Special daytime meeting on Postpartum Fitness January 30!

If your body has made a baby at some point in your life, there are bound to be repercussions! Come learn what to do about them and how to support your body in a current or future pregnancy at our special January 30 daytime meeting on "Postpartum Healing."

Physical therapist Marisa Alonso of Body Connect Health & Wellness and her business partner Ann Udofia gave a fabulous presentation in November 2013 on the topic of Postpartum Healing. Thanks to our wonderful volunteer, Maria, for putting this special daytime meeting together, Marisa Alonso will be returning to our chapter the morning of Friday, January 30.

Marisa will teach us how to support our bodies during and after pregnancy for optimal health and well-being.

She will explain how issues related to pregnancy can have long-lasting impacts on overall health and on specific issues including digestion and ability to exercise safely and strongly.

This will be a mixture of presentation and hands-on demo. Please come dressed to stretch!

For more info and photos, see our blog post from November 2013. 

The special daytime meeting will be at Shirlington Library, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA on Friday, January 30, 2015. It is scheduled 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

We have the room starting at 10:00, so doors open at 10:15. Arriving early helps ensure you get a parking space in the nearby garage! :-) The meeting may run over a little, but we know some folks will need to leave by noon for preschool pickup, so we hope to start right on time and pack in the 90 minutes!

Children are welcome to attend, but you may want to bring some coloring books or extra toys -- quiet toys only, please -- to supplement what we will have available.

Some topics we hope to cover include:

When and how should you exercise after pregnancy? What should you avoid?
What about kegels?
How do you know when your body is ready to get back to activities like running? When is it better to stick to a bike, to walking, or to an elliptical?
What should we keep in mind when breastfeeding and babywearing to avoid injury and to speed healing?

What are some basics of anatomy that every mom needs to understand about her changed body?
What exactly is fascia, and why should we care?

Included in the presentation will be discussion of:

• pelvic floor dysfunction
• abdominal separation (diastasis recti)
• scar issue (c-section, appendix and others)

as well as:

• posture
• alignment
• strengthening exercises

January Potluck: Celebrating 6 years!

Launched in 2009, the Arlington/Alexandria chapter of Holistic Moms Network is celebrating six years this January. To celebrate, we'll be enjoying a potluck social at our January 15 meeting. Please note the earlier time of 5:30-7:30 p.m. so that the whole family can join. This will be in the activity room at the UUCA, 4444 Arlington Blvd. Arlington, VA 22206.

We request that you bring a healthy labeled dish that can feed your family and 8-10 others. Be sure to leave time to write out a list of ingredients for the safety and convenience of those with food restrictions (and because we all like to know and might want to try to replicate at home!)

Everyone is welcome, whether you're new to our chapter or have been around for a while.

This year's event will not be a big party with exhibitors and silent auction like last year's five-year anniversary party, but, as always, donations of food and giveaways are always welcome!