Who is Jodie from Harvesting Health and Joy with Jodie

Hello and welcome,

I am going to try and keep my blogs as brief as someone with a busy brain can anyway.

I am 38, a Mum to a 10 year old daughter, 3 Labradors and 2 welsh ponies I would say that the majority of us are beautifully complex, along with my amazing raspberry ripple husband who balances out the mint choc chip in our home (I’ll leave ice cream flavours for another time).

I have recently taken voluntary redundancy from a job I thought I should do, rather then one that was right for me.

I had a breakdown a few years ago when my daughter started to be a mirror and I didn’t like what was facing back at me. It took me to hit rock bottom to re build my life brick by brick.

First realisations thanks to the book ‘Know Your Worth’ by Anna Mathur, I was a people pleaser, I had no self worth, I didn’t love myself and I was existing for the love from my daughter.

As I didn’t love myself I didn’t love my body and I didn’t have a clue about the mind. I lost weight due to the breakdown and was cruel to myself to remain the low weight I’d got to with great detriment to myself.

Fast forward 5 years (lots more to share it bite size chunks) I love myself, I live by motos if it isn’t 100% yes then it’s a no. I understand how many spoons I have and use them wisely as I learnt there is such a thing as a boundary, this was brand new information for me and it’s taken lots of practise and big feelings. I also live by what anyone else thinks is none of my business, let them think whatever they want and let me focus on myself and bringing joy to my life.

I threw away the scales a few years ago (they used to come on holiday with me, again you can see so much more to share). I now focus on having a strong body, giving it the right food it needs and what bring me joy and a balance of exercise again that I enjoy and keep me strong.

When seeing that mirror and reading the first book ‘No Drama Discipline’ by Daniel Siegel and Tina Bryson, I realised how controlling I was and how I was not in the driving seat of my own brain. Many many books, audiobooks and podcasts later I opened up to learning to heal myself. It sparked the fire inside me, how did I know so little, I had been existing and nothing more.

I realised I was getting stronger, I was happy, I take in awe, I know who I am and I love myself. I asked a friend did they love themselves and the reaction was shock. Why do we not think about this, why isn’t this one of the most important things in our life. If we are happy and love ourselves, it makes everyone in your life better. It’s not make everyone happy and don’t think about yourself.

I would go to work listening to podcasts and my brain would be excited, happy and then I would burn out at work, too many plates to spin, not enough spoons, not enough stimulation. Oh by the way in all my learning I realised myself and my daughter are differently wired. What a game changer that was to understanding myself, understanding how my brain works, I am not vanilla and that’s OK. I don’t want to be vanilla I have learnt to harvest joy from my brain. I am now in the drivers seat, the brain is attracted to stimulation from negativity and I have turned that upside down as I can turn anything into joy, you can always learn from the bad.

So here I am, I have read too many books to name, digested hours of podcasts and audiobooks and completed a Health Coach Diploma. I found the How The Body Work both interesting and overwhelming, as you will learn I know that two things can be true at the same time. I found science blah at school, however understanding the body and how that influences the mind and how you can nurture it with food and movement is my passion and I am so grateful that it learning and helping myself and others bring me joy.

It is amazing that every little step can make progress to harvesting your health and joy. Simple things like drinking more water, sleeping habits, overwhelm and stress. Understanding how these show up in your life can be game changing, these are all the things as a Health Coach I can support you with. If like me you want to make progress as there is no such thing as perfect, you know where I am, I will meet you were you are and be there all the way whilst you make progress and for all the bumps in the road too.

Thank you for reading.

Jodie

The Beautifully Complex Mother