I have always loved movement! Growing up I took dance and continued to dance and teach dance during and after college, but somewhere along the way, I started to lose my passion and joyfulness in movement.

Somewhere along the way, I started forcing myself to do straight cardio like the treadmill or elliptical. Unfortunately I didn’t find joy in these types of exercise even if it was what everyone else was doing and talking about. I kept thinking I needed to go until I found my runners high. In the attempt to fall in love with cardio, I set goals for 5k’s and 10k’s that were supposed to get me hooked, but it turns out that movement isn’t a one size fits all thing!

Finding JOY in movement has looked different throughout the last few years of welcoming my first baby to my fourth so here are some of the ways I’ve found JOY in movement during different stages of my motherhood journey!

First Pregnancy: Tracy Anderson The Pregnancy Project

I found this set of workout DVDs, yes I’m that old, when I was only a few weeks pregnant with my first daughter. I would pop this DVD in and find joy in the movement that was specifically designed for my growing bump!

I loved how Tracy was actually pregnant too while recording these workouts and she created movements that allowed for stretching and always prioritized space for my growing hips and belly. I distinctly remember how amazing cat and cow yoga poses were for my back and this being my first pregnancy I had lots of time to work out whenever the mood struck!

Second Pregnancy: Toddler Chasing and Strolling

Honestly, I don’t recall doing any distinct workout during my 2nd pregnancy because I was so very busy chasing a one-year-old around. I no longer had much time to myself so I started enjoying daily walks thanks to my BOB stroller. Our neighborhood at the time had wonderful sidewalks and we would enjoy long walks and I found Joy in movement, especially in the fresh air. This was a little bit of a drought in intense exercise, but my desire to find a sustainable way to work more movement in never went away. I kept reminding myself I could add in more movement when I wasn’t completely exhausted from working full time, being pregnant and caring for a very active one year old!

Leading Up to and During my Third Pregnancy: Yoga, Pilates, and Barre

Before I became pregnant with my third daughter, I was really starting to establish a good workout routine during my workday. I was able to carve out a bit of me time while juggling the needs of my daughter’s plus a full-time job. I was starting to make the conscious decision not to force myself into boring cardio that didn’t bring me JOY in movement and I began attending Yoga and Barre classes. I loved the stretch and flow of Yoga, during this time I also tried and fell in love with Pilates to strengthen my core, and even did some Barre that burned in the best way! The barre classes especially helped me sat

Fourth Pregnancy: MORE Walking

By my fourth pregnancy, I had 3 littles at home and I was home due to the Pandemic so there wasn’t really the option to exercise outside our home in a group fitness environment. I spent time doing Cosmic Kids yoga with my older girls, which they loved and honestly is great movement for parents, to add structure to our days. I also enjoyed social distancing while taking my youngest daughter on lengthy walks at neighborhood parks to enjoy time outside in the sunshine.

Beyond Pregnancy

After having my son, I joined our local YMCA and started fairly regularly attending morning classes where I would drop him off at the childcare. The caregivers were always very nice, but somehow my little guy never make it the whole time through happy so I was consistently getting called out of class. This was discouraging and I knew I needed to find JOY in movement that also kept him JOYFUL!

Now that my son is 2 years old, I am finally carving out time to focus on myself with daily workouts and I’m loving combining the JOY of movement I found with Yoga, Pilates, and Barre with weights to ensure I get a fully effective workout in the time that I have to devote to myself and my health.

I have been loving BarreAlley workouts since these workouts are mostly under an hour and are taught by a mother of 3 who gets the importance of delivering a full body workout!

Inspiring Joy in Movement for other Moms

I write this post to inspire other Moms who may be in a season like I was just a year or two ago who may not have much time for themselves between being a mother, caregiver, employee, wife, housekeeper, and all the other titles we hold. Hopefully even in these busy seasons you can find JOY in movement even if it’s as simple as a walk or as intense as interval training. What are your go to workouts as a busy Mom?

One way I keep the JOY of movement going for myself is to reward myself every so often with a new workout outfit that makes me feel good or a new workout tool like pretty weights, but this Caden Lane Backpack diaper bag could actually make a perfect gym bag too for carrying around shoes and items for your little one who you may need to drop off at the gym daycare!