Sorry not sorry, but what you look like actually kind of matters. Hear me out.

Let’s say you had a baby 4 years ago. You had a little tummy before, but then after that baby, you officially have A Tummy.

2 years later, you have another baby. That tummy’s not going anywhere.

You’re about to give birth again, and you already know how this story ends:

Mommy. Tummy.

And while you don’t like it, you’ve just kind of come to accept that it’s here to stay.

Because that’s the sacrifice we make for our kids, right?

WRONG.

I’m not saying having a tummy is bad. And there could be so many reasons for that extra layer of warmth around your middle.

If you’re like me, you’re eating more mac and cheese and Teddy Grahams than ever in your life.

Working out is a lot more “fit it in when I can” than “my outlet and designated ME TIME.”

So putting on a few extra pounds makes sense.

But are you also ignoring that stubborn low back pain that’s been around for…4 years at this point?

Or what about the fact that even when you do do your core workouts, it’s like nothing changes? What is even the point?!

Let me let you in on a little secret. That “mommy tummy” that you’ve been trying not to think about might actually be a sign of something happening inside your body.

And it’s something we can work together to fix.

(Yes, fix, because it is a problem. How you look is not necessarily a problem, but how you look might be cluing us in to a problem happening beneath the surface. See what I’m saying?)

You deserve more than just resigning yourself to this new “mom bod.”

You deserve more than a body that doesn’t work optimally.

You deserve more than thinking part of the sacrifice of motherhood is hating how you look.

Want to know some first steps for working on all of this? Well, it all starts with the pelvic floor, and then once you've got that down (inhale, release; exhale, contract; etc etc etc), think of that pelvic floor contraction zipping all the way up toward your belly button.

If you're pregnant, get in hands and knees and exhale as you use your belly muscles to "hug" your baby in toward your spine.

If you're not pregnant, sit upright and exhale as you imagine crunching your ribcage down toward your hips (but still stay upright!).

Part 2 of the Mama Core workshop goes more in detail on all of this AND includes a yoga class to put all this into practice. Check it out here!