Willow Tree Therapy

Hi Friends! It's the end of 2020 and with that comes the expiry of your insurance benefits. If you have them and you haven't used them, don't lose them! There are so many options for things we can do in a session: We can talk about how to manage toddler meltdowns, how to anxiety/mental-health proof your children, we can do a relaxing mindfulness meditation session tailored specifically to your needs, calming our own reactivity, irritability and anger, managing our stress dur...ing a pandemic....the list goes on! If you live in Ontario, Alberta or Nova Scotia (where I'm licensed), please reach out to me through my website: https://gillianreid.com/ or send me a PM so we can set something up before end of year and use your benefits!!! Please pass this on to another mother who can use this little push of support for themselves.

Stay wild sweet child. Enjoying the last days of Autumn . #thisismotherhood #runwildmychild

It's not what we say to our children that matters as much as what we do. If we say "I'm happy" but we aren't, they know. If we run around the house on turbo speed and say "I'm fine and not stressed", they get confused because actions aren't matching words. ... You can show them over and over that they are the most important thing in your life.......and they will learn to make someone else the most important thing in their life. We ALL screw up in parenting. So if we want to be a great role model for our children, we start by thinking about the message we send them through our actions: Messing up and apologizing = It's okay to not be perfect and I am still worthy Feeling sad or angry = It's okay if I have big emotions sometimes and it's safe to express them Slowing down even when there's 1000 things to do = It's okay to not do everything, and I'm still a good person Taking time to prioritize yourself = My needs are important and I will take care of myself I know it seems kind of counterintuitive, but the magic is in the mess. The great parenting happens when we start getting real about our real experience, and letting ourselves be seen. So they learn that they deserve to be seen too. If this is hard, or feels too vulnerable, don't struggle through it alone. There are really great ways to undo your anxiety and feel like a great mother. What do you think? #realmotherhood #rolemodel #parenting #momstruggles #momstrong #momstress #anxiousmom #momtruth #mommybrain #momproblems #momlife101 #whattoexpect #realmom #firsttimemom #momhacks #tipsparenting #igmotherhood #momoflittles #momsohard #maternalmentalhealth #therapy #holistic

My diet has changed a lot since becoming a mother. I used to have a lot of rules. No dairy. No wheat. No refined sugar. Don’t eat too close to bed. Don’t eat too early in the morning. Eat greens with every meal. Add fibre, but only the right kind of fibre. Make sure that everything was organic. And even with all of that, I still LOVED food and the delicious, nourishing meals that I made. I was definitely healthy, energetic and feeling good. ... Then that all screeched to a halt when I had a baby who didn’t sleep for about two years. And I started working again with little to no help. And my nutritional needs changed. My time and availability changed. I couldn’t just get to the store whenever I was out of kale. And I couldn’t spend an hour making something when I only had 10 minutes. But something else happened too. I started letting go of the rules. I started letting go of the way things had to be. I realized I made up all those rules in my mind... and while they were fine at the time, they weren’t now. We all do this. We make up rules and limits in our minds, put them on ourselves as if they’re the truth, and then suffer over and over trying to meet these things we just decided one day needed to be there. Letting go of the way things should be was one of the best things I ever did. It made life easier. I stressed less. And for moms who are dealing with overwhelm & anxiety, stressing less is a BIG DEAL. Some moms I work with have trouble figuring out what expectations are real and which ones are made up and could be let go. Sometimes it takes some inner work for that shift in perception to happen. But things being easier is possible. You feeling less overwhelmed, less stressed, less anxious, is possible. So here are my homemade scones. They’re gluten free, but not grain free. They’ve got nutritional yeast in it which is packed with vegan cheezy goodness and they also have goat cheese dairy in them. They have coconut oil, but then I ran out, so I had to add butter too. As far as I’m concerned, not should-ing all over myself is a Saturday morning win!