The Depths of Postpartum Depression with Claude Racine-Valinsky

The Depths of Postpartum Depression with Claude RacineValinsky

Claude Racine, born in Montreal, Canada, is a retired professional dancer & choreographer out of Los Angeles who spent nearly 20 years dancing alongside artists like Jlo, Chris Brown, Tinashe, Avril Lavigne, Erika Jayne, Pussycat Dolls & Carmen Electra, and choreographing for TV shows like Will and Grace, Fuller House and Disney’s Mighty Med.

In 2020, Claude became a mom and suffered from postpartum depression and anxiety and was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Disease. 9 weeks after her baby boy was born, the world turned upside down as COVID took on its wide-spread surge. The entertainment industry was completely shut down and Claude was out of work, making her depression even worse.

After a year of searching for a new job and fighting for her mental health, a beauty direct sales opportunity found her, and she hurriedly jumped on board. Claude quickly rose up the ranks and found herself at the top of the sales and recruiting reports month after month. Claude has expanded her business into online life and wellness coaching, after she herself healed her body and lost over 20lbs despite doctors telling her it was impossible.

She realized she could help women do the same and help them elevate their lives in all areas. Her Glow Up With Claude Coaching Program has grown quickly in just a few months and has already helped over 40 women regain control of their lives!

Dennis Postema: What drove you down this career path?

Claude Racine-Valinsky: For eighteen years, I danced professionally. When COVID hit, I was a new mom—my son was only nine weeks old—the dance industry shut down, and I was suffering from debilitating postpartum depression and anxiety.

I was suicidal for over six months after having my son. I searched for something to do every single day during that time period, like, “What can I do from home? I need something to do or I’m going to lose my mind.” opportunity found me through a post my friend made on Facebook. I thought, “Huh, skincare and makeup. Cool. I can do some makeup, and I probably should wash my face because I haven’t in, like, a year.” Any mom out there understands what I mean by that.

I jumped right in and it took on a life of its own, and then I started helping other women with skincare and makeup. We connected on Instagram Live every day, and it helped me. It was amazing.

Dennis: When did you realize you had postpartum depression? What were the signs?

Claude: When you have a baby, your body releases many hormones. In the beginning, the hormones put you into a euphoric state. I remember seeing my husband hold the baby and thinking, “Oh my God, we have a baby!”

Three days after I gave birth, it hit me like a ton of bricks. All of a sudden, I had debilitating anxiety. My heart rate would speed up for no reason. I was worried. About what? Not sure.

On that third day, my mom said, “Go eat with Noah [my husband]. You need to get out of the house.” She babysat for us. Babies eat every two hours, so you’re a farm animal for as long as you’re breastfeeding. It’s hard to go anywhere.

We went out to eat and I sat and cried, saying, “I think I just ruined my life. I think I don’t want to be doing this. Can we please go back to, like, four days ago when I could cuddle you whenever I wanted to, when I could go anywhere anytime I wanted, when I wasn’t worried about this little, tiny thing all the time?”

It had just been three days, but I was like, “Oh shit, I just made a huge mistake,” and it’s not something you can fix. Normally, when you make a mistake in life, you think, “OK, I’m going to apologize and fix this,” but you can’t fix this situation.

After that day, I spent every hour of my waking life either worried about the future, with severe anxiety, wondering what life was going to be like, or I was sad and mourning my old life. Dennis: What steps did you take to get out of that? What would you suggest to others in that position?

Claude: I would suggest being very clear with your partner and other people around you about how you’re feeling.

Nobody talks about it because you feel shame as a mom, like, “Why don’t I feel joyous? Everyone on TV and Instagram talks about being so in love with their baby.”

Fuck that. Not everyone feels like that, and it’s OK. You need to state your feelings out loud, and you need to be assertive about it. Keep doing the things that you know are good for you. Keep going on walks. Keep working out after you get cleared to work out. Keep eating healthy foods. All of those things will eventually catch up, and you will start to feel better.

If you give up on everything, if you give in to that depression, it will take over. You have to keep moving forward and ask for support from the people around you. people who are supporting women going through postpartum depression: it’s not about you. Unfortunately, this new mom can’t do anything about it. There are hormonal imbalances. The person you are dealing with is not really who she is. She needs your help. She can’t even manage her own emotions, so please don’t ask her to manage yours.

Dennis: Did you have the discipline to start getting back on track with those healthy daily habits?

Claude: No. I didn’t eat right. That’s why I’m telling women now to eat right because I didn’t, and I think that’s what brought on my Hashimoto’s [thyroiditis] diagnosis because I gave in to the comfort and the depression and I ate like shit.

After I stopped breastfeeding, I drank wine every day. I drank beer on weekends. I ate pizza and fast food. I didn’t care. That’s what you want to do when you don’t care, because you’re like, “Whatever.”

that. Stick to what you know is good for you. My husband played a huge role in me showing up for myself.

He wouldn’t ask me, “Do you want to go for a walk?”

He would say, “We’re going on a walk,” and as the husband, I know sometimes it can be intimidating, because rage is a symptom of postpartum depression, but you have to go right through that. Don’t listen to what she’s saying. Tell her, “I’m taking the baby for a second, go take a shower,” or, “We’re going for a walk,” or, “We’re going to eat, I’m making healthy food.”

We can’t think straight when we’re going through that. We need you.

It took awhile. I had to look at my husband and say, “Please don’t fight with me, because I literally picture myself blowing my brains out, like, ninety percent of the day, and you’re asking me to be happy and normal and not cause you any problems. Right now, I just can’t.”

It is definitely a team effort. You have to keep doing what you know is good for you and really let people help you.

There was no negotiating with my son. If he cried while other people held him, they pushed through because I needed a moment. There are moms out there who will say, “Oh, my child only responds to me,” but you’re creating that. Babies can feel our

energies. It’s important for the people helping you out to get past that and to say, “Hey, the baby might cry right now, but I don’t care, because Mom needs a moment,” and you have to be willing to accept that help. It’s a two-way street.

My husband used to take our son on a two-mile walk every morning so I could sleep. I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t sleep. My anxiety was that awful. But at least my husband gave me that time to myself. He did all kinds of things like that for me.

Dennis: Tell me about how self-care, motherhood and putting yourself first made you this next-level person that you couldn’t have ever imagined?

Claude: When I made the decision to start network marketing, I looked at Noah and said, “OK, I need two hours in the morning to do work,” and that’s how it started. He was also a dancer, so he wasn’t working at the time either, and he said, “OK.”

I started putting myself first. I started washing my face, showing my skin some love, which was showing myself a bit of love, and little by little, I felt more alive.

Eventually, two hours of work turned into four hours of work in the mornings because it was so fun and fulfilling for me. He was OK with that.

From there, it turned into me working from 8:00 in the morning until 3:00 in

After my Hashimoto’s diagnosis, I was on a mission to find an answer and a cure. Regular doctors told me, “No, you can’t do anything about it, it’s genetic,” but I kept putting myself first, knowing there was an answer.

I attracted a particular coach into my life and invested in her. I knew I had to make enough money to pay for her. I kept putting myself first, and in doing so, I realized how capable I am at creating change, at how disciplined I am, at how much I do not accept no for an answer.

I stuck to the plans that were given to me in order to get better.

I said to myself, “Man, I said no to alcohol for five months straight? I didn’t budge on one single morsel of food? I’m a fucking gangster, like, you can’t do shit to me.”

You’re attracted to a coach for a reason. I saw her and thought, “I am going to look like that, so whatever she tells me to do, I’m going to listen. Obviously, I don’t know what I’m doing, so why would I keep doing it? It’s not working.”

She taught me macros, weight lifting, and how to heal my gut. I did everything she said to a T every single day. I took, like, eight disgusting, piss-tasting supplements because I knew they would heal me, and they did.

Dennis: What does an average day look like for you?

Claude: I wake up at 5:00 a.m., sometimes 6:00 a.m. on Sundays, because sometimes my body needs that extra hour, but I don’t recommend that for everyone.

I start off with my gratitude journal, then I read ten pages of a self-development book. Currently, I’m reading Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Afterwards, I do some reflecting, then write a motivational post for Instagram. I email it to all of my clients.

From there, I eat breakfast, go to the gym, and then get to work. Work varies. I do interviews or similar things, content creation, coaching calls or lead calls.

I spend the afternoons with my family. My husband or I will cook dinner, and then he goes to bed and that’s when I write my to-do list for the following day focusing on my big “get shit done” things I’ve gotta do.

I drink tea every night to wind down.

Dennis: How do you stay confident?

Claude: Overcoming the things I’ve overcome, like postpartum depression, my Hashimoto’s—when you do things like that, you feel pretty badass.

Sticking to my word and maintaining the discipline I’ve instilled helps too. There’s nothing like saying you’re going to do something and consistently following through—not just for a week or two or even for a few months—but for, say, a year. I feel stupid saying that, because I know someone who has been doing this for, like, fifteen years, so one year feels babyish by comparison, but when you do it, you

Nothing has control over me, not a glass of wine, not extra sleep. I control my life.

I don’t think people realize the effect that little things have on them long term. What you do now shows up later. It’s not just today. If you say, “Oh, I’m going to skip my workout and eat like shit,” you aren’t going to pay for those choices today and you aren’t going to pay for them in the physical sense, but they will affect your whole life.

Dennis: How do you feel about where you are now versus where you were a year and a half ago? What are the changes you’ve felt mentally, knowing what you overcame?

Claude: I feel unstoppable. I feel like nothing could ever keep me down.

Life will always hit you, but now I know that no matter what happens, I can get myself out of it. I have the tools. I know exactly what to do to get through it. That’s it. easy. I chose the path of most resistance following my dream career, and that part was not easy, but I didn’t suffer much pain and suffering until I was thirty-eight and I had my son. That took me all the way out.

I think, to really know who the fuck you are, something has to almost destroy you, and you have to come out of it and say, “Wow, I could’ve chosen to blow my head off and end it, and I didn’t.”

For a whole year I woke up not wanting to live, and I kept going, so what can anybody say now? Nothing.

To learn more about Claude Racine-Valinsky, visit her Instagram: @glowupwithclaude. Claude gets real about parenthood:

I always said to my husband, even while I was pregnant, “You’re going to be the best mom and I’m going to be the best dad.”

He has more of a feminine energy. He’s very nurturing and he cares deeply about people, and he wants to help others.

I wasn’t always like that growing up. I never wanted kids until I met him. We tried for our son for a year before he was conceived. I very much wanted him at that time, but I still knew Noah would be better in that area, and he was, but when you become a mother, there is a responsibility level that the father will never have. You are more in tune with the baby’s needs.

Becoming a parent is so beautiful, but I will tell you, it can fuck your shit up—it did to me on another level, but I would never be who I am today without my son. He made me the woman I am, which is a hundred times more epic than the woman I was before he was born. But that period of suffering? Whewf.