Let's be inspired by each other

A Mini Retreat for Mums, a solo coffee date, Substack posts and podcasts I've loved and an invite to introduce yourself

Photo by Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash

It’s Wednesday lunchtime (I actually thought it was Thursday - I sent my son into school in his PE kit, wrong day!!) and I’m sitting on the floor of my kids bedroom - I’m looking at a huge pile of clean clothes that are ready to be put away, and I’ve got my notes around me because I’m planning the content for my Mini Retreat for Mums, which is on this Saturday in Cardiff.

I’m feeling really inspired and am thinking of all of the different coaching questions I want to ask - whittling them down is the hard part as my natural tendency is to over-prepare. But if I learnt anything from the last retreat I ran, it’s that the each mum brings their own energy to the retreat and that it kind of runs itself, from them sharing their experiences.

If you are a mum in Cardiff and you’d love a bit of a break this weekend, then I’d love for you to join me - Mini Retreat is on Sat 18th Nov from 2-5pm at Yurt in the City, in Cardiff.

You’ll enjoy 3 hours packed with meditations, journalling and group coaching at this unique afternoon retreat, designed especially for mums who struggle to find time for themselves. Tickets are £35 - I’ve got 5 spaces left and you can book here - I’d love to see you there!

If you can’t make it, but you have a mum friend who might be interested, I’d be so grateful if you could share this event with her, thank you!

Here’s the venue, Yurt in the City - it’s gorgeous, so calming and apparently circular spaces like this yurt, promote connection between each other and healing.

I was thinking about how I want the mums to feel at my Mini Retreat this weekend - I’d love them to feel welcomed, cocooned, safe, calm and able to feel relaxed enough to share their experiences with each other. At the last retreat I held in September, I was lucky enough to get this lovely feedback from one of the mums:

All 3 of my kids have been ill for the past 5 days or so, so I’ve been lacking sleep plus having them home from school too. It’s felt like a lot, so I am going to enjoy 3 hours at the Mini Retreat just as much as the lovely mums that are coming along too!

I was feeling hugely overwhelmed on Sunday morning so my husband had the kids and I went for a solo coffee - I listened to some music, journalled and listened to this fab podcast from

Beth Kempton

- I felt like a different person after an hour or two away from the kids - it made me realise just how powerful it is taking time out for you.

Two Substack posts I’ve loved recently:

This post from Zoe at

Postpartum Matters CIC

is a must read:

Why is no one holding Jean?

Zoe cleverly interwines the latest series of Sex Education, topics of motherhood and grief, how mums don’t have the space to really talk about their postpartum experiences and how we live in a society:

“…that sees giving birth and bringing new life into this world in the same field as going and doing your weekly shop at Lidl. And who expects us to manage postpartum and move on with as much ease as if we’d just got home from said shop. Sure, it can be hard to get round and the checkouts are a bit stressful but it shouldn’t take you too long to put it all away and move on once you get home.”

I listened to the audio version of this post from

Charlene Storey

on collecting stories is an act of preservation. Charlene is in the process of interviewing her Dad and asking him all about the stories of his life, and has so many great reflections on storytelling, such a good read:

Collecting stories is an act of preservation

I found this post really moving, as it made me wish that I’d had the chance to do that with my Dad, his favourite thing was telling us all about his life stories. He grew up in the middle of nowhere in the Brecon Beacons, his Dad worked for the Forestry Commission, then he moved to Cardiff to study Hospitality when he was 18, lived with his Auntie in Cardiff and then lived all around the UK working as a Hotel Manager before settling in Swansea, where I grew up. Charlene’s inspired me to ask my Mum and my Uncle more about their lives, before me.

What I’ve been listening to lately:

• I’ve been listening to this song on repeat, it’s so calming:

• I listened to this episode of the Phoenix Women podcast from Jane Mary yesterday. Jane and Nia are both connections I made on Instagram a few years ago now, and they both work in the wellness space for women and mums, and I found this chat so inspiring. They both talk about shame, anger and guilt in motherhood, as well as the importance of women’s circles. Just loved it!

• This week I’ve appeared on the Reclaiming Mum podcast with Jemma Andrew-Adiamah, which was my first podcast as a guest! It was strange being asked the questions this time, instead of being the one that usually asks them - but I really loved this conversation all about how you can maintain your connection to yourself as a mum:

• And of course, my latest podcast episode is out too - where I have a wonderful conversation with Jenny Jarvis, who is the Founder of Vibes - a yoga studio and coffee bar here in Cardiff. Jenny talks movingly about how creating Vibes for her was about creating something positive out of a painful experience, and she has some real nuggets of wisdom for any mum who is thinking about starting her own business too:

Building my community here

I’ve been so lucky that since I joined Substack in May, I’ve made some wonderful connections with so many like-minded women, and I’ve been building up my community slowly but surely. This is a huge thing for me, as I’ve spent a number of years just feeling like people don’t really connect with what I do, so knowing that people believe in me enough to subscribe to my Substack and comment is just an amazing feeling.

I’ve realised that I haven’t done a great deal to encourage my community to get to know each other - but this is something I’d love to do more of. I’ve been inspired by a few posts I’ve seen lately which have asked their community to introduce themselves in the comments, so I’d love to do the same so we can all get to know each other.

Why is this important?

Well, I really feel like when you can connect with another mum that just understands how you feel, that really helps you feel less alone. Or maybe you hear another mums story and you feel inspired. Maybe you have similar interests. Maybe you work in similar fields and you want to collaborate. Whatever it is, I’d love for you to introduce yourself.

The way I’d love to develop my community going forward is by offering online circles and workshops, I am hoping I have capacity to do this in the new year. Very much feeling the seasonal pull of shedding all of the things that just don’t feel right anymore, and my plan is to tie up these loose ends over the next month, then I want my focus to be here on Substack - I’m excited to devote more time here and way from Instagram!

I’d love for you to introduce yourself in the comments, if you feel comfortable to.

Where are you based? How old are your kids? What lights you up? What’s your biggest challenge as a mum at the moment? Who inspires you? What’s your Substack about?

I can’t wait to read your responses and to get to know you all a little better!

(I’ll go first in the comments to get us started!)