Episode 31: Suzy Ashworth on unconditional love, self-care and living from the inside

Suzy Ashworth is a business and mindset coach to female entrepreneurs, Founder of the Calm Birth School, a Hay House Author, mum to four children, as well as being a speaker with Tedx. 

We cover:

• Her journey of personal development which started twenty years ago, and how she started moving away from a disconnected life.

• Her work with a parenting coach and the profound take-away lessons from this.

• How her step-son moving back in with her family taught her lessons on unconditional love.

• The vital importance of her morning routine, and what she’s like without it!

• Why she recommends that everyone should have a daily routine of self-car

Suzy’s website: http://suzyashworth.com/

Check out Suzy's signature programme http://suzyashworth.com/limitless/

Episode 30: Clemmie Telford on therapy, anxiety and being present

Clemmie Telford is a mum of 3, creative strategist and blogger. She started her incredibly popular blog, Mother of All Lists during her second maternity leave. 

What we cover
- How she manages to stay present with three children to be the best mum she can be, and her ‘no phone’ rule
- How Clemmie found her recovery period from her third child
- Why couples’ therapy is so important
- Clemmie talks openly on her own struggles with anxiety, including those surrounding birth
and being a mum.
- What Clemmie has learnt about herself through parenting

Clemmie’s blog, a collection of lists about parenting and beyond, can be found at:
https://motherofalllists.com/
Twitter: @clemmie_telford
Instagram: @clemmie_telford

Episode 29: Madeline Shaw on intuition, healthy eating and switching off

Madeline Shaw is one of the UK's best-known wellbeing influencers, she is a yoga teacher, health coach, and qualified nutritionist. She's written 3 best selling cookbooks (all of which I have and recommend). She's also mum to a gorgeous 10-month-old boy. So yes, I ask her how she fits it all in!

Chatting with Madeline was a joy, she knowledgeable, fun, wise and kind - we cover so much in our chat....highlights include:

- Her experience of motherhood, the newborn phase, breastfeeding and learning to listen to her intuition
- Being a working mum and guilt
- Routines and rituals - including how she manages her phone use
- Easy to implement, quick and effective healthy eating tips: meal prep and healthy snacking
- Madeleine’s greatest challenges as a mum so far
- Madeleine’s own experiences of childhood, and what she will pass on to her son

Madeleine can be contacted at http://madeleineshaw.com/ and @madeleine_shaw_ on Instagram.

Time stamps
4:03 How Madeleine found the newborn phase and how trusting her intuition proved right
06:54 Madeleine’s experience of the challenge of expectations as a mum
10:20 Why Madeleine loves positive affirmations
12:33 The comparison trap and social media
15:05 Madeleine’s childcare setup and why she feels no guilt about it

19:40 Morning routines and their benefits
25:20 Madeleine’s tips for adopting a healthier diet
32:50 Experiences of anxiety as a mum
34:00 Madeleine’s greatest challenge so far as a mum
35:20 what values does Madeleine want to take from her own family and give to her son?
39:30 How Madeleine is working on her morning routine
47:00 If Madeleine could gift all the mum’s in the world one thing, what would it be and why?

Episode 28: ending a relationship when children are involved with Katherine Woodward Thomas

In today’s episode, I talk with Katherine Woodward Thomas to discuss how we can transform the process of ending a relationship, and how by doing this we can improve the impact and outcomes this will have on our children, and ourselves.

Katherine has authored two best-selling books, including “Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After”, and is also a qualified marriage and family therapist. Her influential ‘Conscious Uncoupling’ method quickly rose to worldwide fame after Gwyneth Paltrow’s endorsement. 

This episode is particularly relevant to so many mums who may be going through a marriage or
relationship breakdown. Katherine explains with insight, expertise and personal experience of how we can live ‘happily even after’ a breakup, and vitally how a child can feel held within a family rather being negatively impacted. 

What we cover;
- How it’s actually unresolved tension through parents that negatively impacts children rather
than divorce itself, and why it’s HOW  we part ways that’s the crucial factor.
- What exactly Conscious Uncoupling is, and how it can help us during such a difficult time to
minimise damage to ourselves and our children, and how it can be used to create a ‘happily
even after’ family.
- Katherine explains how her child still feels held within the family unit post-divorce,
and the vital importance of the adults doing the adjusting, rather than the children.
- How Conscious Uncoupling can make sure emotions don’t become destructive following a
relationship ending, and the importance of understanding the difference between effective
and ineffective suffering.

For further information please see Katherine’s website;
http://katherinewoodwardthomas.com/

Katherine has also written two bestselling books, Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living
Happily Even After and the national bestseller Calling in “The One.”
Time Stamps

6:10 What Conscious Uncoupling is, and how Katherine came to discover it.
12:24 The first step in Conscious Uncoupling
14:40 Dealing with someone else’s emotions and rage following a break up

18:42 The importance of aligning your community following a breakup
20:12 The ‘Soul mate’ to ‘Soul hate’ transition and how this is nature’s trick to keep us bonded
22:17 A child’s home is the family
22:33 How Katherine’s daughter feels held within the family post-divorce and the importance of
the adults doing the adjusting rather than the children.
25:35 Why Katherine became a therapist and Katherine’s mission today.
29:25 The necessity of being conscious of the questions you’re asking yourself following a breakup,
and being aware of asking ‘what is wrong with me?’
35:10 How time poor and busy mum’s can do inner work following a breakup, and the importance
of having somebody to work with.
39:43 Empowered meaning; what are you making the break up mean about you?
40:54 Becoming a love alchemist, and how to be an even after family
48:30 How would Katherine define a successful marriage?
51:52 Conscious Uncoupling rituals and ending a relationship with love
55:40 If Katherine could gift all the mum’s in the world one thing, what would it be?

Episode 27: how being kind to ourselves can transform our parenting with Dr Kristin Neff

In this particularly insightful episode, I am joined by Dr. Kristin Neff PHD to explore self-compassion, and how we can use this practice to radically improve our parenting and relationships with our children, as well as our relationship with ourselves.
Kristin is a world renowned psychologist, and the world’s leading expert on self-compassion, as well as being the very first person to operationally define self-compassion. She had a hugely successful and well-received Ted Talk, and has written numerous books on the topic.

As Mums we will all recognise how hard we can be ourselves, whilst at the same time being so kind and compassionate to others, so talking with Kristin was particularly enlightening, as she explains how this one practice can have a really significant positive effect on your life and parenting.

What we cover:
- How Kristin became interested in self-compassion, and what motivated her to dedicate her
life’s work to understanding and developing this practice.

- What self-compassion really is, why it isn’t self-indulgent or self-pitying, and how the more
we are able to be kind to ourselves, the more other people, including children, can benefit.

- How ‘mirror neurons’ act in a way that being self-compassionate will have a directly positive
effect on your child, and how mums don’t always give themselves permission to be kind to
themselves, but it’s the very best thing to do for you and your child.

- Kristen openly and honestly describes how she used self-compassionate practice to
successfully overcome an incredibly challenging situation with her autistic son, all on a
transatlantic flight!

- Kristin fully addresses the main blocks to self-compassionate practice that many people
have, and explains why self-compassion is the polar opposite of selfishness.

Timestamps
1.0 Introduction to the episode
4.50 What self-compassion is and what it means to Kristin
7.17 Kristin’s path to discovering self-compassion through meditation and Buddhist teachings
8.54 Why we don’t always have the innate ability to be kind to ourselves
13.00 How mother’s have access to the care based system and the importance of giving ourselves
permission to use it with ourselves.
13.35 The main blocks people have to adopting self-compassion and how research shows all these
to be misconceptions.

15.05 Why it’s not just what you face in life, but how you relate to yourself when times are
difficult, that’s important.
17.40 How being a self-compassionate parent can directly influence your parenting
19.27 Why it’s not selfish to give yourself compassion.
21.30 ‘Mirror neurons’ and how children pick up on our mind-state and how self-compassion can
directly benefit our children
24.00 The inherently reciprocal nature of self-compassion
26.20 How to overcome blocks you may encounter when becoming self-compassionate
29.10 Kristin’s self-compassionate workbook
31:14 Exercises to develop your own self-compassion practice.
38.19 Why self-compassion is not self-pity
42:28 Kristin’s one gift to all the mothers in the world.

For more on Dr Kristin Neff, please see;
self-compassion.org/
The fantastic books she has authored including ‘Self compassion’
@self_compassion on twitter
Kristin’s inspirational Tedx Talks at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4

Episode 26: how to love your body (whatever it looks like) with Mel Wells

In this enlightening episode I am joined by Mel Wells to discuss all things body image, self-love and energy.

Mel is the UK’s leading eating psychology and self-love expert, bestselling author of the ‘Goddess Revolution’ and a renowned speaker.

Mel frankly and openly shares her story with eating disorders, food, body image and self-love and describes exactly what made her want to make a change.

Mel shares her expertise and wisdom on how we can change our relationship with food, improve our energy, practice self-love and ultimately bring about a total mind shift in how we view ourselves. 

I often hear mums describe their struggles with body image following having a child, and so this episode is incredibly helpful and relevant to so many mums with issues surrounding food, diet and body image.

We cover in depth the issue of how we can love our bodies even though they may look different post children and provide a toolkit for completely changing not only your relationship with food, but also with yourself.

What we cover: 

• Mel’s own story; eating disorders, relationships, food, exercise, diets and how one thought changed everything.

• The biggest problem facing mums and body image issues, and why we’re often asking the wrong question.

• How changing the way we talk to ourselves can directly change our energy levels.

• The most important things to do when you want to make a change to how you view yourself, your body and your relationship with food.
• How we should teach our children, especially girls, about body image and eating.

Timestamps

3:20 Mel’s journey and how she came to share her positive message with the world.

7:48 What the first thing Mel did when she said she wanted to change.

11:25 The significance of Mel referring to her body as ‘Her’.

13:32 Key considerations for exercise, why we must look at our motivation behind it.

16:42 What would Mel say to someone wanting to get pre-baby body back.

18:16 The four seasons of womanhood

20:35 How someone starts to feel good psychologically about body image after pregnancy.

23:41 Mums, energy and how to boost your energy levels.

26:00 Law of attraction and how to generate energy.

27:30 Mel’s intuitive approach to eating and how to be in communication with body.

30:48 What should we be teaching younger girls and the impact of social media

34:10 For someone who wants to change, key considerations

38:32 It’s not just about the recipes

39:15 Mel’s Self-Love Summit

40:15 One thing Mel would give to all mums.

To find out more about Mel Wells, visit https://melwells.com and ‘iammelwells’ (Instagram).

Mel hosts events on a regular basis, and is hosting the first Self-Love summit on 28th July 2018, which is ‘A 1 Day Women’s only empowerment event dedicated to revealing the most unapologetic, untamed version of YOU’. For more information please see https://melwells.com.

Episode 25: Careers, crossroads and guilt with Alice and Phanella - The Step Up Club

This week's episode is with founders of the Step Up Club, Alice Olins and Phanella Mayall Fine. The Step Up Club is a modern voice in the women's career conversation, in fact, Stylist Magazine said "it's the only voice to listen to in the women's career sphere".

In this wide-ranging conversation, we chat about everything from their career stories, working mum guilt, career crossroads, confidence and validation. So if you're working and it isn't working or you want to be working - then this episode is for you. Enjoy.

PS. Alice and Phanella have just launched an amazing online version of their in-person Step Up School and are offering Motherkind listeners 15% off. Just use the code SUSMOTHERKIND at www.stepupschool.co/

step-up-club.net/step-up-school/
Instagram: @thestepupclub

Episode 24: Emine Rushton on slowing down and being present

Episode 24 is with Eminé Rushton who is wellbeing director-at-large at my favourite magazine, PSYCHOLOGIES, and Creative Director of conscious consultancy, LEAF.

She is also a trained holistic facial therapist and is studying for a diploma in Vedic Healing. She has been living in accordance with Ayurvedic wisdom for almost 10 years, and her first book, The Body Balance Plan, introduced people to Vedic science in a liveable and practical way.

She lives in Kent with her two children and husband, and blogs about her holistic wellbeing journey at www.balanceplan.co.uk.

We chat about: 
- trusting the timing of life
- going back to work when her first child was very young
- slowing down
- being a present, working parent
- ayurvedic living

Hope you enjoy the episode
www.balanceplan.co.uk.

Episode 23: Michelle Cottle (AKA Dear Orla) on parenting after loss

This week I'm chatting with a very special lady, Michelle Cottle, about baby loss, parenting after loss, PND and how she set up her popular blog called Dear Orla. She is incredibly inspiring and has now raised over 20k for Tommy's Charity!

Michelle and I chat about what it was like to lose Orla at 37 weeks, being pregnant again with Esme, post natal depression, blogging and working as a psychologist.

Hope you enjoy the episode.

dear-orla.com/

Episode 22: being gentle, stress and maintaining energy with Henrietta Norton

Henrietta Norton is a registered nutritional therapist, she's been practicing for over 13 years and is a specialist in women's and children's health. She is also the founder of Wild Nutrition, which is an award-winning supplement company.

Henrietta and I chat about: 
- her story and how endometriosis lead her to train as a nutritional therapist
- stress, modern life and motherhood
- supplements and the importance of 'food state' 
- how we can maintain energy as busy mums

Henrietta has kindly gifted listeners a FREE e-book on stress which you can download here 

www.wildnutrition.com/pages/our-founder

Bonus Episode: Women supporting women with founder of Our Mala, Emily Brett

I'm so happy to bring you a BONUS EPISODE this week. It's with the amazing Emily Brett who founded Our Mala. Our Mala is a charity that offers trauma-informed yoga for people who are refugees.

I cried so much during our chat, the stories that Emily shares really touched my heart and I know they will touch yours too.

If you're inspired to get involved, you can learn more about Our Mala here www.ourmala.com/ and the crowdfunding here www.crowdfunder.co.uk/happy-baby-community

Episode 21: how to find love as a single mum with Persia Lawson

Calling all the single mums! (or anyone looking for more love in their life....) 
This episode is with 'one of the UK's top love coaches' (The Times) Persia Lawson. Persia's work has been featured in Vogue, The Telegraph, Cosmo and You magazine to name a few.

Persia and I chat about: 
- her story and journey from being a serial cheater to healing herself from the inside and today being in a fulfilling, committed relationship
- how to heal your past to start afresh
- how to find love again by first loving yourself
- when to introduce your new partner to your children

You can find Persia at www.persialawson.com 
She has also just released a FREE 3 part video training series to help you attract a healthy, soulful, lasting relationship, it's amazing training and jam-packed with advice and tools grab it free here persialawson.lpages.co/3-part-video-…es-lead-page/

Episode 20: living a fertile life with Emma Cannon

Emma Cannon is a fertility and women’s health expert, registered acupuncturist, founder of the Emma Cannon Clinic, and a mentor and speaker. With over 20 years in clinical practice, from her fertility rooms she has helped countless patients achieve their dream of having a family. She is the author of four books including the best-selling The Baby Making Bible. Her fifth book, FERTILE, was published in March 2017.

Even if you've never struggled with fertility this podcast will still educate and inspire. Emma's and I chat about living a 'fertile life' replacing lack with abundance and barren thinking with fertile thinking.....

Want to know what the 50,000 women she has worked with have in common? 
Or what Emma is teaching her daughters about fertility and women's health? 
Hear what Emma thinks are the 5 pillars of living a fertile life and how we can implement them in our lives

Emma's website is www.emmacannon.co.uk and she is kindly offering listeners of this podcast 10% off her new course '90 days to fertile' just enter the code motherkind10 at checkout.

Episode 19: postnatal depression and living in the solution with Amy Ransom

Episode 19 is with Amy Ransom, who is a mum of 3, writes the successful blog 'Surviving Motherhood' and is author of 'The New Mum's Notebook' - a sanity saving journal for new mums.

Amy is an incredible woman, full of energy, wisdom and honesty about her experiences with postnatal depression and anxiety. She's really open and honest about her journey, which is incredibly inspiring, as it led to her blog and then book being published. We chat about;

- Saying no to 'shoulds' and doing things her way
- Postnatal depression and her recovery journey
- The New Mums Notebook
- Living in the solution - therapy, meditation, running

Hope you enjoy the episode. 
Amy can be found at @survivingmotherhood_

Episode 18: the truth about balancing our hormones with Angelique Panagos

Episode 18 is with Angelique Panagos - nutritional therapist and female hormone expert. Angelique has a private practice in London and her book 'The Balance Plan' came out in June 2017. Her philosophy is that food is healing and nourishing, affecting each cell in our body - impacting our lives, bodies, emotions, and even our thoughts.

Angelique and I chat about: 
- her story and recovery from eating disorders
- balancing hormones and her 6 pillars of recovery
- the first year of motherhood
- tiredness and the effect it has on our bodies

Hope you enjoy the episode

www.angeliquepanagos.com/

Episode 17: sober living with Clare Pooley

This week's episode is with Clare Pooley, author of the hugely successful 'The Sober Diaries - How one woman stopped drinking and started living'.

Clare found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle so she left her successful role as a Managing Partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy but she never expected to find herself drinking more than a bottle of wine a day. The book is her journey back to herself, through getting sober and is an inspiring, funny and poignant story of living life to the full.

We chat about: 
- when to consider stopping drinking
- how she knew she had a problem
- what she learned about herself through sobriety
- her sober social life
- sober parenting

Hope you enjoy it, to accompany the episode I've written about my own experience of sobriety over on the blog www.motherkind.co/blog-1/

Episode 16: Embracing imperfection and feeling feelings with Katie Abbott

This episode is with the amazing Katie Abbott who has worked as a Therapist and Coach from 1 Harley St for the past 10 years and is also the Founder of Pause Place, the first Certified Coach Training dedicated to the strength of love, presence and connection.

Katie is a mum of 2 and we chat about embracing imperfection, connection, feeling feelings and being an empath.

Katie runs retreats in Italy and India and runs regular events for both Shoreditch and Soho House in London. This year, Pause Place will take place at the newly launched 42 Acres in Shoreditch and will run from May-October. If you are interested please visit www.pauseplace.com to discover more.

Episode 15: International Women's Day Special with Zing Tsjeng

Welcome to this special episode to celebrate International Women's Day, 8th March.

It's with the amazing Zing Tsjeng who is a journalist and author, she currently works as the UK editor of Broadly, VICE’s channel for millennial women.

She has also written about feminism, arts and culture, politics, race and LGBTQ identity for publications like the Guardian, Buzzfeed, Dazed, i-D magazine and the Debrief.

Her books 'The Forgotten Women' series are out today and uncover the lost histories of the influential women who have refused over hundreds of years to accept the hand they've been dealt and, as a result, have formed, shaped and changed the course of our futures.

We chat about: 
- her process writing the books
- her favourite stories and why
- what we can learn from these women

Hope you enjoy the episode and Happy International Women's Day

www.octopusbooks.co.uk/books/detail.…9781844039715

Episode 14: meditation and curiosity with Emma Mills

This week I'm chatting to the wonderful Emma Mills.

Emma is a meditation teacher and the creator of emmamillslondon.com. She is the mindfulness expert on the board of advisers at luxury brand, Neom Organics, and has contributed to the Telegraph, Lonely Planet, City AM, the Irish Enquirer, Amnesty International, MIND, Red Magazine and Cosmopolitan.

She has a private practice in central London, as well as in the Midlands. She holds events and meetings across the UK.

We cover: 
- How she got started
- Her unique definition of meditation
- Not planning and going with the flow
- Why being curious is our secret weapon
- How she uses affirmations and mantras
- Her meditation tips for busy mums

www.emmamillslondon.com/about/aboutemmamills/

Episode 13: healthy eating and second chances with Lizzie King

This week I chat to the wonderful Lizzie King, from Lizzie Loves Healthy. Lizzie is an author, nutritional health coach, food writer and mum of 3. If you've ever been confused by the sugar debate, worried about fussy eaters or need some healthy snack inspiration...then this one is for you.

Lizzie was a joy to talk to, not only is she highly knowledgeable she's also practical and down to earth. As a mum of 3, she knows how to manage busy mum life with healthy eating for the whole family.

We chat about: 
- How she started
- Sugar - what to avoid and how
- Easy, healthy snacks to replace the junk
- Fussy eaters and how to introduce new foods
- Her amazing health hacks (cherry and charcoal!) 
- The one thing she'd give to all the mums in the world

Hope you enjoy the episode. If you did, please share it and rate us on i tunes, it really does make a difference.