I want to invite you to think of a moment when you felt completely safe, accepted, heard, and loved. I’d like to give you the opportunity to celebrate YOUR motherhood YOUR way, without judgement. I want to invite you to a feminine celebration of mothers gathering in-circle.
Motherhood is an incredible journey. It’s full of seasons of change, self discovery, awakening, and reconnection. Matrescence, the term defined by the anthropologist Dana Raphael, is the process of becoming a mother. It’s a word used to describe the physical, psychological, and emotional changes women go through during the monumental transformation that is motherhood. Matrescence doesn’t just happen once and we get over it. It’s a continual transformation as we navigate the seasons of motherhood. Having a safe space to share, talk, process, and just BE can offer confidence, balance, celebration, and reverence to our motherhood journey.
Cultures the world over have honored the idea of gathering in-circle. It’s an ancient practice mostly forgotten in today’s rushing and busy society. Women used to gather together to accomplish a chore, to support, and to celebrate. Circles often wound around a shared cup of tea or a nourishing meal. Much of the world also moves in circles. Think of a bird’s nest, or a life cycle, or the eye of a hurricane. Calm or fierce, we move through life in circles. Mother Circles were held to commemorate the seasons in a woman’s life such as a coming of age, pregnancy, birth, closing of seasons, and even death. Circles were also for practical support and community during common chores, such as sewing, quilting, or preparing meals. It was the act of sitting together in-circle that bonded the women together in community.
There is a feminine power that exists and thrives in the gathering of women. It is a friendship and community of love and support. It’s an empowerment. It’s an acceptance of vulnerability and it’s a celebration of strength. A Mama Circle is a safe place to hold space for one another. A woman in-circle has the opportunity to share and process her feelings in her own way. Circles are a nurturing space to gather, share stories, celebrate joys, and navigate challenges. It is a place of support, laughter, and sisterhood.
Every person has a deep desire to be seen and to feel heard. We connect with each other in-circle. We listen with curiosity to others in order to help them feel valued. Together we bring harmony to our motherhood journeys simply by participating together. Not only does it make us feel seen and heard, gathering actually physiologically changes us. When we feel safe our bodies move from a sympathetic nervous system reaction to a parasympathetic nervous system rest. Let me repeat that – we go from a reaction to a rest. It’s our physiological response to allow for connection. We can relax, feel safe, and repair. These moments help our bodies to create happy hormones like oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine. When mothers gather together we help each other to thrive, not just survive. When oxytocin is high, it decreases our stress hormones. Oxytocin is the love hormone. It helps us to destress, relax, reduce anxiety, feel pleasure, allow for healing, and it will boost our immune system and overall health.
Being heard and seen without judgement allows for connection and unity. This is a feminine gift we can give to our fellow mamas. To know we are not alone or that we are experiencing similar challenges of motherhood can make all the difference between thriving and simply surviving. We can connect with our feminine, nurturing side while developing the healthy habits of taking time to rest and connect.
All humans have a core need to feel connected, supported, and safe. Holding space within the circle allows for growth, healing, and connection. When women hold space for one another, shame cannot survive. When oxytocin is allowed to breath through a space, empathy grows. We feel brave. We feel loved. We feel seen. We feel heard. We are connected.
“I define shame as the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging – something we’ve experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connection. I don’t believe shame is helpful or productive.”
~ Brene Brown
Mama Circles allow a space for us to acknowledge the parts of ourselves that we’ve held back because of shame and fear. They allow us to bring to light the parts of ourselves that we’ve suppressed because we felt they kept us apart from one another. We can encourage each other to feel true acceptance for who we are, to be present with our genuine selves. As our walls come down, we can feel safe, brave, and held.
“True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to BE who you are.”
~ Brene Brown
It’s a beautiful transformation, as we sit together in-circle, connected to each other through motherhood. We can allow for acceptance, growth, and self-love. Women are beautifully intuitive creatures. Our journey through motherhood creates cycles of seasons. Circling with other mothers is a way to honor our deep feelings, set aside the noise of the world, to feel accepted, and to learn self-love. Just the act of gathering together in support of one another is an act of listening with our hearts, without even speaking. Mama Circles are safe places to feel whole emotionally, physically, and mentally by creating a beautiful and nurturing experience for those that sit together.
“What does it mean to hold space for someone else? It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control.”
~ Heather Plett
Motherhood is not a journey we must walk alone. When we intentionally create spaces of acceptance and non-judgement, we lift each other up. Do you have a circle of women that allow you to be YOU? Surround yourself with people who really see you, who listen with curiosity. Create space in your life to rest and reset. Manage the messages you play in your heart so that they are reaffirming to you. If you don’t have this kind of space in your life, find it, seek it out, claim it for yourself. I invite you to join me. There’s always room for you in our Mama Circles.
