Member Spotlight - Jessica Towery
New mom (again) and active member Jessica Towery shares her story of balancing her family and full time yoga practice
Remember when you’re in an iHeartYoga sculpt or barre class and your neighbor is about to keel over from exhaustion and pain after a million ballerina squats? Well try being a mom and all those flutter kicks seem like a walk in the park! When Jessica isn’t chasing her kids around the beach, she’s often sweating it out at iHeartYoga. Check our her story!
@raisinglittletowerys
On June 5th, 2017, my beautiful baby girl was born and I became a mother. On June 20th, 2019 I was blessed again and gave birth to our beautiful baby boy.
Motherhood is and has been an amazing journey and it has brought so much joy and purpose to my life. I feel SO blessed to be able to stay at home with my children and raise them, but motherhood is also the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Motherhood has brought on anxiety, exhaustion and depression and some days I wonder if I’m fit to be in this role I chose to be as a mother. I don’t always feel these feelings, but most days, babies are challenging and it’s ok not to find joy in motherhood every single day.
Having two babies in two years, I’ve learned how important self-care is... both physically and mentally. I’m reminded that it’s ok to take time away from my babies to work on myself and in fact, it makes me a better mother.
Part of my weekly self-care routine is taking 2-3 yoga/barre classes at the iHeartYoga Studio in Dana Point Harbor. I’ve been doing yoga for 6 years and barre for 3 years and they have been a part of my daily/weekly routine. I took classes during both pregnancies and I truly believe they helped prepare me mentally and physically through labor and giving birth. Now that my babies are 2.5 years old and 6 months old, I take classes to help with my mental mindset in parenting a toddler and an infant and to help heal my body after giving birth.
Having two babies in two years, I’ve learned how important self-care is...both physically and mentally
I’m sharing with you my journey, so far, in motherhood in hopes that other mother’s out there don’t feel alone in this journey. I’ve been that struggling mother…drowning in anxiety and depression yet overjoyed by the miracles I was blessed with. I’ve been that mother struggling to find an identity outside of her kids. I’ve been that mother that struggles to find time to shower or even eat.
I am now that mother that has decided that my mental and physical health is important too. Yoga has changed my mindset. It has healed me physically and mentally which is why it is important for me to find time to take care of myself.
I feel so grateful to be a part of the iHeartYoga Community and the other mothers it has connected me with. As you may know, it takes a village and I love my tribe.
