Instructor Spotlight: Anne Homan

Anne Homan is number 3…

Anne was born in Ohio into a military family (go Air Force) and moved twice before landing ( no pun intended ) at Andrews AFB where her dad worked on Air Force One! Pretty cool! She moved to Florida where she finished her bachelor’s in early childhood education. Her passion soon changed from teaching to birth after having her 3 children, and she wanted to educate and empower women to know their options, understand their bodies and the birth process, as well as create positive birth experiences. She became a DONA certified birth doula in 2015 and is part of the North Florida Doula Group. Anne has continued to better her knowledge and experience through different birth-centered trainings, she is a perinatal group fitness and personal trainer, and now a 4TFM instructor. She also leads a #WWC (Walk Workout Coffee) group on the island known as Postpartum Mama Moves.

Postpartum Mama Moves is free to anyone who wishes to join. #WWC is always free!

Back to why she is number 3…

What I mean is that she was the 3rd to join our 4TFM Instructor Family. Anne teaches Birth Ball Basics™ and Postpartum Recovery® Fitness on Amelia Island, Florida. She’s a doula and an avid Jazzerciser who has just begun to test the waters of Cross Fit. She was interested in the 4th Trimester Fitness classes from early on and just the sort of person we want teaching for us. She is Passionate with a P and her students adore her.

What was an “aha Moment” in your journey as a 4TFM instructor?

“As I have started learning about the pelvis, baby positioning, abdominal layers of the core, the pelvic floor, diastasis recti, the core system...etc, my former school teacher mind has started pondering concrete learning experiences for women to experience in my class. A few examples of this are simply laminating graphics that can be passed around class as I explain various anatomy, or wearing my famous "diastasis recti" tank top that I made (with other abdominal muscle layers represented underneath) for women to understand the physical changes their bodies went through and which layer of their core they must connect with to recover. I also recently made a visual demonstrating the layers of a cesarean to bring awareness of the recovery aspects for belly birth mamas. I continually enjoy thinking of new visuals to help women fully understand the concepts I am teaching as a 4TFM instructor.”

We both share a love for Blandine Calais-Germaine’s books, too. You should check them out, they will change the way you think about the pelvis in pregnancy and birth!

Anne has amazing Teaching Skills.

She can think of so many ways to describe a cue and create ways to show what the body is doing. We are so lucky to have someone on our instructor team that is always creating new visual aids or a glossary for new instructors. Sometimes, after being in this world of women’s wellness for almost 3 decades, I forget that not everyone just knows what a Diastasis Recti is, or how the pelvis moves, or what abdominal pressure or hernias are. When I asked Anne why she decided to become an instructor, she responded with, “I personally took a PPR class after having my 3rd baby, and was amazed about all the things I was never taught about my postpartum body. For example, I didn't even know anything about "diastasis recti"…I was determined to not only recover well for myself, but to take what I learned and share with women in my community and as a doula. I also wanted to become a 4TFM instructor to become a more well-rounded doula and prepare my mamas better. I now feel better equipped to help them understand their changing anatomy in pregnancy, and how to connect with their core and pelvic floor for birth, postpartum, and beyond”.

One of the skills of a 4TFM instructor - multi-task while teaching!! She can Cue. She can baby juggle. She can teach about the pelvic floor all while standing on one foot! A skill I think she learned as a cheerleader in High School and College!

Anne is always coming up with inventive visual aids for her classes!

I love her posts! This one is about pelvic floor contractions… you’ll find more of these on her Facebook group

4 things about Anne:

1) Anne has 3 precious children and has had 3 very different births! Her second was in a hurry and was a surprise home birth right into Daddy’s hands before the midwife arrived!

2) Her car was struck by lightening while she was driving to Orlando!

3) She loves to exercise! Jazzercise, Crossfit, walking, dancing…She loves those Endorphins!

4) Her dream vacation is Hawaii! ( You can’t take the beach out of a gal, ya know!)

Anne is a mother to three darling babies!

4 outstanding Qualities:

1) She has the eagle eye that we need to ensure that our materials are superb! She finds every typo, every misprint or edit that I need to make in our curriculum. I need that!

2) She has a heart the size of Texas. I swear, she is the sort that if you called her at 3AM, stuck on the side of a road in Vermont, she would do her best to help you out. RELIABLE.

3) She always wants to know the WHY behind what we do. She’ll ask me a question that stumps me. It’s soooo good because it makes me STOP and THINK and make sure that we are doing things correctly!

4) She says that she is “Powered by Faith and lots of Grace”. I would like to add that she is also powered by Patience and Grit.

If you are looking for one of Anne’s classes, you can find them here.