Live coaching excerpt from the Optimize Coach program (recorded Sep 27, 2021) where coach Carrie Contey advises a parent on creating space for self-care when children demand attention. Key recommendations include using micro-workouts (e.g., a few burpees), 'meet and move'—connect briefly before stepping away, and integrating children into play-oriented exercise (rebounding, animal movement, laughing yoga) as a creative solution.
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The content you're about to hear was captured during a live coaching session in the Optimize Coach program. Multiple times every month. Coaches connect live with Brian, Michael, Alexandra and members of our world class luminary guest faculty for wisdom, guidance and encouragement. For more head to optimize Me coach.
Let'S say you do I need to go outside. Like for me sometimes I want to go work out and my kids don't want me to go work out. So then I have them screaming at me while I'm trying to work out and then I just, I'm sorry, this is what I need to do. So then I have like, you know, one kid like on me. You know, this is navigating it. Sometimes when your kids don't exactly want you to take care, I mean they want you to in the big picture but they in the moment they may not want that.
Right? And then. So that's a good question. I mean, I think you're getting to the point. I mean I think some of that's age, you know, I think that a 4 year old especially, my guess is an 8 year old can tolerate stepping away. I think, you know, being four is just messy and you are pushing and pulling a lot. You know, it's like get away, I'm me and I need to do me. But you, you're four and your body can't do all the things and so emotionally. So you know, maybe, maybe the experiment is okay, knowing I need to go do my essential, I need to do the thing and maybe having a micro version. So doing a couple burpees before you even get into your workout so that you've given yourself a little something and then maybe there is, you know, I call it meet and move. Like if you know that you, if you know that when you say I'm going to go do my thing, that's the minute they need you, which is often the key, right?
Totally.
How can you like do a little something for yourself then connect? And when somebody is in their human brain, they can tolerate you going off, but if they're more vulnerable and they're slipping into more of a mammalian state, it's eye to eye, skin to skin, heart to heart. And maybe having that like, maybe, maybe the inner knowing is I'm going to get this, I just have to connect before I disconnect. It's not going to work every time. But things that it's like when you're in it, it's hard to get the perspective to remember because you're like, if you just give me these 10 minutes, I'm going to be a way better mom to you. And they're like, we still need the little bit of connection before. I mean, again, if you're at the point where you're bubbling over, it's almost inevitable they're reading your emotional state. If they sense you needing to get away, that sends off an alarm. And then they're like, no, we need to stay. And so again, it comes to that self awareness. Yeah, yeah.
Yes.
You're.
That was perfectly said. Yes noted. I know the other day I had, I wanted to work out, they didn't want to. Emerson didn't want me to work out, Eleanor didn't. And then I just said, let's just rebound for a little bit. So we were rebounding and I was playing with this. This made me think of just like playfulness. And I know you talk about this. I was like, okay, I have an idea of what I want to do. I'm like, I just need to reevaluate this. My, my essential is I want to work out. Does it matter what I do? So we are rebounding. And then it turned into like this whole animal movement. And then it actually worked out really great. At the end we started working on like we did laughing yoga and then we were doing angry monsters. I was like working on getting all these emotions out. For me, it was great. Ended up like literally a 45 minute epic workout. So for me, you just sharing that is. We just need to be a little bit more creative and a little bit more expressive, expansive sometimes in getting our needs met.
Yes. Which will not always happen. But I think what you did was perfect. And then maybe you tell them like, ok, I am your client, you are my workout coach. Tell me what to do. Turns into some fun, hilarious thing like it did.
We hope you enjoyed that. Part of a live coaching session from the Optimize Coach program. For more info, head to Optimize Me coach.
