​

Hey Reader,

Before I had kids, making time to move my body was relatively easy. It helps that I don’t work a traditional 9-5 job and before kids, I didn’t either.

But setting that aside, I could decide to go to a yoga class an hour or 2 before it started, without having to negotiate childcare with my partner.

I could go for a run at 7am and not have to worry about making anyone’s breakfast except my own.

When I had kids, all of that changed. My time was no longer my own and if I wanted to move my body, I had to integrate it into my life.

It didn’t go so well for me at first. This was mostly due to the fact that my first baby was unpredictable and never napped, except when she was on my body.

So for the first full year of motherhood, I found myself trying to squeeze in movement whenever I had a break. This sometimes meant I didn’t move my body until 10pm, which was awful.

Eventually I realized that I had to treat my own movement practice like I treated the classes I was paid to teach at studios.

I had to set aside time everyday and behave as though someone was paying me to be there. It was dedicated time on my schedule, pretty much the same time everyday.

That’s how I finally got my movement practice back postpartum.

This leads me to my Movement Snack this week.

Movement Snack this week:

I asked my students in my online studio, how they managed to make time for movement. I was especially interested in what certain students said — the ones who faithfully show up every Monday/Wednesday/Friday for classes or every Tuesday/Thursday or even those who attend a mix of those days.

How do they do it?

Several folks responded with variations of this: "Schedule the time the way you would any meeting or appointment."

I also love this one:

"Block time in your daily calendar to commit to your practice."

That one speaks to something really tricky. You can put something on your schedule, but committing to it is the hard part. It’s really easy to “blow yourself off” for something “more important.”

It’s easy to see that block of time you’ve set aside for yourself, whether to attend a class online or in person or simply to move on your own and think, “well, it’s not that essential. I’ll just schedule the doctor’s appointment then instead of later in the day."

And while yes, some things are unavoidable — if you always treat that time as unimportant as opposed to sacred time that you always hold for yourself, you’re sending yourself the message that YOU are not important. Your own time and needs are not valuable.

Recognizing that your time and your needs are valuable is an important step in making sure you have space in your schedule to move — whether it’s a weekly class you attend or quick daily movement for yourself.

Need help with getting in the mat? I have 2 ways you can MOVE with me, daily or weekly online:

⭐️ If you’re looking to get moving more and want some community connection, as well as accountability, you can join my online studio MOVE with Naomi. I teach live classes Monday through Friday, plus an online archive with over 800 classes!

⭐️ If you want to get moving with me once a week, join me for a drop-in class on Wednesdays. Sign up here to get on that list. It's a sliding scale donation starting at $5, so you can pay what works best for you.

Question of the week:

What is something on your calendar — daily or weekly — that you always have blocked in and almost never schedule something else during that time?

P.S. If you answer me by responding to this email, I’ll share mine with you!

I look forward to hearing about your schedule non-negotiables and hopefully seeing you on the mat soon, too!

Warmly,

Naomi

Want to stay in touch during the week? Here are a 2 easy ways:

​Follow me on Bluesky, where I share daily movement practices as acts of resistance, connection, and strength.

​Follow me on substack, where I write about the intersection of movement, motherhood, and the culture that we are all moving through. Or better yet, subscribe so you have immediate access to regular essays, including my most recent essay titled, “Being a Parent is Not a Political Get Out of Jail Free Card."

It would also personally mean a lot to me if you supported my work on substack. I lost 2 paid subscribers in 48hrs and several free subscribers in response to my most recent essay. 2 paid subscribers might not seem like a lot, but I was inching closer to a small goal and now I’m even further away. If you value the work of writers, please support it when and where you can. $50/year for weekly essays breaks down to less than $1 per week. If reading about the intersection of motherhood and movement through the lens of the culture we’re all moving through is interesting to you, head over to my substack and subscribe if you’re not subscribed.