As many of you are aware, I had my first baby almost 2 years ago, a boy named Woods. He has truly changed our lives. He is 23 months old now & I still don’t feel like I did before baby - I am still tired many days, my body is different, I’m not exercising quite like I did before, and my mind is constantly with him to some degree. I feel some of what we term “blood and yang deficiency” in TCM. Basically an imbalance of depletion. It makes sense! Little sleep, higher stress, hormonal fluctuation, less exercise, and eating sub-optimally many days while on mom-duty all adds up over time! I think some people may view their health practitioner as someone who never gets sick & has all the answers etc… but we are just like you. I have had to constantly recommit myself to my health over the past (almost) 2 years after becoming a mom. I recall my midwife telling me something when we were talking about how we were feeling in our new state of parenthood after the birth - we were drained & struggling with sleep, and all the great change seemed daunting- and she said, “Parenthood, at its essence, is the act of recommitting yourself over and over and over again to a cause.” Boy, those words ring loudly in my ears many days - but not just in relation to parenthood, but to myself and my work and my health and my relationship as well. I think it is some of the best wisdom I’ve ever been given. So that’s what I’m doing again now, recommitting myself to my own cause of healing and cooking and creating and just simply doing the best I can. And hoping that hearing those words may help some of you out there, too!