Chill Like a Mother Podcast

The pressure to make every moment magical, stay regulated at all times, and perform gentle parenting perfectly is exhausting. And it keeps coming up in sessions - so Kayla is pulling it from the archives for summer. This conversation between Kayla and guests Anneke and Olivia from the Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Trainings group gets honest about where so much of that pressure actually comes f...

Every mom knows the voice. The one that says you're not patient enough, present enough, calm enough. The one keeping score. This episode is a guided inner critic meditation for moms - a visualization practice that gives your inner critic a shape, a color, a form, and then calls in the voice that actually has your back. Your inner champion. The part of you that knows you are good enough, even when...

Mom guilt is one of the most talked-about experiences in motherhood - and one of the least understood. In episode 89 of Chill Like a Mother, Kayla sits down with Emily Rose MacDonald, host of The Sparkle Project podcast, certified motherhood studies practitioner, and single mom of two boys, to get into what mom guilt actually is, where it comes from, and what you can do about it. Emily opens with...

Most moms I know have said it out loud at some point - if I don't do it, it's not going to get done.  In this episode, Kayla sits down with licensed mental health therapist, couples coach, and Cedar & Rain Consulting founder Angela Tam to pull that sentence apart and find out what's actually living underneath it.  We talk about why the mental load is a symptom, not the root cause - and why foc...

If you've ever said "I lost myself in motherhood" - this episode is going to reframe that for you. Kayla sits down with Meghan Watson, therapist and collage artist based in Ontario, to talk about what actually happens to creative identity when you become a mom. Megan spent years as a prolific writer - ghost-writing for mental health companies, running a practice, building a Substack - and then had...

In part two of this conversation, registered social worker and mom guilt therapist Kayla Huszar and therapist Danik Bernier, MSW RSW, get practical. If part one was about recognizing what you're carrying, this episode is about what to actually do with it — before the hard moment hits. Danik introduces the window of threat: the moment in your 24-hour cycle where you're most at risk of going into fi...

Some of what you feel as a mother isn't actually yours. In this episode of the Chill Like a Mother podcast, registered social worker and mom guilt therapist Kayla Huszar sits down with therapist Danik Bernier, MSW RSW, to talk about what intergenerational trauma actually feels like in the bodies of modern moms - and how to start telling the difference between what you've earned and what you've inh...

ATTN: MOMS! When was the last time you had a feeling and just... let it be there? Not ignored it. Not scrolled until it passed. Not hidden in the bathroom for a minute of fake peace. Just let it actually exist in your body for a minute. For most of us moms it's probably been a while. And I think I know why. Dr. Jenn Rapkin is a naturopathic physician, bodyworker, and author of The Feeling Muscle....

Every mother deserves to feel like herself - not just a version of herself that exists to keep everyone else afloat. In this episode of Chill Like a Mother, I sit down with Shar Thomas, Edmonton-based interior designer and owner of Where My Love Grows, for one of the most honest conversations we've had about creativity, neurodivergence, and what it actually takes to hold onto yourself in motherhoo...

If you feel like your creativity vanished when you became a mother - you are not alone. Or maybe you feel like you need permission to pick it back up (or keep it consistent) - this conversation is for you. Twin mom and children's musician Mama Nous shares how she protects her creative practice without guilt, why she tells her kids "this is important to me," and what happened when she stopped askin...

One broken mug. All-day self-criticism. Sound familiar? Lisa Danahy (MS in Yoga Therapy, author of Creating Calm in Your Classroom) breaks down why mothers spiral into hypervigilance after one mistake - and shares the body-based regulation tool that actually works. What we cover: How "See, loser, you suck" becomes an all-day mantra Why your nervous system catalogs every imperfection The one questi...

How do you stay present when you're not okay as a mom? Megan Dowd shares the worst flight of her life (funeral, delayed, toddler screaming 3.5 hours) and the best (crying babies everywhere, pediatrician validation). The metaphor that changes everything: "The thing that will fix it is getting off the plane. That's not an option when we're somewhere over Montana." We talk about: The "over Montana" m...

Have you ever felt like motherhood has swallowed you whole? Like your teenager self, your childhood self, just your human self is no longer part of who you are? This week I'm sitting down with Allie McQuaid - known as @millennialmomtherapist on Instagram - and we're talking about the thing nobody prepares you for: the slow disappearance of yourself in motherhood. Allie is a therapist in Maryland w...

Send us a text Four years ago, Jessica Dunn was navigating her daughter's AuDHD diagnosis with too many opinions, not enough answers. Today: 18 months without sensory meltdowns. What this episode cover: Moving from diagnosis shock to usable roadmap Why early intervention builds skills before shame sets in Family therapy vs "fix the kid" approaches The ADHD tax: funding, benefits, and hard budget c...

Send us a text Tired of saying "I'm fine" when your body and brain are screaming for honesty? This guided meditation helps overwhelmed mothers stop pretending and start feeling—without forcing a fix. What You'll Get: A 7-minute practice that meets you where you are: angry, sad, touched out, or completely empty. We start with breath work and body scanning, then move into five practical tools that t...

Send us a text Ever slammed your hands on the table and yelled "ENOUGH!" when the noise and chaos became too much? You're not alone, and contrary to what social media might have you believe, it's not a parenting failure—it's biology. In this eye-opening conversation with therapist Charlie, we explore the myth that mothers should be regulated all the time. Charlie explains how our nervous systems w...

Send us a text You know that mental catalog that's constantly running in your brain? The one calculating diaper changes, grocery lists, and whether there's milk for tomorrow's cereal while you're doing three other things? What if I told you that mental load doesn't have to be yours alone to carry? In this episode, I'm joined by Ryley Miller, Executive Director of Rise of Society Alberta, for an ho...

Send us a text Ever find yourself swearing under your breath while trying to be the "good mom" – only to feel overcome with guilt moments later? You're not alone. The messy truth about mom rage rarely makes it to social media, but it's something almost every mother experiences. What happens when you're a therapist who can't follow her own advice? In this raw episode, I share a particularly hard pa...

Send us a text It's 9:05pm. You're hollowed-out exhausted, the kids are finally quiet, and you're zombie-scrolling hoping the algorithm throws you a lifeline. But that "calm" you're chasing? It's not really calm - it's just avoidant numbness dressed up like peace. What if I told you there's something better you can do with those 10 minutes? Something that actually helps your nervous system instead...

Send us a text What happens when a mental health professional finds herself on the other side of the desk - struggling, spiralling, and split wide open by a birth plan that was never part of the plan? In this raw and resonant conversation, Chelsea - co-owner of Couples to Cradles and co-founder of Mama Psychologists - invites us into the story of her early motherhood: one that begins with unexpect...

Send us a text You walk into a room, forget why, stand there blinking like a confused Sims character. Then you start spiralling: Is my brain broken? Is this what motherhood does?! If that moment feels freakishly familiar , this episode is your official permission slip to stop blaming your brain - and start understanding it. In this illuminating convo on Chill Like a Mother , Kayla Huszar chats wit...

Send us a text In this episode of Chill Like a Mother , I sit down with the brilliant Stacey and Stephanie to have a real, raw, and slightly irreverent chat about the wild ride that is gentle parenting - especially for neurodivergent moms.  We’re peeling back the layers on the emotional toll of motherhood, the sneaky ways shame and guilt creep in, and why holding onto our own identity and creative...

Send us a text Listen, motherhood wasn’t supposed to feel like one long, unpaid internship in exhaustion. You don’t need a permission slip to take care of yourself—you need a damn strategy. Welcome to Mom Guilt Rehab, the podcast that helps you ditch the martyr mindset, reclaim your energy, and stop treating joy like a cute little side dish you only get if the house is clean and the laundry isn't...

Send us a text Women and mothers are changing the world—but not if they’re exhausted, underfed, and running on fumes. In this episode, we’re diving deep into what real self-care looks like beyond the bubble baths and face masks. Spoiler: It’s about meeting your own basic human needs without apology. My guest, Tami, shares her personal wake-up call—when an acupuncturist bluntly told her she was on...

Send us a text Your problem isn’t just the noise and chaos of motherhood—it’s how your nervous system is processing it. Ever feel like you’re one loud noise away from snapping? Motherhood is a full-sensory experience —from the constant demands to the mental load that never stops. If you’ve ever wondered why everything feels so overwhelming , this episode is for you. I’m joined by occupational ther...