Creative Ways to Mother Yourself
This Mother’s Day, we invite you to think of the word mother as a verb (“to mother”), versus a noun. Why? Mothering transcends the female–you’re mothered by anyone (or thing) who offers you acceptance, nourishment, instruction, and empowerment.
By detaching motherhood from any particular person, you’ll begin to notice where you could personally use more mothering. Be curious when you’re feeling unlovable, empty, anxious, helpless, scared, or incapable. Clear answers hint at your need to patch yourself together a new kind of mother that nurtures your unmet needs. To help you understand which areas you may be neglecting, try our Balanced Wellness Questionnaire, a self-assessment tool designed to help you step back and survey, at a high-level, how your health is balanced across your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs.
Mothering Can Come from Nourishing Experiences
After a week in our award-winning program, many of our guests learn nature is the mother and that hiking is the mothering they need at this time; exploring trails enriches their being in a way they’ve never before felt. The trees wake up their mind. The rivers refresh their soul.
Kirkland Shave, Mountain Trek’s Program Director, says, “When we’re on the treadmill of life, we lose track of the wounded child in each of us, and we need to take a break to not only acknowledge our unmet needs, but to reflect on how we can self-care.” He continues, “The need to be mothered doesn’t disappear with age, and the real work is done when we learn how to parent ourselves.”
Top two ways to mother yourself in adulthood
- Play and wonder. Open your senses through new tastes and activities. Experience what it’s like to try something for the first time again. Take a ballroom dancing class, or try that funky-colored fruit you always bypass.
- Free your emotions. Deeply connect with yourself by letting go of the notion that adults should always be strong and unaffected. The Stiff Upper Lip syndrome only leads to disconnection, and disconnection only leads to feeling lost and neglected. Laugh, cry, go in for energy-releasing bodywork treatments: do whatever you need to do to tap into your raw feelings.
As the grandfather of many toddlers, Kirkland feels mothered when he’s playing with his grandchildren. Making forts out of pillows and towers out of blocks, he’s able to nurture his creativity and connect with his desire to live boundlessly.
Other ways to mother yourself this Mother’s Day
- Create a comforting bedtime routine
- Take a break from social media (because the unfair comparisons are driving your anxiety)
- Get fresh air
- Eat nourishing foods
- Meditate
- Say nice, encouraging things to yourself in the mirror
- Do puzzles, and other mind-challenging activities
- Keep cozy comforts easily accessible, like a basket of fuzzy socks by the door for when you take your shoes off upon returning home
- Journal, in a free-flowing stream-of-consciousness style
- Listen to uplifting music
- Make yourself a nice drink (like our Lemon Ginger Tea) and sip it slowly
- Plan a special one-on-one date with yourself
- Build a cozy fort to relax in, equipped with a book, movie, snacks, you name it
You mother, we mother, he mothers, she mothers, they mother. The ocean mothers, and the mountains mother. Pets mother, and travel mothers. Look beyond the female who raised you to acknowledge all the different ways you are mothered and can be mothered. Open yourself up to new perspectives and opportunities, and embrace the ability to meet your needs in a myriad of ways. Seek comfort in the potential. You are not alone. You are not stuck.
To realize a new kind of mothering, consider a week or two-week-long stay with Mountain Trek. The Mountain Trek program provides a space for you to not only feel deeply mothered but to seek out the mothering you may be lacking. We provide a safe and healthful environment, teach the important rules and roles of life through our lectures on stress, detox, sleep, nutrition, and fitness, and we meet your emotional needs with our empathy. Our program will uncover a new ability within you to grow, heal, and show up for your life as fully as you can.
What is Mountain Trek?
Mountain Trek is an award-winning health retreat located in the lush forests of British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1991, our health reset program helps 16 guests at a time unplug, recharge, reconnect with nature, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:
