17. How to Be a "Self-ish" Mother with Sam Hall

The Well-Nourished Mother: Helping You Thrive in Pregnancy, Birth & Motherhood

Do you believe in this idea that you need to be selfless to be a "good" mom? Maybe you don't fully believe in it, but the cultural narrative and pressure around it tries to take hold of you and pull you under once in awhile. How do we flip that script and learn to be "self-ish"? And why does it even matter?
In this episode I chat with the lovely Samantha Hall. Sam is the creator of the Welcome Mama Journal and Day Planner, a matrescence educator, podcast host, and a student of motherhood studies. Her mission is to create products and content that help moms take care of themselves, be seen, and enjoy, embrace, and capture the fleeting experience of motherhood.
Sam challenges the traditional notion of selflessness as the ultimate marker of a good mother, advocating for mothers to prioritize their own needs and feelings without guilt.
Sam shares her personal experience of navigating motherhood as a high achieving woman, grappling with expectations and feeling like a failure, butting up against bounce back culture and how she began to alchemize it all into a new way of being.
She shares what inspired her to create a journal and day planner that helps you anchor into the present moment and REMEMBER the beautiful moments with your child that you don't want to forget.
In this episode we dive into:
- Bounce back culture and the ridiculuous expectations placed on mothers to remain the same and go back to the version they were before giving birth
- The (what seems like) universal experience of shame and guilt in motherhood around putting ourselves first (or maybe just... not last)
- The importance and benefit of anchoring into the cyclical seasons of motherhood
- What it means to be "self-ish", and HOW to do it in a way that feels good for you
- An interesting conversation around body image: do we really need to always love and appreciate our bodies? Is body neutrality really the answer? Can we look at body image through a cyclical/seasonal lens as well?
- The policing of self care... Sam shares her hot take on what self care really is sometimes and a mindset shift around what self care looks like for you in your current season of motherhood
If you've ever felt guilt or shame around your desire to care for yourself, or maybe you're in the season of realizing just how empty your cup is feeling, than this one is for you.
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Connect with Sam:
www.welcome-mama.com
@welcomemama_bysam
I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts and feedback... send a text message directly to the show.

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