Aware Parenting Stories with Joss Goulden

Welcome back to another episode in this series of conversations about embracing imperfection in aware parenting. In this episode I have the absolute pleasure of talking with Mary Walker. Mary is a writer and poet from Aoteroa New Zealand and she lives in the countryside with her husband, 3 teenagers and 5 cats. She discovered Aware Parenting in 2015 when her children were 7, 5 and 3. She has been writing and sharing her poetry since 2017. Her first book of poetry Lullaby for Mothers came out in 2019. Her book of nature poems, called The Land Will Hold You, was published in 2022. Mary’s third poetry collection is about to be released, and it is called Home: poems for becoming who you are and releasing who you are not. In this conversation, Mary shares some of her journey with Aware Parenting and how she has learnt to bring more compassion, connection and healing for her children and herself. We talk about the challenge of discovering Aware Parenting later and power of trust and repair. Mary shares some of her exquisite poems to inspire and support listeners on their own aware parenting journey. We talk about learning to see the gift of crying with loving support. If you love poetry and Aware Parenting, this episode is for you. And if you have never enjoyed poetry before, hearing Mary's profoundly beautiful words will enrich your aware parenting experience and invite more self-compassion and trust. To learn more about her work, please visit www.marywalker.co.nz and follow her on Instagram at Mary Walker Writer. If you would like to sign up for her free email poetry subscription called A Beautiful Beginning, inviting readers to start each week with a poem and a moment of quiet reflection, the link is on her website. If you want to learn more about the Aware Parenting Teenagers Course that Mary mentions in this episode, please visit https://awareparenting.com.au/my-courses/aware-parenting-teenagers/ And if you want support with this or any other aspect of Aware Parenting, please get in touch support@awareparenting.com.au

Welcome back to another episode in this series of conversations about embracing imperfection in aware parenting. In this episode I have the pleasure of talking with Nic Wilson from Peaceful Parenting. Nic is an aware parenting instructor, Marion Method mentor and mother to an 11 year old girl. In this episode Nic shares her journey in moving from an internal dialogue of telling herself she was not good enough, to being more compassionate and accepting of herself. We talk about embracing imperfection in ourselves and in our children. Nic shares some practices she uses to support herself in challenging moments. Nic also shares really vulnerably a recent very challenging time in her family and how she found her way back to connection with herself and her daughter. To learn more about Nic, please visit www.peacefulparenting.com.au or follow her on social media at Peaceful Parenting.

In this new episode, I am talking with Carly Facius. Carly was on episode 85 sharing more of her story so i invite you to listen to that. She is mum to 3, is a registered midwife, lactation consultant, and aware parenting instructor who has been supporting parents from conception to parenthood. And we have had some gorgeous conversations together in person recently about the mistakes, the difficult parts, the mess that is parenting so I was so looking forward to this conversation here. In today's episode, Carly shares how she has seen perfectionism show up in the families that she works with and how she saw this in herself once she became a parent too. We talk about the ways we can try to support ourselves with some of the cultural pressures that get put on us in parenthood. We share how we have brought more balance to parenting between our ideals and the reality of life and the balance of understanding the theory of aware parenting and how we can put it into practice. Carly shares some examples of times in her family that she has not been the parent that she wanted to be and how she has supported herself and her child at those times with self-compassion and acceptance. If you want to learn more about Carly, please visit her website https://www.seedpodfamilies.com and follow her on social media.

Welcome back to another episode in this series of conversations about embracing imperfection in aware parenting. In this episode I have the pleasure of talking with Devon Harris. Devon is an aware parenting instructor and a specialist in child and adolescent behaviour. She supports parents to meet the developmental needs of their children, as well as to capitalise on undesirable behaviour as an opportunity to deepen trust and connection. She loves attachment play and sharing this beautiful apporach with her clients. Devon shares her journey towards self acceptance and embracing imperfection in aware parenting. We talk about learning to speak more compassionately with ourselves and Devon shares her practices and processes and the phrases she has learnt to bring to her internal dialogue. She shares some examples of challenging times in her family and how she has navigated her way through getting support, and offering connection and attachment play. We talk about how we have navigated comparison and judgment in parenting and the power of community and connection on the aware parenting journey. To learn more about Devon's work, please visit https://www.devonharris.com.au and follow her on social media. To learn more about my Aware Parenting Teenagers course or to join the new live round starting on 25th February 2025, please visit https://awareparenting.com.au/my-courses/aware-parenting-teenagers/

Welcome back to the podcast and the second conversation in this series about learning to embrace imperfection in Aware Parenting. This conversation is with my dear friend and colleague Danni Willow, who is an amazing aware parenting instructor with 2 daughters living on the Surf Coast of Australia. We have been running our beautiful Exploring Aware Parenting Community together for the last 3 years. She has also been on many of the previous podcast episodes. In this conversation, Danni shares her journey of moving from guilt and shame and judgement to self compassion and self connection. We talk about how have learnt to offer ourselves support, compassion and acceptance. Danni shares vulnerably some messy, painful moments in her family and how she has found her way through those times. We talk about repair with our children and the immense power for them of authenticity and connection. We talk about bringing in acceptance and compassion in relation to control patterns. We talk about how we offer ourselves celebration and acknowledgement as an antidote to the harshness and judgment. If you want to learn more about Danni please visit www.thewayofthewoman.com.au And follow her on social media. If you want to learn more about our in-person retreat please email me at support@awareparenting.com.au to go on the waitlist as places will be limited. If you want to learn more about my Aware Parenting Teenagers course, the link is here https://awareparenting.com.au/my-courses/aware-parenting-teenagers/ if you want to learn more about Marion Rose's powerful Marion Method, the link is here https://marionrose.net/marion-method-courses/

This is the first episode in a new series of conversations on my podcast called Embracing Imperfection in Aware parenting. In this episode I share some of the reasons why it can be difficult for us to accept ourselves and our mistakes in parenting and not go to judgement or harshness, criticism or comparison. I talk about some of the ways that I have supported myself to have more self-compassion and to be able to rewind and reconnect with my children at times of rupture. I share some examples of experiences where I have not been the parent that I wanted to be and how I have been able to repair with my children and learn to offer myself deep unconditional acceptance and support. If you would like help with this or any other aspect of Aware parenting, encourage you to get in touch at support@awareparenting.com.au

Welcome back to another episode of my podcast where I am talking about offering Attachment Play to teens and tweens and how this aspect of Aware Parenting is still so powerful, healing and connecting as our children grow up and approach adulthood. It is often difficult to know how to be playful with teens, particularly if you haven’t been practising aware parenting since they were much younger, but attachment play is so beneficial for our teenager’s physical and emotional health and wellbeing and for our connection with them. I describe each of the 9 types of attachment play, how it helps our teenagers, offer LOTS of examples of how we might play in each of those 9 ways and share some of what might come up for us when we are playing. I offer some reflections to support listeners to come back to feeling playful with their teens. I hope this episode gives parents of teens some motivation and inspiration to be more playful. If you would like a copy of my free Introduction to Attachment Play eBook, which includes examples of play we can offer our teens, please email me support@awareparenting.com.au and I will send it to you. If you want to learn more about my course Aware Parenting with Teenagers, which explores in depth how to practise Aware Parenting in the teenage years, including offering attachment play, please visit https://awareparenting.com.au/my-courses/aware-parenting-teenagers/ If you want individual support with this or any other aspect your parenting journey, I am here for you and I encourage you to get in touch by emailing me at support@awareparenting.com.au or to visit my website www.awareparenting.com.au/parenting-coaching/

Welcome back to another episode of my podcast where I am talking about meeting needs for our children and ourselves. I share how Aware Parenting supports us to understand needs, to prioritise ways to meet needs and to acknowledge how painful it is when needs are not met. I talk about why it is often hard to value and meet needs, what happens when we have unmet needs, and what some of the core needs might be for our children and for us. I offer some reflections to support a deepening in your understanding of needs, for yourself and your child and I offer some practical suggestions of ways to meet needs more. . If you would like to learn more about Non-violent Communication, please visit www.cnvc.org and to learn more about Robin Grille’s Table of Development Needs, please visit www.robingrille.com If you would like support with meeting needs more in your family, or any other aspect your parenting journey, I am here for you and I encourage you to get in touch by emailing me at support@awareparenting.com.au or to visit my website www.awareparenting.com.au/parenting-coaching/

In this episode I have a beautiful conversation with Josha van Baalen. Josha is the mother of two daughter ages 10 and 4 and has been an Aware Parenting instructor since 2016 when her first daughter was 2. She is also a psychosynthesis coach and a somatic experiencing practitioner with her own online private practice for clients and offering sessions in all 3 modalities. In this conversation we talk about how Josha discovered Aware Parenting and started listening to her daughter’s feelings. We talk about the power of connection, slowing down and bringing more simplicity to life. We talk about learning to meet our own needs as well as our children’s and she shares some of the ways that she supports herself back to loving presence with her children. And we talk about our own reparenting journeys that Aware Parenting invites us to take. If you would like to learn more about Josha, please visit her website www.joshavanbaalen.com If you would like support on your parenting journey, I am here for you and I encourage you to get in touch by emailing me at support@awareparenting.com.au or to visit my website www.awareparenting.com.au/parenting-coaching/

In this episode I have another beautiful conversation with Danni Willow who is an aware parenting instructor and mother to 2 girls. Danni shares her background in teaching and what she learnt during the 5 years working in schools. She shares her family’s story of schooling and describes how and why she recently made the choice to take her children out of school and start homeschooling. We talk about the effect on our children of being outside of the school system and all the ways we see them flourishing when we are offering aware parenting whilst supporting their learning at home. We talk about some of the challenges with home schooling and how we have supported ourselves with the deconditioning that we need to do in order to come back to trust and connection. We talk about the joy of living life aligned with our values of connection and compassion. To learn more about Danni, please visit her website www.thewayofthewoman or follow her on social media @danniwillow. If you would like support on your parenting journey, I am here for you and I encourage you to get in touch by emailing me at support@awareparenting.com.au or to visit my website www.awareparenting.com.au/parenting-coaching/ If you want to learn more about my Aware Parenting and Natural Learning monthly online circle, please visit https://awareparenting.com.au/circles/ If you want to read my articles about homeschooling and aware parenting please visit https://awareparenting.com.au/articles/?_select_a_category=homeschoolingandnaturallearning