Why Presence Is a Mother’s Secret Superpower For Anxiety
Right now is always a chance to begin again. Even if the day has been anything but calm.
Anxiety has a sneaky way of showing up in motherhood.
Sometimes it’s obvious, racing thoughts, clenched jaw, that constant sense of being behind.
Other times it’s quiet.
A low hum in the background while you’re making school lunches, replying to messages, or staring blankly at the laundry pile.
But here’s the thing no one really says:
Anxiety doesn’t live in the now.
It lives in the what ifs of the future and the should haves of the past.
And as mothers, we spend a lot of time in both. Especially the future.
The Mental Time Travel That Exhausts You
We overthink yesterday’s reaction.
We regret the tone we used or the time we didn’t make.
Then we skip ahead to tomorrow, already bracing for the chaos.
Running the schedules, managing the moods, predicting the meltdowns.
We live ten years ahead, three days ahead and two days behind -
but hardly ever in this one.
That’s the root of so much anxiety:
Being everywhere but here.
But Right Here? This Moment?
It’s the only place you have any power.
It’s the only place your nervous system can relax.
It’s where you get to experience what is, not what might be
Make a choice.
Change your energy.
Start again.
Your Power Lives in the Now
You don’t need to have it all figured out.
You don’t need to make the “right” decision every time.
You just need to make a choice for this moment.
And if it doesn’t work out?
You get to choose again.
That’s not failure. That’s designing another day.
One decision at a time.
One breath at a time.
One tiny reclaiming of your presence and power, over and over.
Presence Isn’t Perfection
You don’t have to be present all day.
You just need to come back to presence.
Even for a moment.
That might look like:
– Placing your hand on your heart when you feel yourself spinning, and feeling the collarbones and chest expand before drawing your breath to below the belly button and receive all that there is in a few breaths. Exhale to feel the support from below.
– Tapping gently along your collarbone (incoming EFT tapping hack) and reminding yourself, “Right now, I am safe.”
– Pulling silly monkey faces in the mirror, yes, really. Flick the switch from tension to laughter and activate your nervous system with physical messaging.
– Letting go of the future because… you’ve handled everything up to now. And you’ll handle what’s next when it comes. Even if the trajectory changes. Even if the plan doesn’t go to plan.
Because being present doesn’t mean it all is going to be roses.
It means being here, as you are is enough for you to respond with something different. Because while anxiety tells you you’re behind, presence reminds you—you’re here.
And from here, you can do a lot.
You can try something today that doesn’t work tomorrow.
You can change your mind.
You can shift your schedule.
You can choose to edit your energy.
That’s not weakness.
That’s wisdom.
That’s motherhood as a living design,
a process, not a performance.
You’re Also Allowed to Come Back to Yourself
There’s no prize for holding it all in your head, in fact, learn 3 simple processes how to get out of your head in the podcast “Get out of your head - without adding to your to-do list." You are welcome.
Really, There’s only the now. The one you’re in. It’s where your power is.
So take a breath.
Take your power back.
And know, if this moment feels messy, you can always choose again.
That’s the beauty of being present.
It gives you the chance to begin, right now. As many times as you need.
P.S. Want help dropping back into now? Here’s a powerful little Hypno-Meditation to bring you back to the gift of presence and reset your system.
Listen before sleep for a week, and let your body remember what safe, steady, and enough feels like.(Just don’t use it while driving or operating sharp things!)
Carla Mardell, creator of Mindset in Mayhem, teaches busy women how to get off the mouse wheel of busy, flip the thoughts that keep them stuck, and find calm- even with careers, kids, and lives chaos in the mix. She blends EFT with emotionally intelligent tools that actually work- so that you can stress less, reclaim your time, and feel more like yourself again. You know glow, flow and bring back some mojo!
No healing pits of misery.
No 5am rituals.
Just real change, in the moment, without the flaming hoops.
