November 15, 2022 • 43 mins
Show Notes
On this episode of The Resource Doula Podcast, I chat with Laura of SLAM Anchorage about motherhood, community, and how she created her own village through group exercise classes.
You're listening to the Resource Doula Podcast, a place where we provide information to help you make informed healthcare decisions for yourself and your family.
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Find your community and figure out what that looks like for you before you NEED it. And if it doesn’t exist, be the one to start it!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
on today's episode of theresearch doula podcast.
I chat with Laura of slamAnchorage.
We chat about her experienceattending slam for the first
time as a new mom.
And how she has transitionedinto building her own community
right where she's at supportingand empowering other moms to do
the same
Natalie (00:18):
I'm Natalie and you're listening to the Resource Doula
Podcast, a place where weprovide information to help you
make informed healthcaredecisions for yourself and your.
(00:39):
Laura is an ACE certified groupfitness instructor,, pregnant
and postpartum athlete coach,military wife, mother of three
boys and owner of Sweat like aMother.
Anchorage, also known as Slam.
Slam, is a group fitness classwhere women can bring their kids
or not and receive qualityprogramming to meet them where
they are in any stage ofmotherhood, pre-pregnancy.
Pregnancy or postpartum.
(01:01):
They offer monthly playgroupsand moms nights out as well.
Laura grew up in Salt Lake City,Utah, and was an elementary
school teacher in high school,cross country coach in
Fairbanks, Alaska.
It was there that she met herhusband, Jeremiah, who was in
the army after having her firstbaby in 2016, she became a stay
at home mom and.
(01:21):
A slam affiliate when she wassix weeks postpartum in
Monterey, California.
Laura knew from her first classthis would become part of her
life.
She began studying to become aninstructor, and when she and her
family moved from California toNew York for the military, she
decided to open an affiliate,slam Fort Drum.
Laura then had her second andthird babies in New York before
(01:42):
her husband was sent back toAlaska this time to Anchorage.
Slam.
Anchorage was already a thrivingcommunity when she arrived and
bought the business in 2021.
Laura is passionate aboutbuilding communities where women
feel accepted, seen, challenged,and loved.
She enjoys running, especiallytrail running and enjoys
training for marathons,especially the Equinox Marathon
(02:04):
and Fairbanks, which she has runfour.
She also loves skiing, hiking,and of course sweating like a
mother during class.
Hey Laura, welcome to the show.
Laura (02:14):
Hi Natalie.
Thanks for having.
Natalie (02:16):
Of course I'm excited about this.
I think it's really funny thatlike it took Instagram for us to
meet, but we live in the samestate.
Laura (02:26):
I do appreciate that it's one of the beauties of social
media.
It brings people together.
Natalie (02:32):
Yeah, it really is.
So I wanna just dive right in.
You really have had quite thejourney.
You started out as an elementaryschool teacher and a cross
country of course, Cross countrycoach um, and you're now a mom
fitness instructor.
So I wanna know what was sospecial about that first slam
(02:55):
class that you attended?
What convinced you that youneeded more of this in your, in
your life?
Laura (03:02):
Great question.
Yeah, I had a little bit of apivot in my career path.
Um, I was really committed toteaching and being, um, an
elementary school teacher, andmy goal was to be an elementary
school principal.
Um, and so it was definitely ashift in, um, in my career when
I became a mom, became a stay athome mom, became a military
(03:23):
spouse, that kind of, that.
Trajectory changed.
Um, working as a military spouseis very challenging, working
outside the home becausechildcare and not having family
nearby is, um, makes all of thatvery difficult.
So, um, yeah, I feel likethere's so many things I could
share as far as my journey, um,and what sort of, how that
(03:46):
changed.
But maybe that would be a wholepodcast,
Natalie (03:49):
free to share whatever
Laura (03:52):
When we moved to, uh, to Monterey, California, I was six
weeks post.
Well, I had my baby there, so Iwas, I moved there when I was
about 37 and a half weekspregnant.
So I was with my first baby.
So we were, um, moving to a newplace.
I didn't know a soul, you know,didn't know anybody in Monterey.
Uh, we were there for a schoolfor my husband's job.
(04:13):
He was gonna be in school forthe next 18 months.
And, um, and yeah, I was aboutto be a new mom for the first
time and just totally.
No idea what I was gettingmyself into.
Also, I had just, we'd justgotten married very recently,
so, um, new wife, new, you know,just knew at so many things.
Um, new place.
So I was Googling as one doeswhen they arrive at a new place
(04:35):
about things in my area.
And I don't even know what IGoogled.
I don't know if I was evenlooking for a fitness class or
if I was looking for a momgroup.
I ju I don't remember what IGoogled, but I know that at.
Slam came up sweat like amother.
Um, at the time it was strollerstrong mom, and I noticed that
it was less than a mile from myhouse is where they met.
And so I thought, Okay, I'mgonna do this.
(04:56):
So I read a little bit more andit said, Okay, when you're six
weeks postpartum is when we haveyou start coming to this class.
So I waited till I was six weekspostpartum.
The night, it was like themorning I had my doctor's
appointment, my six weekappointment in the morning, or.
Maybe it was the day before.
And so the next morning I waslike, Okay, I can go to Slim
now.
(05:17):
Um, yeah, I was so excited, butalso nervous.
I like didn't sleep the nightbefore cause I was like, Oh my
gosh, what if I'm not like ingood enough shape?
What if I, Yeah.
Just didn't know any, you know,I won't know anybody.
What if I can't keep up?
Cause some of the reviews onSlam said, like, this workouts
no joke.
You know, like it felt kind ofthe bootcamp vibe at first.
(05:39):
And so I was a little worried.
So, So I got there on my firstday and really quickly fell in
love with the program and withthe moms and the instructor,
Alexa.
She was, everyone was sowelcoming and.
Um, so accommodating to me asagain, a new mom, my infant baby
(06:00):
in the car seat in stroller.
I just, um, getting there wassuch a huge feat and I just felt
so welcomed and then I wasmoving my body and sweating and
that felt really good cause Ihadn't been able to do that in
so long.
Um, and yeah, I, I literallybought the t-shirt that day.
I bought a t-shirt and was like,Okay, this is it.
(06:20):
I'm hooked.
I, this might, these are mypeople.
They also just, were all very,um, you know, they, we are
outside, we're, you know, nearthe ocean and everybody, It just
seemed like the kind of people Iwould get along with.
And a lot of military familyspouses too.
So again, that connection feltgood.
So yeah, I just kept coming.
I bought a membership andstarted coming, you know, as
(06:42):
often as I could.
They had classes every day andum, that first day, the, Sorry,
I really do talk a lot.
So
Natalie (06:50):
Keep talking.
I'm here for it.
Laura (06:53):
first class I, um, That I went to, I um, I thought I had
to leave right after because Ineeded to go home and breastfeed
and just watching some of thesemoms breastfeeding in public and
I didn't really know you coulddo that.
I didn't know how one would dothat.
And so I told them, I was like,Well, I have to go.
They were meeting after and, andhaving like a playgroup after
and I was like, Well, I gotta gofeed my baby.
(07:15):
And they're all like, Wait,what?
You know?
Cause they're just out there,um, feeding their children and.
Yeah, that felt really good tosort of learn how to mother from
all these other mothers.
You know, I learned how to be amom and, um, that was a super
supportive way of, of doingthat.
So that, that's kind of whathooked me in.
(07:36):
Um, and I never looked back.
So yeah.
Then I decided once we knew wewere gonna move, I decided to,
um, open a slam wherever weended up.
If there wasn't.
Because it was something I justwanted more of in my life.
So when we moved to Fort Drum, Iopened a slam affiliate in Fort
Drum and um, then, then boughtthe, uh, affiliate here in
(08:00):
Anchorage once we moved here.
So I've just kind of been, as wemove, I bring Slam with me or
sort of find the slam in thearea.
That's a long answer to yourquestion.
I'm sorry,
Natalie (08:10):
No, I love it.
I think it, it took like a lotof initiative on your part to
decide I'm gonna find some newfriends in Monterey when you
first moved there and thendecide to just like.
Up and go to a fitness class,which I think is intimidating.
even being in the fitness world,that's an intimidating thing to
do.
(08:31):
And then as a new mom, so propsto you for just put putting
yourself out there and, andgoing for it.
Laura (08:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You kind of have to, and I don'tknow if I knew that at the time,
how important that was as, um,someone who moves a lot, that
just sort of jumping into acommunity when you get somewhere
is so important.
Um, and I think that whetherit's my personality or, you
know, I don't know whichhappened first, but that's,
that's become something that'svery important to me is kind of.
Jumping in right away.
(08:59):
Um, I mean, and Slam has been sogreat because you get to a place
and like we received moms hereat Slam from other places and
they know that immediately when,when we go to, um, register our
kids for school and they say,Okay, we need, uh, an emergency
contact that lives in the area.
Like I got here a week ago, Idon't know anybody.
(09:21):
Go on the slam page, Hey, can Iuse anybody for an emergency
contact?
And everybody's like, Of course,like, here was my, you know, put
my name and number down.
So, um, um, that's kind of oneof the, I think, advantages of
finding a community like that asfar as military is concerned.
Natalie (09:38):
That's incredible and that's really what we need for
everybody.
Military or not.
Like a lot of the guests thatI've had on this podcast, every
single person says, Find youryour village, right?
Find your people, find yoursupport network.
And that's really hard to do,but it sounds like Slam, like
those women are just there foreach other all the time.
(09:59):
That's incredible.
Laura (10:00):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think everyone realizes that,how important that is.
I know it's okay.
Yeah, I definitely think that'simportant.
Natalie (10:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And in ways that you may notexpect, like emergency contact
for your older kids at school,rather than just bringing you a
meal.
Do you guys do meal trains andstuff like.
Laura (10:17):
Yeah.
Yep.
We do meal trains when someonehas a baby or an illness or a
loss or anything like that, wedo meal trains for sure.
And, um, yeah, we have a lot ofmoms who babysit each other's
kids, you know, for date nightsor for appointments, you know,
when you need childcare, so youcan go to the doctor, you can,
you know, you know, you havethis group of moms who
understand and that you trustand that know your kids, and
(10:39):
your kids know them.
Um, so yeah, when you don't livenear your family, That can be a
huge re and even if you do, youknow, it's nice to not always
rely on mom and dad or aunt anduncle or whatever, you know, you
can tax your, even your family.
So, Cause we do have local moms,you know, we have moms who live
here, whose families live here.
And um, yeah,
Natalie (10:59):
Yeah.
And then you
Laura (11:00):
aspect.
Natalie (11:01):
You have options for like if you need to talk to
somebody who's not related toyou, who is familiar with the
stage of life that you're in andyour journey and all of that.
Laura (11:10):
definitely.
Natalie (11:12):
that's amazing.
Okay.
I wanna kind of switch over toyour own motherhood journey.
So you had your first baby, youwere six weeks postpartum when
you joined.
Um, you've since had anotherkid,
Laura (11:25):
Two other.
Yeah.
Yes.
Natalie (11:28):
What would you say is probably the most surprising
thing, something you did notexpect, um, in your motherhood
journey, and then whether it wasgood, how'd that go?
And then if it was kind of likemaybe more on the negative side,
how did you work through it?
How did you overcome it?
Laura (11:45):
I love that question because I think there is so much
surprising about motherhood andI think the biggest surprise was
how little.
Uh, people talk about moms andtheir, that journey.
So like from the beginning.
So your postpartum appointment,that six week checkup, you get
one, you know, you get one sixweek checkup, and then that's
(12:07):
it.
You're done.
They don't.
Follow through or talk to you.
You know, you get one and thebaby gets like 10 in the first
year of life.
You know, you're going to theone week and then the follow up.
Two, you know, depending on yourbaby's health needs, they might
even be more often.
And then you're getting theirthree month checkup and their
six, I mean, you're going backfor baby appointments all the
(12:28):
time.
And no one, very rarely do theyask about you and how you're
doing.
I mean, some, if you have a goodpediatrician, they might look at
you and say, How you doing mom?
You know?
But very rarely do you get a lotof, um, support from the medical
community, you know, And that'sjust, I don't think that's
anyone's fault.
It's just how it's designedright now.
So I think that was sosurprising to me is how much.
(12:53):
With hormones and you know, yourphysical changes and your mental
changes, there's so much goingon in that first year that you
can feel super lost becausenobody's talking about it.
So you're not sure how much ofwhat you're experiencing is
normal and how much of whatyou're experiencing is, you
know, if you're breastfeeding,what, how are, you know, There's
(13:14):
lactation consultants.
But again, if you don't knowwhat's available to you resource
wise, if you don't, um, have acommunity if you don't.
You know, and even if you do,there's just very little, I
think, um, talked about.
And so I think that was reallysurprising to me was just how
much my body was changing, mymindset was changing.
(13:35):
So many things were changing andI didn't feel prepared or
equipped, and I didn't feel, um,in it in a lot of ways.
You know, like I just felt likeI was kind of on my own.
So any, and I have a wonderfulmom and three sisters, you know,
like I, so I really do have agood amount of support and I
still didn't feel like I knewwhat was happening to me, Um, so
(13:58):
I think that was reallysurprising because I sort of
thought I knew what to expectfrom being a mom.
And there's also, you know,there's what the media tells you
and even what.
Social media tells you, um,movies and, you know, just the
magic of motherhood or the,you're just gonna know, you
know, you're just gonna knowwhat to do and all these things,
or your body knows.
(14:18):
And I think that might besometimes true, but there's also
times when it's like you don'tknow you have no idea.
Uh, so, uh, and I think in a lotof ways, uh, Swam helped me with
that.
I mean, just meeting other momswho would talk about their
journey and.
You know, talk about theirstruggles with mental health or,
(14:40):
um, you know, their plan hasreally, um, I think improved
their messaging for postpartum,you know, um, pelvic floor pt or
even when you're pregnant, goingto pelvic floor pt.
And I think, um, just some ofthose terms, like the idea that
Pelvic four PT exists,
Natalie (15:00):
Yeah.
Laura (15:00):
didn't know that.
Natalie (15:01):
And it's awesome.
Laura (15:04):
Yeah, and it's amazing.
Yeah.
And that everyone should go.
It should be like, that shouldbe part of your six week checkup
is an immediate referral topelvic floor pt.
Just no questions asked.
You don't have to have symptoms.
You don't have to know what itis.
You just, you're immediatelysent, you know, ideally next
door to the pelvic floor PT downthe hall or something like that.
You know, that would be amazing,
Natalie (15:23):
Wouldn't that be awesome,
Laura (15:24):
The dream, the.
Natalie (15:25):
Yeah.
Laura (15:28):
yeah, I think that's some of the ways that I coped with
those surprises was just, um,trying to.
Well, and then trying to becomewhat I needed, you know, trying
to become a coach that wouldtalk about those things and
would encourage new moms to getthe help they need and, and, um,
yeah, start to use some of thosewords as far as just normalizing
(15:49):
it, you know.
Oh, you're having painful sex.
Like let's talk about it.
You know, like instead offeeling like that was taboo or
that you shouldn't talk aboutthat or something, you know, we
can talk about the pee and thepoop and all the things, you
know, like your own, your mom'smom's pee and poop.
You know, we talk about thebaby's pee and poop.
Why can't we talk about mom?
So
Natalie (16:06):
This is true.
Laura (16:07):
yeah.
Anyway, that's
Natalie (16:10):
Yeah.
No, I think it's just, I mean,Amer America and our medical
system and women's healthcare ingeneral, I've talked about this
with like every single personI've, I've had on, but it's
really, it's problematic andit's leaving so many moms
feeling like they're alone orthat they're not normal or that
(16:31):
they have to deal with whateverit is by themselves, you know,
alone.
And, and as if.
It doesn't happen to everybodyelse, or they're not struggling,
you know?
So.
Laura (16:42):
or that it's so normal that they just have to put up
with it.
Like, Oh, that's just, everybodyhas that, so don't worry about
it.
You know?
That's just part of being a momand that's, you know, also not
necessarily true.
So, yeah.
Natalie (16:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
And what's interesting about yousaying that you had to leave to
feed your baby, you weren't, youdidn't know that you could
breastfeed in public like thatis um, I talked to an IV clc, a
lactation consultant, and shewas saying that you decide when
you are like, 15, like pubertyage, whether or not you're gonna
(17:14):
breastfeed in your future basedon the fact that you've seen
breastfeeding or you haven't inpublic, which is just so
interesting to me.
Like if we normalize it and wefeed babies when they need to be
fed and when they're hungry,then that could be anywhere.
It could be out on the sidewalk,it could, you know, it could be
(17:34):
in the house with friends over,but that just making it more
apparent.
Laura (17:40):
Yeah.
No, I love that.
I love that.
I think about that sometimeswhen I am breastfeeding now, you
know, just sort of thinking andlooking around and seeing who's,
you know, who's watching, and Iguess you do, You never know
who's watching for better orworse, you know, But mostly a, a
positive thing, you know, thatit's just an important Yeah.
Natalie (17:57):
And the next generation will grow up seeing it as that's
what we do.
That's how we feed babies.
And it's okay to do that in themiddle of a workout if you need
to.
Laura (18:07):
Yeah, totally.
And my hope is through slim wealso normalize bottle feeding
and, you know, that it's justnot, you know, putting anything
up on a pedestal.
You know, as someone who hasbreastfed three babies,
basically been breastfeeding forlike six years, you know, I, I
would never want a mom.
I've also heard from lots ofmoms who felt super alienated by
not breastfeeding and feelinglike they're doing something
(18:27):
wrong or failing, or not a, andit's.
Or, or they've really pushedthemselves to breastfeed when,
way past, when they, you know,just like so many things were
pointing to, like, Fed is bestjust, you know, let's get some
formula going or whatever, youknow, and, and, and suffering
mental health, you know, theirmental health suffering because
they thought that that was theonly thing they could do.
So I think that's another reasonto involve, you know, a group of
(18:52):
women so that you can see allkinds of ways of, of feeding and
mother.
Natalie (18:58):
Yeah.
I love that and I love that youbrought in the mental health
aspect because that is reallyimportant and it's something
that we, we overlook a lot oftimes.
You have that six week checkupand then cool.
You're, you're good to go.
There's so much more that needsto be said and needs to be
Laura (19:17):
So much
Natalie (19:18):
Yeah.
Laura (19:18):
Through with.
Natalie (19:19):
Yeah, Yeah, absolutely.
Um, what would you say aboutExercise and Slam in regards to
mental health?
It's kinda an open-endedquestion.
Laura (19:31):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, well, gosh, I mean, I thinkeveryone knows that movement is
important for, for their mentalhealth, or at least I, I think
most people can appreciate how,how much endorphins and movement
can help with mental health.
And I think for postpartumwomen, especially, like body
image is such a huge thing andfiguring out your body and
(19:53):
relearning.
Um, you know, the body that youhave and sort of learning to
love that body, even though itlooks and feels much different
than it did before.
And so I think for me, exercisehas allowed me to sort of, and
it's not so much about likecontrolling your body as it is,
just getting to know it again,you know, And so when you move
(20:13):
and you kind of learn your ownstrength and um, and learn kind.
I, I feel mu, I feel stronger,physically stronger since
postpartum than I ever didbefore having kids.
Cause I've learned how to movethe right way.
You know, I've learned how tomove more mindfully and I've
learned how to move, um, andjust treat my body well, you
(20:35):
know, with how, what I eat andwhat I drink.
Yeah, so, so much of motherhood,um, teaches you how to take care
of yourself better.
At least that's been myexperience.
And so I think exercise and, andSlam has, um, sort of
incorporated that into mylifestyle so that it has become
part of my lifestyle and I thinkit's supported my mental health
because.
(20:55):
Your, I think all of that isconnected.
I think your, you know, yourmental health and physical
health are very much, you know,connected.
And so I think, um, and then ofcourse just spending time with
other moms.
Even if you're not exercising,sometimes, you know, you get to
class and you can't, yourbaby's.
Crying the whole time and youend up just sitting on your mat
and watching everybody elseexercise while you take care of
your baby.
(21:16):
You're still out of the house,you're still around other
people.
You're still receiving thatsupport and giving that support
to the other moms that arethere.
So I think that's been, yeah,those, those things have been
very much tied together.
My mental health and myexperience of exercise
postpartum
Natalie (21:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think there are studies doneon
Laura (21:38):
Makes sense.
Natalie (21:39):
postpartum mood disorders and exercise and how
beneficial it is, and that's, Imean, that's my world too, so
I'm happy to hear you say that.
Laura (21:47):
Yeah.
Natalie (21:48):
um, So if someone has not ever attended a slam class,
um, and they're interested, whatshould they expect?
Um, what should they bring, whatshould they wear?
What kind of exercises do youteach?
Is it like super intense?
I know you, you've spoken to alittle bit of that, um, and kind
of the environment, but give usthe low.
Laura (22:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
So come in workout clothes,comfortable to move.
Um, in the summer we're outsideand so you dress for whatever
the outdoor weather is.
But now that the winter has hithere in Alaska, we are indoors
and so yeah, we definitely havemoms and shorts because you get
warm and sweaty, so whateveryou're comfortable in.
Um, and then water of course,and a yoga mat.
(22:34):
And then we do ask moms tobring.
So people start with anywherefrom three pound weights to
eight pound weights and thenkind of work their way up from
there.
Um, and we have heavy weightdays where the instructors will
bring some heavier weights to,to try out.
Um, and we always sort ofencourage moms to try the next
heaviest weight, you know, thatthey've been, if they've been
bringing three pound weights,try the fives.
(22:56):
If they've been bringing fives,try the eight, et cetera.
Um, and then we'll bring, Yeah,like I said, we'll bring in some
more.
And that's really it.
I mean, you just come with your,your yoga mat, your weights and
your water and your baby if you,uh, need to, you know, So we
have moms.
We have moms who.
Childcare who have daycare or,um, their kids are in school and
(23:18):
they come without their kids.
And we love that.
We cheer for them because itmeans they're gonna get a really
focused hour of work.
They're gonna get to focus onthemselves and their workout,
their breathing, and um, andthat's awesome for them.
For sure.
And, uh, then we have lots ofmoms who, you know, don't have
that option.
And so they're bringing theirstrollers and they're bringing
their kids and they're bringing,um, snacks for their kids.
(23:39):
Tablets.
We encourage electronics duringSlam because again, your kids
get your other 23 hours of theday.
You can carve out an hour foryou where they're just gonna be.
You.
Can we encourage moms to ignoretheir kids for that hour too,
in, in ways that are appropriateand, you know, uh,
developmentally appropriate forthem.
Toys and things for them to playwith because they're, they are
(24:00):
welcome to be there.
In fact, that's kind of whatSlam was created for, was a
workout that you can bring yourkids to.
Um, So that's what you bring.
You bring your kids if you canor need to, and if you don't,
um, that's awesome too.
Uh, we do it have strollers forkids that are under four.
We encourage them to, and, andwant them to be sort of more
(24:21):
contained the babies and so thatto keep them safe from weights
that are moving around.
So wagons, the mom bringswagons.
We've had moms bring likefoldable camp chairs so that
just so that every kid has kindof a place to be, to keep them
safe.
And then afterwards they justrun around.
That's wildlings that they are.
Um, but during class we do askthem to be sort of in one spot
(24:44):
for, for safety reasons.
But yeah, that's, that's it.
And then the instructors are,Walk you through exactly what
you need to know after that.
If you just show up, that's allyou need to do.
Um, the instructors have awesomeclasses planned.
Every day is different.
It's, you know, a mixture oflike strength and conditioning,
some hit, you know, um,intervals, little, some running
(25:05):
sometimes, but lots ofmodifications, always
accommodations, depending onwhere people are at, um, in
pregnancy and post.
The coaches are always gonnagive different sort of, um,
modifications or exercises, andif moms have injuries or
symptoms, we always, we eitheryou.
Um, like, call out if you havethese symptoms, this is what you
(25:27):
should do.
Or we encourage moms to approachthe instructors either before or
even during class, um, to letthem know what their symptoms
are and we can troubleshoot kindof what, what they can do, um,
instead of what everyone else isdoing or, you know.
So most, a lot of times it justlooks different.
Everyone's doing something alittle bit different cause
they're choosing what works forthem.
(25:48):
Um, And yeah, that's, that's it.
It's an hour class is an hour.
We have warmups and cool downsand you know, stretching and
it's just a lot of fun themedclasses for holidays, always
themed.
Today is Halloween here.
And yeah, we definitely had somefun themed classes, Monster
walks and things like that.
(26:09):
So yeah, lots of fun.
Every once in a while we'llinclude the kids and have the
kids work out with us.
Um, just for fun.
But for the most part, it'sfocused on moms for sure.
Natalie (26:18):
Which is so needed.
It's so needed.
And I will say, I can vouch foreverything that you said because
I came to a class,
Laura (26:24):
That's
Natalie (26:25):
so fun, and.
Even though I don't have kids, Ididn't bring a kid and I, I'm
comfortable around moms andbabies cuz that's my world.
And I kind of expected to justlike come in and have nobody
talk to me, but just like I waslooking for you, you know?
Like I'm here to sample a class,whatever.
But people talk to me right awayand they were so friendly and
(26:47):
just welcome, welcomed me rightin, even though I didn't have a
stroller with me.
It was awesome.
And then the exercises, I waslike, okay, I'm, I'm impressed
cuz I'm always, you know, Littlepicky about exercises, which is
understandable, with mybackground.
But um, yeah, it was, it wasgreat.
The exercises were appropriateand good and I was way sore the
(27:09):
next day.
I don't know if I told you that,but I was definitely sore, so it
Laura (27:13):
funny.
I was intimidated having youcome to class knowing that that
was your background.
I'm like, Oh, okay.
Now I feel a little, a littlenervous,
Natalie (27:20):
Nah.
Laura (27:21):
But it was fun.
Natalie (27:22):
Yeah, it was awesome.
So I would, I would highlyrecommend it.
And then you guys chat at theend, the kids run around and
it's, it's fine if your kidscreams over there, that's okay
if they're running around andhaving fun.
Cool.
So, yeah, it's, it's definitelya low pressure and, and
welcoming environment.
So keep doing what
Laura (27:41):
that was your experience.
I'm, That was your experience.
Natalie (27:44):
Totally, totally.
Can you talk a little bit about.
The coaches training and theirspecializations in pelvic floor,
um, what qualifies them to talkabout all of that?
Laura (27:59):
Yeah, definitely.
So all of our coaches have to becertified, um, in a nationally
recognized.
Certification for fitness, sogroup fitness, um, through ace.
We have, um, yeah, all various,um, fitness certifications
first.
That's kind of the bare minimum.
And then from there, you know,as continuing ed and um, sort of
(28:21):
adding onto that, uh, we havecoaches who have, they're
pregnant and postpartumMethodism coaches CERT
certification, which is theBrianna Battles course, which is
one of the ways that you and Imet was through sort of her
presence, Brianna Battle'spresence on social media.
And I, I think she's a great,that course is really, Really
strong course, and I think, um,a lot of the slam owners and
(28:43):
coaches have that certificationbecause it's just very relevant
for what we do.
Um, since we are coachingpregnant and postpartum athletes
every day.
Um, so there's thatcertification we have, um, one
of our coaches has the, um,corrective exercise specialist,
uh, or a corrective exercisecertification.
(29:04):
Which is again, kind of right inline with what we do.
Um, and we have, um, what.
Uh, one of our pelvic floor PTs,Addie Holman, so she's the Slam
Nation pelvic floor pt, and sheoffers a certification, uh, for
continuing ed that is, um,called to birth and back.
And all of our instructors havethat certification as well.
(29:27):
And so that's, um, I designed tobridge the gap between birth and
six weeks.
So what do you do during thatsix weeks?
You can't.
Say nothing you know, there'sdefinitely things you can be
doing.
So that course, um, reallyfocuses on breathing and
reconnecting to your core andpelvic floor and learning all of
those, the basics to, um, toallow you to sort of progress.
(29:50):
After that.
And that personally was areally, um, important
certification for me to get formy own, you know, for my own
ability to sort of reconnect tomy core and then to be able to,
you know, give that informationto, to other moms.
So, um, yeah, so those are thecertifications.
And then, um, yeah, we justalways encourage moms to be, or
(30:12):
our instructors to.
You know, learning, We, I tookan instructor to your seminar,
which was awesome, as sort ofcontinuing education and to sort
of always be thinking about howwe can better serve our moms.
Natalie (30:24):
Awesome.
That's a lot of things.
That's a lot of certifications.
Laura (30:27):
a lot of words,
Natalie (30:29):
It is.
It's good.
It's good to have multiple toolsin your tool belt so that you're
prepared because who knows who'sgonna show up next and, and what
issue.
They might be dealing with andyeah.
And you guys can bounce off ofeach other.
Ideas and, and questions as faras like what cue worked best for
this person or,
Laura (30:49):
Totally.
Natalie (30:49):
Yeah.
Laura (30:50):
Totally.
And that's I think one of thebenefits of having multiple
coaches is that, um, you know,everybody's getting to know, we
have, you know, a good sizecommunity.
And so, um, you know, to be ableto know if.
Each individual is challenging,but also helps to have that team
so you can say, Oh, I, I spokewith this member and they're
experiencing these issues andthis is what I told them.
(31:11):
And so then we're kind of all onthe same page.
The next class.
We don't, you know, we kindaknow what everybody's individual
needs are.
Um, and so that even if we'renot able to get to them every
class and sort of give them likeone on one hands on, they know
from, you know, the past classesor whatever, what their options
are.
And so our moms get really.
Choosing the options that workfor them.
We, we sometimes don't have tosay it, we just see a mom doing,
(31:34):
you know, bird dog or, you know,we see a mom drop the weight
and, um, or change the range ofmotion.
You know, they're just, theykind of learn, I think to um,
like take on some ownership fortheir workouts, which is really
awesome.
Natalie (31:48):
Yeah.
I think that's really importantbecause if you're not in it and
you don't, you don't takeresponsibility for your own
movement, then you're not gonnacontinue it down the road.
It's not gonna become a habitfor you.
So that's, that's really cool tohear.
Yeah.
Having people, having moms beadvocates for their own bodies
and know how to move Well, it's,Yeah.
(32:09):
Like, cool.
You can go home.
You did your job.
Awesome.
Laura (32:12):
Yeah.
Natalie (32:14):
You were coaching cross country running correct.
Laura (32:18):
yes.
Natalie (32:19):
And then you transitioned to become a fitness
instructor.
Had you had experience in thefitness world before besides the
cross country?
Laura (32:28):
No.
Nope.
In fact, I was not a superathlete.
I was never really, uh, I didnot like team sports.
Um, I, I grew up skiing andhiking and kind of biking and
doing things that were just onmy own.
I didn't grow up in, um, playingorganized sports really.
Um, just for fun, I guess.
And.
You know about the time that itgot competitive and where people
(32:50):
cared if you won or lost.
That's when I was like, I'm outI was just, I'm not a very
competitive person by nature, soI don't really have that athlete
brain.
Um uh, which is kind ofinteresting then that I.
Become or, or sort oftransitioned into this life
because yeah, it was definitelynot something that I brought
with me, um, even intomotherhood.
So yeah, coaching cross countrywas, I, I worked at a pretty
(33:12):
small school and, um, it was Kthrough 12 or pre-K through 12.
And so the, you know, they just,they needed a cross country
coach and I loved running and soI, I read a lot.
I started, I checked out a lotof books from the library, and
did some research to figure outhow to coach cross country.
I knew how to train myself.
I knew how to train for amarathon, but, um, you know, an
(33:35):
adult woman training for amarathon is way different than,
uh, you know, a ninth grade boyrunning, um, a 5K So it was very
interesting to become like atrack, you know, track coach and
doing more tracks, styleworkouts
Natalie (33:49):
Okay.
Laura (33:49):
um, anyway, so it was, it was a very, Process.
And I think some of that didgive me a little indication that
I loved teaching.
I knew I loved working withkids.
Um, and then working with olderkids, these high school students
who are coming up on adulthood,I thought, I like working with
other adults, you know, andyoung adults.
And so I think that sort oftransitioned into, you know,
(34:11):
coaching, um, what I do nowbecause they're just older,
just.
Older kids, other adults.
So yeah, no, that was kind of afunny, funny transition for me.
I sometimes look back and thinkmy high school self would laugh
that I'm a group fitnessinstructor because I just Yeah.
Was not super athletic.
Natalie (34:31):
Okay.
I was curious about that.
I was wondering if that was likeyour trajectory for a while and
Laura (34:36):
Nope.
Nope.
I had, It's funny, this is alittle bit random, but I did
listen to your story of knowingin kindergarten that you wanted
to work with, um, moms andbabies.
And I have a similar story.
In first grade, my first gradeteacher told me that if she ever
needed to leave the room, shewould, she knew she could put me
in charge cuz she thought Iwould make a great teacher.
(34:57):
And I have wanted to be ateacher ever since.
Like, I've just, if yeah, sincefirst grade, if anyone had asked
me what I was gonna be when Igrew up, I would've said,
Natalie (35:04):
A teacher.
Yeah, and you're fulfillingthat.
And you gotta see kids every
Laura (35:07):
Yep, Yep.
Work with kids today.
We did a craft after and thekids were, Yeah, I read, I like
to read stories.
You know, once a week I bring abook and read stories and yeah,
it's fun.
Natalie (35:19):
So there's a lot more to slam than just an hour of
exercise in each class.
Laura (35:24):
Definitely.
Yes.
definitely.
Natalie (35:27):
talk a little bit about the extracurriculars that you do
with the Slam
Laura (35:31):
Yes.
Yeah, that's, that's one of the,I think, things that makes it so
special.
So we have playgroup once amonth where the kids, we do
either a craft or a story.
Um, and then mom's night out.
So once a month we'll meeteither out at a restaurant or at
someone's house.
Um, we've gone sledding togetheras mom, so we leave our kids at
home and we do things together.
(35:54):
Yeah, that's a huge part.
I think we get to know eachother outside of class, which is
fun.
Get a little break from ourchildren and spouses and, um,
although a lot of times you'll,there'll be a baby or two at the
mom's night outs too, you know?
That's always great.
Um, so yeah, there's, um, a lot,like I said to the community
and, you know, we might see eachother babysitting each other's
(36:15):
kids and things like that.
So, um, or races we love signingup for, for like, um, We the,
what was it?
The Anchorage, Anchorage RunFest.
We had a big group doing theAnchorage Run Fest in, in
various parts of the relay, andthen the marathon and things,
and going and cheering eachother on as we train for stuff.
So that's, that's another funthing.
Natalie (36:37):
That's really cool.
Yeah.
And you guys do play groups forthe kids and crafts and things
like that too, so,
Laura (36:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Natalie (36:44):
Amazing.
Amazing.
Well, you've really cultivatedan awesome community and I'm,
I'm so glad I kind of am like,Oh, well, time to have a kid and
join you guys,
Laura (36:54):
Join Slam.
Yeah, there you go.
There you go.
Natalie (36:57):
Um, so
Laura (36:59):
to have you.
Natalie (36:59):
if someone, um, wants to join Slam and they're not in
Alaska, they're not in theAnchorage area, how would they
go about finding a community intheir, in their own area?
Laura (37:10):
I would start with sweat like a mother.com.
So sweat like a mother.com isthe website for um, sort of the.
We call it Slam Nation, andthere's a dropdown menu of
affiliates, and that'll justhave a whole alphabetized, um,
list of all of the locations.
And then when you click on thelocation nearest you, it'll pop
up to their website, which hastheir lo you know, their times
(37:33):
and prices and all the things,information about them.
So yeah, they're all over thecountry.
And even there's one in Germany,there's one in, um, England, and
there's one in Italy.
Natalie (37:43):
Wow.
Wow.
Cool.
Laura (37:45):
Yeah, it is pretty fun.
And then of course, you know, ifthere's not one near you, look
into starting one
Natalie (37:51):
That's what I was just gonna say,
Laura (37:53):
Yeah.
Yep, yep.
Natalie (37:55):
Cool.
So where can people find youonline and how will they find
the, the class times and all ofthat?
Is that on the
Laura (38:02):
Yeah, same thing.
You can do sweat like amother.com and find the
Anchorage location.
That's our website.
Um, or we're on Instagram atSlam Anchor.
On Facebook, it like a motherAnchorage.
Um, yeah, and all of those havelike our, my email address and
I'm personally on Facebook andInstagram, Laura Sale, but
(38:24):
there's not a lot there.
I don't post, personally, I'mnot very good at social media,
so that's not my strength.
My strength is in person, um,meeting people.
But anyway, if, if you find meyou're welcome to follow me
there.
But yeah, anyway, mostly, mostlyuh, email or, um, yeah, the.
Natalie (38:45):
Okay.
Okay.
So I wanna wrap up with twoquestions that I ask every
single guest who comes on.
So, first one is, what's yournumber one piece of advice for
our listeners?
What do you want everyone toknow?
Laura (39:01):
Well, it feels after all of these words about Slam a
little cliche to say, My numberone advice is to join Slam I I
feel like I kind of feel alittle bit like I'm sitting.
That up for something, I don'tknow.
But I will say it doesn't haveto be slam.
And I know I, you know a lot ofyour guests, I've been listening
to your podcast and I know a lotof your guests echo this idea
that it's about finding a group.
(39:24):
So it doesn't even have to be afitness group.
It could be a book club or aBible study or a, I don't know.
All the things just, but to takesome initiative and even though
it's really uncomfortable to bethe first, you know, to be the
one, the new person, um, just todo it because I think, um,
there's so much that being inperson, in a group, um, and
(39:48):
getting to know other people,uh, is so valuable and so
important for mental health.
So I would say my number oneadvice, Find a group of people
and join them and be the newperson.
And um, and if there's not agroup near you, start one.
Whether, again, it doesn't haveto be slam, but start a book
club or invite your neighborsover.
(40:08):
Um, yeah, don't be afraid to befirst, cuz I think that can be
very uncomfortable.
It's worth it.
It's totally worth it.
Natalie (40:15):
And chances are there's other people in your same shoes
and there you have moreinitiative than them to start it
and they're just waiting forthat to happen.
Laura (40:24):
Yep.
Definitely.
Natalie (40:26):
okay.
Number two, question.
What's your favorite wellnesshabit that you incorporate into
your daily life?
Laura (40:34):
I'm not gonna say slam I swear I'm gonna move on from
this, um,
Natalie (40:39):
can say exercise if you want to.
That's fine.
Laura (40:41):
For sure.
No, I was thinking about this,but I think it's probably
filling three.
Uh, Hydro flasks every morningwith water, and instead of
refilling a water bottle, I, Ifill three.
And then, you know, my day's notover till I've finished all
three of them.
And I think it is a visual cuefor how much I need to drink
water and then just sort ofgives me something to like check
(41:03):
off.
And once I'm done drinking thatone, I just pick up the next
one.
So yeah, filling three hydroflasks in the morning and not
going to bed until they'reempty.
Natalie (41:12):
Wow.
Nice.
And I, I really like that.
It's like a hack too.
Laura (41:16):
Yeah.
Yeah, always if I can hacksomething or tie it to something
I already do in order to do it,that's it's important for me.
I don't have a lot of braincapacity for much else.
Natalie (41:31):
Oh, well, Laura, thank you so much for being here today
and, and chatting about allthings Slam and exercise and
moms and community.
I, I really appreciate it.
Laura (41:40):
Thanks for having me on.
I have enjoyed following youand, and learning from you and
your resources, so I'm excitedto continue to do that.
Natalie (41:49):
Awesome.
my top takeaway from myconversation with Laura was,
Find your community, becausethat's really where it's at.
You need people to support you.
You need people to bring youmeals when you're not feeling
well or you just had a baby.
You need people who willencourage you and cheer you on
when you're doing new things andif there's not a community
(42:10):
nearby, create your own andinvite your mom friends to it.
I've linked all of the resourcesshe mentioned, as well as her
site and social pages for you tofollow in the show notes for
this episode.
Please remember that what youhear on this podcast is not
medical advice, but remember toalways do your own research and
talk to your provider beforemaking important decisions about
(42:32):
your healthcare.
If you found this podcasthelpful, please consider leaving
a five star review in yourfavorite podcast app.
It helps other people find theshow.
Thank you so much for listening.
I'll catch you next time.
on today's episode of theresearch doula podcast.
I chat with Laura of slamAnchorage.
We chat about her experienceattending slam for the first
time as a new mom.
And how she has transitionedinto building her own community
right where she's at supportingand empowering other moms to do
the same
Natalie (00:18):
I'm Natalie and you're listening to the Resource Doula
Podcast, a place where weprovide information to help you
make informed healthcaredecisions for yourself and your.
(00:39):
Laura is an ACE certified groupfitness instructor,, pregnant
and postpartum athlete coach,military wife, mother of three
boys and owner of Sweat like aMother.
Anchorage, also known as Slam.
Slam, is a group fitness classwhere women can bring their kids
or not and receive qualityprogramming to meet them where
they are in any stage ofmotherhood, pre-pregnancy.
Pregnancy or postpartum.
(01:01):
They offer monthly playgroupsand moms nights out as well.
Laura grew up in Salt Lake City,Utah, and was an elementary
school teacher in high school,cross country coach in
Fairbanks, Alaska.
It was there that she met herhusband, Jeremiah, who was in
the army after having her firstbaby in 2016, she became a stay
at home mom and.
(01:21):
A slam affiliate when she wassix weeks postpartum in
Monterey, California.
Laura knew from her first classthis would become part of her
life.
She began studying to become aninstructor, and when she and her
family moved from California toNew York for the military, she
decided to open an affiliate,slam Fort Drum.
Laura then had her second andthird babies in New York before
(01:42):
her husband was sent back toAlaska this time to Anchorage.
Slam.
Anchorage was already a thrivingcommunity when she arrived and
bought the business in 2021.
Laura is passionate aboutbuilding communities where women
feel accepted, seen, challenged,and loved.
She enjoys running, especiallytrail running and enjoys
training for marathons,especially the Equinox Marathon
(02:04):
and Fairbanks, which she has runfour.
She also loves skiing, hiking,and of course sweating like a
mother during class.
Hey Laura, welcome to the show.
Laura (02:14):
Hi Natalie.
Thanks for having.
Natalie (02:16):
Of course I'm excited about this.
I think it's really funny thatlike it took Instagram for us to
meet, but we live in the samestate.
Laura (02:26):
I do appreciate that it's one of the beauties of social
media.
It brings people together.
Natalie (02:32):
Yeah, it really is.
So I wanna just dive right in.
You really have had quite thejourney.
You started out as an elementaryschool teacher and a cross
country of course, Cross countrycoach um, and you're now a mom
fitness instructor.
So I wanna know what was sospecial about that first slam
(02:55):
class that you attended?
What convinced you that youneeded more of this in your, in
your life?
Laura (03:02):
Great question.
Yeah, I had a little bit of apivot in my career path.
Um, I was really committed toteaching and being, um, an
elementary school teacher, andmy goal was to be an elementary
school principal.
Um, and so it was definitely ashift in, um, in my career when
I became a mom, became a stay athome mom, became a military
(03:23):
spouse, that kind of, that.
Trajectory changed.
Um, working as a military spouseis very challenging, working
outside the home becausechildcare and not having family
nearby is, um, makes all of thatvery difficult.
So, um, yeah, I feel likethere's so many things I could
share as far as my journey, um,and what sort of, how that
(03:46):
changed.
But maybe that would be a wholepodcast,
Natalie (03:49):
free to share whatever
Laura (03:52):
When we moved to, uh, to Monterey, California, I was six
weeks post.
Well, I had my baby there, so Iwas, I moved there when I was
about 37 and a half weekspregnant.
So I was with my first baby.
So we were, um, moving to a newplace.
I didn't know a soul, you know,didn't know anybody in Monterey.
Uh, we were there for a schoolfor my husband's job.
(04:13):
He was gonna be in school forthe next 18 months.
And, um, and yeah, I was aboutto be a new mom for the first
time and just totally.
No idea what I was gettingmyself into.
Also, I had just, we'd justgotten married very recently,
so, um, new wife, new, you know,just knew at so many things.
Um, new place.
So I was Googling as one doeswhen they arrive at a new place
(04:35):
about things in my area.
And I don't even know what IGoogled.
I don't know if I was evenlooking for a fitness class or
if I was looking for a momgroup.
I ju I don't remember what IGoogled, but I know that at.
Slam came up sweat like amother.
Um, at the time it was strollerstrong mom, and I noticed that
it was less than a mile from myhouse is where they met.
And so I thought, Okay, I'mgonna do this.
(04:56):
So I read a little bit more andit said, Okay, when you're six
weeks postpartum is when we haveyou start coming to this class.
So I waited till I was six weekspostpartum.
The night, it was like themorning I had my doctor's
appointment, my six weekappointment in the morning, or.
Maybe it was the day before.
And so the next morning I waslike, Okay, I can go to Slim
now.
(05:17):
Um, yeah, I was so excited, butalso nervous.
I like didn't sleep the nightbefore cause I was like, Oh my
gosh, what if I'm not like ingood enough shape?
What if I, Yeah.
Just didn't know any, you know,I won't know anybody.
What if I can't keep up?
Cause some of the reviews onSlam said, like, this workouts
no joke.
You know, like it felt kind ofthe bootcamp vibe at first.
(05:39):
And so I was a little worried.
So, So I got there on my firstday and really quickly fell in
love with the program and withthe moms and the instructor,
Alexa.
She was, everyone was sowelcoming and.
Um, so accommodating to me asagain, a new mom, my infant baby
(06:00):
in the car seat in stroller.
I just, um, getting there wassuch a huge feat and I just felt
so welcomed and then I wasmoving my body and sweating and
that felt really good cause Ihadn't been able to do that in
so long.
Um, and yeah, I, I literallybought the t-shirt that day.
I bought a t-shirt and was like,Okay, this is it.
(06:20):
I'm hooked.
I, this might, these are mypeople.
They also just, were all very,um, you know, they, we are
outside, we're, you know, nearthe ocean and everybody, It just
seemed like the kind of people Iwould get along with.
And a lot of military familyspouses too.
So again, that connection feltgood.
So yeah, I just kept coming.
I bought a membership andstarted coming, you know, as
(06:42):
often as I could.
They had classes every day andum, that first day, the, Sorry,
I really do talk a lot.
So
Natalie (06:50):
Keep talking.
I'm here for it.
Laura (06:53):
first class I, um, That I went to, I um, I thought I had
to leave right after because Ineeded to go home and breastfeed
and just watching some of thesemoms breastfeeding in public and
I didn't really know you coulddo that.
I didn't know how one would dothat.
And so I told them, I was like,Well, I have to go.
They were meeting after and, andhaving like a playgroup after
and I was like, Well, I gotta gofeed my baby.
(07:15):
And they're all like, Wait,what?
You know?
Cause they're just out there,um, feeding their children and.
Yeah, that felt really good tosort of learn how to mother from
all these other mothers.
You know, I learned how to be amom and, um, that was a super
supportive way of, of doingthat.
So that, that's kind of whathooked me in.
(07:36):
Um, and I never looked back.
So yeah.
Then I decided once we knew wewere gonna move, I decided to,
um, open a slam wherever weended up.
If there wasn't.
Because it was something I justwanted more of in my life.
So when we moved to Fort Drum, Iopened a slam affiliate in Fort
Drum and um, then, then boughtthe, uh, affiliate here in
(08:00):
Anchorage once we moved here.
So I've just kind of been, as wemove, I bring Slam with me or
sort of find the slam in thearea.
That's a long answer to yourquestion.
I'm sorry,
Natalie (08:10):
No, I love it.
I think it, it took like a lotof initiative on your part to
decide I'm gonna find some newfriends in Monterey when you
first moved there and thendecide to just like.
Up and go to a fitness class,which I think is intimidating.
even being in the fitness world,that's an intimidating thing to
do.
(08:31):
And then as a new mom, so propsto you for just put putting
yourself out there and, andgoing for it.
Laura (08:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You kind of have to, and I don'tknow if I knew that at the time,
how important that was as, um,someone who moves a lot, that
just sort of jumping into acommunity when you get somewhere
is so important.
Um, and I think that whetherit's my personality or, you
know, I don't know whichhappened first, but that's,
that's become something that'svery important to me is kind of.
Jumping in right away.
(08:59):
Um, I mean, and Slam has been sogreat because you get to a place
and like we received moms hereat Slam from other places and
they know that immediately when,when we go to, um, register our
kids for school and they say,Okay, we need, uh, an emergency
contact that lives in the area.
Like I got here a week ago, Idon't know anybody.
(09:21):
Go on the slam page, Hey, can Iuse anybody for an emergency
contact?
And everybody's like, Of course,like, here was my, you know, put
my name and number down.
So, um, um, that's kind of oneof the, I think, advantages of
finding a community like that asfar as military is concerned.
Natalie (09:38):
That's incredible and that's really what we need for
everybody.
Military or not.
Like a lot of the guests thatI've had on this podcast, every
single person says, Find youryour village, right?
Find your people, find yoursupport network.
And that's really hard to do,but it sounds like Slam, like
those women are just there foreach other all the time.
(09:59):
That's incredible.
Laura (10:00):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think everyone realizes that,how important that is.
I know it's okay.
Yeah, I definitely think that'simportant.
Natalie (10:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And in ways that you may notexpect, like emergency contact
for your older kids at school,rather than just bringing you a
meal.
Do you guys do meal trains andstuff like.
Laura (10:17):
Yeah.
Yep.
We do meal trains when someonehas a baby or an illness or a
loss or anything like that, wedo meal trains for sure.
And, um, yeah, we have a lot ofmoms who babysit each other's
kids, you know, for date nightsor for appointments, you know,
when you need childcare, so youcan go to the doctor, you can,
you know, you know, you havethis group of moms who
understand and that you trustand that know your kids, and
(10:39):
your kids know them.
Um, so yeah, when you don't livenear your family, That can be a
huge re and even if you do, youknow, it's nice to not always
rely on mom and dad or aunt anduncle or whatever, you know, you
can tax your, even your family.
So, Cause we do have local moms,you know, we have moms who live
here, whose families live here.
And um, yeah,
Natalie (10:59):
Yeah.
And then you
Laura (11:00):
aspect.
Natalie (11:01):
You have options for like if you need to talk to
somebody who's not related toyou, who is familiar with the
stage of life that you're in andyour journey and all of that.
Laura (11:10):
definitely.
Natalie (11:12):
that's amazing.
Okay.
I wanna kind of switch over toyour own motherhood journey.
So you had your first baby, youwere six weeks postpartum when
you joined.
Um, you've since had anotherkid,
Laura (11:25):
Two other.
Yeah.
Yes.
Natalie (11:28):
What would you say is probably the most surprising
thing, something you did notexpect, um, in your motherhood
journey, and then whether it wasgood, how'd that go?
And then if it was kind of likemaybe more on the negative side,
how did you work through it?
How did you overcome it?
Laura (11:45):
I love that question because I think there is so much
surprising about motherhood andI think the biggest surprise was
how little.
Uh, people talk about moms andtheir, that journey.
So like from the beginning.
So your postpartum appointment,that six week checkup, you get
one, you know, you get one sixweek checkup, and then that's
(12:07):
it.
You're done.
They don't.
Follow through or talk to you.
You know, you get one and thebaby gets like 10 in the first
year of life.
You know, you're going to theone week and then the follow up.
Two, you know, depending on yourbaby's health needs, they might
even be more often.
And then you're getting theirthree month checkup and their
six, I mean, you're going backfor baby appointments all the
(12:28):
time.
And no one, very rarely do theyask about you and how you're
doing.
I mean, some, if you have a goodpediatrician, they might look at
you and say, How you doing mom?
You know?
But very rarely do you get a lotof, um, support from the medical
community, you know, And that'sjust, I don't think that's
anyone's fault.
It's just how it's designedright now.
So I think that was sosurprising to me is how much.
(12:53):
With hormones and you know, yourphysical changes and your mental
changes, there's so much goingon in that first year that you
can feel super lost becausenobody's talking about it.
So you're not sure how much ofwhat you're experiencing is
normal and how much of whatyou're experiencing is, you
know, if you're breastfeeding,what, how are, you know, There's
(13:14):
lactation consultants.
But again, if you don't knowwhat's available to you resource
wise, if you don't, um, have acommunity if you don't.
You know, and even if you do,there's just very little, I
think, um, talked about.
And so I think that was reallysurprising to me was just how
much my body was changing, mymindset was changing.
(13:35):
So many things were changing andI didn't feel prepared or
equipped, and I didn't feel, um,in it in a lot of ways.
You know, like I just felt likeI was kind of on my own.
So any, and I have a wonderfulmom and three sisters, you know,
like I, so I really do have agood amount of support and I
still didn't feel like I knewwhat was happening to me, Um, so
(13:58):
I think that was reallysurprising because I sort of
thought I knew what to expectfrom being a mom.
And there's also, you know,there's what the media tells you
and even what.
Social media tells you, um,movies and, you know, just the
magic of motherhood or the,you're just gonna know, you
know, you're just gonna knowwhat to do and all these things,
or your body knows.
(14:18):
And I think that might besometimes true, but there's also
times when it's like you don'tknow you have no idea.
Uh, so, uh, and I think in a lotof ways, uh, Swam helped me with
that.
I mean, just meeting other momswho would talk about their
journey and.
You know, talk about theirstruggles with mental health or,
(14:40):
um, you know, their plan hasreally, um, I think improved
their messaging for postpartum,you know, um, pelvic floor pt or
even when you're pregnant, goingto pelvic floor pt.
And I think, um, just some ofthose terms, like the idea that
Pelvic four PT exists,
Natalie (15:00):
Yeah.
Laura (15:00):
didn't know that.
Natalie (15:01):
And it's awesome.
Laura (15:04):
Yeah, and it's amazing.
Yeah.
And that everyone should go.
It should be like, that shouldbe part of your six week checkup
is an immediate referral topelvic floor pt.
Just no questions asked.
You don't have to have symptoms.
You don't have to know what itis.
You just, you're immediatelysent, you know, ideally next
door to the pelvic floor PT downthe hall or something like that.
You know, that would be amazing,
Natalie (15:23):
Wouldn't that be awesome,
Laura (15:24):
The dream, the.
Natalie (15:25):
Yeah.
Laura (15:28):
yeah, I think that's some of the ways that I coped with
those surprises was just, um,trying to.
Well, and then trying to becomewhat I needed, you know, trying
to become a coach that wouldtalk about those things and
would encourage new moms to getthe help they need and, and, um,
yeah, start to use some of thosewords as far as just normalizing
(15:49):
it, you know.
Oh, you're having painful sex.
Like let's talk about it.
You know, like instead offeeling like that was taboo or
that you shouldn't talk aboutthat or something, you know, we
can talk about the pee and thepoop and all the things, you
know, like your own, your mom'smom's pee and poop.
You know, we talk about thebaby's pee and poop.
Why can't we talk about mom?
So
Natalie (16:06):
This is true.
Laura (16:07):
yeah.
Anyway, that's
Natalie (16:10):
Yeah.
No, I think it's just, I mean,Amer America and our medical
system and women's healthcare ingeneral, I've talked about this
with like every single personI've, I've had on, but it's
really, it's problematic andit's leaving so many moms
feeling like they're alone orthat they're not normal or that
(16:31):
they have to deal with whateverit is by themselves, you know,
alone.
And, and as if.
It doesn't happen to everybodyelse, or they're not struggling,
you know?
So.
Laura (16:42):
or that it's so normal that they just have to put up
with it.
Like, Oh, that's just, everybodyhas that, so don't worry about
it.
You know?
That's just part of being a momand that's, you know, also not
necessarily true.
So, yeah.
Natalie (16:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
And what's interesting about yousaying that you had to leave to
feed your baby, you weren't, youdidn't know that you could
breastfeed in public like thatis um, I talked to an IV clc, a
lactation consultant, and shewas saying that you decide when
you are like, 15, like pubertyage, whether or not you're gonna
(17:14):
breastfeed in your future basedon the fact that you've seen
breastfeeding or you haven't inpublic, which is just so
interesting to me.
Like if we normalize it and wefeed babies when they need to be
fed and when they're hungry,then that could be anywhere.
It could be out on the sidewalk,it could, you know, it could be
(17:34):
in the house with friends over,but that just making it more
apparent.
Laura (17:40):
Yeah.
No, I love that.
I love that.
I think about that sometimeswhen I am breastfeeding now, you
know, just sort of thinking andlooking around and seeing who's,
you know, who's watching, and Iguess you do, You never know
who's watching for better orworse, you know, But mostly a, a
positive thing, you know, thatit's just an important Yeah.
Natalie (17:57):
And the next generation will grow up seeing it as that's
what we do.
That's how we feed babies.
And it's okay to do that in themiddle of a workout if you need
to.
Laura (18:07):
Yeah, totally.
And my hope is through slim wealso normalize bottle feeding
and, you know, that it's justnot, you know, putting anything
up on a pedestal.
You know, as someone who hasbreastfed three babies,
basically been breastfeeding forlike six years, you know, I, I
would never want a mom.
I've also heard from lots ofmoms who felt super alienated by
not breastfeeding and feelinglike they're doing something
(18:27):
wrong or failing, or not a, andit's.
Or, or they've really pushedthemselves to breastfeed when,
way past, when they, you know,just like so many things were
pointing to, like, Fed is bestjust, you know, let's get some
formula going or whatever, youknow, and, and, and suffering
mental health, you know, theirmental health suffering because
they thought that that was theonly thing they could do.
So I think that's another reasonto involve, you know, a group of
(18:52):
women so that you can see allkinds of ways of, of feeding and
mother.
Natalie (18:58):
Yeah.
I love that and I love that youbrought in the mental health
aspect because that is reallyimportant and it's something
that we, we overlook a lot oftimes.
You have that six week checkupand then cool.
You're, you're good to go.
There's so much more that needsto be said and needs to be
Laura (19:17):
So much
Natalie (19:18):
Yeah.
Laura (19:18):
Through with.
Natalie (19:19):
Yeah, Yeah, absolutely.
Um, what would you say aboutExercise and Slam in regards to
mental health?
It's kinda an open-endedquestion.
Laura (19:31):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, well, gosh, I mean, I thinkeveryone knows that movement is
important for, for their mentalhealth, or at least I, I think
most people can appreciate how,how much endorphins and movement
can help with mental health.
And I think for postpartumwomen, especially, like body
image is such a huge thing andfiguring out your body and
(19:53):
relearning.
Um, you know, the body that youhave and sort of learning to
love that body, even though itlooks and feels much different
than it did before.
And so I think for me, exercisehas allowed me to sort of, and
it's not so much about likecontrolling your body as it is,
just getting to know it again,you know, And so when you move
(20:13):
and you kind of learn your ownstrength and um, and learn kind.
I, I feel mu, I feel stronger,physically stronger since
postpartum than I ever didbefore having kids.
Cause I've learned how to movethe right way.
You know, I've learned how tomove more mindfully and I've
learned how to move, um, andjust treat my body well, you
(20:35):
know, with how, what I eat andwhat I drink.
Yeah, so, so much of motherhood,um, teaches you how to take care
of yourself better.
At least that's been myexperience.
And so I think exercise and, andSlam has, um, sort of
incorporated that into mylifestyle so that it has become
part of my lifestyle and I thinkit's supported my mental health
because.
(20:55):
Your, I think all of that isconnected.
I think your, you know, yourmental health and physical
health are very much, you know,connected.
And so I think, um, and then ofcourse just spending time with
other moms.
Even if you're not exercising,sometimes, you know, you get to
class and you can't, yourbaby's.
Crying the whole time and youend up just sitting on your mat
and watching everybody elseexercise while you take care of
your baby.
(21:16):
You're still out of the house,you're still around other
people.
You're still receiving thatsupport and giving that support
to the other moms that arethere.
So I think that's been, yeah,those, those things have been
very much tied together.
My mental health and myexperience of exercise
postpartum
Natalie (21:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think there are studies doneon
Laura (21:38):
Makes sense.
Natalie (21:39):
postpartum mood disorders and exercise and how
beneficial it is, and that's, Imean, that's my world too, so
I'm happy to hear you say that.
Laura (21:47):
Yeah.
Natalie (21:48):
um, So if someone has not ever attended a slam class,
um, and they're interested, whatshould they expect?
Um, what should they bring, whatshould they wear?
What kind of exercises do youteach?
Is it like super intense?
I know you, you've spoken to alittle bit of that, um, and kind
of the environment, but give usthe low.
Laura (22:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
So come in workout clothes,comfortable to move.
Um, in the summer we're outsideand so you dress for whatever
the outdoor weather is.
But now that the winter has hithere in Alaska, we are indoors
and so yeah, we definitely havemoms and shorts because you get
warm and sweaty, so whateveryou're comfortable in.
Um, and then water of course,and a yoga mat.
(22:34):
And then we do ask moms tobring.
So people start with anywherefrom three pound weights to
eight pound weights and thenkind of work their way up from
there.
Um, and we have heavy weightdays where the instructors will
bring some heavier weights to,to try out.
Um, and we always sort ofencourage moms to try the next
heaviest weight, you know, thatthey've been, if they've been
bringing three pound weights,try the fives.
(22:56):
If they've been bringing fives,try the eight, et cetera.
Um, and then we'll bring, Yeah,like I said, we'll bring in some
more.
And that's really it.
I mean, you just come with your,your yoga mat, your weights and
your water and your baby if you,uh, need to, you know, So we
have moms.
We have moms who.
Childcare who have daycare or,um, their kids are in school and
(23:18):
they come without their kids.
And we love that.
We cheer for them because itmeans they're gonna get a really
focused hour of work.
They're gonna get to focus onthemselves and their workout,
their breathing, and um, andthat's awesome for them.
For sure.
And, uh, then we have lots ofmoms who, you know, don't have
that option.
And so they're bringing theirstrollers and they're bringing
their kids and they're bringing,um, snacks for their kids.
(23:39):
Tablets.
We encourage electronics duringSlam because again, your kids
get your other 23 hours of theday.
You can carve out an hour foryou where they're just gonna be.
You.
Can we encourage moms to ignoretheir kids for that hour too,
in, in ways that are appropriateand, you know, uh,
developmentally appropriate forthem.
Toys and things for them to playwith because they're, they are
(24:00):
welcome to be there.
In fact, that's kind of whatSlam was created for, was a
workout that you can bring yourkids to.
Um, So that's what you bring.
You bring your kids if you canor need to, and if you don't,
um, that's awesome too.
Uh, we do it have strollers forkids that are under four.
We encourage them to, and, andwant them to be sort of more
(24:21):
contained the babies and so thatto keep them safe from weights
that are moving around.
So wagons, the mom bringswagons.
We've had moms bring likefoldable camp chairs so that
just so that every kid has kindof a place to be, to keep them
safe.
And then afterwards they justrun around.
That's wildlings that they are.
Um, but during class we do askthem to be sort of in one spot
(24:44):
for, for safety reasons.
But yeah, that's, that's it.
And then the instructors are,Walk you through exactly what
you need to know after that.
If you just show up, that's allyou need to do.
Um, the instructors have awesomeclasses planned.
Every day is different.
It's, you know, a mixture oflike strength and conditioning,
some hit, you know, um,intervals, little, some running
(25:05):
sometimes, but lots ofmodifications, always
accommodations, depending onwhere people are at, um, in
pregnancy and post.
The coaches are always gonnagive different sort of, um,
modifications or exercises, andif moms have injuries or
symptoms, we always, we eitheryou.
Um, like, call out if you havethese symptoms, this is what you
(25:27):
should do.
Or we encourage moms to approachthe instructors either before or
even during class, um, to letthem know what their symptoms
are and we can troubleshoot kindof what, what they can do, um,
instead of what everyone else isdoing or, you know.
So most, a lot of times it justlooks different.
Everyone's doing something alittle bit different cause
they're choosing what works forthem.
(25:48):
Um, And yeah, that's, that's it.
It's an hour class is an hour.
We have warmups and cool downsand you know, stretching and
it's just a lot of fun themedclasses for holidays, always
themed.
Today is Halloween here.
And yeah, we definitely had somefun themed classes, Monster
walks and things like that.
(26:09):
So yeah, lots of fun.
Every once in a while we'llinclude the kids and have the
kids work out with us.
Um, just for fun.
But for the most part, it'sfocused on moms for sure.
Natalie (26:18):
Which is so needed.
It's so needed.
And I will say, I can vouch foreverything that you said because
I came to a class,
Laura (26:24):
That's
Natalie (26:25):
so fun, and.
Even though I don't have kids, Ididn't bring a kid and I, I'm
comfortable around moms andbabies cuz that's my world.
And I kind of expected to justlike come in and have nobody
talk to me, but just like I waslooking for you, you know?
Like I'm here to sample a class,whatever.
But people talk to me right awayand they were so friendly and
(26:47):
just welcome, welcomed me rightin, even though I didn't have a
stroller with me.
It was awesome.
And then the exercises, I waslike, okay, I'm, I'm impressed
cuz I'm always, you know, Littlepicky about exercises, which is
understandable, with mybackground.
But um, yeah, it was, it wasgreat.
The exercises were appropriateand good and I was way sore the
(27:09):
next day.
I don't know if I told you that,but I was definitely sore, so it
Laura (27:13):
funny.
I was intimidated having youcome to class knowing that that
was your background.
I'm like, Oh, okay.
Now I feel a little, a littlenervous,
Natalie (27:20):
Nah.
Laura (27:21):
But it was fun.
Natalie (27:22):
Yeah, it was awesome.
So I would, I would highlyrecommend it.
And then you guys chat at theend, the kids run around and
it's, it's fine if your kidscreams over there, that's okay
if they're running around andhaving fun.
Cool.
So, yeah, it's, it's definitelya low pressure and, and
welcoming environment.
So keep doing what
Laura (27:41):
that was your experience.
I'm, That was your experience.
Natalie (27:44):
Totally, totally.
Can you talk a little bit about.
The coaches training and theirspecializations in pelvic floor,
um, what qualifies them to talkabout all of that?
Laura (27:59):
Yeah, definitely.
So all of our coaches have to becertified, um, in a nationally
recognized.
Certification for fitness, sogroup fitness, um, through ace.
We have, um, yeah, all various,um, fitness certifications
first.
That's kind of the bare minimum.
And then from there, you know,as continuing ed and um, sort of
(28:21):
adding onto that, uh, we havecoaches who have, they're
pregnant and postpartumMethodism coaches CERT
certification, which is theBrianna Battles course, which is
one of the ways that you and Imet was through sort of her
presence, Brianna Battle'spresence on social media.
And I, I think she's a great,that course is really, Really
strong course, and I think, um,a lot of the slam owners and
(28:43):
coaches have that certificationbecause it's just very relevant
for what we do.
Um, since we are coachingpregnant and postpartum athletes
every day.
Um, so there's thatcertification we have, um, one
of our coaches has the, um,corrective exercise specialist,
uh, or a corrective exercisecertification.
(29:04):
Which is again, kind of right inline with what we do.
Um, and we have, um, what.
Uh, one of our pelvic floor PTs,Addie Holman, so she's the Slam
Nation pelvic floor pt, and sheoffers a certification, uh, for
continuing ed that is, um,called to birth and back.
And all of our instructors havethat certification as well.
(29:27):
And so that's, um, I designed tobridge the gap between birth and
six weeks.
So what do you do during thatsix weeks?
You can't.
Say nothing you know, there'sdefinitely things you can be
doing.
So that course, um, reallyfocuses on breathing and
reconnecting to your core andpelvic floor and learning all of
those, the basics to, um, toallow you to sort of progress.
(29:50):
After that.
And that personally was areally, um, important
certification for me to get formy own, you know, for my own
ability to sort of reconnect tomy core and then to be able to,
you know, give that informationto, to other moms.
So, um, yeah, so those are thecertifications.
And then, um, yeah, we justalways encourage moms to be, or
(30:12):
our instructors to.
You know, learning, We, I tookan instructor to your seminar,
which was awesome, as sort ofcontinuing education and to sort
of always be thinking about howwe can better serve our moms.
Natalie (30:24):
Awesome.
That's a lot of things.
That's a lot of certifications.
Laura (30:27):
a lot of words,
Natalie (30:29):
It is.
It's good.
It's good to have multiple toolsin your tool belt so that you're
prepared because who knows who'sgonna show up next and, and what
issue.
They might be dealing with andyeah.
And you guys can bounce off ofeach other.
Ideas and, and questions as faras like what cue worked best for
this person or,
Laura (30:49):
Totally.
Natalie (30:49):
Yeah.
Laura (30:50):
Totally.
And that's I think one of thebenefits of having multiple
coaches is that, um, you know,everybody's getting to know, we
have, you know, a good sizecommunity.
And so, um, you know, to be ableto know if.
Each individual is challenging,but also helps to have that team
so you can say, Oh, I, I spokewith this member and they're
experiencing these issues andthis is what I told them.
(31:11):
And so then we're kind of all onthe same page.
The next class.
We don't, you know, we kindaknow what everybody's individual
needs are.
Um, and so that even if we'renot able to get to them every
class and sort of give them likeone on one hands on, they know
from, you know, the past classesor whatever, what their options
are.
And so our moms get really.
Choosing the options that workfor them.
We, we sometimes don't have tosay it, we just see a mom doing,
(31:34):
you know, bird dog or, you know,we see a mom drop the weight
and, um, or change the range ofmotion.
You know, they're just, theykind of learn, I think to um,
like take on some ownership fortheir workouts, which is really
awesome.
Natalie (31:48):
Yeah.
I think that's really importantbecause if you're not in it and
you don't, you don't takeresponsibility for your own
movement, then you're not gonnacontinue it down the road.
It's not gonna become a habitfor you.
So that's, that's really cool tohear.
Yeah.
Having people, having moms beadvocates for their own bodies
and know how to move Well, it's,Yeah.
(32:09):
Like, cool.
You can go home.
You did your job.
Awesome.
Laura (32:12):
Yeah.
Natalie (32:14):
You were coaching cross country running correct.
Laura (32:18):
yes.
Natalie (32:19):
And then you transitioned to become a fitness
instructor.
Had you had experience in thefitness world before besides the
cross country?
Laura (32:28):
No.
Nope.
In fact, I was not a superathlete.
I was never really, uh, I didnot like team sports.
Um, I, I grew up skiing andhiking and kind of biking and
doing things that were just onmy own.
I didn't grow up in, um, playingorganized sports really.
Um, just for fun, I guess.
And.
You know about the time that itgot competitive and where people
(32:50):
cared if you won or lost.
That's when I was like, I'm outI was just, I'm not a very
competitive person by nature, soI don't really have that athlete
brain.
Um uh, which is kind ofinteresting then that I.
Become or, or sort oftransitioned into this life
because yeah, it was definitelynot something that I brought
with me, um, even intomotherhood.
So yeah, coaching cross countrywas, I, I worked at a pretty
(33:12):
small school and, um, it was Kthrough 12 or pre-K through 12.
And so the, you know, they just,they needed a cross country
coach and I loved running and soI, I read a lot.
I started, I checked out a lotof books from the library, and
did some research to figure outhow to coach cross country.
I knew how to train myself.
I knew how to train for amarathon, but, um, you know, an
(33:35):
adult woman training for amarathon is way different than,
uh, you know, a ninth grade boyrunning, um, a 5K So it was very
interesting to become like atrack, you know, track coach and
doing more tracks, styleworkouts
Natalie (33:49):
Okay.
Laura (33:49):
um, anyway, so it was, it was a very, Process.
And I think some of that didgive me a little indication that
I loved teaching.
I knew I loved working withkids.
Um, and then working with olderkids, these high school students
who are coming up on adulthood,I thought, I like working with
other adults, you know, andyoung adults.
And so I think that sort oftransitioned into, you know,
(34:11):
coaching, um, what I do nowbecause they're just older,
just.
Older kids, other adults.
So yeah, no, that was kind of afunny, funny transition for me.
I sometimes look back and thinkmy high school self would laugh
that I'm a group fitnessinstructor because I just Yeah.
Was not super athletic.
Natalie (34:31):
Okay.
I was curious about that.
I was wondering if that was likeyour trajectory for a while and
Laura (34:36):
Nope.
Nope.
I had, It's funny, this is alittle bit random, but I did
listen to your story of knowingin kindergarten that you wanted
to work with, um, moms andbabies.
And I have a similar story.
In first grade, my first gradeteacher told me that if she ever
needed to leave the room, shewould, she knew she could put me
in charge cuz she thought Iwould make a great teacher.
(34:57):
And I have wanted to be ateacher ever since.
Like, I've just, if yeah, sincefirst grade, if anyone had asked
me what I was gonna be when Igrew up, I would've said,
Natalie (35:04):
A teacher.
Yeah, and you're fulfillingthat.
And you gotta see kids every
Laura (35:07):
Yep, Yep.
Work with kids today.
We did a craft after and thekids were, Yeah, I read, I like
to read stories.
You know, once a week I bring abook and read stories and yeah,
it's fun.
Natalie (35:19):
So there's a lot more to slam than just an hour of
exercise in each class.
Laura (35:24):
Definitely.
Yes.
definitely.
Natalie (35:27):
talk a little bit about the extracurriculars that you do
with the Slam
Laura (35:31):
Yes.
Yeah, that's, that's one of the,I think, things that makes it so
special.
So we have playgroup once amonth where the kids, we do
either a craft or a story.
Um, and then mom's night out.
So once a month we'll meeteither out at a restaurant or at
someone's house.
Um, we've gone sledding togetheras mom, so we leave our kids at
home and we do things together.
(35:54):
Yeah, that's a huge part.
I think we get to know eachother outside of class, which is
fun.
Get a little break from ourchildren and spouses and, um,
although a lot of times you'll,there'll be a baby or two at the
mom's night outs too, you know?
That's always great.
Um, so yeah, there's, um, a lot,like I said to the community
and, you know, we might see eachother babysitting each other's
(36:15):
kids and things like that.
So, um, or races we love signingup for, for like, um, We the,
what was it?
The Anchorage, Anchorage RunFest.
We had a big group doing theAnchorage Run Fest in, in
various parts of the relay, andthen the marathon and things,
and going and cheering eachother on as we train for stuff.
So that's, that's another funthing.
Natalie (36:37):
That's really cool.
Yeah.
And you guys do play groups forthe kids and crafts and things
like that too, so,
Laura (36:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Natalie (36:44):
Amazing.
Amazing.
Well, you've really cultivatedan awesome community and I'm,
I'm so glad I kind of am like,Oh, well, time to have a kid and
join you guys,
Laura (36:54):
Join Slam.
Yeah, there you go.
There you go.
Natalie (36:57):
Um, so
Laura (36:59):
to have you.
Natalie (36:59):
if someone, um, wants to join Slam and they're not in
Alaska, they're not in theAnchorage area, how would they
go about finding a community intheir, in their own area?
Laura (37:10):
I would start with sweat like a mother.com.
So sweat like a mother.com isthe website for um, sort of the.
We call it Slam Nation, andthere's a dropdown menu of
affiliates, and that'll justhave a whole alphabetized, um,
list of all of the locations.
And then when you click on thelocation nearest you, it'll pop
up to their website, which hastheir lo you know, their times
(37:33):
and prices and all the things,information about them.
So yeah, they're all over thecountry.
And even there's one in Germany,there's one in, um, England, and
there's one in Italy.
Natalie (37:43):
Wow.
Wow.
Cool.
Laura (37:45):
Yeah, it is pretty fun.
And then of course, you know, ifthere's not one near you, look
into starting one
Natalie (37:51):
That's what I was just gonna say,
Laura (37:53):
Yeah.
Yep, yep.
Natalie (37:55):
Cool.
So where can people find youonline and how will they find
the, the class times and all ofthat?
Is that on the
Laura (38:02):
Yeah, same thing.
You can do sweat like amother.com and find the
Anchorage location.
That's our website.
Um, or we're on Instagram atSlam Anchor.
On Facebook, it like a motherAnchorage.
Um, yeah, and all of those havelike our, my email address and
I'm personally on Facebook andInstagram, Laura Sale, but
(38:24):
there's not a lot there.
I don't post, personally, I'mnot very good at social media,
so that's not my strength.
My strength is in person, um,meeting people.
But anyway, if, if you find meyou're welcome to follow me
there.
But yeah, anyway, mostly, mostlyuh, email or, um, yeah, the.
Natalie (38:45):
Okay.
Okay.
So I wanna wrap up with twoquestions that I ask every
single guest who comes on.
So, first one is, what's yournumber one piece of advice for
our listeners?
What do you want everyone toknow?
Laura (39:01):
Well, it feels after all of these words about Slam a
little cliche to say, My numberone advice is to join Slam I I
feel like I kind of feel alittle bit like I'm sitting.
That up for something, I don'tknow.
But I will say it doesn't haveto be slam.
And I know I, you know a lot ofyour guests, I've been listening
to your podcast and I know a lotof your guests echo this idea
that it's about finding a group.
(39:24):
So it doesn't even have to be afitness group.
It could be a book club or aBible study or a, I don't know.
All the things just, but to takesome initiative and even though
it's really uncomfortable to bethe first, you know, to be the
one, the new person, um, just todo it because I think, um,
there's so much that being inperson, in a group, um, and
(39:48):
getting to know other people,uh, is so valuable and so
important for mental health.
So I would say my number oneadvice, Find a group of people
and join them and be the newperson.
And um, and if there's not agroup near you, start one.
Whether, again, it doesn't haveto be slam, but start a book
club or invite your neighborsover.
(40:08):
Um, yeah, don't be afraid to befirst, cuz I think that can be
very uncomfortable.
It's worth it.
It's totally worth it.
Natalie (40:15):
And chances are there's other people in your same shoes
and there you have moreinitiative than them to start it
and they're just waiting forthat to happen.
Laura (40:24):
Yep.
Definitely.
Natalie (40:26):
okay.
Number two, question.
What's your favorite wellnesshabit that you incorporate into
your daily life?
Laura (40:34):
I'm not gonna say slam I swear I'm gonna move on from
this, um,
Natalie (40:39):
can say exercise if you want to.
That's fine.
Laura (40:41):
For sure.
No, I was thinking about this,but I think it's probably
filling three.
Uh, Hydro flasks every morningwith water, and instead of
refilling a water bottle, I, Ifill three.
And then, you know, my day's notover till I've finished all
three of them.
And I think it is a visual cuefor how much I need to drink
water and then just sort ofgives me something to like check
(41:03):
off.
And once I'm done drinking thatone, I just pick up the next
one.
So yeah, filling three hydroflasks in the morning and not
going to bed until they'reempty.
Natalie (41:12):
Wow.
Nice.
And I, I really like that.
It's like a hack too.
Laura (41:16):
Yeah.
Yeah, always if I can hacksomething or tie it to something
I already do in order to do it,that's it's important for me.
I don't have a lot of braincapacity for much else.
Natalie (41:31):
Oh, well, Laura, thank you so much for being here today
and, and chatting about allthings Slam and exercise and
moms and community.
I, I really appreciate it.
Laura (41:40):
Thanks for having me on.
I have enjoyed following youand, and learning from you and
your resources, so I'm excitedto continue to do that.
Natalie (41:49):
Awesome.
my top takeaway from myconversation with Laura was,
Find your community, becausethat's really where it's at.
You need people to support you.
You need people to bring youmeals when you're not feeling
well or you just had a baby.
You need people who willencourage you and cheer you on
when you're doing new things andif there's not a community
(42:10):
nearby, create your own andinvite your mom friends to it.
I've linked all of the resourcesshe mentioned, as well as her
site and social pages for you tofollow in the show notes for
this episode.
Please remember that what youhear on this podcast is not
medical advice, but remember toalways do your own research and
talk to your provider beforemaking important decisions about
(42:32):
your healthcare.
If you found this podcasthelpful, please consider leaving
a five star review in yourfavorite podcast app.
It helps other people find theshow.
Thank you so much for listening.
I'll catch you next time.
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