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ME + MOTHERHOOD is a fortnightly podcast rich with meaningful, inspiring and practical conversations for all mothers who want to reclaim ME in motherhood. This podcast is for you if you are ready to return to yourself through self-exploration, find your spark again in motherhood and give yourself permission to be happier and healthier. Join podcast host Benita Bensch and other special guests to delve deeper into the mother in motherhood, because she who does the holding needs to be held.
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This episode is inspired by our family's significant move from our beloved farm near Moonie to the lively border town of Goondiwindi, and my reflections on living in a rural town compared to life on the farm. After spending decades mainly on the land and out of town, this transition brought its share of revelations, and I'm eager to share the highs…
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In this episode I’m talking about a topic that I know many of my rural and regional listeners who are involved in farming businesses will resonate with. That said, I think there's a good message in here for everyone as we discuss the labels we put on ourselves and finding our place in the stage of life we’re in. In this conversation, I’ll explore t…
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We talk a lot about mental health these days which I’m so grateful for. It’s brilliant that we as a society are more aware of this topic and it’s no longer taboo to talk openly about things like anxiety and depression. While I believe these conversations are extremely valuable, we often place the focus on mental illness as opposed to mental health …
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Moving away from the familiar is generally very uncomfortable. As someone who has experienced a lifetime of perfectionism and people pleasing, I know just how hard it is to let go of control and branch out into something beyond my comfort zone. But what if discomfort is actually the best thing for us? At the time of recording this, I found myself r…
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I’ve been feeling different in the past few years. There has been one internal shift, big question and hard decision after another to contend with. I’m thinking more deeply about what I want to do with my life, and who I want to surround myself with. I’m referring to the midlife unravelling. Notice how I specifically didn’t use the term 'midlife cr…
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Sometimes, we prefer to stay in our suffering. The pain we’re familiar with can be a lot less scary than the unknown - which potentially comes with rejection, failure or even success (yes, that can be scary too!) This could be relationships, habits, friendships, old beliefs… and sometimes they’re paralysing to let go of, even when we know in our he…
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A lot of us would never call ourselves creative. We think that if we can’t paint, write or draw, then we’re definitely not creative. That was me for many years. At a young age, I decided that because I was the academic one in the family and not good at art like my sister, I wasn’t and never would be creative. Thankfully, I no longer believe this li…
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Life comes with its fair share of ups and downs, but there are moments when the downs can feel overwhelming - insurmountable even. Personally, I’ve had a few episodes of poor mental health in my lifetime - patches of anxiety and depression that I’ve learnt how to manage. However, in 2022, I got to my lowest point with it, even experiencing symptoms…
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Do you ever feel like a doormat? You spend all day pouring out love, time and energy into meeting everyone else’s needs and by the end of the day, you feel like you’ve been walked all over. Your needs go unnoticed. Your needs don’t matter. It’s no wonder so many of us struggle with feelings of resentment and anger. A lot of the time, it all comes d…
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I’m tackling a bit of a sensitive topic today and if you’re currently relying on that nightly glass (or two) of wine to unwind after a long, stressful day, it may even hit a raw nerve to hear me talk about why, and how, I gave up wine o’clock. In Australia, we have such an alcohol fueled culture, which makes it harder to recognise the dangers of wi…
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A question most mothers will ask themselves at one point or another is, "Can I really do this?" Balancing motherhood, work, personal growth, and other responsibilities can feel overwhelming, so today I want to share some strategies that have helped me navigate a challenging few months. I recently went through 9 weeks of solo parenting while my husb…
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Motherhood is a profound experience that brings about countless changes. For many women, it comes with a huge identity shift, sometimes even an identity crisis. Before having children, you might have felt like a confident, capable individual with a strong sense of self - but the transition into motherhood can come as quite a shock. A lot of women f…
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Words are not just sounds; they are vibrations that shape our entire world. Believe it or not, the stories you tell yourself are ruling your life and these stories can either empower you or hold you back. The choice is completely up to you. We all have those repetitive stories - the ones embedded in our minds from past experiences, conditioning, an…
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As I celebrate my 43rd birthday, I find myself reflecting on the journey of the past year. It’s been a period filled with growth, challenges, and ultimately, a great deal of personal development. From Farm to Town Life One of the most significant changes in the past year has been our move from the farm to town life in Goondiwindi. For almost a deca…
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What does it mean to be the “perfect” mother? And is this a standard that we should even remotely be trying to live up to? For some background, listen to episode 26 where I chat with Dr. Sophie Brock, a mentor of mine who specialises in this area and with whom I completed my Motherhood Studies Practitioner Certification. She has a fantastic podcast…
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Being a mum is amazing, but let's be honest, it's also very hard work! And when sickness hits your house, it can feel like everything explodes into chaos. I know for me personally, I find not only my physical health deteriorates if I’m unwell, but my mental health really takes a dive. So I thought it may be helpful to share some strategies that I h…
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As a Mum of four, coach and multiple business owner, I spend most of my days listening, nurturing, and getting things done. There's not always a lot of room for, well, me. This year, I decided to change that. I started thinking about what I could do as a hobby that was purely for myself. It didn’t have to be connected to any particular career aspir…
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“Is this decision serving me to my greater good?” This is one of the questions I want to leave you with as I take a break from this podcast. I have found making the decision to put the podcast, and other parts of my business on hold to be incredibly difficult, and I understand that readjusting your priorities can be hard, but you are important and …
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Dr Sophie Brock is a motherhood studies sociologist and mother living in Sydney, Australia. She provides analysis of motherhood in our culture and the ways individual experiences of mothers are shaped by broader social constructs. Sophie's work contributes to changing the cultural conversation on motherhood and the individual experiences of mothers…
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“Our challenges now will be their strengths in the future” shares Steph Schmidt on navigating her motherhood journey. Steph is a psychologist working in farmer mental health and grassroots and community based strategies. She is also a mother to 3 boys and alongside her husband runs a sheep and cropping farm in South Australia. Steph openly admits t…
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“I am” Have you ever thought about the power and potency of these words? What we impress on our subconscious mind is what comes to reality for us. The power that words hold for us can easily be overlooked or thrown to the side, and in the last 18 months I have become aware that since I was a teenager I have been managing a tendency towards anxiety …
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Sunny Roberts is deeply passionate about helping women return to their feminine energy. Born and raised in Germany and working in a corporate career she spent her 20s operating in masculine push mode and burnt out at 28 which led her to become a yoga and mindfulness teacher. Becoming a mum of two boys she found herself struggling in her own marriag…
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**Themes of mental health, pregnancy loss, medical trauma and women’s health issues. **This is not an episode for little people's ears. Pop your headphones on, or listen to it when you're alone. “I’ve really learned that the best parents, and the best mums that I know are the ones that become the parent that their child needs them to be” shares Kat…
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My own invisible battle. This has been on my heart for a while now, and it will give you some context for the work that I do with mums, my experiences and hardships with mental health from my own motherhood journey. In this episode I share a very personal, raw and vulnerable letter that I wrote in November 2018 and emailed to a group of Mums around…
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Katrina is a Meditation and Wellbeing educator, a fourth generation farmer and co-owner of the family run business, Barham Avocados. Katrina is a passionate rural advocate who cares deeply about rural and regional Australia and is on a mission to support Rural Women to thrive and lead through her Meditation and Mindset Training Business. Her experi…
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“No matter how fiercely independent you are and how much you struggle to ask for help, when push comes to shove, you end up having to ask for help” shares Riana Davis on her motherhood lessons. Riana has been officially part of our family for around 10 years, and I am so grateful to call her my sister-in-law. Riana is married to my younger brother …
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The Art of Trying. In this context, trying is the colloquial term used to describe the process of deliberately timing intercourse to coincide with ovulation for the purpose of creating an embryo. It implies action. I came to detest the word trying because it invoked in me a sense of hard work, futility and never quite getting there. It’s also the t…
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Maddy Bento is a degree qualified nutritionist working in the body image and intuitive eating space. She was an exhausted mumma who was trying so hard to eat “perfectly” and her mental health suffered, along with her relationship with her body health and food. Maddy has since learnt about Intuitive Eating and Health At Every Size (HAES) and has not…
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“Because ultimately for them to become adults, they need to be able to learn along the way” shares Kylee Curtis on walking the line between expectations and nurturing individuality in her children. Kylee is my older sister and she has been an incredible role model to me, and as far as mum’s go, she’s pretty amazing. Kylee’s children are older than …
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Do you think it’s possible to feel good during the afternoon and evening regardless of the chaos that might be happening around you? There is a lot of focus on our morning routines and I absolutely believe in starting the day with a routine that makes you feel good and gives you a high vibration to carry throughout the day. However, I don’t think w…
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Megan Hillukka On Grief And Anxiety After Child Loss
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Trigger Warning: Child Loss Megan Hillukka is a bereaved mother, with 7 children, one who died suddenly at 15 months old - her precious Aria. Because of Aria, Megan now encourages and supports grieving mothers that though the worst thing has happened to them, their life is not over. She is the creator of a space called Grieving Moms Haven, where sh…
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“It sets up an automatic kind of rule book or framework or structure that we then automatically compare ourselves to, analyse and wonder” shares Terri Williams of her Motherhood Story and being questioned around going back to work. There is a 10 year age gap between myself and my younger sister, Terri Williams. Terri got married in 2020 and had her…
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Have you been feeling the call to connect in person? In my mind there’s really no substitute for meeting in person and after a couple of years of having no in person events, I have been feeling a really strong desire to create an event that can bring this incredible community together. This episode is dedicated to our Rise and Shine Retreat that I …
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Mothers Group was a lifeline for me as a new Mum. It was a highlight of my week, providing sanity-saving adult connection, a reason to leave the house (even when it was hard!), valuable support and information. The bonds we formed in that Mothers Group have lasted for years. On the day of recording this episode I had visited the same Mothers Group …
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Karen Brook On Consciously Creating, And Ditching Mum Guilt
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A wife, Mum of 2 boys AND high performance mindset coach who helps people create extraordinary results, CEO of a 7 figure business, and top 1% Proctor Gallagher Institute Consultant. I’m talking about the powerhouse that is Karen Brook. Karen says that she asked these questions of herself even before starting a family: “What did I want motherhood t…
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“It’s easier to be courageous for your child than it is to be courageous for yourself,” shares Jacqui Doyle, the first guest of the ME+MOTHERHOOD ‘My Motherhood Story’ series of conversations with incredible Mums. Like all mothers, Jacqui has experienced her share of ups and downs - the pure joy of the precious moments, blended with the struggle to…
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Welcome back for Season 2 of ME + MOTHERHOOD! I hope 2023 is off to a great start for you and yours! This is a short and snappy episode to reconnect with you, and to get you thinking about what’s important to you this year. Instead of discussing goals, I invite you to consider three other powerful questions to shape your decisions and approach in 2…
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2022, where did you go!? For this last episode of Season 1 of ME + MOTHERHOOD I took a little longer in order to reflect on the year that’s been. Reflection is incredibly powerful, and important, and I encourage you to do it for yourself! It reveals important information for us to respond to. For me, 2022 has been a year of self-exploration and unc…
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Right now, what do you need to give yourself permission to be, do, have or give? What do you hear whispering quietly within you, waiting and wanting you to bring to life? If you would only give yourself permission, what do you really desire? This podcast episode is a loving kick up the butt from me to give yourself permission. Don’t wait for a perm…
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Have you ever felt like you’ve lost your spark in motherhood? What I mean by this is when you feel flat, like you’re going through the daily motions of life, lacking in meaning and purpose. It feels like there’s a bucket over your inner light and it’s barely flickering. You may feel this way when: For any number of reasons you have been forced to, …
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There’s no instruction manual for motherhood. I sometimes wish there was but also wonder: would I read it, or toss it to the side like a set of IKEA instructions? What I’ve found to be true is that even with an abundance of information at my fingertips, there’s no escape from living through, and learning from, the lessons we are dealt on the journe…
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Do you sometimes avoid making decisions? Are you unclear about how to make decisions or take action that aligns with what feels right for you in your life? This episode is a special one. It’s a recording of my recent conversation with Meg Durham from her podcast The School of Wellbeing, Episode 56. Meg has generously given me permission to share it…
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I often hear from mothers who come to me for coaching: ‘I don’t know who I am anymore.’ I totally get it because I have said and felt it too in the past! It’s no surprise we would feel this way when you consider the enormity of the transition we go through moving from woman, to woman AND mother. All mothers go through an identity shift - some with …
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We all know that self care is important and that we should be focusing on it. But what is self care really? And the even better question: how do you practically achieve it on a consistent basis when you’re a busy Mum juggling so much at once? In this episode I cover: Defining self care for you 3 tips on finding time for self care in your busy life …
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Welcome to Season 1 of the ME + MOTHERHOOD podcast! This episode is all about the backstory to ME + MOTHERHOOD because, well, who doesn’t love a good backstory! In this episode, I share the what and why behind the podcast including: Who I am (Benita, your host), what I do, why and how I got here Why I’m launching ME + MOTHERHOOD The story behind th…
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