Edmonton Women's Show Giveaway

This weekend is the Edmonton Woman's Show and I have a 4 pack of tickets to giveaway!

This year they are focusing a bit more on self care, and well if you follow my Instagram or any of my Self Care Sunday posts, you know that's my jam!

They have some interesting demos like Qigong, therapy workshops and FREE massages!!! 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE celebrating us as women so enter to win a 4 pack of tickets to take your friends for some connection time. Enter below by sharing your favourite way to connect with your friends!

Extra entries on my Instagram and Facebook page!

Love, 

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

The Lonely Mother

As Mothers we say all the time that we are never alone. We can't pee without children knocking on the door or rest on the couch without someone needing something from us. We forever seem to have other humans calling to us or crawling all over us. We can't catch any time to ourselves.

We crave to be alone. The moment we are alone however, we realize how lonely we are. How is it that we are always surrounded by other people and constantly in conversation and busy, but so lonely all the time? How can we stand in a room full or friends or coworkers and be so isolated?

Because what I think it is that we really crave is the honest human connection with another person about things of our interests. We don't NEED girls nights outs because we necessarily need to "let loose" (although that can certainly sometimes help), but because we want to talk to other adults about stuff we are actually interested in. 

We talk about potty training, our children's education, work and our spouses daily to other people. But poop and work life isn't that human connection we crave and need. Ever notice some of the best conversations you've had with someone randomly happen? Like you stop by for coffee and then a whole night has passed and it's 2 a.m? Those conversations that somehow feed some part of you we forget about. These conversations are the ones that help us feel connected to others. 

So how do we create this connection? It can be difficult in our busy lives, but connecting with people is a two way street. I am guilty of assuming maybe should just check on me. Assuming they aren't busy doing their own thing apparently! Reach out. Pick up the phone and ask for a coffee date. Rally some girls (or even just one) and head out for a drink. Try a paint night or a sign making class. 

How do you seek the connection?

Love, 

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

Wear The D@mn Bathing Suit Anyways

I am a straight up advocate for all things loving yourself. Last night I even had the pleasure of speaking at the Xtend Barre screening of the Embrace movie. Which is a powerful movie about loving and embracing the body you have. I, along with my friend Kaye are also screening this movie in June!

Anyways. I preach and practice self love. Key word PRACTICE. I'll get to that point in a moment though. But as a self love advocate, I have my moments of not loving myself so much. 

Last week was Spring Break and on the Monday I decided to take my kids to the mall Waterpark. (Don't do that by the way. Spring break I mean). That morning I had a total melt down. I put on my bathing suit and just couldn't handle it. 

I admit it. I couldn't. I'm human. 

BUT I wasn't going to let it stop me from making memories with my kids. 

So after teaching that morning we headed to the Waterpark. I put on my bathing suit and had a moment in the change room. BUT. BUT then I said to myself. 

"You are going to wear that damn bathing suit anyways. You have two choices. You can hate every moment and try to cover and scower, OR you can rock the shit out of it."

I chose to hold my head in high regard and walk out there like Queen Bee herself.

In reality, we are going to go to the event, head to the beach, or whatever else it is anyways, so we may as well just love ourselves and keep going. Own our bodies like we actually love them. 

Back to my point on the practice of self love though. So I head out and I have my head held high. Minutes later I maybe see someone that has a body I don't. I go to my "negative place". But I take a moment (and a breath) and realize I'm still the EXACT SAME person and body I was 5 minutes ago when I loved myself. I can CHOOSE to love myself still. This process happened maybe 20 times that day. It's a PRACTICE. A practice to CHOOSE to love ourselves. 

I can CHOOSE to feel defeated or I can choose LOVE. 

Let me tell you a little secret. Love feels WAAAAAAY better. 

And you know what ladies? Each time we do this we are basically super heros saving the world. Each time we choose to love ourselves and express it in the world, we send that message out. We can feel it from each other. Encourage each other to love ourselves, in turn helping more women enjoy their bodies. The more "real" bodies we see and women loving them it send that message to other women telling them to EMBRACE theirs! Then it catches like WILDFIRE and the world changes.

YOU CAN BE A SUPER HERO!

Just WEAR THE DAMN BATHING SUIT ANYWAYS. 

As my mom's friend gave her the advice. Choose the memory you want your child to have. Of you watching them play in the water or of you playing with them.

Love, 

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

The Secret Spot You Want To Know - A Dose Of Nature In The City

Spring has arrived and we are all wanting to get outside. It's too early for sports and splash parks, so what do we do?

There is something to be said for connecting with nature. There is even THIS blog post telling us there is certain bacteria in the dirt that makes us happier! Fresh air, birds chirping and some quality family time. 

I take my girls to this secret spot a lot and every time I post videos and pictures of us feeding the birds everyone wonder where we are. The secret? Smack in the middle of Edmonton. Whitemud Ravine Park. It starts just off Fox Drive but we take the Snow Valley Exit down to the first parking lot. Walk a few feet into the trees and the birds are chirping. Squirrels are following you. It's basically like you're Snow White. 

The birds are so used to people coming and going and feeding them, you find a spot where they are chirping and hold out your hands with seeds and they come within minutes. My 6 year old is the official Snow White of our family, with in one 15 minute span over 20 times birds feeding from her hands. 

You can buy birds seed at a local hardware store. Look for ones with black sunflower seeds in them. They seem to be the favourite. And if you walk far enough (maybe 10 minutes) there is a look out you can sit down at and feed the birds, or if you bring shelled peanuts (be careful if you have allergies) the squirrels come right up and eat them!

So get outside this spring and go for a stroll. Walking is known to help reduce stress and doing it in nature is just that much better. 

Love, 

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

Authentically Healing You Rollerball Giveaway

I LOOOOOVE aromatherapy. But sometimes burning incense or diffusing oils isn't always practical in everyday life. Like when I'm driving in the car or running errands and so on. I'm not always home! 

I came across Authentically Healing you and couldn't wait to get my hands on one of these rollerballs! And now I have one I'm obsessed. I carry it in my bag with me all the time (luckily it's small and fits in a purse or diaper bag). 

When I'm feeling a little wound up or sometimes before I teach I put the Balancing and calming blend on my wrists and behind my ears. I take a deep breath and carry on calmly. 

I love how sweet these rollerballs look and that the container is see through so you can see all the gorgeous ingredients inside

Want to win one of these rollerballs for yourself? Comment below telling me when and where you need this in your life! Then checkout Instagram and Facebook for extra entries!

Contest closes March 17th 2017 11:59pm. 

Love, 

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

The Art Of Slowing Down

This post has been a long time coming. Since I graduated from yoga teacher training I've been reading more and more about basically doing less and it meaning more. A big epiphany hit me about a year and a half ago when I was attending a restorative yoga teacher training. We had discussions about the science behind relaxing the body and what it does to our physical and mental states. Legitimately you can increase your sex drive and loose weight just by relaxing! 

I've got your attention now don't I?

Of course it's not as simple as just relaxing once and miraculously you loose 5lbs or want to jump on your partner, but allowing the body to come out of it's high stressed out state and turn off the "mama bear on attack" hormones let's our bodies restore. Come back to a place of resting, digesting our food and pleasure. If you want more info about these things I highly recommend you read/learn basically anything from Michele Theoret from Empowered Yoga.

Since this training I have been on a mission to help share self care. Taking care of yourself actually and truly is not a luxury. Taking care of yourself is bringing you into the "restore" mode. A time for your body to recharge of course, but if you followed along on my Self Care Sunday blog posts for a while, a theme I often had was that you put your phone away. Rest your mind. Because as I said in the Simple Bath post, are you really feeling relaxed in the bathtub as you scroll Facebook? (Especially when that one irritating friend is on a status update rampage).

I say something in my yoga classes all the time too. After we put in some work and some stretching I like to almost always end in a lying twist of some sort where I cue "and move your arms and legs in any way that is comfortable and relax the muscles". Like really relax the body physically. Basically no effort given. Because we are super amazing at multi tasking and doing all the things and being busy, but we SUCK at relaxing and slowing down.

I wont even exclude myself from this. I am totally a hyopcrite a bit here. I am the master of doing all the things and so busy I sometimes feel as if I have missed days or weeks in time. I'm working on it. And that's exactly it. We don't have to be perfect at it or rigidly follow a schedule. We just have to be mindful. Mindful that we have made ourselves so busy that we aren't even relaxing. 

I am a week and a half post surgery and have basically been home most of the time. I thought I would be going crazy from boredom, but in reality? I've slowed down enough to enjoy things. I've slowed down enough to enjoy the moment of laughter with my kids. I've slowed down enough to evaluate the things I do that make me so busy. 

Sit for a moment. Think about everything that has lead you up to this moment today. All your errands or tasks. Pick out the moments that have you brought you joy. Not something you are "working on" in order to get you to joy. By this I mean, you worked an extra couple hours so you could make more money to buy more things that bring you joy. Not that. That's a false idea of joy I think. What had happened in your day where you felt true joy?

THAT is the art of slowing down. Finding those smaller moments of joy sprinkled throughout your day. Isn't that what we are after anyways? Feeling good. Feeling the joy? 

I recently read the book "Mindfulness" by Gil Hasson where it talks about of course we need goals. Things we are working toward are not bad things at all. Gil says "But for longer term goals, the emphasis is not on where you will arrive at, it's on what happens and what you experience along the way. The emphasis is more on the experience rather than the result."

Lightbulb! Slowing down, taking note of whats happening in the current moment IS the joy. 

I work to make money. I make money to pay bills and buy things. I buy things I enjoy. I enjoy these things because they bring me joy. Brief joy or maybe it's prolonged, but none the less seeking joy. But what if in the process or working, making money and buying we are miserable? WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT?!?!?

Slow down, evaluate and be mindful of what we are doing and if it's filling the "doing" side of the column or the "enjoying".

Again, I'm a hyopcrite a bit here and great at being buys, but about to go back into my regular schedule after time off for my surgery, I'm taking a really good look at what the hell it is I am adding back in. Is this important to me? Does it bring me joy? 

Easier said then done I feel, hence the word "art". The ART of slowing down.

Love, 

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife