Nervous System Care Is the Self-Care You Actually Need Artwork

Feelings Fitness Podcast

Raising a family can be emotionally overwhelming. Managing the logistics of a household can be such a grind. Life in general can be extremely exhausting. Can you relate? Many families feel overwhelmed by the fast pace of family life. Enter yoga and mindfulness. Let The Feelings Fitness Podcast be your guide to understanding what yoga and mindfulness is and how it can help your family. Allow Feelings Fitness to show you how simple yoga sequences, yogic philosophy, and mindfulness practices can help on the home front. By using The Feelings Fitness hacks you can create a peace living space and a calm mindset for your family. Each week we will dive into how to make your home life more functional. You will learn how to use these yoga and mindfulness practices to guide you through the seasons of life. After listening to each episode, you will walk away with yoga and mindfulness tools and lots of inspiration. You will be all set to move through the fast pace of family life with intention and ease.Your host, Suzanne Bazarko, is a registered yoga teacher, licensed professional counselor, certified mindfulness practitioner, and mom of two. She created Feelings Fitness as a vehicle to share with you what she has learned from raising her own family and how yoga and mindfulness has helped along the way.

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Feelings Fitness Podcast

Nervous System Care Is the Self-Care You Actually Need

June 23, 2025 • Suzanne Bazarko

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Speaker 0: 0:00

Hey there and welcome back to the Feelings Fitness Podcast, where we do the heartwork behind the home life. I'm Suzanne, and today I want to offer you something that I believe every mom deserves and that many of us don't know we need until we feel the difference. It makes Gentle yoga Not the kind that leaves you sore and sweaty, but the kind that helps you exhale, that grounds you when the day's been too much, that regulates your nervous system, eases your emotions and gives your body a safe place to feel. And I want to personally invite you to join me on Monday evenings for some gentle yoga, a space designed especially for moms but open to anyone who wants to move slower, breathe deeper and feel better. Let's get one thing clear Gentle yoga is not a beginner option or a watered down workout.

Speaker 0: 0:49

It is science-backed, emotionally intelligent, deeply healing. Gentle yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system that's the rest and digest part of your body's control center. It helps counter the constant stress response most of us live in every single day, and it's one of the most accessible ways to begin healing chronic stress, anxiety and emotional burnout, without needing fancy clothes, intense flexibility or tons of time. Here's what research has shown about the effects of gentle yoga. It reduces cortisol levels, the stress hormone that keeps us stuck in survival mode. Improves sleep quality, because your body finally gets the signal that it's safe to rest. Lowers blood pressure and heart rate, which improves cardiovascular health. Boosts GABA production, a brain chemical linked to reduced anxiety and improved mood. Increases vagal tone, which is a key factor in emotional regulation. This isn't fluff, my friend, it's physiology, and it's profoundly effective, especially when practiced consistently, even just once a week.

Speaker 0: 1:59

Beyond the body, gentle yoga is a safe space for emotional release. As moms, we often hold everything in the overwhelm, the grief. Gentle yoga is a safe space for emotional release. As moms, we often hold everything in the overwhelm, the grief, the mental load. Yoga gives us permission to let it move through. You may cry in Shavasana, and that's healing. You may feel your shoulders finally drop, and that's freedom. You may feel more patient with your kids the next day, and that's the power of nervous system care.

Speaker 0: 2:25

Yoga isn't about escaping your life. It's about returning to it more relaxed, more centered and more you. That's why I created my Monday Gentle Yoga class, because I know what it's like to start the week already tired. Each class is gentle and beginner friendly, trauma aware and emotionally supportive, focused on how you feel, not how you look, rooted in breath, rest and real life, mom rhythm. You don't need to have it all together, you just need to show up.

Speaker 0: 2:59

This is for the mom who's barely keeping it together, raising my hand over here. For the woman who's grieving, healing or rebuilding, for the parent who needs an hour to just be. This is your space and I would be so honored to guide you through it. And while this class is for you, I want you to know that your practice benefits the whole family. When a mom regulates her nervous system, when she models breath, movement and emotional care, she becomes the emotional anchor of the home. Kids don't need perfect parents, they need present ones, and yoga helps us get back there.

Speaker 0: 3:36

So if you've been running on fumes, if your body is tense, your emotions are heavy and your week starts with overwhelm, come join me for gentle yoga on Mondays. Bring a mat, bring a blanket. Bring your week starts with overwhelm. Come join me for Gentle Yoga on Mondays. Bring a mat, bring a blanket, bring your breath. Leave with more calm, more clarity and a body that feels just a little more like home. You can check in with socials, where you can find more sneak peeks, resources and upcoming family yoga offerings, and I'd be so grateful to have you there. Until next time, be gentle with yourself, let your breath lead the way and know that healing doesn't have to be loud to be life-changing.