Question #12: Where do you sharpen your tools?

My primary power tools are movement, writing, music, meditation, and dance. These activities build resilience, awareness, strength, flexibility, and creative self-expression, while scraping off mental, physical, and emotional crust. 

I sharpen tools at home. It's all about rhythms, like taking time in the morning, once the kids are settled, to play my drum while I drink my coffee and wait for my poop to be ready. From that point onward, I watch for opportunities. If Rose pretends to be Lily's new puppy, I know I have at least 20 uninterrupted minutes. I scurry off into the bedroom and open my journal.

I sharpen tools at the gym. While plenty of moms rely on crappy gym childcare to get their exercise, I use my two hours for a variety of tasks, which helps to lessen my guilt.

My top choice for movement at the gym is the empty Pilates studio. I put on music and embark on an organic unfolding of stretching, core-work, and balancing practice. It's a yoga-inspired somatic dance experience that transfers an enormous amount of emotional energy--I have cried, laughed, and caught many epiphanies. I use the same space for writing, making videos, conversations, and other work that requires an absence of children. 

My top choice for meditation at the gym is the sauna. It feels like a womb. There is no where to go, and nothing else to do, except sit there and self-actualize. 

I also dance in public. When my friend Katie and I started The Momma Mob, it was with the intention to merge tool-sharpening with community-building and constructive-care-taking. We're all at the park getting fresh air and letting the kids run wild, but instead of standing around semi-bored, one eye on kiddos and another on Instagram, we're exercising and having fun! Incidentally, you can follow The Momma Mob on Instagram (@themommamob).