Episode 78 - How to Nurture Yourself & Rediscover Your Identity During Motherhood with Myriam Banks
Nov 02, 2022
“We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.”- Michelle Obama
Do you have kids? If so, you’ll have experienced the pure love and joy you feel when you meet your baby for the first time and then watch them grow.
But there’s another side to having kids that we often don’t discuss. It’s our sense of self.
As this week’s podcast guest, host of The Untraditional Podcast and mom empowerment expert, Myriam Banks shares, overnight we switch from being independent and empowered women to simply ‘mom’.
We’re expected to sacrifice ourselves entirely as we focus on our children, have them glued to our hips 24/7 and spend every waking moment dedicating ourselves to our needs.
If not, we often feel guilty and emotional, believing that we’re ‘bad parents’ if we try to claim some ‘me time’ or prioritise our own needs. We lose self-confidence, forget who we are as women and push our dreams to one side because..well…we’re parents now…
But here’s the thing. We need to be happy too.
We need to give ourselves space to breathe, to reconnect with our ‘selves’ during motherhood and to embrace everything that makes us individuals so we can thrive not only survive.
If not, we could end up stressed and overwhelmed, unable to be the best parents, partners and humans we want to be and even resentful of the pressures of motherhood.
In this episode of the podcast, I chat with Myriam about her experiences of motherhood, why we need to honour ourselves if we want to find joy in our lives and discover some easy ways we can make this happen.
Listen to this episode to discover:
- Why we often forget our ‘selves’ when we become parents and the profound effect it can have on our happiness
- The truth about why we feel guilty 😢 or believe that we’re ‘bad’ parents if we don’t have our kids glued to us 24/7
- What happens when we don’t allow ourselves that vital time to take a break…
- Empowering female communities and why they play a vital part is self-rediscovery 🤸🏿♀️
- How we can free ourselves from parenting overwhelm and rediscover what brings us joy
And much more! Listen below 👇
Eleshia’s Essentials
- “You were a woman. Now you're pregnant and society says, ‘THIS is who you are.’ The woman that was there before is dead. She doesn't exist anymore.”- Myriam
- “I remember when my mom came in for the birth. She looked around and she was like, ‘What, what, what’s going on? Where is your village? You need help’”- Myriam
- “I looked around and they were all stressed out and tired. There was this badge of honour that your kid is always glued to you and you sacrifice and suffer and are tired and exhausted.”- Myriam
- “As black women, like you said, we are not built like this. We're not built to put ourselves first. That’s not what we've been taught.” - Eleshia
Other resources mentioned
About Myriam:
Myriam is the host of the Untraditional podcast. She's a mom and empowerment expert. She is a home renovator, a traveler, who she says is a seeker. She is always pursuing joy and has gotten over the mom guilt and the “Mama-should” thing. She has reclaimed rest and created space in motherhood to pursue her passions. She supports mothers to bust out of the myths of motherhood that keep them playing small and tired and rewrite new stories – ones of greater ease, joy, and purpose.
Connect with Myriam Banks
About the show:
Need simple strategies to help you grow your business and achieve more without working harder? Struggling to balance work, life, and all your other commitments and don’t want to burn out? You’re in the right place.
The Eleshia Show is a holistic business and lifestyle strategy podcast to help you get clear on your business goals, stop procrastinating, boost your income, and do what lights you up.
Women are taking notice! We have listeners across 51 countries and over 750 cities! We’re teaching female business owners across the world how to achieve more with less while looking after themselves. And we can do the same for you!
We’re having intimate conversations — the kinds that most female business owners are having privately. You don’t want to miss these.
Tune in to the podcast every Wednesday to discover exactly what expert CEOs did to get their businesses off the ground and achieve success so you can do the same!
With your host, Eleshia Harris, business coach and growth strategist, you can redefine what success means, ditch the stress and confusion and learn how to run your business from a place of ease and excitement.
If you want to talk business, wellbeing, lifestyle, mindset, goals, and scaling organic growth, don’t miss it!
Connect with Eleshia and the community today
