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Tired of saying "I'm fine" when your body and brain are screaming for honesty? This guided meditation helps overwhelmed mothers stop pretending and start feeling—without forcing a fix.

What You'll Get: A 7-minute practice that meets you where you are: angry, sad, touched out, or completely empty. We start with breath work and body scanning, then move into five practical tools that turn emotional awareness into compassionate action.

The Meditation for Moms:

• Settle into ordinary breath and scan tension hotspots (shoulders, jaw, belly)
• Learn grounding techniques you can use anywhere when big emotions surge
• Practice allowing feelings to exist without liking them
• Release micro-clenches that quietly drain your energy

Five Coping Tools for When You're Not Fine:

1. Write an emotional weather report to name what's happening inside
2. Give yourself permission to take one humane next step
3. Create an anger list—cross out what you can't control, circle what you can
4. Name what's true right now to cut through noise and identify real needs
5. Validate yourself with "it makes sense that I feel..." to loosen shame

Instead of toxic positivity or "cherish every moment," this episode offers real tools for maternal mental health. You'll leave with language, structure, and relief.

For mothers ready to:

• Stop saying "fine" when they're drowning
• Process difficult emotions without judgment
• Find practical coping strategies for mom burnout
• Access guided meditation designed specifically for overwhelmed parents

If you're in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, or New Brunswick and want one-to-one support, reach out. Follow the show and share with a friend who needs gentleness today.

What part of motherhood are you done calling "fine"?

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Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.

Send us a text

Ever slammed your hands on the table and yelled "ENOUGH!" when the noise and chaos became too much? You're not alone, and contrary to what social media might have you believe, it's not a parenting failure—it's biology.

In this eye-opening conversation with therapist Charlie, we explore the myth that mothers should be regulated all the time. Charlie explains how our nervous systems were never designed to handle modern life's constant bombardment of stimuli. Research shows we process more information in one week of urban living than our ancestors did in their entire lifetimes! No wonder we feel overwhelmed, touched out, and on edge.

When that dysregulation hits—whether it's from kids talking over each other, sensory overload, or simply the cumulative weight of the day—Charlie offers practical, science-backed strategies to restore balance. We dive into the powerful STOP technique (Stop, Take a step back, Observe, Proceed mindfully), discuss why deep breathing actually works (even when we roll our eyes at the suggestion), and explore how predictability creates safety for both children and adults.

Most importantly, we challenge the perfectionist parenting narratives that fuel shame and prevent us from accessing the very tools that could help us regulate. As Charlie reminds us, "Should is a shame word," and unless you're a robot, constant regulation is completely unrealistic. Our nervous systems are designed to ebb and flow—even anxiety and dissociation serve important protective functions when used appropriately.

Ready to break free from the impossible standard of perfect regulation? Listen now to discover how honoring your nervous system's needs can transform your parenting experience and help you respond rather than react to life's overwhelming moments.

Support the show

Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.

Send us a text

You know that mental catalog that's constantly running in your brain? The one calculating diaper changes, grocery lists, and whether there's milk for tomorrow's cereal while you're doing three other things? What if I told you that mental load doesn't have to be yours alone to carry?

In this episode, I'm joined by Ryley Miller, Executive Director of Rise of Society Alberta, for an honest conversation about the unseen emotional labor of motherhood and what happens when you actually negotiate sharing it. Ryley and I have both experienced role reversals in our relationships where our partners became the primary caregivers, and let me tell you—it changes everything.

We dig into:

• Why negotiation (not resentment) is the key to redistributing mental load
• How trading primary parent roles becomes "the great equalizer" in relationships
• What doors open when you're not carrying all the invisible work alone
• The ongoing dance between meaningful career pursuits and present motherhood
• Why Ryley's philosophy of "we'll figure it out" is exactly what overwhelmed moms need to hear

Ryley shares how renegotiating the mental load in her marriage didn't just reduce her stress—it opened up space for her to run her organization, take professional risks, and even run for municipal council. But she's also honest about the ongoing challenge of staying present with her daughters while pursuing meaningful work.

If you're tired of being the default parent, the keeper of all family information, and the one whose brain automatically scans for everything that needs doing, this conversation offers hope and practical steps for creating something different.

Resources Mentioned:

• Rise of Society Alberta: Ryley Miller's Bio
• Fair Play Method (mentioned in episode)

Support the show

Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.

Send us a text

Ever find yourself swearing under your breath while trying to be the "good mom" – only to feel overcome with guilt moments later? You're not alone. The messy truth about mom rage rarely makes it to social media, but it's something almost every mother experiences.

What happens when you're a therapist who can't follow her own advice? In this raw episode, I share a particularly hard parenting day where I experienced that uncomfortable yet surprisingly righteous anger, then questioned my parenting afterward. We explore why healing while raising kids feels impossible sometimes, the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it, and how our unhealed patterns affect our children.

As a therapist who specializes in working with moms, I've seen how this cycle plays out – and I'm living it too. From elaborate hotel games gone wrong to kids' shows teaching us about taking things slow, we dive into why the "Puffin way" of slow and steady might be the key to breaking generational cycles without burning out.

Topics covered:

• The irony of giving advice you can't follow
• Why mom rage feels righteous in the moment
• Why healing can't be Amazon Primed
• How childhood patterns show up in parenting
• Regulation techniques that don't always work
• Giving yourself grace in the hard moments

Resources mentioned:

• Inner child healing books
• Puffin Rock (surprisingly wise kids' show)
• The Motherload Membership

Support the show

Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.

Send us a text

It's 9:05pm. You're hollowed-out exhausted, the kids are finally quiet, and you're zombie-scrolling hoping the algorithm throws you a lifeline. But that "calm" you're chasing? It's not really calm - it's just avoidant numbness dressed up like peace.

What if I told you there's something better you can do with those 10 minutes? Something that actually helps your nervous system instead of keeping it stuck in fight-or-flight?

In this episode, we're talking about why grabbing your kid's coloring book might be the most practical self-care tool you're not using. Not because coloring is some magical cure-all, but because when you're too fried for meditation, too touched-out for baths, and too tired for yoga videos, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is pick up a crayon.

We'll dive into the actual science behind why coloring works for regulation, how it gives your brain the sensory exhale it's desperately craving, and why it's perfectly okay to color trees the wrong color when you're feeling everything at once.

This isn't about creating masterpieces or being artistic. It's about giving yourself permission to decompress in a way that actually works when everything else feels like more work.

Perfect for: Overwhelmed moms who are tired of feeling guilty about screen time but don't know what else to do at 9pm.

Resources Mentioned:

• Free 5-Minute Check-In guide
• The Motherload Membership
• Kayla's favorite coloring supplies (Amazon store)

Connect with me:

• Instagram: @kayla.huszar (tag me in your coloring moments!)
• Website: kaylahuszar.com

Remember: You aren't required to solve everything tonight. Your only job is to show up for yourself.

Support the show

Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.

Send us a text

What happens when a mental health professional finds herself on the other side of the desk - struggling, spiralling, and split wide open by a birth plan that was never part of the plan?

In this raw and resonant conversation, Chelsea - co-owner of Couples to Cradles and co-founder of Mama Psychologists - invites us into the story of her early motherhood: one that begins with unexpected labor at just 27 weeks and unravels into a 15-week NICU stay, a cardiac diagnosis, and the kind of emotional unraveling that even a degree in psychology can’t quite prepare you for.

💬 She thought it was Braxton Hicks. It was her son, arriving far too early.
🛩️ He was flown to Calgary. She was left behind in Lethbridge.
🧷 Diapers the size of teabags. Permission slips to hold her own baby.
❤️ A tiny heart with a diagnosis. A mama with one quietly breaking.

Chelsea opens up about the moment she knew something wasn’t right - rage while pumping, not grief. That sneaky, seething kind of burnout that so many of us don’t talk about. She shares how therapy (yes, even for therapists!) and EMDR helped her begin to piece together a healing path, one blurry, hopeful milestone at a time.

✨ Like her son finally fitting into size two diapers - just in time for Mother’s Day.

This episode is for every mother who’s wondered, “Is this normal?” (Spoiler: If you're even asking, it's worth sitting with that question.) It's for the ones who feel disconnected from the role they were supposed to fall into naturally. It's for those still nursing invisible wounds while tending to tiny humans.

You are not broken. You are not alone.
And yes, you deserve support just as much as you give it.

Resources and support available through:
🤝 Mama Psychologists
🍼 Couples to Cradles – where trained therapists walk with you, not above you.

If something inside you feels a little off…don’t ignore it. That inner tug? That’s your soul whispering, “Hey…we need a little care here.”

Reach out. Speak up. You’re so worth it.

Support the show

Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.

Send us a text

You walk into a room, forget why, stand there blinking like a confused Sims character. Then you start spiralling: Is my brain broken? Is this what motherhood does?!

If that moment feels freakishly familiar, this episode is your official permission slip to stop blaming your brain - and start understanding it.

In this illuminating convo on Chill Like a Mother, Kayla Huszar chats with neuroscientist Dr. Jodi Pawluski to dismantle the myth of “mommy brain” as a bad thing. Instead, you’ll learn how your brain is actually doing something remarkable: adapting, fine-tuning, and rewiring itself to help you care for your baby (and probably also pack a lunch while ordering more baby wipes on your phone).

But there’s a twist: The foggy, forgetful, fried feeling? It’s not just biology. It’s the sheer mental load - the nonstop juggling of details, emotions, invisible work, and Goldfish cracker inventory—that’s making recall and focus feel slippery.

Here’s what you’ll receive in this episode:

• What’s going on in your brain during pregnancy and postpartum (spoiler: a LOT)
• Why your “mom brain” moments say more about overstimulation than brokenness
• How society quietly convinces moms their cognitive struggles are personal failings
• Why you don’t need another list of self-care hacks - you need solutions tailored to your nervous system
• The serious research gap in perinatal mental health, and why it matters more than ever

This episode doesn’t just offer answers - it offers relief. Real, science-backed relief that your forgetfulness isn’t a flaw. Your brain isn’t malfunctioning. It’s multitasking survival and sensitivity, all at once.

📚 Want to go deeper? Check out Dr. Jodi Pawluski’s book Mommy Brain, her podcast Mommy Brain Revisited, and her upcoming course through Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Trainings.

🎧 Listen now and reclaim your brain—not from motherhood, but for it.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Maternal Mental Health
02:35 Neuroscience of Motherhood
08:05 The Reality of Maternal Mental Health
12:29 Research Gaps in Maternal Mental Health
15:21 Understanding Mental Health in Context
19:44 Mommy Brain and Mental Load
28:01 Supporting Maternal Mental Health
31:00 Resources and Future Learning

Support the show

Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.

Send us a text

In this episode of Chill Like a Mother, I sit down with the brilliant Stacey and Stephanie to have a real, raw, and slightly irreverent chat about the wild ride that is gentle parenting - especially for neurodivergent moms.

We’re peeling back the layers on the emotional toll of motherhood, the sneaky ways shame and guilt creep in, and why holding onto our own identity and creative expression isn’t just "nice to have" - it’s essential for survival.

We’re also getting real about how motherhood doesn’t have to mean losing yourself (even if it sometimes feels like you've been permanently rebranded as “snack dispenser” and “keeper of everyone's lost socks”).

More than anything, this convo is a love letter to every mom who’s ever felt like she’s drowning in expectations, reminding you that prioritizing yourself isn’t selfish - it’s revolutionary.

Here’s what we dive into:

• Gentle parenting is hard. Period. And when you’ve got a neurodivergent brain? It’s like playing life on expert mode with a controller that keeps disconnecting.
• Feeling like you’ve lost yourself? That’s not just "a phase" - it’s a wake-up call. Time to reclaim what makes you you.
• That heavy mom guilt? It’s probably shame in disguise.
• Self-compassion is your freaking lifeline, especially if ADHD is in the mix.
• You weren’t meant to do this alone. Finding your people (aka a supportive, non-judgy village) is everything.
• Creativity isn’t just a hobby - it’s a way back to yourself.
• Putting yourself first doesn’t make you a bad mom. It makes you a whole, thriving human - who, coincidentally, also happens to be a great mom.
• Trusting your intuition takes practice.
• Society’s idea of motherhood? Maybe it’s time we… gently set that on fire and build something better.
• When you find yourself again, motherhood stops feeling like a life sentence and starts feeling like your life.

Bottom line? If you’ve ever felt like you’re failing at this whole “gentle parenting” thing or like you’re slowly disappearing under the weight of motherhood, this episode is your permission slip to take up space, get messy, and do motherhood on your own terms.

Listen in, exhale deeply, and let’s rewrite the rules together. 💛

• Instagram: @mother_plus_podcast
• Free resource for your audience: The ADHD Good Girls Survival Kit

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Gentle Parenting and Self-Identity
02:45 The Emotional Toll of Motherhood
05:53 Navigating Shame and Guilt in Parenting
08:50 Finding Your Voice and Needs
11:40 The Importance of Community and Connection
14:41 Reclaim

Support the show

Meet Kayla Huszar, the Host of the Chill Like a Mother Podcast

Kayla Huszar is a Registered Social Worker and Expressive Arts Therapist who helps mothers reconnect with their authentic selves through embodied art-making. She encourages moms to embrace the messy, beautiful realities of their unique motherhood journeys. Whether through the podcast, 1:1 sessions or her signature Motherload Membership, Kayla creates a brave space for mothers to explore their identities beyond parenting, reconnect with their intuition, and find creative outlets for emotional expression and self-discovery.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day—kids running amok and all! If this episode helped you feel a little more chill, please leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps the podcast reach more moms who need to hear it.