Movement For Mental Health with Naomi Gottlieb-Miller

Get to know the 2024 Mental Health and Motherhood Virtual Conference speakers in this summer series!

It’s time for a meet and greet!

As we wait for the 2024 Mental Health and Motherhood Conference October 11, 2024, we have the chance to meet our speakers this summer on Substack. I sat down with

Naomi Gottlieb-Miller

and asked her our conference question:

“How can we treat ourselves with self-compassion through movement?”

Take a 5 minute pause in your day to watch our talk or read the transcript below! You’ll find yourself excited by Naomi’s practical (and compassionate) approach to moving our bodies in motherhood.

“We don't have good language for talking about movement — postpartum movement — after becoming a mother. And I think that the expectation is that we should go back to things exactly as they were before we had kids. And that expectation is exactly what it sounds like: It's an expectation.

And I think it's an incredibly unrealistic expectation that takes compassion completely out of the equation.”

You can also reach out to Naomi through her own newsletter or ask questions in the comments here.

Transcript

Chanel Riggle (00:01.657)

Naomi, thank you so much for joining me. Today is your introduction for our potential guests coming to the 2024 Mental Health and Motherhood Virtual Conference in October. So excited to have you here. Thank you.

Naomi Gottlieb-Miller (00:17.501)

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be a part of it.

Chanel Riggle (00:20.057)

Awesome, so you're going to be speaking on movement at the conference and I want to ask you how can we treat ourselves with self compassion through movement?

Naomi Gottlieb-Miller (00:32.542)

So I love that question because I think that I thought that I knew the answer before I became a mom as a movement professional. And what I realized is that we don't, we don't have good language for talking about movement, postpartum movement after becoming a mother. And I think that the expectation is that we should go back to things exactly as they were before we had kids. And that expectation is exactly what it sounds like.

It's an expectation. And I think it's an incredibly unrealistic expectation that takes compassion completely out of the equation. And what it requires us to do is to aim for something that is no longer accessible and no longer maybe even possible.

at least at various times throughout, you know, early motherhood, but I think also just throughout, you know, throughout the whole experience. And I think that what it asks of us too is this requirement of perfection and perfection in so many ways is the enemy of self -compassion, right? Because you can never achieve it. You can never achieve it. And so when I think it comes, to movement and how we can treat ourselves with more compassion.

It's trying to take the expectations out of the request and out of the equation and instead saying, How easy can I make it for myself? Like what can I do instead of what can't I do? You know, how simple can it be? And that was not a question that I asked myself when I was a first time mom.

Because instead I was aiming for the perfection, aiming for the prior what I did, and I'm a movement professional. And so my expectations were quite high. And so as I progressed through motherhood and movement, I realized I want my movement to support me. I don't want it to be something that makes me feel bad.

Chanel Riggle (02:56.985)

I love that. You hit so many wonderful points there. I'm really excited to hear you talk. Could you give me a little bit of background what you mean by you're a movement professional?

Naomi Gottlieb-Miller (03:03.968)

Thank you.

Naomi Gottlieb-Miller (03:10.272)

Yeah. So I have been moving for my entire life. I, you know, was a dancer as a kid. I played sports. Movement is the language I think that I communicate with. And then when I was a young adult, I found yoga and I started practicing yoga when I was in my early twenties, then started teaching it very quickly after. So I've been teaching yoga since 2005, which is a very long time.

…but over the course of these 20 years of teaching, I've also discovered other movement modalities like strength training, mobility, you know, just a wider range and a broader range of ways to move my body that make me feel good too. And that I can add to that movement toolkit that I can, you know, tap into when I need it. And so I like to think of myself more as a movement educator.

…these days rather than just, you know, that one place that I started from. So what I offer is often strength training in addition to creative movement flows and ways that we can just move our bodies and have fun in very short bursts because that's often what we need as moms.

Chanel Riggle (04:30.425)

Yes, 100%. Well, thank you so much, Naomi, for coming on and sharing with our guests what we're going to be learning about from you at the virtual conference. And you can find out more about her and what she does through the links provided here. And if you have any questions, please leave a comment. I'm sure she'd be happy to answer them for you. Thank you so much, Naomi.

Naomi Gottlieb-Miller (04:54.211)

Thank you.

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Ready for more discussion on mental health and motherhood?

Learn how to treat yourself with compassion in mind, body, and spirit during this live-streamed event. Motherhood Minute is hosting its first virtual conference October 11, 2024.

Save the date: Tickets go on sale July 1, 2024

Please help us spread the word about these amazing speakers by sharing and leaving a heart on this post. More information about the speakers and conference are linked in the post below.