Welcome to NAYDAYA’S #SCARDIARIES
Every week we talk to women about their story, their scar, and their recovery.
Here at NAYDAYA we see it as our responsibility to help open up the conversation about all scars - we know everyone feels differently about them, personally we love them, and we believe we should share honest stories and journeys with each other.
Over the next few weeks and months we will be sharing real scar stories from our amazing community of women and mothers, who are incredibly brave to share their stories.
Want to tell yours? Send yours via DM or to info@naydaya.com.
Meet warrior mum Anya...
Anya mother of 2, and the amazing author of The Super Mum Myth (which is definitely worth a read) shares her brilliant scar story with our NAYDAYA community...
"I have two scars: one (Maurice’s) is raggedy, squiggly, quite red, a bit angry looking. A testament to being raced to the operating table to have my baby pulled out within 10 minutes to save his life. The other (Freddie’s) glides along the first, in a perfectly straight, calm almost invisible white line while its predecessor zig zags up and down angrily around it, a testament to its much more serene and peaceful story. .
Both have imprinted on my body’s look, function and sensation. Both elicit an emotional response in me. Both are part of me.
It took me a long time to connect with my scars.
With my first, I couldn’t even look at my tummy for the first 10 weeks of my baby’s life. I certainly didn’t touch it or come close to massaging it. I didn’t know about scar tissue build up. I didn’t know about the importance of abdominal breathing to help reorganise my organs inside me and settle my nervous system after surgery…
But I also didn’t realise that it’s NEVER too late to feel better both in body and mind about your scar, and begin your healing. You can treat your body as if you are in the fourth trimester, even years later. I often have clients say to me “my caesarean was 3 years ago, it’s too late to begin any healing work”. This is just not true. Obviously, if you’re informed and begin as soon as you can, your body will benefit from that - scar tissue takes hold over time and once it’s there it will be trickier to manipulate. But your body will ALWAYS respond to compassionate touch.
I had a lot of scar tissue build up from my first birth. In fact the surgeon who delivered my second told me she had never seen so much 😬 but I’ve never given up on my scar, in fact I’m developing more of a friendship with it over time.
I massage my scar every day - sometimes I forget. I do Pilates, not to “get rid of the overhang” but to make my body stronger and more comfortable.
So commit to your scar, notice it, understand it, listen to its story.
It’s never too late. I’ll say that again - it’s NEVER TOO LATE ❤"
️.Check out Anya's fantastic content and connect with her on @Mother.Wellness.Toolkit