Mothershift - by Jessie Harrold (Paperback)

About the Book

"A supportive, grounding guide for new mothers navigating the cascade of identity change and transformation that is motherhood-based on the internationally acclaimed program, Mothershift"--

Book Synopsis

Nautilus Book Awards Gold Winner

Explore this supportive, grounding guide for new mothers navigating the cascade of identity change and transformation that is motherhood.

Our modern, Western societal understanding of what happens to a woman when she becomes a mother--beyond emotional rollercoasters and healing her pelvic floor--remains largely uncharted territory. The transition to motherhood actually takes two to three years, not six weeks or three months as we've been led to believe. Mothershift offers a supportive, affirming road map to take women through this transformational process.

Jessie Harrold introduces her "map for your becoming," a research-based, four-phase model that maps out how the transition to motherhood unfolds and helps women to navigate every step along the way. She has used this model to guide thousands of women through the shift into motherhood. Harrold also includes self-inquiry questions and journal prompts in each chapter to help women identify and thrive amidst the cascade of changes they can expect as they enter motherhood. Topics include:

• Normalizing the feelings of grief and loss of self you may feel along the way.
• Navigating the discomfort of not knowing who you are anymore now that you're a mother.
• Guiding you to cultivate a sense of empowerment and leadership in motherhood, showing you how mothering is a counterculture act.
• Showing you how to use the "superpowers" that motherhood can offer--self-tending, creativity, embodiment, ritual, community, inner knowing, and earth connection.
• Gently guiding you to explore who you are becoming.

Review Quotes

"A richly nuanced, gorgeously written book that treads fearlessly into the paradoxes of early motherhood, simultaneously honoring its many hardships and illuminating its potential for transformation and empowerment. By turns poetic and scholarly, personal and political, Mothershift provides a map for navigating the complex landscape of matrescence. In essence, what Jessie Harrold offers her readers is permission: permission to feel whatever there is to feel, to be utterly rearranged, and even to 'lose yourself' in motherhood, trusting in her gentle and wise assurances that you will ultimately be found."
--Molly Millwood, PhD, author of To Have and To Hold

"Mothershift is deep nourishment and potent medicine for modern mothers, and Jessie Harrold is the real deal, weaving hard-won wisdom, intersectionality, and heart throughout each page. At a time when most mothers don't have access to wise, initiated elders, Mothershift is especially essential as a source of mature guidance and support. I highly recommend this gem to new mothers and mother lovers, alike."
--Beth Berry, author of Motherwhelmed

"Mothershift weaves wisdom from nature, wise guidance, profound reflection, and nourishing support for mothers everywhere, creating a space of nurturance and care so often missing in the transformation of motherhood. Jessie Harrold's loving and intuitive approach is deeply welcoming, reassuring, and so hopeful. Mothershift will help mothers remember themselves whole. It is the book all mothers need."
--Lisa Olivera, author of Already Enough

"Mothershift is medicine for every new mama's heart, and wisdom that this world so desperately needs as we re-learn how to honor this profound transition into becoming 'Mother.' Even five years after first becoming a mother, Jessie's words orient me in a new way--and support me in the process of still becoming."
--Dhyana Masla, author of Ayurveda Mama

"Mothershift is the real deal companion every mother needs to support her through the complex emotional and spiritual landscapes that come up in new motherhood. It's so much more than a guide--Jessie Harrold provides the data, research, and grounded truths to validate a woman's complex experience of matrescence. I envision mothers gathering around kitchen tables discussing this book!"
--Becca Piastrelli, author of Root & Ritual

"Mothershift is a beacon and an essential read for the early years of motherhood. While reading it, all I could think about was how much less lonely I would have felt if I'd had this book when my babies were young. But even though my children are older now, Jessie Harrold's words reframed my memories, tenderly soothing remaining traces of not-enoughness or unattended grief. As Harrold says, when you become a mother, you become something new. Finally, we have a book to compassionately shepherd us through that process of becoming."
--Mara Glatzel, author of Needy

"So many guidebooks for mothers focus on the baby, and yet Jessie Harrold knows that the root of family well-being begins with care for the mother. Rather than what we do as mothers, it is how we feel that truly matters in terms of an empowered and embodied mothering experience. The elemental framework in Mothershift for navigating the transformation of motherhood speaks to our mothering bodies, and the 'MotherPowers' that Harrold names are a road map for rebuilding a personal and collective mother-loving culture that will benefit us all."
--Tami Lynn Kent, author of Wild Feminine, Wild Creative, and Wild Mothering

About the Author

​​JESSIE HARROLD​ is a coach and doula who has been supporting women to navigate rites of passage and other radical life transformations for over fifteen years. She is the founder of the internationally acclaimed matrescence support program MotherSHIFT as well as The Village, its sister program for postpartum support professionals. Jessie's work has also been featured in International Doula Magazine, Spirituality & Health, Today's Parent, Green Parent, Motherly, Expectful, and more. She is the author of Project Body Love and the host of the Becoming Podcast.