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Anxiety is a future-focused worry.
It pulls you out of the moment you’re in
and into one that hasn’t happened yet.
Your brain starts predicting, scanning, preparing to get ahead of what could go wrong.
And it can feel useful. Productive, even.
But your body doesn’t always know the difference
between what’s real and what’s imagined.
So even while you’re standing in the kitchen,
doing something completely ordinary…
your system can feel like it’s bracing for impact.
That’s often why reactions can feel so big,
so urgent, or hard to settle.
Your brain is trying to protect you for a moment you’re not in.
• Am I responding to what’s happening… or what I think might happen?

Worry is on a spectrum.
Sometimes it looks like anxiety, jumping ahead, trying to predict and prepare.
Sometimes it looks like rumination, looping back, trying to make sense of something that’s already happened.
Different directions, same outcome:
you’re pulled out of the present moment, the ‘right here, right now’
And when that happens, you’re not responding to what’s actually happening. You’re reacting to a memory or a prediction. You might notice then when you reflect on a reaction being disproportionately large for what was unfolding.
Check in: where’s my brain? Am I right here right now or in the past/ future?
If you know, you know.
But also… if you don’t know, you really don’t know, ya know?
I fully cringe at some of the things I said (or didn’t say) to parents before I had any idea what I was on about.
You can understand the harmless intent on the one hand, and still feel completely alone on the other.
It’s a strange and vulnerable time… and those unsolicited comments can really make you wobble.

If you’ve ever thought:
“Why did I react like that? That’s not who I am.”
This is why.
Rage = your nervous system in survival mode.
Not thinking mode.
You’ve flipped your lid.
Your body is leading.
Your usual calm, rational self is temporarily unavailable.
Then you come back down…
and suddenly you can think again.
Cue guilt. Cue shame. Cue spiralling.
Important reframe:
That guilt is actually a sign of your values.
You care.
Which is why it feels so bad.

Like a stove top kettle on the boil. Flipped lids unite as we discuss Maternal Rage at next week’s workshop.
Important note!! Due to power works at Corkwood, this session will be held at Birth and Beyond.
Tuesday March 31st.
10-11:30am

Look, I know this shit is easier said than done.
There’s a version of me that gently suggests mindful moments. Then there’s the version of me hiding from the kids, dirty washing, watching absolute rubbish, adding things to carts like it’s a competition. There’s yet another version that is even less ‘therapeutic action’ 😉
Sometimes a deep breath does the trick, sometimes I need a full blown zone out. What evs!
The cycle of doubt doesn’t is a seed sewn in the past that blooms in your relationships.
Often, this kind of insecurity has roots in earlier experiences where love felt:
inconsistent
conditional
hard to trust
or something you had to work for and that was easily taken away.
So you got good at noticing the slightest shift, a change in vibe. You're now fluent in subtext and silence.
That awareness can be incredibly adaptive when you're young.
But in close relationships, it can also turn into an internal alarm system that doesn’t quite switch off.
So now reassurance doesn't land, because something in you has learnt to question safety
When community care is treated as optional.
Spaces like Birth & Beyond aren’t “extra support” they are community to an isolated and vulnerable demographic.
The only non-clinical, drop-in support of its kind in Central Australia.
The place where you can say,
“this is harder than I thought” and be met with "yeah, me too".
Without them?
→ more isolation
→ more silent struggle
→ more parents slipping through the gap between thriving and surviving
Resilience doesn't have to be found alone.
Access to community isn’t a luxury.
It’s essential.
Full article here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-13/new-parents-fear-birth-and-beyond-will-close-funding-shortfall/106442774
I'll be opening Birth and Beyond a few hours here and there this week. You can hire some books, whip out a boob, have a chat etc!
A question that could have saved me a lot of confusion and isolation.
Matrescence, like adolescence, is a biological, hormonal, relational, emotional upheaval of an identity transformation.
There’s such a strong narrative and understanding about the discomfort and difficulties of adolescence. It’s expected! And so support is mobilised.
Matrescence on the other hand, often occurs with a narrative around pure happiness, overlooking the struggle.
In Australia, 1 in 5 mothers will meet the criteria for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) and will require specific interventions and support.
But 5 out of 5 women deserve support through the transition of matrescence.

I know to not hold an expectation I can’t keep!
And the bonus is you feel a bit less shit for stuffing up all the time.
We’re often told things like motherhood, relationships, big life transitions will be hard while also holding an idea of ‘how’ hard or who we’ll be when it’s hard.
Sometimes, the mismatch between what we expected and our reality makes it feel beyond hard. It feels like we are getting it wrong.
That chasm between expectation and reality is where a lot of shame and guilt live.
General Enquiries
Please note: Entrance for Corkwood Collective is on Ragonesi Rd. 150m after Steiner School on the right.