Hi friends, happy Tuesday!!

It's been an incredible May so far, and I have so much to share with you!! Scroll to the bottom for current happenings if you're short on time.

As you might have seen from my Instagram, I attended the first ever barefoot shoe expo in Chicago last weekend!! Anya from Anya's Reviews put this event on, and it brought together all the top minimal footwear brands as well as all the foot nerds out there (I'm one of those if you didn't know already! 🤓) It was an amazing experience, but the craziest thing that happened wasn't that I went to Chicago; it was that I was able to be a doula for my friend Ruth (she told me I could share this!) hours before I stepped on the plane. If you don't have time to read, it goes like this: 🤰😮‍💨🤱🚑🏥🏃‍♀️✈️👣

In case you can't translate emoji, here's the story for you:

Friday morning, Ruth let me know she had some contractions, but she had been having some false starts the days prior, and wanted to make sure this was the real thing, so she went for a 2-mile hike with her husband. What else are Alaskan moms supposed to do in labor? 😆

When they got back from the hike, she let me know that things were getting more intense and timed some contractions and told me to decide when to come see her. I decided they were close enough that I should make the 1-hour drive to her house. She was coping SO well and breathing like a pro for almost 2 hours after I got there. Then her water broke and surprise!! not even 10 minutes later she had a baby in her arms! She labored, birthed, and caught her own baby like the badass she is. She trusted her body to lead, and focused on moving how she needed to: two of the most important things for having a swift and awesome birth experience!

We called EMS and they showed up and provided the most respectful and calm care I've seen. They respected her wishes to wait to clamp and cut the cord until it turned white (they waited until 1 hour post-birth!!) and they didn't touch her until she gave explicit consent. If only more providers would follow this principle, we might have more calm and uninterrupted labor and births! I wanted to share this, because so many times we hear scary and traumatic stories of labor, and it's important to hear positive and empowering ones.

I hope this was inspiring for you to read! Oh yeah, and I went straight from the birth to the airport and boarded the plane just in time to fly all night and head from the flight to The Foot Collective's Playshop in Chicago on Saturday morning. What a WILD ride.

UPCOMING HAPPENINGS

I will have some shoe reviews coming out soon, as I trial some of the new footwear I purchased at the expo! Another fun updates is that I am now a TFC Pro - so I'm listed on The Foot Collective's pro directory!

With that - I will be doing an order of Solemates for purchase in AK so you don't have to pay shipping! It's my latest favorite foot mobility/stability/balance tool. Please reply to this email and let me know if you're interested and how many you'd like. I will send you a payment link for you to complete by Friday, and I will place the order by early next week! They are $89 each.

San Diego Certification:

The fun and excitement doesn't stop in May, though. Next month I will be traveling to San Diego to co-teach the Female Core & Pelvic Floor Exercise Specialist Certification with Kim Vopni!! It's the same certification we taught in AK last fall, but we've added more to it, and are changing the name to reflect the added emphasis on perimenopause and menopause, as well as foot and gait information! If you're interested in getting certified, read more and sign up here!

1:1 Client Sessions: new special for in-person

I've been filling up my calendar with clients this month, and there may be some changes in locations this summer, so I have opened up my schedule through June, and will re-assess after that point on where I can offer in-person sessions. Currently, you can see me in 3 places:

• In Anchorage at AK Live Well on Mondays
• In Wasilla at CrossFit Salty North Tuesdays and/or Thursdays
• Online sessions on Wednesdays (very few slots. $100/session)

I'm offering a special on in-person sessions!! If you purchase a 5-pack of sessions, you get $100 off. Normal price for an in-person is $125, so normally $625 for 5, now $525 for 5.

You can see ALL my current offerings here.

You can purchase a 5-pack of sessions for Anchorage here.

You can purchase a 5-pack of sessions for Wasilla here.

If you purchase the package, it will auto generate a code for you that you put in when scheduling, so you still have to manually schedule your sessions after buying the package. Please reach out with any questions!

Thank you for being here!

Warmly,

Natalie