Why I Stopped Adding More to Heal—and Started Excluding

When I look back now—11 years postpartum—I realize how unwell I really was.

And the strange thing is…

I thought I was doing okay.

I was confident in my knowledge of the body.
I had studied athletic training, worked with elite performers, and even completed a postpartum corrective exercise course.
That course changed everything—it helped me understand how deeply pregnancy and birth impact a woman’s body, as if she had gone through a car accident.

I did the work.
My body got better.
I shared the knowledge with other mothers.
And I helped them feel better too.

But I was still living the way I always had…

Doing my best.
Getting out of my comfort zone—again and again.

Leaving Japan to chase my dream.
Becoming the first Japanese female athletic trainer at the professional level.
Building a career.
Raising three kids in a foreign country.
Always pushing forward.

Always surviving.

So I didn’t know when not to push.
I didn’t know when it was okay to stay in the comfort zone.
I didn’t know how to ask for help, because I had always managed to get through things on my own.

Then came the moment I couldn’t push through anymore.

I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.

Suddenly, I was faced with options I was afraid of—surgery to remove a part of my body… or medication for the rest of my life.

That moment shook me.

Because deep down, I believed in the body’s ability to heal and self-regulate.
I believed I had everything within me to find balance.
But I had no idea what to do.

And then, a doctor looked at me and said something that made my blood boil:

“You just need to relax.”

RELAX?
I had three young children.
No family around.
Juggling everything alone.

How could I possibly relax?

I was angry.
Frustrated.

But also… that word planted a seed.

In the modern world, we’re taught that healing means adding more:
More exercise.
More work.
More effort.
More food.
More supplements.
More doing.

But what if…

Healing isn’t about adding?

What if it’s about excluding?

That word—RELAX—eventually began to change me.

I started to exclude things from my life:

✖️ Excess stress
✖️ Internal pressure
✖️ Perfectionism
✖️ Expectations
✖️ Pride in doing everything alone

I stopped chasing more.

And I started creating space—for my body, my mind, and my life to breathe.

That’s when real healing began.

Not from a pill.
Not from a new routine.
But from subtracting.

I didn’t change my diet.
I didn’t train harder.
But my body began to shift.

I felt lighter. Clearer. Stronger. Happier.

If you’re always tired...

If your mind says “keep going,” but your body says “please stop”…

If you feel disconnected from your body but don’t know where to start...

Maybe it’s time to stop adding.

Try excluding.

Remove what you don’t need anymore.
Make room for what your body already knows how to do.

Before your body screams, or a doctor gives you a diagnosis, or life forces you to pause—

Give yourself permission to stop.

To subtract.
To soften.
To heal.

I have three daughters.

And I deeply, honestly appreciate the life opportunity of becoming their mother.

But at the same time, this journey has been physically and emotionally challenging.

I don’t want them—or any future mothers—to go through the same struggles I did.

I truly believe there’s a smarter, softer, easier way for postpartum recovery.
One with less stress.
More flow.
More support.
And more smiles in front of the people we love.

That’s why I do this work.

For the next generation.
And for every woman still searching for another way.