Author: Dr. Diane Sanford

Psychologist Dr. Diane Sanford has been passionate about helping women improve their health and lead happier lives since counseling her first postpartum mom 25 years ago. She has re-focused her efforts on mind/body health, which is a part of greater Self-Care.

Press Release: Our Thanksgiving Gift to You

Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Press Release

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to express gratitude for what you are thankful for. While this tradition often gets buried beneath mounds of stuffing and mashed potatoes, Ann and I believe it’s an important practice to remember. So, we want to thank all of you for LIVING Self-Care with us and sharing your comments and lives. As our Thanksgiving gift to you, here’s a holiday song to enjoy with your pumpkin pie.

Please share it with all the moms you know to express your gratitude for them. And for other songbirds out there, send us or upload in the comments a video of you singing along, and we’ll put it up. Or if you have other original songs redone to holiday favorites, send us or upload in the comments a video of that. Who knows? It could be your ticket to fame (lol).

No Time for Exercise? How Moms Are Making It

Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized
Today's Real Mom Author, Becky from CafeMom

As a mom, I know first-hand that time for exercise is one of the hardest aspects of self-care. Between caring for our children, working, and keeping up with family, friends, and the house, moms find it’s close to impossible to find time to stay in shape. I’m often inspired by the moms in CafeMom’s Healthy Weight Loss group, who find unique ways to fit exercise into busy lives. These moms aren’t just sneaking off to the gym; they’re teaching their kids to make exercise part of their lives, too. We have moms doing Zumba in their living rooms with their kids, moms in our Running Moms group taking their kids out for a run in their jogging strollers, and moms using technology to support each other and keep each other motivated.

It’s clear to me that many moms on CafeMom are committed to more than just losing their baby bumps; they’re truly embracing exercise and healthy living because they know that being fit and active will make them better parents. Personally, I jog regularly with my son, take swimming classes with him at a local pool, and chase him on the playground. He’s an extremely active toddler and gives me a better workout than I could get at a gym!

CafeMom has great support groups for moms interested in weight loss or healthy lifestyles. Check out Healthy Moms and Healthy Weight Loss to learn more.
–Becky from CafeMom

Your post here!

Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

On Wednesdays, we feature posts from guest bloggers. One of our Challenge Champions will be featured here tomorrow, Thursday, and we apologize for getting off schedule. We’re human, too!

Meanwhile, just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that this opportunity is available, as we love to hear from the real women who are LIVING self-care with us. If you’d like to be featured on a future Wednesday, please email Diane at realmomexperts{at}gmail.com.

Have a great day, make sure to write down (or make a mental list) of all today’s accomplishments, and see you tomorrow for this week’s featured guest.

The breath of life

Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

Today’s post is by Lauren Hale.

As you read this I want you to focus on the absolute most basic function of life. You are doing it right now.

Breathing.

Notice how your chest rises and falls, your stomach moves up and down, the air in and out of your nose and mouth. If it is cold, you may even be able to see your breath today. When we take time to be aware of our actions, even the most basic, we tune with what is going on within ourselves and around us as well.

When we are panicked, our breathing is shallow and quick. When calm, it is slow, deep, and rhythmic. Breathing is one of the quickest ways we can change our moods. When my day gets to me, I go to a quiet place and just breathe in and out. This resets my mindset and heads me in a different direction.

Real woman Lauren of My Postpartum Voice

At My Postpartum Voice, I started blogging in order to re-frame an unexpected pregnancy after two episodes of Postpartum OCD. Through my journey, I learned a lot, including how to take a time out for myself. As mothers, we do not have to sacrifice ourselves for our children. We matter too. Motherhood is something we add to our sense of self, not something which must overcome our sense of self. We must take care of ourselves so that we can then take care of our families.

Start today with a deep, relaxing breath. I am.

Stress Getting the Best of You? Just Breathe

Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

When first introduced to breathing as a relaxation technique, we wonder how something so simple can work.  My favorite story about “breathing” was finding my 10 year-old daughter playing the deep breathing/relaxation CD I’d made to a friend who was spending the night  and having trouble sleeping.  She said, “Just listen–you’ll feel better.”  Fifteen minutes later, they were both asleep.

Deep breathing works so well because we spend so much time physically  and emotionally stressed.  Psychologist Alice Domar states that the average US adult experiences the fight or flight response 50 times daily.  While adaptive for cave-dwelling ancestors running from saber-toothed tigers, the flood of stress chemicals through our bodies makes us edgy, irritable, and more vulnerable to physical and emotional health problems.  Likewise, it results in short, shallow breathing which fuels rather than diminishes the stress response.

The busier we are, the truer this is, especially for moms with small children who already feel physically and emotionally depleted.  The more rundown we are, the more likely the fight-flight response is to trigger.  Research has shown that five minutes of deep breathing several times a day leads to lower stress hormones by day’s end.  Why wait?  If we can delay bedtime to pick up the house, certainly we can take 5 minutes, 3 times a day, to improve our physical and emotional well-being.  Although it may feel strange at first to be still and breathe deeply, it feels good.

This week’s mantra: “I always have my breath to destress.”

Read more.

Call for a Self-Care Revolution

Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

Self-care should be a revolution – it’s an idea so basic that many people, especially women don’t even think to take the time or make an effort to be a “cult of one,” to take care of themselves first.

Real woman author of today's post, Mollee Bauer of pregnancy.org

That’s where this self-care challenge comes in.  Day one’s challenge of chanting the mantra, “Taking care of me benefits others I love,” sounds simple and it should be in theory. But we tend to clutter our lives with complications and excuses.

I take this mantra to heart lately. I can’t do anything if I spend all my time catering to others. Doing so would affect my business and personal life. By meditating, exercising and eating right, I know that I am on my way to being the best I can be at any given moment. I make sure I take care of myself and fuel my engine.

Making self-care a part of my daily life ensures that I am ready to take on any challenge that I need to deal with. Each tip is a valuable pearl of wisdom that allows me to pamper and take care of myself in ways I never thought of.

At Pregnancy.org, we’re in a similar business. We give women the tools they need to not only empower themselves, to feel safe and secure but also advice on how to take care of themselves, pamper themselves, check in with themselves to make sure they have the tools necessary to meet each of their challenges along the way.

The Shape of LIVING Self-Care to Come

Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

Though the initial 21 day self-care challenge has wrapped up, LIVING self-care is regrouping to inspire you to carry on. Here’s the blueprint:

  • Each Monday, we’ll review a daily tip and discuss ways for you to apply it through the week, day by day.
  • Each Wednesday, we’ll inspire you with words from a  “Challenge Champion,” acquainting you with some of the resources who offer incredible support and information for real women like you.
  • Each Friday, we’ll strive to make you laugh, reinforcing humor as a cornerstone of wellness.
  • Each weekend, we’ll take time off, while we practice self-care ourselves!
  • In between, we’d love to hear from you, with a goal of sharing your successes and dilemmas.

Bit by bit, fifteen minutes at a time, you can build a lasting habit of self-care. To request a PDF of ALL the tips in this first challenge, email ann{at}realmomexperts.com.

Real woman Allison

Be inspired by these testimonials from real women on some of the Challenge Champion sites:

  • Thanks for this challenge!  I sure did learn alot… and now have better ways to cope with the day-to-day.
  • Done.  Great challenge!  I learned a lot, and I WILL remember to take care of myself, too.  🙂
  • Thank you for this challenge! I am going to try to keep myself near the top of my priority list.
  • If only for a moment at a time self care forced me to think of myself in a positive way. Thank You for caring.
  • Thanks–this was fun!
  • Thanks for the inspiration!

    • Gratitude to You

    Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

    I know that gratitude was yesterday’s tip, but I feel it’s the one I need to practice today.  I am thankful to each of you for pursuing this journey with us, and hopefully continuing on.  Ann and I have gained from your comments and participation, and perhaps without knowing it, you have deepened our commitment to LIVING Self-Care for ourselves and our loved ones.

    It’s been humbling to see that although we KNOW how important it is to practice daily, we stumbled and regained our footing several times.  And honestly, that’s how life is.  “We fall and get up, fall and get up, fall and get up again.”  Thanks to all of you for being there when we fell with your comments and experiences which inspired us to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and carry on.

    Please stay with us as we make LIVING Self-Care a reality in your lives and ours.  Together, we can support and encourage each other, one moment, one day at a time.

    Thanks again.  Warmly, Diane and Ann

    We’re Here to Stay

    Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

    It’s Sunday night and in the blogging universe, the week has begun. Time to get back online and see what’s happening. In case you haven’t heard, LIVING Self-Care is here to stay. We know it’s been challenging to keep up with daily tips for almost three weeks now so we’re going to slow it down. After the 21-Day Challenge officially ends this Tuesday, we’ll still be LIVING Self-Care and hope you will too. We’ll have more later this week about our plans and would love to hear from you about changes you’d like to see to make our blog more helpful and fun.

    In the meantime, we’re trying to get 200 subscribers by Tuesday midnight so make certain to tell all the women you know to sign up. If you aren’t already LIVING Self-Care, we’re offering a free download of the 21-Day Self-Care Challenge when you join. Then each week we’ll give away a copy of our new book, Life Will Never Be the Same: The Real Mom’s Postpartum Survival with our clinically proven self-care program for moms. You can preview it at http://www.realmomexperts.com. While its great for post-birth moms, we’ve had many moms and women tell us that reading our book been good for them too.

    We’re excited about our plans and continuing to support and encourage each other on this journey.   Together we can make self-care a lifetime habit, one moment, one day at a time.

    You Haven’t Missed The Self-Care Challenge

    Posted on by Dr. Diane Sanford in Uncategorized

    Just letting everyone know that although the 21-Day Challenge ends on the 26th, LIVING Self-Care will keep going.  Each week we’ll take a tip from the 21-Day challenge and spend the week blogging about it with tips, comments, articles, links, and videos.  Everything we can think of to help you succeed at making self-care part of your daily routine.

    Several bloggers who’ve just joined are under the impression that the challenge will be over soon, but honestly we’re just beginning.  We’ve discovered these last couple of weeks that many of you made a great start but keeping it up for 21 days was too high a goal.  Don’t be discouraged.  Changing habits involves ups and downs, gains and losses.

    So, we’ll be here for the long haul while we practice right along side you.  We welcome your comments and wisdom as together we build a community of women and moms to help support each other to lead healthier, more balanced lives.  Stick with us and we’ll stick with you.  Remember, making self-care part of your daily routine is a marathon not a sprint.  We can do it!