Workshop Replay: Marking Complicated Mother's Day
Because sometimes a Hallmark card doesn't cut it.
For some people, Mother’s Day is just a nice opportunity to acknowledge care, or be acknowledged for caring.
But for others, it’s complicated.
For example:
When we’re experiencing infertility, pregnancy loss, or other forms of uncertainty along the path to family building, Mother’s Day can feel incredibly charged.
When we already know we won’t have kids of our own, biological or otherwise, it can be a day of grief, or it can be a day of appreciation. Either way: complicated.
When we’re in the role of a step-parent, or have a step-parent in our lives, this day can feel awkward.
Obviously, having a difficult relationship with your own mother can be really hard on Mother’s Day.
Having a difficult relationship with your mother-in-law, if you’re partnered, can also complicate matters.
Being estranged from your mother—or estranged from other family members around her—can complicate the day.
It can feel challenging when we’re torn between two different mother figures on the same day. So people who have, for example, a biological parent and an adoptive parent who are both in their lives, or people who have two mothers in a queer family setup.
Navigating a gender transition can be challenging at this time of year—either because it changes the way that we’re were seen by the outside world in relationship to our own parenting identity, or because our own parents are currently unable to affirm us in this identity.
If one or more of these bullet points hits home for you—my friend Lisa Sibbett and I created this workshop for you.
Folks who signed up for this workshop, and/or who are participating in the Mentorship program here at In Tending, can scroll down now to access these workshop materials virtually below, which allow you to do the following:
Watch the video and follow along with the exercises.
Listen to the audio, akin to a podcast, and do the same.
Read the transcript at your own pace.
In this 90-minute video session, you’ll be guided to:
Set intentions for how this workshop can support you in this season
Consider what “complicated” means for you — and what uncomplicated sources of joy exist alongside that
Engage in a grounding loving-kindness meditation, tailored to the day
Learn other tools for self-compassion, drawing on mind-body frameworks developed by teachers like Phillip Moffitt and researchers like Kristin Neff
Create writing and/or art to express our authentic emotions about mothers and motherhood, using a poem by Ellen Bass as inspiration
Imagine everyday ritual spaces and routines to hold, and to be held in, what feels heavy in this season
The big both/and
It can sometimes feel unfair that we have to do compassionate things like this for ourselves, when we really wanted a different caring person to care for us. We want to affirm to all who are reading that we are all are worthy of care.
And, it’s also empowering to say, “I’m not going to wait around for that person to offer care to me. I will nurture myself. I don’t need permission to do that. I will protect myself. I don’t need permission to do that. I will provide what I need for flourishing. I don’t need permission to do that. And I can ask myself how I want to grow and contribute to the collective, rather than having reductive love-marriage-baby-carriage scripts of initiation and growth imposed on me that don’t fit me or my situation. Especially by a patriarchal culture that doesn’t ultimately care about whether I reach my full human potential or not.”
If this big both/and resonates with you, know that this workshop aims to empower you to do all of the above.
Please also know that you’re also in good company, in this workshop and in this community. We hear you. We see you. Because we are you.
We’re looking forward to hearing how this goes for you in the comments.
❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
This workshop is available for all paid subscribers, at all levels.
If you don’t have a subscription to In Tending yet, now’s a great time to grab one, as I’m running a rare flash sale:
20% off annual subscriptions
Name-your-own-price Mentorship Level subscriptions
(Note: Both sales expire on Monday 5/11.)
An annual membership gets you:
🧶Access to all 60-min caregiver support circles. The next one is coming up on May 12 at 12pm-1pm EST on Zoom. The topic is Mindful Communication. Paid subscribers will find the link in the chat here.
Access to replays and guided meditation materials from these circles, which you can find here in Workshops.
Early access and discount codes for all 90-min expert-led workshops.
The opportunity to submit questions to care experts appearing in the In Tending interview series.
Other goodies as I get them to give, i.e. themed playlists, curated reading recommendations, and more.
A Mentorship program subscription gets you all of the above, plus:
An all-access pass to all workshops in 2026, including those in the archive ($125 value) This includes workshops on Coming Home to the Body, Re-Imagining Intimacy, Re-Claiming Our Power, Clearing Space for Grief, and Tending Your Spiritual Truth.
A 1:1 personalized support session from me ($175 value). We can use this time to co-create trauma-informed mindfulness and writing practices that are just for you. No more trying to figure it out out on your own based on books written by people who don’t look or live like you. No more trying apps and then falling off when life gets busy. No more wondering if you’re just “doing it wrong” or not cut out for this kind of thing. Just real human support for your practice, from a trauma-informed meditation teacher who Gets It.
How to access the name-your-own price option for Mentorship Level subscriptions:
Where you see the cursor appear under Mentorship Member, enter any price between $75-300.
Regardless of which option you choose, may this workshop be of benefit to you, on your path to personal and collective liberation. And we hope to see you at the next one!
Warmly,
 | A guest post by
|