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Livingroom

The 4 hour mompreneur

Smash the glass ceiling, build a great legacy and live the good life
Women don’t want to be CEO’s
Women want to be CEO’s

Women want role models. Women want to be role models.
Women want ethical decisions. Women execute brilliantly corporate decisions.
Women want unique clothes.  Women wear 50 shades of gray suits.
Women want to rock the boat. Women want peaceful harmony.
Women want children. Women don’t want children.
Women want love. Women want solitude.
Women want rest. Women want travel.
Women want the center stage. Women want to be anonymous.
Women want to shatter the glass ceiling. Women want a good family life.
Women want to be a profound change in the world. Women never say NO.

Women not only want to be CEO’s.
Women want it ALL.
Women want it ALL, yes, even completely contradictory things.

The complex nature of women hasn’t been yet understood by the business world at large. No wonder so many women retention and promotion programs fail. No wonder we see more and more women leaving the asphyxiating corporate world, either by voluntary resignation or by burn out.

Five years ago, I was pretending to be a man in women’s clothes. I had the highest position in my company a woman had in Europe at that time. I was responsible for a substantial bundle of money, for a large number of professionals and the services they provided. So the company treated me well: I enjoyed a generous package (good salary, good bonus, gorgeous company car and more). So I had it “all”: decision making power, recognition, international business class travel, money… AND I was not happy. I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror: I disagree with many of the choices of “management”, I was not contributing directly to the improvement of the planet, I was not making people expand, I was not growing myself…

It was of course not easy to realize that I wasn’t happy. First I thought that it was just boredom. I talked to my boss and he happily gave me more responsibilities. In other words, he gave me more cake, when what I needed was a different recipe. My body was the first one to bring the message: dry skin, high blood pressure, pain in my left arm (symptom of potential heart attack)… My private life was shouting it: no-one was waiting for me at home, not even a cat. What was absent of my life? Many of the things a truly love: art, public speaking, love, children… rest, health, inner satisfaction of working towards building my legacy.

I shouted: “I hate this job” and all got organized for me to run every morning along the Vondelpark. I had nothing. I had nothing to lose.

Then, 5 years ago, I started my entrepreneurial adventure. With an MBA in my pocket, I decided to write a business plan and do what was convenient. In other words, I decided to be reasonable, don’t listen to my heart, but to my mind. It was a disaster. The first year I paid an expensive tuition to the university of life. Then I learned that all you want shows up, when you really show up, when you really sit on the driver seat, when you promote yourself to the CEO of your own life. When I stop listening to the experts and started listening to my intuition, to my essence, to my passion, my business started thriving. Very quickly I created services, was found by inspiring customers, raised my prices… Very quickly I had a business.  I had the good things that my old job gave me: decision making power, recognition, international business class travel, money

AND
That was not all. At the same time, I put in place all those elements that used to be absent in my life. I worked on my health. I started painting. I fell in love and built a family.

Now I don’t work. Now I concentrate in building my legacy. I just choose projects that will contribute to my soul mission: building the heart centered economy. If the project doesn’t touch my heart, it doesn’t get in my agenda. Now I can look at myself in the mirror with the light on.

My story is by no means unique. In this journey I have met innumerable female executives transformed into mompreneurs, who are transforming the economy everywhere around the globe. With their work and their example they inspire companies and individuals to take different choices, to build a more human and humane business culture.

The complex nature of women matches better with the complex nature of business, with the complex nature of reality. We are more organic. We move according to the moon, to the seasons, to hormones. We understand that there is time to grow, there is time to develop, there is time to wait, there is time protect, there is time to attack. We are ever changing, just like our surroundings and our inner guidance tell us.

When our business decisions will become more feminine, more organic, more real, they will respect the seasons, the needs of the people, the moment. When we´ll see business in an organic way, poverty and fraud will be eradicated and an inclusive and joyous business world will emerge.

How?

Companies, Institutions, Academia
Concentrate in building an amazing organization, one where remarkable talent (forget about gender)want to work for, buy from, sell to, work with. Concentrate in building a company that is inspiring, honest, innovative, human and humane. Concentrate in building a company that is the best representation of your values. When you do that, there will be no need of,
–    Women’s retention and promotion programs
–    Women’s conferences
–    Women’s quotas

Women
1. Promote yourself to CEO of your own life TODAY. Stop blaming your boss, the boss of your boss, the company, the glass ceiling, the government, your husband, your children, your mom… Stop blaming. Take control of your destiny right now.
You don’t need to quit your job( well, not right now). What you need to acknowledge is that you are your very own boss, that you choose, that you can choose, that you should choose.

2. Now that you’re the CEO of your own life, make your first 100 days plan. Make an inventory of your life and decide what needs to go, what needs to grow, what needs to be added. Don’t intend it, don’t try. Do it. You owe it to yourself. No excuses.

Categories
Bedroom

Life Changing Pregnancy Resources

Everyone is asking us how we did it: two amazing births after 40 (one painless and one aerial). The answer is simple: with the knowledge of others and yes, with a bit of luck. So here you have our top resources that made both pregnancies/deliveries possible.

For the first pregnancy, we read all these books and others. For the second pregnancy, I asked the writers of these books (and other amazing teachers) for an interview AND they said yes. This way the  Pregnant Preneur Project was born. So, if you are not much of a reader or simply, prefer the flexibility of mp3’s (listening while cycling, cooking, driving…), this is for you. This will always be on line and will always be free. I want as many people as possibly to

The Biology of Belief, by Dr. Lipton

We have a more active role in our health than the DNA story has lead us to believe. Here you have the science on how you can change your own body and live. AND how you can be a brain and body designer for your children even (specially) before they are born.

Pure science and easy to read. Inmensily inspiring.

Hypnobirthing

Painless birth? without drugs? at any age? It’s all (well a lot) in your mind.

A huge part of the pains and fears around birth are ideas. Marie Mongan decoded them for us, creating the amazing method: HypnoBirthing. I have the pleasure of applying it in both births and afterwards in my life. I totally recommend it.

The global website of HypnoBirthing: http://www.hypnobirthing.com/

The amazing hypnobirthing local practicioner who tought the method to me, Elisabeth van den Berkmortel: http://www.hypnobirthing.nl/

Some articles I wrote on this subject before: http://www.blancavergara.com/?s=hypnobirthing&x=0&y=0

The Secret Life of the Unborn Child by Dr. Verny

Dr. Verny gives us all the science on how we start being parents before our children are born. He makes a very convincing case on why we should care about the happiness of the mother before, during and after the birth of our children.

The Magical Child, by Joseph Chilton

The Magical Child is the hope for humanity. The Magial Child is the human being who will bring creativity, peace, unity and more blessings to our future. If you feel your child is a Titan, Joseph Chilton takes you by the hand on how to encourage his growth and evolution.

De Gebortecentrum

Giving birth away from your own mom (your natural support njetwork)n and in a foreign country can be very risky for the emotional health of the mother. That was my case.

The difference between a happy post-partum period and post-natal depression was largely made by the supportive presence of De Gebortecentrum. Amazing resource for the gals who live here in Amsterdam. Make sure you book these ladies!

 

Categories
Bedroom

Aerial Birth

Our dear baby girl has arrived!

Magali (from the Greek Pearl)
Citlali (from the Nahuatl Star)

Making justice to her aerial nature, she literally flew into our life on the 21 of October at 20:15.

It was an astounding event. Our birth plan worked out like a charm: it was indeed a HypnoBirthing birth, a natural birth, a sacred birth, even a ecstatic birth.

We had some welcome surprises:  she was not born in water. It was so fast that I could not make it to the birth tub. It was so fast that we couldn’t call the midwife. So her dad became a midwife in a split second. I was standing when she was born and her father had the honor to catch her in her remarkable aerial entrance into this world.

This staggering event was possible thanks to the support and wisdom from innumerable sources. We would like to give our special thanks to innovative thinking and powerful advise of Marie Mongan, Laure Capelle, Dr. Verny and Joseph Chilton Pearce, we were able to welcome with calm and love our flying lady. We are eternally thankful to them.

Love and light,

Bertil, Blanca and Camilo

Categories
Bedroom

Painless Divine Birth After 40

Camilo Axel Schaart was born the 31 from October at 11:05 am.

All our life, Bertil and I have wished for a healthy and empowered life. That is to say, we believe in the power of the human body to cure itself naturally. Since we decided to be parents, we initiated a special research on the best way to have a natural and healthy pregnancy, as well as childbirth. Now that the baby rests in his cradle, I can our dream came true.

At 40, I became pregnant without any medical aid . What a  blessing! I had a very healthful pregnancy. I felt many of the common complaints of pregnancy: fatigue, nausea, dizziness… Nevertheless, none of the most worrisome complaints occurred: high pressure, diabetes, abortion… Nothing! Eating well, rest, measured exercise and much peace were the prescription.

We prepared for childbirth with powerful and uplifting information. We read books, went to courses and researched online. We decided to welcome our child in water. We rented a special bathtub for this. We decided to use a method of meditation that helped me to be completely present and conscious. This level of awareness, allowed me to experience the body sensations in a different way. It´s not pain disappeared, it was just a sensation. By just changing the label of pain for the label of sensation, it seemed to vanish. We decide to have to the baby in house. Our intention was to have a very intimate childbirth, only Bertil and I. We decide that we would call the midwife, but just until the very last moment. We decided not to have anyone else helping us. The idea was cheap NFL jerseys silence, privacy, concentration and peace.

You see, we see childbirth as a sacred moment. It´s almost like child conception. It´s divine. It´s private. It´s ecstatic. It´s intimate. That´s how we wanted our baby to be welcomed in this world.

One week before his birth we were still buying small things for the baby: blankets, socks and other small details. During our purchases, I began to feel some contractions. I thought that because their duration and frequency they were preparatory contractions. So we did not worry much. I practice my breathing techniques and voilá beautiful experience. They enhanced my confidence, because the sensation of the contractions was really not that bad.

The night before Camilo´s birth, I began to feel contractions, with the same duration and frequency that the previous week. We judged them as preparatory contractions. So, we decided to have a gorgeous dinner and fall asleep. Next morning at 6 am, my body woke up: Childbirth began!

In the back of my mind, I heard the voice of my great grandmother. `Even cheap NFL jerseys if you have to deal with life and dead matters, eat`. So I did. At 6 am, as it was clear that our baby would be born that day, wholesale nfl jerseys I decided that it was time to have breakfast. I combined my cereal with the first contractions. One spoon. One contraction. One spoon.  One contraction.  It went quite fine. I was feeling really empowered to continue breathing all my way through latest our baby´s birth.

Silly me, I thought that it could solve a Sodoku between contractions. Oh, no! My concentration needed to be in wholesale jerseys my breathing. Each contraction needed all my attention. If I was breathing and meditating correctly, the pain was materially nonexistent. When I was out of sync with the process, when I was too late with my breathing, pain did touch me.

At 8 my water broke. It was as if a bottle of Tummy champagne just opened. We took a sample of the amniotic liquid. It was a beautiful light pink, almost white. Nice and healthy!

Around 9 Bertil began WYOBRA?NIA to fill the bathtub. We thought that a little bit hotter would be a good idea. Just one degree hotter would be ok, considering that it would take time for me to have the 10 cm opening. We thought!

For a long time, I was able to apply my technique. When Bertil felt that I was starting to lose it, called the midwife. I was losing my calm, while he couldn’t do all the things that he needed to do at that point: fill the tub, hold my hand, record the beginning and end of contractions…

After he called the midwife, I took a very silly and humorous decision. I wanted to bathe and to shave my legs! Can you believe it! I didn’t want to receive dirty neither the midwife, nor our baby. With contractions every two minutes I bathed and shaved! Incredible! Now I find it totally unnecessary and certainly silly.

The midwife arrived around 10:30. We met all the midwives of our health center during the pregnancy, except this young lady. She was a substitute! She was a substitute! When I saw her, I got so angry. How is it possible that they send a person who I do not know and worse who does not know me!

She checked to me and confirmed what already felt: I was ready to welcome Camilo. She told met that it was time for me to get into the bathtub. I wanted to go to the toilet. I couldn’t, but I did clearly feel the head my little baby.

At that point, I was in panic. I forgot all I learned me and fear began to invade me. The support words of Bertil no longer had effect in me. At that point the midwife was fantastic. All her words were perfect. Her leadership was amazing. Because of her, I was able to stop shouting and began breathing again.

I got into the bathtub. According to me, it was very hot. According to the thermometer, it was within range. Bertil ran with two cold water buckets. Then I felt the perfect temperature. I squatted and I initiated my breathing Vision/Mission/values to receive baby.One breathing per contraction.

In the first breathing I felt one centimeter of his head out. In second breathing, I felt 3 centimeters of his head out. In the third breathing, all his head was out. The midwife reached to move the umbilical cord that was around its little neck. I thought that I should wait for another contraction to birth him. The midwife said “Try!” and so I did. In the middle of the fourth breathing his small body left mine. It was so fast, just like a fish in the water.  (11: 05 a.m.)

For a second, we couldn’t find him in the water. We were so excited. Bertil and I held him. We let him be under the water for few seconds.He was sleeping. Yes, he was sleeping! He didn’t feel any discomfort during his birth. I embraced delicately it I put and it against my chest, with his little face outside the water. Then it gave its first breathing. Bertil got into the bathtub and we both embraced him. What a  wonder! What a miracle!

The midwife said to us that it was time to let birth the placenta. I tried to! I tried to use my breathing technique to birth it, but it didn’t work. I burst in laughter. It could not stop laughing. The project “Placenta Birth” appeared to me so worldly, almost unnecessary. Oh gosh, I laughed, oh, I laughed!

Surely enough, I began to feel pain, because the placenta wanted to go out. So we decided that it was time to cut the umbilical cord. Bertil did so, so that I could leave the bathtub. The midwife helped to remove the placenta me. Afterward, she checked if I had some tearing. cheap MLB jerseys As it was the case, she gave me ONE stitch. At that point, the nurse arrived.

Then, it was the moment of the tests (reflexes, weight, color of skin….) In summary, all good. He weighed 3.2 kilos. Afterward, we tried breastfeeding and it worked. Camilo immediately learned how to eat.

During the first week we received the daily support of a nurse and every second day the visit of the midwife. zwei The first week of his life was really very easy. I had loads of milk. They say I was very active.  He was a very calm boy. Bertil is the best dad of the world, very active on all fronts: cocking, cleaning, shopping, etc.

So, here you have it: the story of the natural birth childbirth of Camilo Axel, who was born the 31 from October of 2010 to the 11:05 in the morning.

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Kitchen

Gone Baby Tummy Gone

I have recently let go FIVE centimeters of waist.With little to no effort.

How i did this?

It was really easy and so powerful.