Mastering the shift into Matrescence might not be easy. But I can tell you it will wake up your creative power like never before!

On my latest podcast episode (below), I had a chat with Elise Clement on all things Matrescence. If you’re unsure about what Matrescence means, have a read below and make sure to check out Elise’s website or my article about it on my blog.

Matrescence is the term that made Elise and I meet as I was running my previous business, called Neoma, all about supporting holistically women in transition into motherhood. A common friend introduced us and it has been such a flourishing friendship since.

But let me dive into the concept of Matrescence and how you can really cultivate the power it gives.

What is Matrescence?

Matrescence is the transformation that a woman goes through when becoming a mother. The study of this process is quite recent. The anthropologist Dana Raphel who studied matrescence in the 70’s. She also carved the term doula (which I love as a soul+biz doula).

Then it was revived by Dr Aurelie Athan who put Matrescence and adolescence in parallel to help us understand the process of transition. Motherhood is a learned skill. Everything changes when you become a mother and it takes time to adjust to this new identity. It is essential for women to understand that Matrescence is a process that every mother goes through to not feel like you're failing and that everyone goes through this process, this transformation.

Motherhood is such a powerful period of evolution for a woman.

How to embrace the unique ‘creative power’ of motherhood and matrescence?

First we need to recognise that it is a unique creative time in our woman's life, and it can come from any creation you feel called to create (businesses, art work, new versions of ourselves, books, etc. not only through motherhood). It is all about awareness first.

Second it is about listening to the intuition and the impulse of the body. Elise encourages you to listen to the wisdom of the body: yoga, dancing, breathwork. Elise shares that her business was born from a desire to model for her daughter the aspirations that she has for her: doing something that she loves, that is meaningful, that brings her joy. So she trusted that intuitive nudge to leave her marketing job.

It is so important to connect with your womb space, your pelvic floor, your creative power.

What practices and strategies to start as we are going through matrescence to move forward?

• Cultivating trust: when we start listening to our intuition, we may feel challenged, be called to do something differently. It is so important to get to know yourself through personal development and experimentation. It takes commitment and patience and support for that to happen.

• Starting with kindness: when you’re learning how to raise your child, you need to learn how to become a mother. You need to see yourself as a newborn to cultivate patience, compassion and kindness. This applies to giving birth to your business.

• Finding your support network: surround yourself with holistic practitioners, mentors, coaches to hold space for you, point your blind spots, help you navigate the challenges. It takes a village to raise a family.

• Surrounding yourself with like minded mothers: join circles of women to feel held, valued, cocooned and heard. If you are a new mum you can join Elise’s mama rising circles and if you’re giving birth to your business join our Essential Alchemy membership for ‘moonthly’ new moon circle.

My own matrescene story

Read my article about it. I discovered this when Zoe was a few weeks old (my first born) and I felt so different. My old self died as I became a mother. We need to teach Matrescence to every woman. Let’s be committed to embrace our new self, create our new being.

Elise's journey to matrecence

Around 4 years ago she left the corporate world after 12 years in corporate marketing, as she went through different shifts. The first shift was her burnout early on in her career, where she started meditating and making healthier choices.

She entered this inquisitive phase in her life and she questioned her career. When she became a mother, a big shift happened after one year of maternity leave she realised that something had to change. So she quit her job and without knowing what she wanted to do, she studied nutrition, positive psychology and coaching to contribute to other people’s life and figure out what she wanted to do. Discovering about Matrescence has brought her clarity in her life and business.

Everything fell into place when Elise merged her personal development study with her business.

She is now focusing on supporting women who feel challenged by the competing devotions of motherhood and work, in regaining clarity, confidence and the energy they need to trust and value themselves and their choices.

Conclusion

It is so important in whatever transition you go through to find your trusted circle, this is one of the beautiful connections we have with Elise and that I foster within my Essential Alchemy Membership.

But what you can do off the back of this article is, share it with a woman you know. Talk about this life phase and then work on the practice above to start really embodying this stage of life.