Optimal Parenting Daily

Are You Reacting or Responding to Stress in Your Life?

There’s a difference between the two. Reacting adds to the stress. Responding helps minimize it.

In this episode I go further into the difference between the two and the results they create. Plus some of my own experience with how I’ve related to stress and tips for how you can practice responding powerfully to whatever pops up in your life.

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

Power vs Force by David R. Hawkins - https://www.amazon.com/Power-Force-David-Hawkins-M-D/dp/1401945074

7 Habits of Highly Effective People - https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/0743269519

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How Are You Looking at Your Life?

We know the thing about the “glass half empty or half full…” and then what we make it mean based on how we see it.

In this week’s Momtra, I’m giving you the opportunity to check in on things in your life and how you see them. Because there’s the thing - the objective, non-personal thing in front of you...and then there is how you relate to it. And that relationship is what impacts your life experience.

So if you realize that your perspectives could use an upgrade, try taking a sustainable approach to shifting your mindset. You can make conscious choices, little by little, to make a big change.

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/ My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/ My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

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Who’s responsible for “giving you” an orgasm?

What if we took ownership over our sexual pleasure, and didn’t rely on a person or outside source to activate our orgasmic bliss?

In today’s episode, I’m bouncing around a few different conversations that I believe tie into a basic idea: that we can have a grand sexploration with ourselves.

So from my own history and owning a vibrator before ever even having sex, to some ideas for seducing yourself, sex toy talk and how to bring up this topic with your partner, this is a juicy one, and definitely NSFW!

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

The Bloomi - https://thebloomi.com/

*Use the code SARAH10 for 10% off your order

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Do you ever judge other people?

Do you have a pulse? Then the answer to the first question is probably “yes.” Judgement is a beast of a thing. It influences all of us. We judge ourselves, we judge others, we judge ourselves for judging ourselves and others.

In today’s Momtra, I’m encouraging you to take a look at the judgements that you’re throwing out there and see what they’re revealing about you -- what’s going on with you, anything that can be addressed or healed in some sort of way. Because of the benefit it could bring to you.

And I give an example of a judgement I had the other day and what I learned from it.

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

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“You don’t drink?”

“...Like, at all?”

This is a question I’ve received multiple times. And I haven’t talked about it really on the show or social media, for a number of reasons. But I feel comfortable enough in who I am and the choices I make in my life to share that I don’t have alcohol as a habit.

So in this episode, I’m taking a step out there and sharing why drinking doesn’t work for me. It took a long time to understand that and listen to my body and what worked best for it. But it’s not something in my daily life. And I shared this in the episode and I’ll say again that by my sharing my truth -- I’m not judging anyone else’s choices. I just believe in the power of telling stories. And this is mine. So maybe you’ll get something out of it -- feel understood or heard in your own experience or have more understanding and compassion for someone else. I also believe, that like diet/weight loss products or beauty concoctions, we are marketed alcohol as something we need or an image of a certain person we should be, and that it’s the only way to cope with our stress.

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

Power vs Force - https://www.amazon.com/Power-Force-David-Hawkins-M-D/dp/1401945074

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Ever just feel like saying “F--- YOU!”

What if that’s ok? And what if it could be a valuable tool?

I’m talking about saying “f--- you” to the stuff in your life that isn’t working for you, that you don’t need and is bringing your vibe down.

In this week’s Monday Momtra, I’m encouraging you to tell the limiting beliefs and mindsets to get out of your space, and to make room for all the other awesome, powerful goddess stuff that you’re up to.

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you feel about body hair?

Do you shave, wax, tweeze, trim or laser?

Today’s episode is a listener requested topic: body hair. I think this is a great conversation for women, particularly mothers, as we learn to relate to and love our bodies as they change through the journey of motherhood. And so yes, it’s a conversation about body hair - specifically some of my thoughts and feelings and how they’ve evolved over the years, but it’s so much more than that. It lends itself to a greater exploration of our paradigm of beauty, body positivity and what we want to be an example of for our children.

Plus I reference an interesting article from Bustle about the history of shaving. Fascinating to learn where some of our societal habits come from and how they impact our norms and standards.

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

The Bloomi - www.thebloomi.com - use the code SARAH10 for 10% off your order

Bustle article - https://www.bustle.com/articles/196747-the-sneaky-manipulative-history-of-why-women-started-shaving

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What kills your sex drive?

I’m shaking it up a bit in today’s Monday Momtra, and I’m giving you another element to the AIM (affirmation, inspiration, motivation) that I generally have in these episodes. I think “awareness” is super important as well. So I’m giving you a tool for being aware around your sexual energy - how it ebbs and flows and what contributes to that. Also, what to do about it.

I’ve found the culprits in the murder of our libidos, our mojo, our sexy groove thang swag. And then I have a free resource for you that you can download right now to start addressing your sexual energy and ignite it to see what an impact it has on your entire life.

Links:

3 Vital Steps for Mothers to Connect with Their Sexuality - https://www.sarahbivens.com/3-vital-steps

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever heard the phrase, “I’m just a mom…”?

In today’s episode I’m getting something off my chest - something that kinda bothers me and I want to change the energy around. And that’s the term “stay at home mom.” I’ve heard too many examples of people looking at that role in a disempowering way and making all kinds of assumptions about the choices of parents in managing their family dynamics.

So I’m offering an alternative name for SAHM, along with some reminders on the value of all variations of mothering and some of my own struggles with my balance of career and motherhood.

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Ever feel caught up in the results that you’re creating in your life, rather than being fully present in the experience of it?

So in other words, are you human?

Today’s Monday Momtra episode is about letting go of expectations and staying present in your life. I’ve got an updated version to the “it’s about the journey, not the destination” adage that I think  can serve a lot of us. It has certainly been showing up in my life lately - in motherhood, my relationships, my business.

Reciting this Momtra a few times will definitely get you thinking differently about how you approach your expectations around things, patience and gratitude.

Links:

My website - https://www.sarahbivens.com/

My Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahmbivens/

My Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahbivenslifestylecoach/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices