We were lucky to catch up with Leah O’Brien recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Leah, so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?
I am someone who believes in simplicity and the basics when it comes to self-care and overall wellness. As a mom and work from home entrepreneur, my self-care is crucial for me to show up as the best wife, mom, friend, and business owner. The first thing I do in the morning when I wake up is jump on a mini trampoline for 10 minutes. 10 minutes on the trampoline is equivocal to 30 minutes of jogging, it also supports the entire lymphatic system to help detox the body, but for me it wakes me up and gets me energized first thing! I follow it up with lemon water (before coffee or anything else!) to aid in digestion and taking out the trash from the day before, and then lastly go watch the sun rise for 10-15 minutes. It is one of the most impactful and FREE forms of self care we have access to! The supplement everyone needs in their lives!
This is such a short and simple self care routine that supports my entire body and sets my day up for optimal success. It allows me to tune into what is most important in life first before the outside noise sets in from social media, emails, day to day things. I truly am more productive, alert, have a positive mood and outlook and show up as my best self more days than not.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My story starts when my college soccer career ended. I felt like I lost my purpose and didn’t know what my role in life was going to be. So I made a big move away from my family and close friends to a different state to be with my now-husband. That move brought so many unknowns. I knew I needed to find a community, and I was most comfortable in the athletic arena, where I found bodybuilding. This experience truly changed who I was, and really kicked-off my purpose and passion to help women learn how to take care of themselves..first!
I had never grown up a super confident person, despite being great at sports, and it wasn’t until I participated in a sport that was only me vs. me. I learned that despite all efforts, long hours in the gym, diligent diet and nutrition, at the end of the day, our body and structure is our own, and it truly is our power. Bodybuilding made me SO confident, and I realized it was because I was showing up for myself each day, keeping promises to myself, and it translated goodness into all other areas.
I’ve had so many female clients tell me that they won’t take pictures with their family, because they don’t like how they look. Or when they come into the gym to show up for themselves, they end up talking negatively about their body, the very vessel that gets them through each day.
I want to help women realize that showing up for their health and wellness, and having that self care routine does not have to be hard. It gets to be simple, it gets to be fun, and results truly show up when we are showing up for ourselves consistently doing things we enjoy to do and eating foods we love that nourish our bodies.
Our world and society moves so quickly, and it’s so easy to put ourselves lower on the priority list, but we make the world a better place when our cup is overflowing first. I know it sounds cheesy, but when we keep the promises to ourselves first, nourish ourselves first, do self-care first, it trickles into our personal lives, family lives, work lives and beyond. Energetically we attract more when we are filled up.
I currently run an online health and wellness membership as a one stop shop for women to have the support, accountability, and community for their health, fitness, and nutrition, so that their wellness is something that is sustainable for years to come.
Gone are the days of yo-yo dieting and dreading workouts!! And then most recently I have partnered with a holistic skin care brand to bring organic, clean, and sustainable products into the hands of women who are showing up for their self-care routines. It’s been such a joy to help teach and provide non-toxic affordable products!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1) Always reminding myself that I am on my own timeline, nobody elses 2) Understood that every day will look different and the goal is to do 1% better than yesterday by doing my best with the things that are WITHIN MY CONTROL. We can’t control everything, but there is always opportunity for improvement in the things we do have control over. Watch the sunrise, get fresh air, go for a walk, hydrate…these things are ALWAYS free and will always propel us forward.
3) I have always hired a mentor. Someone who is an expert in the area I am trying to improve in. I believe we can always figure things out on our own, but we will learn and accomplish things so much quicker when we have someone in our back pocket guiding us and taking the guess-work out of it.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
You Can Heal Your Body by Louise Hay
I have never been one that understood affirmations. It was almost like you recite these phrases, but never really believe what you are saying to yourself. This book changed my life. We spend the great majority of our days thinking about what we should have done or why we aren’t able or capable or negative thing after negative thing. How many times do we tell ourselves how much we love ourselves, how powerful we are, how worthy we are. We don’t! From a young age we have been programmed to speak to ourselves in a way that really isn’t productive. This book gives you tangible steps on how to speak to yourself consistently and how it truly can and will change all areas and aspects of your life, most importantly your health!! And without our health, nothing really matters.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @leah0brien (zero in the middle)
Image Credits
Lauren Hixon – www.lohiimages.com
