Motherhood is a complex can of worms that can trigger a full spectrum of emotions on a daily basis. And while mums spend much of their time mothering their babes, sometimes Mama Bear needs a supportive advisor to lean on. In this interview, we speak to Noosa-based holistic motherhood coach and meditation teacher, Bronte Hurley, about the importance of mothering the mother, the value of self-care strategies and her top parenting advice.
Writer: Rebecca Walker, The Conscious Wordsmith
You are a ‘holistic motherhood coach’. What does this mean and why would a mama hire someone like yourself to help her on her motherhood journey?
As a Certified Coach and Meditation Teacher, I support exhausted and overwhelmed mothers shift out of survival mode, reclaim their time and energy, and reconnect with themselves and their family with a full cup. Using a combination of coaching and holistic tools and practices (including meditation), I dive deep with women to uncover their blocks, elevate their wellbeing, and build the belief that they can create, and experience, their dream version of motherhood.
Tell us about the programmes you run.
Real Mother Love is a 12-week group coaching journey for mothers to connect and experience deep healing and embodied guidance within a supportive community. I guide and support women, step-by-step, to reconnect with themselves and create new ways of living, loving and giving – firstly to themselves, then to their family, then to the planet at large. Think meditation, breathwork, birth story sharing, boundary setting, emotion regulation, learning child led play practices, self-care, sleep hygiene, alternative medicine tips and tricks (essential oils, homeopathics etc.) and lots more.
Deep Mother Love is a deeply intimate 12-week private coaching journey for mothers to experience being truly heard, seen, understood and accepted in a sacred relationship with me. Together I co-create a safe space for mothers to unravel their fears, traumas, triggers, experiences and motherhood challenges. It is an opportunity for them to start healing themselves with my support. We go deep into the real, often hard, truths. We embrace it all. I listen while they share their stories and heartache. I create space for mothers to feel EVERYTHING. Furthermore, I create a clear and practical pathways to healing.
What would a mama gain from joining one of your mentorship sessions?
The mentorship session is a private 1-to-1, 60-minute session that helps mothers gain clarity. I offer solution-based results to their questions, frustrations and current motherhood challenges. Whether they’re on a conception journey; deep in the throes of new motherhood; seeking sleep advice; feeling confused about alternative parenting decisions; wondering how on earth to help their toddler feel more emotionally regulated; or how to nourish the whole family with healthy and yummy foods – we cover it all.
You also run a ‘Mama Meditation Course’. Do you have any tips for mamas who are keen to try meditation but don’t know where to start?
Find a teacher that you feel drawn to and resonate with. Ideally, a qualified, experienced, embodied instructor who can answer all your questions. Let yourself be guided. Take a course. Take the pressure off yourself to learn another thing on the fly or from YouTube. Commit to your practice financially so you have an added incentive (sign up for a pre-paid course). Be sure to choose a practical style that compliments your lifestyle as a busy mama. Know that meditation does not equal ‘no thoughts’. That is literally impossible. Thoughts are a part of meditation.
Tell us about your ‘Mama Rescue Guide’.
The Mama Rescue Guide is my free gift to help mama’s shift out of overwhelm, so they can start thriving in motherhood in the most fast and effective way. Within the guide I share a recorded ‘how to’ video with two breathing techniques to help mama’s rebalance their emotions and reconnect to their hearts. I am so passionate about these tools as they had such a profound and positive impact on my experience of motherhood.
Why do you think it’s important for new mothers to find a supportive mentor and tribe?
Connection and belonging is the antidote to loneliness and overwhelm in motherhood. To feel a ‘me too’ instead of a ‘I thought I was the only one’, is so damn healing and necessary on this wild and often challenging journey. To know you’re not alone and that other people, with the same values and beliefs as you exist and are closer than you might think.
You are a mama yourself. How do you balance your work & mama worlds?
Support: my very devoted husband and the beautiful Steiner-based family daycare that I send my son to, are my two main supportive rocks.
Meditation: my non-negotiable commitment is to my twice-daily meditation practice. It gives me energy, clarity and a connection to my creative power…and so much more!
Why do you think supporting mothers is so important?
Mothers are the powerful creators and nurturers of our planet. To support and guide mamas, who are the foundation of the world, is the ultimate gift to humanity. Without connected, balanced, thriving mothers, we cannot raise compassionate, free-spirited, critical-thinking children, who then have the capacity to change the future of this planet for the better from the inside out.
What’s the best motherhood/parenting advice you’ve ever been given?
Find your unique voice. Take time to learn who the new you (mother) is. Shed the old versions of you. Let go of people, relationships, places, pastimes that no longer resonate. Don’t make time for people pleasing. Practice healthy boundaries. This is key.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt as a mama?
That no matter what your dreams, desires, wishes, plans or goals are as a mother-to-be, you will be gifted the exact experience and child (teacher) you need for the deepest healing to occur than you ever imagined was possible – in both positive and challenging ways.
If you could give an exhausted first-time mama one piece of advice, what would it be?
Ask for help. Accept support. Let people give to you. Say yes to the meals, the cleaner, the extra money, the more than two-minute shower while your neighbour you barely know holds your baby. Do everything you can to bring awareness to the innate need to be a ‘warrior trophy mum’, and let that broken patriarchal societal belief go. Feel it. Express it. And be unapologetic in the messy process of you ‘becoming mother’ too.
What is your favourite thing about being a mum?
The physical touch. It’s just so healing. Each time my babe asks me to hold him, pick him up, love him, breastfeed him, connect with him, I feel so needed by him. Mothering him also somehow simultaneously heals the inner child within me. The level of devotion is almost addictive…which I’m not sure is a good thing hehe :)
To find out more about Bronte’s services or to book a session, visit her website at https://www.brontehurley.com/