How I Have More Energy with 4 Kids (Even with a Nursing Toddler)
- 23 hours ago
- 4 min read
I woke up at 4:20 AM this Tuesday.
A decade ago, a wake-up call like that would have sent me into a “Superwoman” tailspin. I would have used the adrenaline to outrun my exhaustion—racing to my Analyst desk, trying to prove I could do it all.
Today, 4:20 AM feels different. It feels like sovereignty.
And this morning, that sovereignty looked simple: I woke up, noticed my body, and went back to bed for another hour.
February, 2026- Hubby captures my return to sleep with baby #4.
People often ask how I have more energy now with four children than I did with one. The answer isn’t a secret supplement or a perfect sleeper. It’s a series of somatic shifts I’ve had to learn the hard way.
The Wake-Up Calls
My first real reckoning with sleep came nearly nine years ago. I had just returned from an international trip on a Friday and was back at my corporate desk on Monday—with a 6-month-old at home and a body that hadn’t caught up to the pace I was demanding of it.
I was bracing. Against my schedule, my responsibilities, my fatigue—trying to force my body to match a rhythm that didn’t care about my heartbeat.
By the time my fourth baby was six months old, that bracing finally broke. I ended up hospitalized—a physical “no” from a body that had been ignored for too long.
That moment changed the way I relate to rest, energy, and leadership in my own life.
The “Mental Game” of Rest
I’ll be honest—there’s still a part of me that understands the appeal of insomnia.
When I’m underslept, my brain shifts into hyperdrive. Ideas come faster. Thoughts feel sharper. I feel productive, even powerful. For years, that state was something I leaned into—mistaking intensity for effectiveness.
But as I write in Chapter 4.2 of Wild Mama Rising—Winning the Mama Mental Game—there’s a hidden cost to that “high.”
The faster my mind runs without sleep, the harder it becomes to truly connect. I can execute tasks, but I lose access to presence. I can calculate outcomes, but I can’t fully feel my life.
Over time, I’ve learned that insomnia isn’t a tool—it’s a tradeoff. And often, it’s a trade I’m no longer willing to make.
Winning the mental game, for me, has meant choosing the quieter discipline of rest over the seductive energy of overdrive.
The 100-Breath Architecture
So what do I do in the middle of a 2:00 AM wake-up?
I use a practice I share in Wild Mama Rising called the 100-Breath Countdown.
When I’m lying awake—whether it’s from a baby waking or my mind starting to run the day ahead—I don’t reach for my phone. I begin counting backward from 100, pairing each number with a slow, intentional breath.
If my mind wanders, I notice it without judgment and gently return to the count.
If I lose my place, I simply pick up where I left off.
And I give myself permission: if I reach one and I’m still awake, I can get up without guilt.
Most of the time, I never make it to one.
The counting becomes a bridge—not just to sleep, but to a more regulated state. Even when rest doesn’t come immediately, my body is no longer in a state of resistance. And that alone is restorative.
(I share practices like this each week in my “Spacious Success” letters. You can join here https://community.jennicajoyceyoga.com/circle.)
Gaming the Data (The Oura Win)
Since Christmas 2024, I’ve been using an Oura Ring to track my sleep.
As an Analyst at heart, I appreciate data. My husband Alex has one too, and we’ve turned it into a lighthearted accountability system—friendly competition included.
But the biggest shift wasn’t the data itself. It was what the data removed: guilt.
During the early months with my youngest, we went to bed around 7:00 PM and woke around 3:30 AM. On paper, it didn’t feel like “enough.” But the ring consistently showed that I was still getting around eight hours of sleep.
That reframed everything.
Instead of feeling like I was falling behind, I realized I was actually meeting my body’s needs—even in a non-traditional schedule.
From there, a few simple habits made a measurable difference:
Avoiding heavy meals late at night
Keeping my phone out of the room until after early morning wake-ups
Small adjustments. Significant impact.
The ROI of Rest
At this stage of my life, I don’t think about energy as something I “find.” I think of it as something I design.
Sleep is no longer what happens after the work is done. It’s part of the infrastructure that makes the work possible.
It’s what allows me to sit on a log at Mission Creek and actually witness my children—without feeling the urge to manage the moment.
Rest is not a reward. It’s a resource.
If you’re in a season where your energy feels scattered or depleted, it may not be about doing more. It may be about re-architecting how you recover.
A Simple Reflection
Where is your energy quietly leaking at the edges of your day?
And what would it look like to close one of those loops tonight?
With love and desert dust,
Jennica
P.S. If you’re tired of bracing and ready to build a more spacious rhythm, join me each week. It’s where I share the real, unfiltered journey of creating a life and business that actually supports your energy. [Join here]
Comments