21. Exploring a Map for Your Matrescence with Jessie Harrold

The Well-Nourished Mother: Helping You Thrive in Pregnancy, Birth & Motherhood

Matrescence—the identity transition into motherhood—is gaining recognition, but even though many now understand what it is, most mothers still lack a roadmap for how to navigate it.
Enter, Jessie Harrold.
Jessie has written a beautiful book based on her many years of work supporting women and mothers through radical transformation, which offers practical tools for navigating the complex and sometimes uncomfortable experience of matrescence. It's quite literally a map for your matrescence.
Jessie Harrold is a coach and doula who has been supporting women through radical life transformations and other rites of passage for over fifteen years. She works one-on-one with women and mothers, facilitates mentorship programs, women’s circles and rituals, and hosts retreats and nature-based experiences. Jessie is the author of Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage (Shambhala 2024) and Project Body Love: my quest to love my body and the surprising truth I found instead. She is also the host of The Becoming Podcast. Jessie lives on the east coast of Canada where she mothers her two children, writes, and stewards the land.
"What if losing yourself in motherhood isn't the problem, but the point?"
In this episode, we explore:

• Defining Matrescence: Jessie shares her perspective on matrescence as a time-limited experience, emphasizing its role as a rite of passage
• The Four Elements of Radical Transformation: We explore each element of Jessie's model, discussing simple tools and practices to navigate the identity shift and complicated feelings that can accompany this metamorphosis into mother
• Embracing Grief: Understanding grief as a natural component of matrescence, Jessie outlines the four essential needs of grief and its significance in the transformation process
• The Seven "Motherpowers": Discover the skills and capacities that can be cultivated through matrescence, and how these powers have the potential to quite literally change the world
• Completing the Rite of Passage: Jessie discusses what it means to conclude the journey into motherhood, highlighting the importance of the "return" phase in any rite of passage

If you're a mother in the depths of your own matrescence, feeling like you've lost yourself, this episode will help you navigate the uncharted waters of your matrescence with confidence and compassion.
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Connect with Jessie:
@jessie.es.harrold
www.jessieharrold.com
BUY HER BOOK! You won't regret it.

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