Today we're bringing back another one of our most-loved episodes [Uncovering Stress Triggers with Journaling]. This one struck a chord with so many of you, and it’s no surprise. Because when the days feel long and everything feels like too much, it’s easy to think the stress is coming from the chaos around you. But what if you could slow it down, peek underneath the overwhelm, and actually understand why you're feeling the way you are?

In this episode, I walk you through how journaling, in a way that’s simple, not fluffy, can help you uncover the real triggers underneath your stress. And once you start noticing those patterns, something shifts. You stop snapping on autopilot, and you start responding with more calm, even in the middle of messes and meltdowns.

So whether you're listening for the first time or coming back for a reminder, this one's worth a replay.

Ever wonder why you lose your temper with your preteen, despite your best intentions?

In this episode of "Motherhood from the Brain," host Esther promises to guide you through life changing techniques that will help you manage those emotional flare-ups.

By introducing the powerful practice of journaling, Esther reveals how documenting your daily interactions can uncover hidden triggers and recurring stressors, leading to a calmer family environment.

You'll learn how writing down specific incidents can not only track your growth but also potentially turn your experiences into a resourceful book for other mothers.

We dig deep into the underlying beliefs and expectations that often contribute to parental frustration.

Esther addresses common parental stressors, like noisy children and sibling fights, and emphasizes how setting aside time for journaling can help you process these emotions.

By examining thoughts like "they should be quiet," you can uncover unrealistic expectations and shift from immediate reactions to a more thoughtful understanding of your emotions.

This practice aims to reduce the emotional toll on parents, fostering a more peaceful home life.

Finally, we explore the crucial role of mindfulness and self-awareness in parenting. Esther discusses how recognizing and understanding your emot

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👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.

Today I’m bringing back one of the most listened-to episodes on the podcast, and for good reason. It's called “When Your Child Wants to Live with the Other Parent” and if you’ve ever felt the sting of those words, or worried they might come, this one’s for you.

This episode struck a chord with so many of you because it goes deeper than just what your child says in the heat of the moment. It’s about what comes up inside you when it happens [the fear, the guilt, the heartbreak] and how to stay grounded even when it feels like your heart is breaking.

Whether you’ve heard it before or it’s your first time, I invite you to listen with fresh ears. There’s something here that might land differently today, especially if you’re in a tough season.

What if the gap between you and your preteen isn't a failure? What if it's a step toward a stronger bond?

Join me. This episode looks at the pain and doubt moms feel as their daughters pull away. By reframing this transition, we can see it as normal growth.

It's not a reflection of our worth as mothers. This heartfelt talk offers brain-based strategies. They will help navigate this tender phase of motherhood with grace and compassion.

By knowing our emotions, we can turn doubt and fear into curiosity and connection. Learn to maintain a meaningful relationship with your child. Use small, careful actions that respect her independence and your role in her life.

If you're feeling sidelined or unsure, let's explore these uncharted areas together. It will strengthen our mother-daughter bond.

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👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.

Today I'm bringing back one of the most downloaded episodes of the podcast [this one really struck a chord]. Whether you're just heading back to work or you're still wrestling with mixed emotions long after maternity leave ended, this episode is for you. We’re talking about the anxiety, the guilt, the fear of being forgotten and why you’re not alone. So if your heart feels heavy about leaving your baby and diving back into the working world, this one will speak right to it.


Today, Esther dives into the deep waters of motherhood and career in a way that really hits home. She talks about that tug-of-war many moms feel between returning to work and staying with their baby. Esther brings up societal pressures and the internal battles we face when balancing work and maternal instincts.

Then, she introduces this fascinating concept of the "protective brain." You know, how a mom's brain is wired to shield her child, and how going back to work can feel like a threat to that instinct. It's eye-opening stuff, really delving into the emotional side of things.

Esther doesn't stop there; she gets into the nitty-gritty of practical challenges like pumping and storing breast milk. But what's refreshing is how she acknowledges these concerns with compassion and offers strategies to tackle them head-on.

And let me tell you, her tips for negotiating with your own brain? Genius. She encourages moms to embrace their autonomy in choosing to return to work and offers empowering ways to navigate that transition.

Throughout the episode, Esther emphasizes the importance of reframing our perspective, tapping into our wisdom, and giving ourselves permission to feel those tough emotions like guilt. It's all about finding balance, you know?

By the end, you'll walk away feeling empowered, armed with practical solutions, and ready to face the challenges of motherhood and work with grace and self-compassion. So, grab your headphones and join us on this journey of self-discovery and empowerment!

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👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.

Rejection hurts. When our teenagers pull away, spending hours alone in their rooms and responding with one-word answers or slammed doors, many mothers experience it as personal rejection.

This pain isn't imaginary, neuroscience confirms that social rejection activates the same brain regions as physical pain, a mechanism evolved from our ancestors' dependence on group acceptance for survival.

For mothers who experienced rejection in their own childhoods, their children's natural bid for independence can trigger deep-seated wounds.

Having learned to associate closeness with safety and distance with danger, these mothers may unconsciously interpret a teenager's closed door as evidence of their own failure or unlovability rather than recognizing it as healthy development.

Society compounds this struggle by consistently messaging that children's behavior reflects parenting quality. We're taught that polite, thriving children indicate successful mothering, while moody or distant ones suggest we've failed somewhere.

This creates a dangerous pattern where mothers manipulate children's behavior not just for household harmony, but to regulate their own self-worth.

When children become responsible for their mother's emotional wellbeing, we unknowingly pass down the same harmful patterns that may have wounded us.

Breaking this cycle begins with awareness. That moment when your teen shuts the door in your face, pause before reacting. Notice what emotions surface, perhaps sadness, fear, or confusion.

Name these feelings as old pain rather than accurate reflections of your current reality. Instead of trying to fix your child's behavior to soothe yourself, focus on self-regulation through journaling, calling a supportive friend, taking a walk, or practicing deep breathing.

This challenging season is temporary, though the feelings it triggers are real. You can honor your disappointment while still holding space for your child's necessary growth.

By grounding yourself in self-worth that doesn't depend on your child's behavior, you create the foundation for a more authentic relationship built on mutual respect rather than emotional dependence.

The connection between you remains, even in the quiet, wa

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Support the show

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.

What happens in the split second before you yell at your children? The answer lies not in your parenting skills or your children's behavior, but in the invisible thought patterns running beneath your conscious awareness.

When your child slams a door in your face or ignores you for the fifth time, thoughts like "they're disrespecting me" or "no one listens unless I yell" aren't your conscious choices.

They're programmed responses shaped by your childhood, culture, and years of unconscious repetition. These automatic thoughts trigger physical reactions, tension in your chest, quickened breathing, rising voice, before you even realize what's happening.

The transformative truth explored in this episode is that you can train your brain to think deliberately. Through the inner coaching method, you learn to create space between triggering situations and your responses.

This isn't about perfect parenting or toxic positivity, it's about reclaiming control over how you show up in challenging moments. When you pause to question "is this thought helpful?" you unlock the power to choose differently.

Your brain operates like a forest trail, automatically following well-worn paths until you deliberately carve new ones through repetition. Between your child's behavior and your reaction exists a space where choice lives.

Every time you select a thought like "This is hard, but I don't have to meet it with tension" instead of defaulting to frustration, you're literally reshaping neural pathways.

The goal isn't raising perfect children because they don't exist. The goal is your emotional freedom, having your feet firmly on the ground no matter what happens around you.

Join this journey to master conscious choice rather than unconscious reaction, and transform even the loudest moments into opportunities for growth rather than guilt.

Subscribe now to continue exploring how understanding your brain can revolutionize your motherhood experience.

Send us a text

Support the show

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.

Motherhood transforms not just our lives, but our entire sense of self. Yet many of us find ourselves caught in patterns we desperately want to break, the yelling, the frustration, the guilt cycle that leaves us feeling like we're failing our children and ourselves.

What if the calm, intentional mother you aspire to be isn't someone you need to wait for, but someone you can begin embodying right now?

The journey toward becoming that future version of yourself isn't about fake smiles or gritted teeth while chaos swirls around you.

That's just performance, and it's exhausting. True transformation happens when you recognize that your brain is running on programming from your childhood, societal expectations, and media portrayals of what "good mothers" do.

This programming creates automatic thoughts like "I'm being disrespected" or "I'm failing them" when your child slams a door or ignores your question—thoughts that trigger emotions leading directly to reactions you later regret.

Your brain responds to repetition and evidence. Every time you react by yelling, you strengthen that neural pathway until you believe, "I'm just a yeller."

But when you pause, even briefly, and choose to respond as your future self would, your brain takes notice. Through the Inner Coaching Method, you learn to catch those automatic thoughts, ask what the mother you aspire to be would do, and respond from that place, not through willpower, but through practice and patience.

This shift doesn't happen when circumstances improve, it happens right in the midst of eye rolls, messy rooms, and forgotten chores. It begins when you reverse engineer who you want to become, walking backward from that vision to guide today's choices.

The mother you dream of being already exists within you. You simply need to practice bringing her forward, one intentional moment at a time.

Ready to break free from reactivity and step into intentional motherhood? Join me as we explore how understanding your brain can transform your parenting journey from one of frustration to one of connection, calm, and confidence.

Send us a text

Support the show

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.

Ever stood in your kitchen, overwhelmed by noise and chaos, and suddenly found yourself yelling at your kids, again?

That familiar wave of guilt follows, leaving you wondering why you can't stay calm despite your best intentions.

Drawing an unexpected parallel to Neo's red candy moment in The Matrix, this episode reveals what's actually happening in your brain during those triggering motherhood moments.

Your brain isn't broken, it's following efficient neural pathways it has developed over time. When you've unconsciously learned that yelling gets results, your brain reaches for that shortcut under pressure, not because you're failing as a mother, but because it's running on outdated programming.

The key insight lies not in eliminating yelling altogether, but in expanding that split second between trigger and reaction. That brief pause, like Neo hesitating before taking the candy, holds the power to transform your mothering experience. As you become aware of the pattern, that space widens, creating room for choice and intentionality.

This episode offers compassionate understanding rather than judgment, helping you see that the path forward isn't about being perfect, but about becoming conscious of unconscious patterns. The journey begins with awareness, recognizing the moment before you react.

That awareness itself is the first step toward freedom and becoming the mother you truly want to be. Your yelling isn't a character flaw; it's simply your brain doing what brains do.

And with the right support, you can rewire those pathways to create new, more intentional responses to the beautiful chaos of motherhood.

Send us a text

Support the show

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.

Ever feel that fire bubbling up when your kid rolls their eyes, slams a door, or flat-out ignores you for the tenth time? That heat in your chest, the tight jaw, the sharp tone that slips out before you even know it; it's easy to think they caused it. But... what if that wasn’t the whole story?

Turns out, there’s something pretty surprising about how emotions actually work, and it might change the way you see those moments.

Most of us deal with hard feelings in the usual ways: we push through, blow up, or check out. Totally normal. But there’s another way that’s helped a lot of moms feel more steady, even in the messiest moments.

One mom recently told me her teen called her a "safe space," even though she still felt like she was fumbling her way through. That really stuck with me. It's a reminder that we don’t have to be perfect to make a difference.

If this kind of shift is something you're curious about, head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a review. It helps more moms find these tools for navigating the tough stuff with a little more calm; and a lot more grace.

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Support the show

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

“I never wanted to be the mom who yells…”
But here you are, raising your voice, snapping over small things, saying things you wish you could take back.

You love your kids more than anything.

And you know they don’t deserve a mom who yells.

You just don’t know how to stop; especially when they won’t listen, talk back, or push every single boundary.

👉 The 60-second Yell Less Reset quiz is your first step toward change.

Already taken by many moms who wanted to break the yelling cycle.

Based on the science of how your brain responds to stress, this quiz goes beyond surface-level tips.

It helps you pause, uncover what’s really fueling those outbursts, and start shifting the pattern before it spirals again.

You’ll discover:

✅ Your personal Reset; so you can get your kids to listen without needing to yell, threaten, or give in

✅ It’s not just their behavior; it’s the moment you feel like nothing you say matters

✅A clear next step to help you stay calm and in charge; even when your kids are testing every boundary

Take the quiz. Start your reset now.