Soft Wellness for Strong Mothers.

How slowing down, tuning in, and embracing matrescence can help ease the transition into motherhood—with more confidence, clarity, and calm.

They told you to bounce back. To soak up every moment. To be grateful, glowing, and effortlessly maternal. But the truth is that matrescence is a metamorphosis, not a makeover. It’s raw. It’s real. And it’s often lonely. Soft wellness doesn’t sugarcoat the experience—it gives you tools to navigate it with honesty and self-respect.

This isn’t about perfect routines or picture-perfect calm. It’s about tuning in, slowing down, and learning to trust the quiet power rising inside you.

Navigating the Hidden Struggles of Early Motherhood

These experiences are not just fleeting symptoms of early motherhood. They’re part of the deeper psychological, physical, and emotional transition we go through as women. Recognising them, and learning how to respond with compassion, is key to building more confidence and joy in the journey.

The Common Challenges:

As new mothers we can often feel alone as we navigate some of the surprising challenges we encounter but the reality is that these are very common, and I believe, if we are more aware of what is happening to us across mind, body and soul, it is the starting point to finding tools to help us navigate these challenges better.

Sleep Deprivation. New mothers lose an average of three hours of sleep per night in the first year after birth—that’s over 40 full nights of missed rest (The Bump, 2020). But rest is not only about sleep. Short periods of intentional relaxation—even sitting with a warm drink, closing your eyes, or breathing deeply for five minutes—can help regulate the nervous system and restore emotional balance.

Identity Shift. Matrescence brings a complete recalibration of self. Research shows that this identity transformation can impact everything from your relationships to your career aspirations and sense of purpose (APA, 2017). Giving yourself space to explore these changes, without judgement, is a critical part of growth.

Societal Pressures. The pressure to meet a standardised version of motherhood (perfect meals, spotless homes, sleeping-through-the-night babies) is real and deeply harmful. A recent UK study found that 70% of mothers feel judged by society, particularly via social media, for how they parent (Action for Children, 2023).

The Principles of Soft Wellness

I was reading about soft wellness the other day and it dawned on me that this could be the answer for many of us, to break free from societal expectations, to slow down and to really embrace the changes happening to us rather than trying to avoid them. Soft wellness offers a counter to these pressures. It's not about doing more, it's about doing less, with intention. It encourages mothers to reclaim agency and honour their own rhythms, not society’s timelines.

One of the most important principles?

👉 Listening.

We’ve lost the art of listening to our bodies. We scroll, search, and crowdsource our way through every symptom, every nap regression, every mealtime meltdown, when, often, our body already knows what we need.

“The body whispers before it screams.” — Caroline Myss

Tuning back in, whether through breath, stillness, journaling or movement, can help women access a quiet kind of wisdom that’s often drowned out in the noise of modern motherhood.

Understanding Soft Wellness

Soft wellness is a shift away from the relentless pursuit of perfection. It is a philosophy of care that prioritises slowness, comfort, and intuition. It encourages us to embrace small rituals of rest and self-connection, without guilt.

It’s the opposite of hustle culture. It doesn’t require trackers, cold plunges, or bootcamps. Instead, it meets you where you are, in your messy bun and milky shirt, and offers the tools to feel more grounded, joyful, and whole.

This approach encourages:

• Intentional Living: Making conscious choices that align with personal values.

• Restorative Practices: Prioritising rest and relaxation as essential components of health.

• Self-Compassion: Allowing space for imperfection and acknowledging one's efforts.

  
  

And make no mistake about it, soft wellness is on the rise and it signifies a move towards doing less with greater intention and redefining our approach to health and self-care.

The Journey of Matrescence

Matrescence is often compared to adolescence—a slow, unfolding process that involves hormone shifts, identity evolution, and emotional transformation. But while adolescence is expected and prepared for, matrescence is rarely acknowledged, let alone supported.

Soft wellness practices can offer gentle anchors throughout this journey:

Acceptance over perfection

Slowness over productivity

Compassion over comparison

Instead of fixing, soft wellness invites us to feel. Instead of striving, it allows us to settle. It is the wellness of warm blankets, soft lighting, boundary setting, deep breathing, and self-trust.

Integrating Soft Wellness into Motherhood

1. Mind: Cultivating Mental and Emotional Wellbeing

Sleep deprivation is unavoidable in the early weeks. But rest, as Dr. Alex Pang argues in Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, is powerful in its own right. Deliberate rest, even without sleep, can improve memory, boost creativity and support emotional wellbeing.

‘True rest, even without sleep, helps replenish your mental and emotional reserves.’ Dr Alex Pang

Rest doesn’t mean checking out. It means choosing to check in with yourself.

Dr. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang emphasizes that rest is not a luxury but a necessity. He advocates for intentional downtime to enhance creativity and productivity.

And in the book Happy Inside this concept was expanded further. Rest is not the act of being slumped in front of the TV watching mindless re-runs, it is in fact thinking about rest more intentionally, almost active rest.

“You have to seize the moment and consciously decide that you want – and more importantly, need – to partake in active rest more than you want to do something else’ Michelle Ogundehin

And here are some of her gorgeous tips:

2. Body: Grounded In The Body

In the whirlwind of new motherhood, it’s easy to become disconnected from your body, treating it as a vessel of function, not feeling. But your body is not just recovering, it’s recalibrating. Hormones are shifting, organs are realigning, and your physical identity is evolving.

Soft wellness invites you to tune into your body’s new rhythms, not force it back into old ones. Instead of boot camps or bounce-backs, think rhythmic restoration: small, meaningful moments of reconnection that honour where you are now. Body-based listening is a core principle of soft wellness. It’s the practice of tuning in, not tuning out—of shifting your attention from how your body looks to how your body feels.

In the fog of early motherhood, many women become disembodied. We move through the day reacting to needs—feeding, changing, lifting, settling—rarely checking in with our own sensations. But your body is constantly speaking: in tight shoulders, shallow breaths, sugar cravings, bursts of emotion. Learning to listen is an act of reclaiming agency.

A 2020 study published in Body Image found that mothers who practiced body awareness—through tools like intuitive eating, body scanning, and mindful movement—reported significantly higher levels of self-compassion and lower postpartum body dissatisfaction. In other words, the more you connect with your body, the more you begin to care for it, rather than critique it.

This kind of listening might look like:

• Noticing when you’re full, instead of finishing what’s on your plate “just because”

• Choosing movement that feels nourishing, not punishing

• Pausing to ask: What does my body need right now? before reaching for another coffee or scrolling your phone

When you shift the relationship from control to communication, everything softens.You stop trying to force your body into a former version of itself.You start working with it—not against it.

This isn’t about “getting your body back”—it’s about coming home to it.Softly. Slowly. Sustainably.

3. Soul: Creating Spaces for Reconnection

Soft wellness begins with soulfulness, creating space for stillness, connection, and inner restoration. The Danish idea of a hyggekrog, a cosy corner designed for comfort, reminds us how powerful a quiet nook can be. With soft lighting, warm textures, and your favourite book or playlist, it becomes a retreat from the noise of the world and a reminder that you matter too. If you can, go further: a wellness room or designated space without background noise or external demands can offer a deeper sanctuary for recharging.

“It’s the new nightclub,” Ariel Ovadia says. “Self-care is evolving into a shared experience, becoming a prominent scene rather than just a side routine.”

In a season where your soul can feel lost in service of others, these small sanctuaries help you reconnect to joy, creativity, and self.

Soft wellness isn’t a trend. It’s a quiet rebellion. A return to instinct in a world that constantly pulls us away from ourselves. When you choose softness, you’re not giving up, you’re coming home. And that’s where real strength lives.

This is the resource every conscious, independent mother deserves - a companion, a sanctuary, and a roadmap through matrescence. An entire wellness platform dedicated to nurturing the woman behind the mother so that you can feel like yourself again. No pressure. No parenting tips. No perfection. Just expert coaching, trusted content, and a like-minded community of women who believe that when we take care of ourselves, we show up better for everything else.

Matrescence is one of life’s biggest transitions, yet so often overlooked. We exist to guide, support, and empower women through this profound transformation—so you don’t just survive but thrive in motherhood. We promise to share only trusted content that can inspire you to build a joyful, healthy lifestyle to help you feel good in your body, confident in your life, and clear in your choices. Because when you feel nurtured, confident and connected—you parent from a place of joy, not depletion.

Brought to you by Claudia Dumond, Certified Holistic Health Coach with IIN, author of Empowered Motherhood: Nurturing Wellness Through Pregnancy & Beyond and founder of Minimondo.

Whether you’re a free member or paid subscriber, my aim with Nurture Your World is to offer you guidance, inspiration and practical tools so that you can shift from overwhelm and uncertainty to inner calm, clarity and confidence through every stage of motherhood. Here’s what you can expect:

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