FitMama Jen Oliver
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- Health & Fitness
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Being a FitMama all begins with love. Loving self care for the body you have and strengthening your core from the inside out. Mind and Body inspiration, education and motivation for you to live a life you love in a body you love, for life!
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How and Why I love Elysia Rotaru (EP121)
Hey Hey FitMama you’re in for a treat this week. I have my friend Elysia Rotaru, Actor, Producer and Voice over artist. She is so talented and while has been at it for so long she’s just getting started in her career as a Mom of a 2, almost 3 year old. She is a wise, experienced woman in entertainment and also parenting consciously while finding her way in Fitness and health in her full life!
Born to Romanian immigrants and raised with help from her grandmother, Elysia Rotaru always had a love for creative achievement. She grew up speaking both Romanian and English, and as a kid she thought it was a superpower, and still thinks it is.
At the age of two, Elysia began training for what laid ahead in life. She started skiing when she could walk, was taught how to use tools and to fix things around the house, family camping trips taught her to respect the earth, and Army Cadets helped her develop survival skills. Later on, she learned how to help save the planet through beekeeping. Having also been a competitive classical pianist, she developed a lifelong passion for performance.
After turning her attention to the performing arts and graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C., Elysia's acting career soared, landing roles in both television and film. Her credits include: Netflix’s Chip & Potato, Netflix's Kate, Disney Plus’ Turner & Hooch, The CW’s Arrow, USA Network’s Psych, FOX’S Backstrom, and ABC’s Motive. She can also be seen in numerous feature films including Buddy Games, Cold Pursuit, Dead Again in Tombstone, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.
Elysia has been making waves in the voice acting community, lending her voice to numerous projects. Voice highlights include: Black Canary in Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment’s Justice Society: World War II, SHIELD Agent Alisande Morales in Marvel’s Play Avengers, Beatrice Villianova in EA’s FIFA series, She-Hulk in Marvel’s Super Hero Adventures, Sable Spirit in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Freya in the award-winning short film, FREYA.
Elysia has also voiced for Lego Star Wars, Nordstrom, and McDonald’s, and is the voice for CBS’ The Talk, Hallmark's Movies and Mysteries Channel, Fox Sports North, Paramount Network's Ink Master, and the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
When not on set or in the voice booth, Elysia has taken to working behind the camera to produce short films such as The Wall and award winning horror comedy FWD, which has been recognized at film festivals worldwide. Elysia is also recording her new podcast, “YOU DID IT!”, where she will discuss gadgets, gear, goodies and guidance that can help parents and their babes on their cool, crazy, and beautiful journey.
Elysia currently resides in California with her husband Ryan, daughter Nova, and dog Rocky and look forward to daily adventures in parenting and life.
Elysia’s links:
Go find her now!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elysiarotaru/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elysiarotaru
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWd0oTeZbIto6-05TlbmiNQ
You Did It! on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZBrTTWYGOYYGgX4WR8fAN?si=48a9a1d599f541a8
As always, feel free to book a free call or a free breathwork session with me or send me an email to jen@fitmamaforever.com to share your story. I read every email and I will reply! -
How I Met my Mother (EP120)
Hey FitMama! This week I have a very special guest on the podcast, my very own FitMama!!
It’s the first time I have interviewed my mom on my pod and she’s visiting me in LA from Toronto so I took the opportunity to do so. This week I have been doing live 60 minute breathwork sessions with her and she has been loving it!
We got so caught up talking about other things we didn’t include her breath work experience but I will get a clip of her and share with you on socials, so follow me @lovejenoliver and @fitmamapodcast so you don’t miss that!
In this episode my mom shares her early life being born in a small town in the former Czechoslovakia and what it was like to immigrate to Canada at age 11 as a single child with no siblings not knowing a word of english. She shares my birth story and some elements of my youth and how it was to witness her grandchildren being born. We speak about her fitness journey and her life’s journey as a single mom to four kids and her favorite times as a mom. She shared what she thought I might do once I grew up and as well as what she’s looking forward to in her own personal and professional life going forward.
This is a fun episode for me to share my own Mama with you.
I hope you enjoy it!
As always, feel free to book a free call or a free breathwork session with me or send me an email to jen@fitmamaforever.com to share your story. I read every email and I will reply! -
How To Quiet Run (EP119)
Hey FitMama,
This week I am so grateful and excited to have an amazing guest on the show, Alla Shashkina, a running coach, fellow trauma informed breathwork facilitator and breath science practitioner. As you already know, I love breathwork, the science behind it and even taping my mouth to sleep (iykyk)! Alla and I have a great chat about what she means by The Quiet Run and why she created it. I love what she stands for and I know for a fact that being out in nature, while running or walking has so many benefits for us, not just physically but mentally also. When was the last time you went out for a good run or walk and came back thinking, “I wish I didn't go?”
Alla answers all my questions about when to run, how to start running as a beginner, is nose breathing while running best and questions about footwear, running surfaces and motivation to go for a run. Alla shares her story about how she got into running and how it helped her with her mental health as a single mom moving to a new country and working a full time job. Alla has run many marathons and races all over the world and is an inspirational running coach and mentor.
At the core of The Quiet Run™ Method is breath science, mindfulness, mind-body connection, and meditation. Alla is a long distance runner and views running as a powerful healing modality that, combined with breathwork, can amplify its effects. Anyone can experience the joy and ease of running.
Alla can be found online on her amazing instagram account: @thequietrun where she offers brilliant science and tools to support your running journey, her website: www.thequietrun.com
Where you can learn about her method and packages that she offers and she now lives in Encintas, CA she organizes weekly trail runs and incredible ocean dips where she teaches the practice of mindfulness, breathwork, and running. You can sign up on her website link directly here: https://www.thequietrun.com/event-details/the-quiet-run and she recently launched a quiz that can give you an idea about how working with her can help you improve your performance and longevity in running, click here for the quiz: https://www.thequietrun.com/the-quiz -
How to Regulate Your Nervous System - Take Off the Hats! (EP118)
Hey Hey FitMama,
This week I am bringing to you some nervous system regulation wisdom!
Jump into this episode for my tips and tools to get out of the sympathetic dominance many of us find ourselves in day to day and spend more time hanging out in your parasympathetic mode (rest and digest), why? Because it feels so much better! We can actually respond instead of react to things in our life from a place of calm.
As well, I give you some ideas on how to calm your nervous system and prepare it to actually digest the foods your eating so they can nourish your body and not leave you constantly hungry and rushing around in life.
I dive into what makes up the nervous system and how this pertains to your life!
Then, I go into what all the hats are and how constantly wearing hats all day without taking them off leads us to feeling too aroused in our nervous system.
Living a “hat less” life has many advantages and benefits our nervous system regulation.
Please take a moment to rate and review the FitMama Podcast and share this episode on social media or send a copy to someone you love!
Let’s live a “hat less” life together!
Stay calm and carry on…
Find me on Instagram @lovejenoliver and say hi!
Tag me on Insta referring to this episode and share yourself in a “hat free moment”!
Love, Jen Oliver
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How to Hold Space With Boundaries (EP117)
Hey FitMama, I’m back this week with a solo episode all about how to hold space, not only for others, but for yourself as well.
Often we are at maximum capacity in our time, energy and money available to give to others and yet we expect ourselves to be there for everyone and we end up giving from an empty cup.
This can be so easy to do and I feel like it’s easier now than ever.
Life doesn’t seem to let up and if we let it, home, work, kids, family, bills, friends, kid commitments and other duties can take over our lives, leaving us depleted and our mental and physical health can suffer as a result.
Unless we have boundaries in place, we reduce our capacity to be able to hold space for others, and unless we plan for it, most often we help others before ourselves, leading to a lack of time, energy or money for self-care and holding space for our own need, wants and desires..
Let’s change this and give to ourselves by setting boundaries that truly honor our needs.
I give you my five top tools to make this an effortless process and then it will feel good to stick to these boundaries.
Hint: We can do it, but need to let go of our cultural and societal pressures to be everything to everyone and let go of the guilt and shame that comes with not being able to live up to that. Because it’s not reality! You can’t and don’t need to do it all FitMama, it just feels like you do sometimes.
Listen in now and reframe how you approach it and know that boundaries are the most beautiful thing you can give to yourself and others. Teach people how to treat you and how to support you, they want to learn.
Need a breather? Come breathe with me for free. Or book a time to chat with me.
Click here for a link directly into my calendar or email me here for more support. -
How to Be a FitMama Forever (EP116)
In this week’s episode I dive deeper into where I have been the last few years mentally, emotionally, relationally etc. I go into detail about the dark time in my life I have just come out, how I went through the stages of grief, what helped me both stay alive through this, and what eventually helped me come out the other side.
I share my experience with somatic therapy which I will dive deeper into in a future episode, which led me to be even more focused on breathwork as a primary modality in my coaching and how listening to our body truly sets us on the path of self-discovery and ultimate self-knowing, self-trust and eventually healing.
Life is not always sunshine and rainbows and I admit to bypassing my feelings for years and engaging in a very strong “fawn” sympathetic nervous system response most of my life. This led me down the path of some toxic positivity which helped me cope with many traumatic moves growing up, but ultimately it did not serve me in the depths of despair. Sweeping feelings and emotions under the rug does not change them or make them go away (go figure), and they merely keep showing up in our lives in different forms, begging us to face them to ultimately heal them.
If you’re struggling, FitMama, you are not alone. You don’t have to go it alone. You are the only one responsible for facing all of these things, but you are never alone.
If you’d like to book in a private chat or a breathwork session with me, click here: https://calendly.com/jenoliver
To get a copy of The Love FitMama Way book click here: https://amzn.to/3uoc9XF
If you want to connect send me an email at jen@fitmamaforever.com or Find me hanging on Instagram @lovejenoliver
See you online! Love, Jen Oliver
Customer Reviews
So much positivity
Jen brings so much positivity with knowledgeable and relatable topics every mama needs to hear! I will definitely be a lifetime listener ❤️❤️
Just what we all need
This podcast is perfect in every way. The positivity and deep inner thoughts it generates is exactly what I needed. I love how real it is. It validates all the feelings that we have all felt and helps us process them on our own in our own way. Great work Jen!
My Life Crush
Jen is the most inspiring Fitmama. Her words of wisdom and encouragement go deep and wide as she keeps me motivated to continue on the path of health and wellness everyday. Love that we can now listen to you on this forum!