Community Highlights: Meet Annie Lane of Vibrant Mamaí

Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Lane.

Hi Annie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My passion for fitness and wellness originated during a pivotal time of my life when I experienced the therapeutic nature of working out and prioritizing my health. I was amazed at how drastically my quality of life improved by implementing health-enhancing behaviors that worked for me, and I quickly made it my mission to help others do the same.

Fast forward about a year into my professional journey in this field, I became pregnant with my son. As a young, single mother I found peace of mind in consuming myself in all things pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. I was also naturally drawn to learning more about prenatal wellness because of my background in health and fitness. So I researched – perhaps a bit excessively – and researched and researched which is somewhat normal and encouraged for new parents. But as I dove deeper into this research, I learned some not-so-happy parts of what is currently going on in the pre and post-natal wellness industry. I learned that the United States has some of the worst perinatal and infant health outcomes of all developed countries. Ultimately, this comes down to a gap in education and accessible evidence-based information.

Research shows that improving your pre/postnatal exercise, nutrition, and overall health is a very powerful way to decrease risk factors that contribute to the poor health outcomes that our country (and other parts of the world) is suffering with. After I had my son, I knew I had found my niche in pre and post-natal wellness. I pursued my certification as a Pre/Postnatal Corrective Exercise Specialist and Diastasis & Core Consultant and started my business “Vibrant Mamaí” in 2020.

My philosophy is that we need to take better care of the well-being of those who are birthing our next generations. Mothers and birthers deserve more resources, more accessible education, more intentional whole-person health care. My vision for Vibrant Mamaí is to create a space that does just that by guiding and educating others on how to cultivate vibrant childbearing years in their own unique journey.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. Again, I’m a young single mother which comes with its own struggles but I was also in the middle of my undergraduate degree when I got pregnant. I continued my studies during my entire pregnancy. To give you a visual of what this looked like I was doing dissections for my anatomy lab at 9 months pregnant – it was quite the sight to see!

I gave birth in March and came back a few days later to finish the semester. I took a leave of absence for only one semester when my son was a young infant, but I returned when he was 9 months and graduated with my B.S. in Exercise & Sports Science when he was 2.5 years old. After having my son, I struggled with severe postpartum anxiety and multiple bouts of mastitis (a very painful flu-like illness resulting from breastfeeding).

Oh yeah, and then the whole world shut down and we all faced unprecedented struggles. In summary, I was a young single mother in the middle of my college career and on top of all of this I decided starting a business at the height of a global pandemic was the best course of action. All jokes aside, I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey and my career choices.

I have found strength in my truth and my story has only allowed me to resonate deeper with my purpose. It has not always been easy – I’ve had my fair share of blood, sweat, and tears – but it has been worth it and I am so incredibly grateful for where I am now and what the future has in store.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
First things first – the question I get asked all the time – Mamaí is pronounced the exact same as “mommy” it’s just the Irish Gaelic spelling for it (an homage to my Irish great-grandmother). I am a personal trainer that specializes in pre and postnatal corrective exercise, core health, and pelvic floor training. I take a holistic approach that addresses various aspects of one’s health history and current well-being to design a program that best prepares them for labor, childbirth, and postpartum.

This means that not only do I focus on alleviating symptoms of chronic pain and dysfunction, but I also work with you to address their root causes. For example, a client may be suffering from low back pain. We can certainly do some stretches to relieve this pain momentarily, but in the long run, we want to correct the muscular imbalances that are causing this pain so that it permanently decreases or eliminates it. We also want to take into account what movement patterns you do repetitively throughout your day (What are the physical requirements of your job? What chores do you do on a daily basis? Etc.).

The holistic nature of my method also considers other areas of wellness that may be manifesting physically, so I’ll ask questions like: How is your stress level? Where do you feel like you hold your stress? How much water do you drink daily? How is your pregnancy going? How did your previous births go? Tell me about your sleep patterns and quality of sleep? This holistic, whole-person approach allows for more sustainable functionality and pain management while simultaneously addressing other barriers that may arise for other goals, such as mood regulation, improving birth outcomes, or postpartum weight loss.

Currently, we offer pre/postnatal fitness training, corrective exercise training, and core health consulting for labor preparation and postpartum recovery. We do this through private 1-on-1 training as well as through a virtual fitness studio.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love that Raleigh is in the middle of everything. Both the beach and mountains are only a short road trip away.

We’ve got country, we’ve got city, we’ve got suburbs. While our winters could maybe use a boost (I wouldn’t mind one small snowstorm per year) our weather is unbeatable. We get hot in the summer, cool in the fall, a couple of winter months, and a gorgeous warm spring.

I’m originally from the North, so I do miss some northern food. But that’s probably my only “complaint” and there are so many other great food options here that satisfy the true foodie in me. I love it here!

Pricing:

• Virtual Fitness Studio Subscription – Free trial and then $29.99 per month after trial period. Includes unlimited access to on-demand videos of full-length pre/postnatal safe workouts, functional training, deep core training, pelvic floor training, and more.
• Contact me for private training pricing as this varies.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.vibrantmamai.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vibrantmamai
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vibrantmamai
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGv6BRP-3j-TjO1ivyb53CA

Image Credits
Kevin Marcus Jr. and Ellen LeRoy Photography