The Motherhood Mentor

Why do you feel overwhelmed all the time, even when you're doing everything right? And what if the answer to mom burnout isn't simply doing less? You can be strong, capable, ambitious, and deeply grateful for your life—and still be completely maxed out. In this episode of The Motherhood Mentor Podcast, a special adhd car rant episode really, we're talking about emotional capacity, n...

Ever notice how your kids can be happily playing, your partner can be in a bad mood, or your mom can call at the wrong time—and suddenly your entire nervous system is screaming? You're overstimulated, irritated, anxious, or ready to shut down. And all the advice to "just stay calm" isn't helping. In this episode of The Motherhood Mentor Podcast, we're getting practical abo...

Why am I so angry as a mom? Why do I keep snapping at my kids when I know that’s not how I want to parent? Mom rage can make you feel like a live wire — one noise, mess, question, or tiny interruption away from losing it. Just the kitchen fan can have me buzzing or snapping. Then comes the guilt: Why did I yell again? Why can't I just stay calm? What is wrong with me? But what if mom rage isn...

Who are you after becoming a mom — especially when the person you were before motherhood doesn’t quite fit anymore? Motherhood can change your identity, relationships, ambition, nervous system, boundaries, and sense of self. And while there is endless advice about how to raise children, there is far less honest conversation about what happens to the woman who becomes the mother . In this solo epis...

Your toddler isn’t “being bad” and you aren’t failing because you need space.  The toddler years are a real biological and relational shift: after a season of constant baby attunement, your child starts practicing autonomy and your nervous system starts asking, “What about me?” That’s where resentment, overwhelm, and those out-of-nowhere anger spikes can sneak in, especially for sensitive, big-hea...

This episode is a re-air as it was a favorite!  Join me in this episode around shame as I sit down with David Bedrick to reframe shame as an internalized witness that dismisses our lived experience, then trace how that shows up as mom guilt, perfectionism, and self-fixing. We practice unshaming the energies underneath yelling, tiredness, and boundary-setting so the parent-child relationship stays...

What if the answer isn't thinking harder? So many women are trying to think their way through emotions, anxiety, overwhelm, conflict, and stress. But what if your body already knows something your mind can't access? In this guided somatic episode, I walk you through a simple body scanning practice designed to help you reconnect with yourself, regulate your nervous system, and come back t...

What if your people-pleasing isn't actually a personality trait? In this powerful conversation, I sit down with somatic therapist and educator Luis Mojica to explore the nervous system roots of fawning, people-pleasing, and codependency in motherhood. We unpack why so many mothers lose connection with themselves after having children, how our kids' emotions can become our emergency, and...

Today's episode is a guided somatic meditation for feeling into and cleaning up boundaries. Please do not listen while driving and be sure you are in a space where it would be safe to be in a meditative state.  Your energy can feel “leaky” long before your mind finds the words for it. We’re slowing everything down with a guided grounding meditation designed to help you notice what’s happening...

The First Boundary Is the Pause Coming back to your body, regulating your nervous system, and learning to respond instead of react. In this episode of the Motherhood Mentor Podcast, we slow boundaries down and bring them back into the body. Because before boundaries become a conversation, a script, or a decision about contact, they often begin with something much smaller: a pause.  We talk about w...

IS your nervous system the reason boundaries feel so hard? Both with your parents and your kids or partner?  Freeze, fawn, people pleasing, emotional labor, and the family roles women never stop carrying. If setting boundaries with your parents feels similar to a toddler meltdown, there’s probably a reason and it’s not because you’re weak, dramatic, or incapable. In this episode of the Motherhood...

  People pleasing, emotionally immature parents, nervous system triggers, and learning to protect your peace without disappearing or cutting others off.  There’s a space many women live in that we need to talk about.  You’re not fully in the relationship anymore… but you can’t fully walk away either. The current relationship isn't working, but a full cut off also doesn't work for you. Yo...

You can love your parents, appreciate what they sacrificed, and still feel deeply impacted by the relationship. In this episode of the Motherhood Mentor Podcast, we talk about the messy middle between full contact and no contact with parents, especially for high-functioning women navigating motherhood, boundaries, guilt, and complicated family dynamics. The internet often makes family boundaries s...

Most advice about boundaries says: “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no.”  But most of real life doesn't look or feel like that.  In this episode, we talk about why boundaries aren’t actually black and white—and why so many women (especially moms) feel like they’re failing when they try to force clear yes-or-no decisions in complex relationships and decision making.  The truth is… most of...

For many moms, that quiet “I’m fine” isn’t actually fine. It’s a nervous system pattern of holding it all together under bracing and control.  When you’re the one holding everything together - the schedules, the emotions, the invisible labor -your body often learns to stay braced. Literally and figuratively holding your breath.  In this episode, we sit down with Tabatha Debruyn to talk about 9D Br...

You don’t usually see a high-functioning woman fall apart in a dramatic way.  It happens quietly. Subtly. Responsibly.  To the point where everything still looks fine… but inside, something feels off. If you’re still getting everything done but feel numb, foggy, disconnected, or low-key resentful, this isn’t you being ungrateful.  It’s what burnout looks like when your nervous system has been runn...

You’re the strong one. The capable one. The one everyone relies on. You hold the emotional tone of your home, keep things moving, and rarely drop the ball. But underneath it all? You feel braced, tired, and more alone than you want to admit. In this episode, we unpack what “high-functioning” actually looks like for moms—and why being the one who holds everything together often means you’re the lea...

Less screen time, more life.  Join Rebecca and Nina (Balkanina)If you’re arguing about devices more than you want to admit and you feel like tech is shaping your family more than you are, this episode is for you. This conversation is a practical guide for parents and adults who want a calmer, healthier relationship with screens. We talk about why screen limits alone often don’t work, how screen ov...

Welcome to this mini episode where we name the “good discomfort” of growth and why trying to fix it too soon blocks expansion. We share how embodiment, not mindset alone, helps hold paradox—being content and still wanting more—while you move between identities. • naming the spiral of upward growth • why old tools stop working during expansion • the urge to fix versus the need to feel • mindset as...

Do you have a strong-willed, big-feeling, highly sensitive child who feels like “too much”? Parenting the “Spicy” Child: Strong-Willed Kids, Big Feelings, and Connection-Based Discipline Parenting a strong-willed, big-feeling child can feel like living next to a volcano-beautiful, powerful, and unpredictable. We explore what Mary calls the spicy child : kids with high intensity, low adaptability,...

Let's explore how to stay hungry for growth without missing the life you already built. We share practical ways to feel content now while nurturing ambition for your body, marriage, work, and motherhood. • naming the gap obsession and its cost • choosing hungry not starving as a core mindset • celebrating wins you already own and wanting what you already have  • body peace through strength, f...

Forget the sprint. We’re starting the year steady, grounded, and honest about capacity. Instead of chasing a dazzling future self, we look at what’s here now- what worked, what didn’t, and how to build change that outlasts a January dopamine hit. In this episode I share why integrity beats motivation, how to regulate your nervous system in real life, and what it means to show up in the messy middl...

What if survival mode saved your life, and then quietly held you back once you were safe? That's the tension we unpack with coach, veteran, and mother of five Chonda Costin, whose journey from domestic violence recovery to military service to purpose-driven coaching reveals the hidden cost of operating in crisis long after the crisis ends. The story is raw and generous: leaving an abusive mar...

Our bodies have unconscious patterns of responding to perceived threats that happen without conscious control, ranging from simple to complex defensive reactions. • Fight response involves mobilizing energy against a threat with aggressive outbursts, criticism, or controlling behaviors • Flight response means moving away from threats through anxiety, overthinking, or intellectual distancing • Free...

What if the thing sabotaging your communication isn't your words, but your body's stuck survival strategy just trying to keep you safe? We go deep with Enneagram coach Michelle McDonald to explore the instinct layer of enneagram-self-preservation, social, and one-to-one—and how these fast, automatic behavior patterns quietly steer your relationships, leadership, and daily choices. This i...