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Nourishing the Mother

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Rating
★★★★☆
4.3
from
23 reviews
This podcast has
571 episodes
Language
English
Explicit
Yes
Date created
2015/06/29
Latest episode
2026/10/19
Average duration
44 min.
Release period
13 days

Description

Mothering can be an inspired journey to our most glittering, authentic, passionate, creative and connected selves. Through the mirror offered to us by our children, we are taken to every hurt, unmet need, and also every joy and excitement we’ve ever experienced. We want every woman and mother to give themselves and those around them the compassion, love and healing they so readily offer their children, but rarely allow themselves. Journey with us as we discuss the many layers of being a mother today, where we have come from and where we want to go. Learn tools to connect with yourself, offer compassion to those parts we’d rather deny and get back in love with yourself, motherhood and who you are as a feminine woman.

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Check latest episodes from Nourishing the Mother podcast


NTM 570: Beyond Breast Cancer: An Interview with Survivor Ilea on Healing, Identity and Intimacy
2026/10/19
What happens when a breast cancer diagnosis changes not just your body, but the way you see your entire life? In this deeply personal conversation, Julie sits down with Ilea, a mother of two who underwent a double mastectomy following a DCIS diagnosis, to explore the parts of breast cancer recovery we don't talk about enough. From the grief of ending breastfeeding and losing her breasts, to navigating a new relationship with her body, sexuality and intimacy, Ilea shares how her experience became an unexpected invitation to examine the way she was living. Together they explore healing beyond the physical, the mother wound, learning to listen to your body's wisdom, and what it means to stop rushing through life and start being present for it.  A conversation about loss, gratitude, motherhood and discovering that sometimes the most profound healing happens in the relationship we have with ourselves. In this episode, Julie and Ilea discuss: - Ilea's unexpected breast cancer diagnosis at 45 and the decisions that led to a double mastectomy. - The emotional and financial realities of navigating breast cancer treatment. - The grief of ending breastfeeding before she was ready, and losing a part of her maternal identity. - Moving beyond the "f*ck cancer" narrative and finding her own meaning in the experience. - The intersection of medical treatment, emotional healing and the mother wound. - Learning to trust her body's wisdom when making life-changing decisions. - Grieving her breasts, accepting her reconstructed body and finding beauty in what has changed. - The rarely discussed impact of mastectomy on sexual pleasure, arousal, sensation and intimacy. - Rediscovering pleasure and exploring new ways of experiencing her body. - How cancer exposed the cost of constant doing, rushing and living by the to-do list. - The shift from managing motherhood to actually being present within it. - Journalling, meditation and nervous system regulation as practices for reconnecting with herself. - Why self-connection isn't another thing on the to-do list, but the foundation for how we show up in our lives. - Finding gratitude alongside grief, and allowing both to exist. Connect with Ilea: https://www.instagram.com/ileasanders/?hl=en [email protected] Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 569: Already enough: the practice of building self worth
2026/10/12
What if self-worth isn’t something you need to build, but something you need to stop bargaining away? In this episode, Bridget and Julie explore the invisible conditions many of us place around our worth: “I matter when I’m productive, when my children are doing well, when people approve of me, when I’m needed, when I’m attractive, when I’m getting it right...” They unpack how these “worthiness contracts” are often formed early in life, then quietly follow us into motherhood, relationships, work and the way we respond when life doesn’t go to plan. Through personal stories and real-life examples, they explore what it means to stop intellectually knowing you’re worthy and begin practising a life that says: *I matter, even here.* In this episode, we discuss: - The difference between *knowing you’re worthy* and actually living as though you matter. - The hidden “worthiness contracts” we create, such as I’m worthy when I’m productive, needed, attractive, approved of or getting it right. - How childhood experiences shape the conditions we place around love, belonging and acceptance. - Julie’s realisation that she had learned to *cancel her own needs* in order to maintain connection, and how that pattern followed her into motherhood. - Why motherhood can amplify self-sacrifice and make abandoning yourself look like being a “good mother”. - How our children’s behaviour can become unconsciously tangled with our own sense of worth and competence. - Why we self-police when we imagine other people judging our parenting, relationships or choices. - What happens when a condition you’ve built your worth around disappears, such as productivity, approval, connection or being needed. - The idea that reality itself may be neutral, while our history and internal patterns shape the meaning we give it. - Why changing a worthiness pattern isn’t a mindset shift you make once, but a practice you return to again and again. - How life transitions, including perimenopause, can expose old identities and worthiness contracts that no longer fit. - The invitation to notice: *What has to be true for you to feel worthy? And who are you when it isn’t?* Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 568: Parenting an Autistic Daughter: What 13 Years Have Taught Me
2026/09/21
What happens when the parenting advice you were given simply doesn’t work for the child in front of you? As Julie’s daughter turns 13, she and Bridget look back on thirteen years of learning, unlearning, advocating, getting it wrong and slowly coming to understand what this particular autistic child needed. Through lived experience, they unpack the things that changed everything: recognising masking, understanding the difference between what a child can do and what they can actually sustain, looking beneath behaviour, questioning traditional ideas of independence, and realising that a child appearing to cope doesn’t always mean they are coping. It’s a conversation about autism, yes, but also about motherhood, nervous systems, repair, advocacy, capacity and the humility of allowing the child in front of you to change the way you thought you were supposed to parent. In this episode, Bridget and Julie discuss: - What thirteen years of parenting an autistic daughter has taught Julie that she couldn't have known at the beginning - Why autistic girls can be missed, misunderstood or appear to be coping when there is much more happening underneath - Getting curious about behaviour rather than immediately trying to correct it - The difference between “she can do it” and “she can sustain it” - Why the hours after school, socialising or a demanding experience can tell you more than what you witnessed during it Masking, meltdowns and why home can be where a child finally stops holding everything together - Rethinking independence and recognising that the right support can actually create greater autonomy - The difference between building useful skills and teaching a child to make themselves more convenient for the world - Learning to advocate for your child while helping them develop the language to advocate for themselves - The grief and repair involved in looking back at what you did before you understood what you understand now - Why both nervous systems matter when you're parenting a child with significant needs - Questioning expert advice when it doesn't match the child living in front of you - Why learning about autism matters, but learning your particular child matters even more Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 567: 10 ways we parent like its still the 90s - Part 2
2026/09/14
Tune in for part 2 where we explore the parts of parenting where we’re still firmly living in the 90s. In this two-part episode, we’re talking about the things we’ve deliberately held onto from the childhood we grew up in: boredom, chores without payment, hearing “no” without a 45-minute negotiation, talking to actual adults, losing without receiving a trophy, and being expected to figure some things out for yourself. This isn’t about glorifying the “we survived, so they’ll survive” style of parenting or ignoring what we now understand about children, nervous systems and individual needs. It’s about asking whether, in our beautiful attempt to be more responsive and conscious parents, we sometimes step in too much. Because resilience isn’t created by removing every hard thing. Sometimes it’s built when we lovingly hand over responsibility, tolerate our child’s discomfort and give them the glorious experience of discovering: *I can do hard things.* In this episode, we discuss: * Why boredom is not a parenting emergency, and what children discover when we stop filling every empty space for them. * Why being part of a family means contributing to the family, without needing money, rewards or applause every time. * The difference between supporting our kids and rescuing them from every uncomfortable consequence. * Why we’re intentionally technology-light, and why sometimes kids can simply look out the bloody window. * Why conscious parenting doesn’t mean negotiating every boundary, and why *“because I said so”* occasionally still has a place. * The importance of expecting our kids to interact with adults, speak for themselves and gradually learn how to navigate the world without us doing it for them. * Why not everything needs a trophy, and why losing, disappointment and not being the best at something are important experiences. * The conscious *handover*: knowing when we’ve taught and scaffolded enough, and it’s time to step aside and let our children figure it out. * Why resilience, grit and confidence are built through actually experiencing hard things, not having every hard thing removed. * Why we don’t need to organise, mediate or manage every part of our children’s social lives. * The value of age-appropriate freedom, risk, independence and letting children experience themselves as capable. * What we absolutely *don’t* want to bring back from 90s parenting, and how we can keep the good without recreating the emotional disconnection. * The bigger question underneath it all: *are we raising children who feel supported by us, while also knowing they can function without us?* Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 566: 10 ways we parent like its still the 90s - Part 1
2026/09/08
We might be conscious parents, but there are some parts of parenting where we’re still firmly living in the 90s. In this two-part episode, we’re talking about the things we’ve deliberately held onto from the childhood we grew up in: boredom, chores without payment, hearing “no” without a 45-minute negotiation, talking to actual adults, losing without receiving a trophy, and being expected to figure some things out for yourself. This isn’t about glorifying the “we survived, so they’ll survive” style of parenting or ignoring what we now understand about children, nervous systems and individual needs. It’s about asking whether, in our beautiful attempt to be more responsive and conscious parents, we sometimes step in too much. Because resilience isn’t created by removing every hard thing. Sometimes it’s built when we lovingly hand over responsibility, tolerate our child’s discomfort and give them the glorious experience of discovering: *I can do hard things.* In this episode, we discuss: * Why boredom is not a parenting emergency, and what children discover when we stop filling every empty space for them. * Why being part of a family means contributing to the family, without needing money, rewards or applause every time. * The difference between supporting our kids and rescuing them from every uncomfortable consequence. * Why we’re intentionally technology-light, and why sometimes kids can simply look out the bloody window. * Why conscious parenting doesn’t mean negotiating every boundary, and why *“because I said so”* occasionally still has a place. * The importance of expecting our kids to interact with adults, speak for themselves and gradually learn how to navigate the world without us doing it for them. * Why not everything needs a trophy, and why losing, disappointment and not being the best at something are important experiences. * The conscious *handover*: knowing when we’ve taught and scaffolded enough, and it’s time to step aside and let our children figure it out. * Why resilience, grit and confidence are built through actually experiencing hard things, not having every hard thing removed. * Why we don’t need to organise, mediate or manage every part of our children’s social lives. * The value of age-appropriate freedom, risk, independence and letting children experience themselves as capable. * What we absolutely *don’t* want to bring back from 90s parenting, and how we can keep the good without recreating the emotional disconnection. * The bigger question underneath it all: *are we raising children who feel supported by us, while also knowing they can function without us?* Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 565: How to stop pushing through and start living with Fleur Marks
2026/08/10
So many women have built a life that looks successful on the outside, yet quietly feel exhausted, disconnected and like they're carrying everyone else while leaving themselves behind. In this deeply honest conversation, Julie sits down with Fleur Marks, author of The Overachiever's Reset, to explore the hidden cost of overfunctioning after Fleur's journey through sarcoidosis and two experiences of breast cancer completely transformed how she defines success. Together they unpack perfectionism, people pleasing, proving, performing and pushing through, why these patterns are often inherited, and how radical acceptance can become the doorway to a life that feels deeply fulfilling rather than endlessly productive. This episode is an invitation to stop abandoning yourself in the name of achievement and begin creating a life that honours your body, your relationships and what truly matters. In this episode, we discussed: - Why overfunctioning can look successful while quietly costing you your health, relationships and sense of self. - Fleur's journey through sarcoidosis and two experiences of breast cancer, and how illness completely reshaped her definition of success. - The identity crisis that often comes when your body can no longer sustain the pace you've always expected of it. - Why keeping it all together isn't always strength, and the hidden price of always being the one who carries everything. - The difference between achievement that comes from fear and achievement that comes from alignment. - Radical acceptance and asking, "How do I want to show up for this one precious life?" - Why true fulfilment is different from constantly chasing the next achievement. - Learning to work with your body and your energy instead of constantly overriding both. - The surprising truth that being self-full allows you to be more generous, present and loving with those around you. - Why self-care isn't just bubble baths or massages, but also making choices that support your long-term wellbeing. - Fleur's definition of self-care as creating space to simply be, without guilt or needing to earn it. - How developing a relationship with your inner self changes the way you live, parent and partner. - The five pillars of overachieving: Perfectionism People pleasing Proving your worth Performing Pushing through - Why these patterns are often inherited rather than consciously chosen. - Learning to ask, "What's driving me to achieve at the cost of myself?" - Why self-care is often uncomfortable because it asks us to disappoint old patterns before it brings peace. - How striving for balance can become another impossible standard, and why working with the season you're in is far more sustainable. - Practical shifts that help reconnect you to yourself, including slowing your mornings, honouring your energy and taking moments to simply pause. - Why kindness toward yourself is not giving up. It's often the beginning of finally living. FREE emergency reset and 30 day reset journal available at  - https://fleurmarks.com.au/pages/resources - Buy her book - The Overachiever's Reset: A Better Way to Succeed, Without Losing Yourself https://www.amazon.com.au/Overachievers-Reset-Succeed-Without-Yourself/dp/1394394918/ref=sr_1_1?crid=G5J4MAY7L2LB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.dFnQsG0u6Q1wzNVNtXIdsw.CBN2KnN6TsMhnFglS5j1cOl5WAJQpJUDk-jd6l4EZFU&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+overachievers+reset+fleur+marks&qid=1764822326&sprefix=the+overachievers+reset+fleur+marks%2Caps%2C253&sr=8-1 https://www.instagram.com/fleurjmarks/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fleurmarks/ https://www.facebook.com/fleurjmarks/ email - [email protected] Fleur’s Bio Fleur Marks is a globally recognised leadership trainer, keynote speaker and strategist who transforms leaders to show up as high-impact performers — sustainably, and without losing themselves in the process. After 20 years as an agency leader, a life-threatening health crisis — rare autoimmune disease, breast cancer, twenty-three rounds of chemotherapy — forced her to rebuild everything she thought she knew about success. She has since guided over 10,000 leaders, delivering high-impact programs including female leadership initiatives for clients including Qantas, NAB, Atlassian, Scentre Group and L’Oréal. The Overachiever’s Reset is her debut book. Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 564: Help! I Feel Trapped by My Life and Responsibilities: Part 3
2026/08/03
Feeling trapped by your life isn't always about changing your circumstances. Sometimes it's about changing the way you meet them. In this final episode of our three-part series, Bridget and Julie explore what happens after you've identified the stories keeping you stuck. They unpack how to reclaim the parts of yourself that feel lost beneath the weight of responsibility, why pleasure and self-care often trigger resistance instead of ease, and how to create more romance, aliveness and fulfilment without waiting for someone else to bring it to you. If you've been longing to feel more like yourself again, this conversation offers practical, compassionate ways to reconnect with what you thought motherhood, partnership or adulthood had taken away. In this episode, we discuss: - Why feeling trapped is often less about your circumstances and more about your relationship with them. - How to reclaim parts of yourself that feel buried beneath responsibility. - Finding magic, pleasure and meaning within ordinary, everyday life. - Why self-care can feel surprisingly difficult, even when you know you need it. - The hidden beliefs, programming and rules that stop you receiving rest, joy and pleasure. - Why the things that are good for your long-term wellbeing don't always feel like an immediate "yes." - How to soften rigid thinking and create more flexibility in your life. - Practical ways to pair difficult responsibilities with comfort and enjoyment. - Creating romance by embodying the energy you want to experience, rather than waiting for someone else to create it. - How pressure and disappointment quietly erode intimacy in relationships. - Using imagination, books and story to reconnect with desire and possibility. - The difference between outsourcing your happiness and becoming the creator of it. - What genuine romance looks like beyond grand gestures. - The importance of reciprocity, thoughtfulness and showing up for your partner in meaningful ways. - Questions to help you notice where your life already contains more love, pleasure and possibility than you've been giving it credit for. - How to become the source of more of what you're longing for, instead of waiting for life to deliver it. Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 563: Help! I Feel Trapped by My Life and Responsibilities: Part 2
2026/07/27
Last episode, we started unpacking what’s actually underneath the feeling of being trapped by your life. This time, we take the next step: working out whether the thing making you miserable is an unavoidable fact of your life...or a “should” you’ve become so attached to that you can no longer see another way. Because while you might not be able to change the school run, your workload, your children, your partner or the responsibilities sitting on your shoulders, but you may have far more choice in how you experience them than you realise. We explore radical acceptance, the exhausting and often painful pursuit of trying to change other people, and what becomes possible when you stop fighting with the reality of what is. This episode will help you question the expectations keeping you stuck, find where you still have choice and flexibility, and begin experimenting with different ways of living the life you actually have, rather than continually suffering because it isn’t the life you think it should be. In this episode we discuss: * How to work out whether the thing making you miserable is a fact or a “should” * Why your expectations of how life, motherhood or your relationship should be may be making you suffer * What happens when you keep waiting for your partner, children or circumstances to change before you can be happy * Why trying to control and change the people you love is exhausting for everyone involved * The difference between accepting your reality and resigning yourself to a life you hate * How to find more choice when you feel like you have absolutely none * Why you might be stuck choosing the same “flavour” of life without realising there are other options * What to do when you can’t change the responsibility, but desperately need to change how it feels * How to pair the unavoidable parts of your life with pleasure, play and things that make you feel more alive * Why radical acceptance might be the thing that finally frees you from fighting with your life * How to stop waiting for your life to change and start experimenting with how you experience it * The second step in our three-part pathway towards feeling less trapped and finding more freedom, choice and fulfilment Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 562: Help! I Feel Trapped by My Life and Responsibilities - Part One
2026/07/13
What happens when you love your children, your partner and the life you’ve created...and still sometimes feel completely trapped by it? In Part 1 of this three-part answer pathway, we respond to a listener who is buckling under the weight of motherhood, work, relationships and the relentless responsibility of being needed. Rather than giving you another list of things to do to “find yourself again”, we start somewhere deeper: understanding what is actually creating your suffering. We explore how comparing the life you have to the life you used to have, or the life you wish you could have, can leave you feeling increasingly resentful, burdened and stuck. We show you how to get specific about what you believe you’ve lost, what you’ve gained that you never wanted, and the evidence you may be unconsciously collecting to prove that your life is the problem. This is the first step in moving from “I feel trapped by my life” towards understanding what you’re actually longing for, what needs to change, and where more freedom, fulfilment and choice might already be waiting for you. In this episode we discuss: * Why you can love your family and still feel trapped by your life * What you’re actually longing for when you fantasise about escaping it all * Why motherhood can leave you grieving the woman and freedom you used to have * How to work out exactly what is making you feel so resentful, burdened and stuck * Why comparing your life now to the life you used to have is making you suffer * The stories you keep telling yourself that might be making your life feel even harder * Why you keep finding more evidence that you’re trapped, unhappy or have lost yourself * How to stop making your current life the problem without pretending you love everything about it * What to do when you know something needs to change, but you have no idea what * The first step towards feeling more freedom, choice and fulfilment in the life you already have Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 561: The Hysterectomy Questions Everyone Wants to Ask (But Doesn't)
2026/06/19
In this deeply personal solo episode, Julie responds to listener questions about her hysterectomy experience four years after surgery.  From the realities of recovery and unexpected complications to the impact on sex, orgasm, identity, and womanhood, she shares the parts few people talk about openly. This is a candid conversation about what she gained, what she lost, what surprised her most, and why she would still make the same decision again.  Fair warning: there is plenty of TMI in this episode - including discussions about vaginas, orgasms, catheters, numbness, butt pain, and all the messy, human realities of healing. In this episode, Julie discusses: - Why she ultimately chose hysterectomy after 17 years of prolapse and adenomyosis - The years-long decision-making process leading up to surgery - The unexpected emotional impact of community criticism and losing friendships - What happened when her urethra stopped functioning after surgery - Why self-catheterisation became a surprisingly empowering experience - The reality of recovery versus the commonly promoted six-week timeline - Significant fatigue and healing challenges during the first six months - The surgical complexity of removing a severely enlarged uterus - What nobody told her about post-surgical butt pain - Developing vaginismus for the first time after surgery - Nerve healing, numbness, and changing sensation inside the vagina - The loss of cervical orgasm and how that affected her sexuality - Whether orgasmic capacity can be rebuilt after hysterectomy - The surprising sexual benefits she experienced post-surgery - Using tantra, somatic practice, toys, vibrators and blindfolds to support recovery - Rewiring pleasure pathways and treating sexual healing as neurorehabilitation - Navigating identity without a uterus while still feeling deeply connected to womanhood - Continuing womb-space practices despite no longer having a womb - The overlap between hysterectomy recovery and perimenopause - What she wishes she'd known before surgery - The advice she would give any woman considering a hysterectomy today - Why, despite the trade-offs, she has never regretted her decision Other episodes on Julie's hysterectomy journey: 351 https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ntm-351-lets-lift-the-veil-on-the-shame-of-post-partum-healing/id1013746031?i=1000554021072 356 https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ntm-356-post-birth-pelvic-pain-shame-and-dysfunction/id1013746031?i=1000557953386 357 https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ntm-357-post-birth-pelvic-pain-shame-and-dysfunction/id1013746031?i=1000558686443 378 https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ntm-378-when-you-dance-with-becoming-what-youve-always/id1013746031?i=1000579970437 385 https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/nourishing-the-mother/id1013746031?i=1000585379354 NTM 443: Healing from pelvic surgery - what’s it like, one year on? https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ntm-443-healing-from-pelvic-surgery-whats-it-like-one-year-on/id1013746031?i=1000638978979 Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 560: Perimenopause, Pressure & The Rage Button
2026/06/08
If you've ever found yourself snapping at your partner, yelling at your children, or wondering why your anger feels bigger, faster and harder to contain than it used to, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we unpack the silence-explode cycle so many women find themselves trapped in, particularly during the motherhood and perimenopause years. We explore why anger isn't the problem, what it's trying to tell you, how depletion, over-functioning, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes shorten your fuse, and why the real work isn't suppressing your anger or unleashing it on everyone around you - it's learning to listen to the deeper truth underneath it. In this episode we discuss: - Why anger isn't the problem - and why we need to stop making it the villain - The silence-explode cycle and how pressure builds long before the outburst - Why motherhood, perimenopause, ADHD, burnout and depletion can shorten your fuse - Anger as a messenger rather than something to suppress or fear - The shame spiral that often follows explosive reactions - The difference between expressing a feeling and reacting from it - Emotional truth versus conscious, integrity-led behaviour - How threat responses hijack our ability to choose how we show up - The softer truths often hiding beneath anger - hurt, loneliness, disappointment and unmet needs - Why anger acts as armour protecting something more vulnerable - Learning to stay in your body instead of abandoning yourself when anger arises - The importance of safety, pauses and nervous system regulation before communication - Creating more space between trigger and reaction - Self-compassion, accountability and personal responsibility - The identity shifts many women experience through motherhood and perimenopause - Letting go of the "good girl" who keeps everything together until she can't - Why sleep, nourishment, hydration and rest matter more than we think - Building a healthier relationship with anger that supports connection rather than destruction - Asking: What is anger trying to tell me? - How self-awareness becomes the pathway from rage to revealing. Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 559: Helping… Or Just Adulting? The Mental Load & Why So Many Couples Feel Resentful
2026/05/30
What happens when one partner feels like they are carrying the invisible weight of parenting, household management, life admin, remembering, planning, and emotional labour… while the other insists they’re helping? In this episode, Julie and Bridget unpack one of the most common resentment loops they see in relationships: the gap between effort and ownership. They explore why “helping” can still leave a primary parent feeling deeply alone, how over-functioning and under-functioning quietly reinforce each other, and why this conversation is so often less about chores… and more about responsibility. Together, they dive into the mental load, the defensiveness trap, gendered conditioning, breadwinning, and the exhausting dynamic of one person becoming the household manager while the other becomes the assistant. This is not about blame or shame - it’s about redefining partnership, shared ownership, and what it actually means to fully participate in the adult life you created together. If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in the “But I already do so much” versus “I still feel alone in this” cycle… this episode is for you. In this episode we discuss: - Why the mental load conversation so often becomes one of the most emotionally charged dynamics in modern relationships - The difference between “helping” and genuine ownership - and why that distinction matters more than most couples realise - How “I’m helping” can still leave one partner feeling like the default manager of the household, children, and life admin - Why this issue is often less about effort… and more about responsibility - The invisible labour of parenting: appointments, school calendars, sports runs, permission slips, meal planning, remembering, anticipating, emotional regulation - How “Just tell me what to do” can still leave the primary parent carrying the full cognitive burden - Why one partner often feels deeply alone… while the other feels like nothing they do is ever enough - The defensiveness cycle: “But I already do so much” vs “I still feel like I carry this alone” - How over-functioning in one partner can unintentionally create under-functioning in the other - The impact of gender roles, family-of-origin modelling, and socialisation on how couples divide responsibility - Why “help” language can accidentally reinforce inequality rather than partnership - The shift from assistance… to shared ownership - Why being a primary breadwinner matters - but doesn’t automatically exempt someone from adult responsibility at home - How to stop “borrowing the brain” of the overloaded partner and start taking proactive responsibility - Why couples often need skill-building, handover conversations, and grace while renegotiating long-held patterns - The importance of moving from scorekeeping and blame… into conscious, regularly renegotiated partnership - Why becoming better housemates can often be the first step toward becoming better lovers - The real goal: creating a family system where neither partner feels like they are carrying adulthood alone Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 558: Perimenopause Unpacked: Hormones, Burnout & Your Next Evolution with Naturopath Charmaine Newmark
2026/05/13
Perimenopause can feel like your body, mind and identity are shifting beneath your feet - but what if this season is not simply hormonal chaos to survive, but a profound invitation into your next evolution? In this powerful conversation, naturopath and counsellor Charmaine Newmark joins us to explore perimenopause as the transition from mother to matriarch - a deeply biological, emotional and spiritual rite of passage that so many women are navigating without enough support. Together, we unpack the symptoms, stress, body changes, identity shifts and nervous system depletion that can shape this chapter, while offering grounded, practical ways to support your hormones, energy, sleep and sense of self. In this episode we discuss: - What perimenopause actually is - and why it can begin years before menopause - Common symptoms including brain fog, fatigue, sleep disruption, libido changes and weight shifts - Why stress, burnout and nervous system depletion can intensify hormonal symptoms - The transition from reproductive woman to matriarch, and the identity shifts that can come with it - Reframing symptoms from “something is wrong” to understanding what your body is asking for - The role of protein, fibre, muscle-building and blood sugar support in hormonal wellbeing - Why sleep becomes essential: and practical ways to improve it - Rest as a personalised practice rather than a one-size-fits-all approach - Ownership of time, energy and capacity in this life stage - How to recognise your limits and support yourself with greater compassion and wisdom - The importance of self-care that genuinely restores rather than simply adds pressure - Perimenopause as a powerful opportunity for recalibration, deeper self-trust and redefining how you want to live next Free guide when you're feeling too tired and overwhelmed to start >>> Nourished You Free Guide — Charmaine Newmark - The Nourished Naturopath Facebook >>> https://www.facebook.com/charmainenewmarkthenourishednaturopath Insta >>> https://www.instagram.com/charmaine.newmark.nourished Website >>> Charmaine Newmark - The Nourished Naturopath Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 557: Attraction Isn’t Betrayal
2026/04/27
Attraction doesn’t switch off when you’re in a committed relationship — but what it means, and what you do with it, is where everything changes.  This episode reframes attraction from something dangerous or disloyal into something deeply human, and explores how to hold that energy with integrity, self-awareness, and choice, rather than repression or collapse. In this episode we discuss: - why attraction to others doesn’t disappear in monogamy… and what it actually signals - how we’ve been conditioned to equate attraction with betrayal, especially as women - the difference between feeling attraction and acting on it - how repression creates more charge, secrecy, and disconnection in relationships - using attraction as feedback; about your energy, your aliveness, your unmet parts - the concept of sexual sovereignty: holding your desire without outsourcing it or acting impulsively - how to stay in integrity with your relationship while still being a fully expressed, turned-on human - the importance of self-discipline: not from suppression, but from deep self-respect - how conscious conversations and agreements create safety around these edges Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life
NTM 556: When You Know You’ve Cracked the Generational Pattern
2026/04/20
There’s a quiet, almost surreal moment when you realise… it didn’t pass through you. The reaction that used to be automatic doesn’t land the same. The pattern that shaped your family line stops with you.  This episode explores what it actually feels like to break generational patterns - not as a loud, triumphant moment, but as a series of subtle, powerful choices that change the trajectory of everything that comes after you. In this episode we discuss: - the moment you notice you didn’t react the way you were wired to… and how significant that actually is - how breaking the pattern often feels quiet, almost underwhelming…but deeply profound - recognising the inherited dynamics you’ve been living inside of, without even realising - the tension of holding both where you came from and who you’re becoming - why growth isn’t about rejecting your lineage, but integrating and choosing differently - the grief and pride that can coexist when you see the pattern clearly - how your children reflect back the shifts you’ve made; in how they move, choose, and relate - the responsibility and power in knowing… this doesn’t continue through me Want support on this journey? Come join us inside Honey Club - where we melt these blocks together, one breath, one practice, one deep remembering at a time. Find out more at julietenner.love or visit: https://julie-tenner.newzenler.com/courses/honeyclub Reach out to Bridget for 1:1 coaching - bridgetwood.life

Podcast reviews

Read Nourishing the Mother podcast reviews


4.3 out of 5
23 reviews
★★★★★
mara_new york 2021/02/07
Really appreciate the real talk!
Real talk from women who feel like your friends exploring all the issues that come up in motherhood - with a nice focus on the journey and centering y...
★★☆☆☆
mlop0610 2020/04/16
The “mmmming” is obnoxious
I’m not sure which host it is, but one of them continually makes a humming/moaning “mmmmm” noise every two sentences when the other person is speaking...
★★★★☆
Vipiski 2019/11/27
Great resource
Overall incredibly insightful. There are some audio issues and a lot of “mmmmms” between them. And the episodes are long. But I still recommend it.
★★★★☆
Elle Fonzarelli 2019/09/01
Great topics
These women have so much insight. However, one of the hosts constantly goes “mmmmmm” loudly into the mic while the other is talking and I personally ...
★★★★★
Kiki_niki 2019/03/08
Brilliant!
Bridget and Julie are funny, down to earth and so knowledgeable. I learn more from them than I do from reading a book. With their generous sharing of ...
★★★★★
caitgreen 2018/06/30
This is what we all need to hear
Thank you ladies for speaking to these subjects! I am sharing with everyone I know!
★★★★★
jzuik 2017/04/13
Amazing!!!
I can't get enough! If you are looking for something to nourish your soul as a mother and as a woman you MUST listen to these two brilliant ladies!
★★★★★
AutumnV1979 2016/02/23
Brilliant women connecting…deep, soulful, and funny!
I love listening to these women! They remind me of conversations with my own best friend and I feel inspired and joyful after each episode. I especial...
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