Merry Mamas – Maternal Wellbeing

Do you:

• Feel life is a bit chaotic?
• Find it hard to balance the many roles and responsibilities you have as a Mother?
• Feel like part of you has gotten lost through becoming a Mother?
• Cverthink about things that bother you or worry you?
• Experience regular mom guilt?
• Feel you are striving to be the perfect mother but never reaching that ideal?
• Wish you had a bit more time to yourself?
• Feel alone or that nobody around you understands how hard Motherhood is?
• Sacrifice your needs quite a bit for your family?
• Find it challenging to manage your emotions sometimes?
• Worry that you’re not a good enough mother?

Would you like to:

• Invest a little more time in looking after your Mental Health?
• Increase your emotional wellbeing?
• Improve your quality of life?
• Learn how it is possible to meet your needs more without sacrificing anybody else’s?
• Be part of a group of supportive, non-judgemental and like-minded mums where we will normalise many aspects of Motherhood that society doesn’t?
• Be part of a group where we will normalise and validate the imperfect side of motherhood, not judge it?
• Learn skills that will help you to manage your emotions and mindset much more effectively, easy skills that you can also pass onto the rest of your family?

I came up with the idea for Merry Mamas initially back when I trained to become a Havening Techniques Practitioner. As I was learning all there was to know about Havening, I was also immersing myself in all things motherhood and fertility as I hope to become a mother soon. During this time in 2021, I had the thought that the Havening Techniques would be a fantastic resource for mums to have, not only because they would be of immense support to themselves but also to their children. In 2022, as I threw myself wholeheartedly in my new trauma healing practice, I was learning so much about trauma and how it affects our mind, body but most importantly our nervous system, I had this strong intuitive sense that I needed to start getting this out to mums as soon as possible.

In September 2022, I set a date, booked the hall near me and started planning out the themes/topics I would discuss and the tools and resources I would share. I was so excited as I knew everything that I had to share would be so valuable to the ladies that would book their place. I started advertising – putting out flyers, sharing on instagram, ad in the free local paper and had the great opportunity of speaking about it on 96fm.

A week to go and I was feeling really excited and really nervous, more than I usually would when I would be about to launch a new element to my business. The ladies I couldn’t wait to meet had all booked their places. Looking back now, I can see that subconsciously I could sense what I was embarking on was huge. Hugely beneficial but also a huge responsibility.

The first Merry Mamas workshop was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life. Every week my heart was singing with happiness and pride, listening to how much the ladies were enjoying it, how they were putting themselves and their needs first a bit more, how they were much more self-aware and able to manage their emotions and feelings so much better which was leading to a largely increased sense of wellbeing and how the benefits and knowledge they were gaining was also benefitting their family too. I was able to balance wisdom and knowledge with practical demonstrations and discussions relevant to each of the ladies’ lived experiences of motherhood so far. It was an honour, pleasure and success beyond all my hopes and dreams!

As the weeks went by, it became ever more apparent to me that in terms of Maternal Wellbeing, mothers in Ireland are nowhere near as supported as they should be. Research suggests that up 80% of new mothers experience “baby blues” in the first few days or weeks after baby arrives. 1 in 5 mothers experience post natal depression which can begin weeks or months after they have had their baby. Unfortunately, there aren’t very many studies done in Ireland yet on maternal mental health and wellbeing and as a result, resources and support is limited too. There are so many ways that mothers can improve their wellbeing however the problem is that this knowledge is not being actively communicated to them.

This is why I am making it my mission to get out and share the helpful knowledge, information, tools and techniques that I have learned, with as many mothers as I can. 

I have learned so much alone from my very first workshop and I am so excited to share it with many more mothers! So if you know someone who would really benefit from time and support like this, I would be ever so grateful if you could share this page with them and spread the word!

• Matrescence Awareness

• Balancing Needs of the Whole Family

• Stress and Anxiety Reduction

• Mind-Body Healing

• Emotional Intelligence

• Conscious Connection

As part of its protocol The Havening Techniques uses the sensory input of human touch as a therapeutic tool which we have identified as Havening Touch®. 

The Havening Techniques® are powerful tools that can be used to treat the consequences of encoded traumatic or stressful memories. Depending on the nature of the encoded trauma it can be done with guidance by a certified Havening Techniques practitioner or by oneself.

Havening has three (3) distinct applications—the first is for emotional disturbances and encoded psychological trauma; the second is for wellness, stress management, and peak performance; and the third is a self-help tool. 

Havening can be described as a type of psychosensory modality based on the fields of neuroscience and neurobiology, which uses sensory input in order to alter thought, mood, and behaviour. It is believed that when an event or experience is perceived as traumatic or stressful, it becomes immutably encoded in the psyche and the body, often with life altering consequences. Havening is designed to make changes in the brain in order to de-traumatize and remove from both the psyche and the body the emotional memory of a traumatic or stressful life event and its negative effects. Therefore, Havening is a healing modality that is designed to help individuals overcome problems that are the consequence of traumatic or stressful encoding. Havening comprises a number of protocols; one of these protocols used as a therapeutic tool includes human touch, and is identified as Havening Touch®.

Discovering The Havening Techniques has been life changing for me on so many levels. I struggled for many years to find my true purpose in life and when I started my journey to becoming a Havening Techniques Practitioner, everything started to fall into place for me personally and professionally. I carried my own unresolved pain for many years and many times looked for support in the wrong places. I did many years of talk therapy and while I found it so helpful, supportive and beneficial, a few months after finishing up with a therapist, I would feel that pain slowly creep back in. I think this is because while talking about pain is an excellent way to identify and acknowledge it, that wasn’t enough for me. I still had lots of pain and hurt suppressed deep in my body that would only come up in very unconscious ways. Havening gave me a very effective way of releasing that pain permanently. Don’t get me wrong, I am still a work in progress but I feel lighter and lighter with each session I do! I can see now that releasing that pain from my body was the missing link in my healing journey. Plus the reward and results I get from working with others using the Havening Techniques is nothing short of phenomenal!!

What Types of Problems Can Havening be Used for?

The consequences of traumatic encoding can be physical and psychological. Havening has been shown to help with:

Phobias

Chronic pain

Birth Trauma

Distressing memories (broken relationships, shocking news, loss, embarrassment, etc.)

Victims of natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, etc.) and man-made (war, fire, assault,home intrusion, etc.)

Anger-Fear of abandonment

Stress/Anxiety reduction

Self Esteem

Cravings

PTSD

Complex PTSD

Panic attacks

Sexual abuse

Performance enhancement

Public speaking

Sports

Emotional eating

Emotional Supression