see everything as an opportunity. Think outside the box on ways an occasion can be fun while honoring all of your values. Every occasion is a new opportunity to have fun AND honor your family values.
- Include your children in every way. Explain to them why you are living the way you are. Let them feel proud of your family values.
Before we wrap up I want to send you off with a quote that you can hold onto dearly as you navigate the holidays and jump into 2023 as the strongest and boldest version of you. "Missing out looks like conforming. Living looks like listening, honoring and choosing heart alignment.”
You’ve got this mama. Decide on what you want to feed your family, find ways to make it exciting for your children, have fun and focus on your vision. You are an aligned and powerful woman and mama!
Happy Thanksgiving! Oh and! To share my gratitude with you, if you are listening to this when it goes live you can enjoy 20% off my shop with the discount code GRATITUDE. This sale is live from today November 21st to the 28th. (well not really. I am not announcing it anywhere else until the 23rd) but as a loyal listener I want to give you an early chance to get all the goodness your family needs or that you want to gift to family and friends for the holidays. My team and I have done our best to stock up for the holidays but I anticipate some supplements will sell out with this sale. So I wanted to let you take advantage of it before anyone else - just in case.
Okay, mama! I'll catch you next week!
