Ashleigh Elizabeth, Pre/Post Natal Movement Coach
Ashleigh Elizabeth, Pre/Post Natal Movement Coach
Ashleigh specialises in pre/post natal fitness coaching and is on a mission to empower and motivate women to become the healthiest and fittest version of themselves. Building up strength from the inside out! She is also a mother of 2 and a passionate and active member of the Retykle community as one of our Ambassadors.
We sat down with Ashleigh and she shared the things that have been instrumental in finding the balance between having a fulfilling family life, and a successful career: recognising that each day may look a little different but by taking time to focus on what’s important and appreciate the people in our lives that champion us makes the world of difference.
Photo courtesy of Ashleigh Elizabeth
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself and what brought you to Hong Kong?
Ashleigh: I’m Ashleigh, I am Mother to Teddy Forest and currently growing baby number 2 due in April 2021! I moved to Hong Kong with my partner in July 2019 when I was 20 weeks pregnant with Teddy as my partner was offered a work opportunity here. I am a Pre/Post Natal movement and mindset coach and switched my business to solely online in July 2020. It was the best decision I have made and I feel very lucky to do such a fulfilling job every single day, a job that also compliments my role as a mother and allows me flexibility to do both!
Q: WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR PASSION FOR FITNESS AND HELPING PRE & POST NATAL WOMEN?
Ashleigh: I qualified as a personal trainer in 2017 and also studied for me pre and post natal qualifications then. I then went to work in a Strength and Conditioning gym in the UK where I was training a vast range of clients, men and women from all different walks of life, including pre and post natal women. When I fell pregnant with Teddy in 2019, I started to take much more of a natural interest in pregnancy fitness, exercise modifications and everything that went with it. This is when I really put my knowledge into practise and started using my own experience to understand how and when to modify exercise during the prenatal phase. Postpartum, I recovered from an emergency c section and really felt the need to heal my body slowly.
My goal was to build strength from the inside out and that is exactly what I did, my method was in using a combination of bodyweight exercises, pilates, breathing techniques and then building up to resistance training. This method left me feeling the strongest, healthiest and fittest version of myself after around 4 months postpartum. My mission now is to help women at any stage in their pre and post natal journeys to feel the same way I did, not to fear exercise and to feel the benefits from movement, not only for our physical bodies but for our minds.
Photo courtesy of Ashleigh Elizabeth
Photo courtesy of Ashleigh Elizabeth
Q: WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
Ashleigh: Teddy wakes at around 6-6:30 so that is generally when my day starts. My partner gets up with him first as he likes to spend time with him before work. Being pregnant I am enjoying having that extra 10-15 minutes in bed! Jack will head off to work at around 7am and I will prepare breakfast for Teddy, His fave is peanut butter and banana pancakes! After brekkie, we both get changed and then head out for a walk around the block. There is a 20 minute loop that I love! Getting outside in nature really sets me up for the day! I will either listen to a podcast or find stillness in listening to the birds and nature around me. We will get back home and I generally then get to work around 8:30 when our Nanny arrives. I either work from home or in coffee shops! Every day varies in terms of what I do, but generally I am either checkin in with my 1-1 online coaching clients, recording videos for my monthly membership, writing newsletters, blog posts and then working on a new project soon to be released!
I like to be able to spend my afternoons with Teddy when he wakes from his nap at 2:30pm so I am quite strict with my timing each day. I plan and schedule a lot and this helps me to stay on track! In the afternoons I will either meet a friend with another baby and have a play date with Teddy, or we will run errands, go for a walk or just chill at home! With covid restrictions and my energy levels dipping now at 31 weeks pregnant, we aren't too adventurous!!
Teddy has dinner at 4:30/5pm, and then the time just flies before his bedtime at 7pm. This is when Jack usually gets home so we tend to have half an hour together as a family and then we will have dinner together and I am usually in bed by 8:30pm! I will read my book or journal and then try to be asleep by 9/9:30pm!
Q: HOW HAVE YOU HAD TO ADAPT DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC?
Ashleigh: Not knowing when we will see family again is really challenging, especially with a toddler and a baby on the way! I practise daily gratitude and I am thankful that my family are healthy, happy and well. I hope that this pandemic allows us all to be a lot more resilient and to appreciate the small things in life.
Photo courtesy of Ashleigh Elizabeth
Photo courtesy of Ashleigh Elizabeth
Q: What does Retykle mean to you?
Ashleigh: I like to think we can’t solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. I want to put love back into the planet by making consistent changes to our thinking and our doing. Retykle allows me to do that.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ashleigh’s online pre/post natal movement coaching as well as her upcoming projects, follow her on Instagram or drop her a line here. Her latest programme is a 12-week postpartum return exercise eBook, and also The Push Project, a 1-2-1 online completely personalised pre and post natal coaching programme.
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