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Maya Kaough // Pregnancy and Postpartum Coach // Coaching and Movement for Wellbeing

Subscribe to my occasional newsletter here and read past articles below. More at mayakaough.com

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I love you, I've got you.
Featured Post

Trust and Control are opposites.

Hi, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of parenting content. It’s taken me a while, but I feel like I did when I first started listening to Dan Savage's Savage Lovecast many, many years ago — so excited, inspired and ready to learn and grow. Turns out "parenting" philosophies and techniques are super relevant to an adult who still wants to grow up to be a mature, competent and content human being! And I had a revelation about boundaries. Ah, boundaries. So important, yet so difficult for some of...

over 1 year ago • 2 min read

Happy New Year! 20 days in, I hope 2023 is already treating you kindly. One idea that has been circulating through my friend groups, and feels very resonate to me in my personal season of life, is the idea that the dead of winter is necessarily a great time for beginnings, new things or energetic pursuits. It’s okay to stay quiet, stay cozy, enjoy (or tolerate) hibernation: nest, wait and sleep. “It’s reading season!” as my husband says. For some, the idea of a new year does present a great...

over 1 year ago • 1 min read
sketch of cupped hands

Hi, I am 15 months postpartum. And as Lucas has gotten bigger, and I’ve had a bit more childcare, the ways my body has changed and the lingering impacts of my pregnancy and labor have become more apparent. After 5 weeks of physical therapy for my pelvic floor, my PT began a recent session with release work, only to discover that everything was much tighter and more painful than it had been in any of our sessions so far. I left feeling frustrated and dejected. How could I have backtracked this...

over 1 year ago • 2 min read

Hi, Since when is Black Friday a whole week? If your inboxes are anything like mine, you’ve received an epic number of emails lately. If that is the case, thanks so much for taking the time to open and read this one! This week I finally hung my prism in the office window of the apartment where we’ve lived since September. Right now, I’m surrounded by rainbows for the first time, since it was cloudy the past few days. In sitting down to write this email about pleasure, it seems so relevant to...

over 1 year ago • 1 min read

Hi, One of my favorite coaching tools is called Metaview. When I hear the word, I imagine zooming up over a situation or problem as though in a helicopter, seeing it from one angle, and then suddenly from another, from above, and then from a great distance, situated in a much larger and perhaps surprising landscape. Metaview is all about gaining perspective. It can shake us out of a stuck place and inspire creativity, letting go, self kindness, motivation and courage. Think of a problem or...

over 1 year ago • 1 min read
one bite at a time stair steps

Hi, I want to tell you about my process starting this newsletter, because I think it is a good example of accomplishing a seemingly daunting task by breaking it down into tiny, doable steps. Something I’ve been thinking about a lot for the past year or so are the words of Fanny Priest, the “Trauma Witch,” — You don’t need to work harder, you need to feel safer. I have taken this as my business building mantra. Now, I’m not building anything fast, but I do feel very proud of my progressive and...

over 1 year ago • 3 min read

Hi, I'm doing something a little different with the newsletter today. I'd love to hear from you about one goal or dream project you'd like to start, continue or complete this fall. Have you been dying to start a garden, get a picture framed, write a letter, make a capsule wardrobe (that's one of mine!)? What would you really like to get done, and what makes it important to you? I also have a bit of an announcement! Since before I became a health coach, I have been feeling drawn to help folks...

over 1 year ago • 1 min read

Hi, A couple of weeks ago I was honored to appear on my friend and fellow coach Courtney Ashworth’s Flow into Fall interview series. (You can watch our chat here). The topic was mindfulness. At first I felt a bit self-conscious being interviewed about mindfulness during a very chaotic and stressful time of my life. Famously Ghandi said that when things were particularly busy and stressful, he meditated for an extra hour per day. Let’s just say I have not been doing that! Upon reflection,...

over 1 year ago • 2 min read

Hi, Thanks for all of the feedback on “We’ll See.” I love hearing from you. It seems that many of us are in “we’ll see” moments. Perhaps the transition from season to season. Seasonality is one of my favorite themes to explore with clients. So often we expect constant, linear progress and unflagging happiness, motivation and success. With some perspective, it's easier to see and accept how things happen in phases, waxing and waning and transitioning in non-linear fashion. So often, we find...

over 1 year ago • 1 min read

Hi,It’s been a wild ride for my little family lately. One bad turn followed by something great. So many big ups and terrible downs.Amidst the stress of all this, I keep thinking about the parable of "We’ll See." In the story, a seeming catastrophe leads to a stroke of good luck, which sets up another catastrophe, which leads to another seemingly positive turn of events. As things unfold, the farmer protagonist responds to his neighbors’ commiserations or congratulations with the same even...

almost 2 years ago • 1 min read
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