In my early days of motherhood, I felt fragmented. My body was exhausted but I kept pushing it, like beyond. Like I could ‘win’ at mothering. My mind was spinning with worry but I couldn't quiet it. My emotions were huge but I felt numb. And I had no idea who I was anymore beyond "someone who keeps this baby alive." I needed something that could help me check in with all of it without taking an hour I didn't have. The PIES Meditation became that tool.

For new mothers, this practice is life-changing. Because in early motherhood, it's easy to lose track of which part of you needs attention. You're so focused on keeping your baby alive that you forget to check in with yourself. A PIES Meditation gives you a structure to do that. In 5-10 minutes. Even when you're exhausted.

What I now know that I needed is practical tools (not aspirational wellness advice or Instagram mantras) to actually come back to myself when I felt like I was failing. Two practices have changed this for me. They're the ones I return to again and again, even now. They're the ones I teach every new mother I work with. And I'm sharing them with you today because if you're in the thick of early motherhood, you need them too.

Yoga Nidra translates to "yogic sleep," but that's kind of misleading because the whole point is to stay awake. You're lying down in the most comfortable position you can find (props encouraged, no judgment), and you're guided through a systematic relaxation of your body and mind.

Once I released these stories I was holding on to, I gave myself permission to start small and messy. I got on Spotify. Put my headphones in. Listened to a guided meditation. Sat on my couch and breathed. Was it perfect? No. Did my mind wander? Constantly. Did it change my life? Gradually, yes.

Because here's what I discovered: meditation didn't make my problems disappear. It didn't make motherhood easier or sobriety simple. But it gave me a way to be with myself through all of it. It created tiny pockets of space between stimulus and reaction. It helped me find my center when everything felt chaotic.

And it can do the same for you. No special cushion required, no empty mind expected, no perfect circumstances demanded.

Meditation isn't a single practice. It's an umbrella term covering dozens of different techniques, each designed to work with different types of minds, bodies, and personalities. Asking everyone to meditate the same way is like asking everyone to learn the same way in school. Some of us need to see it, some need to hear it, and some need to move through it. The meditation practice that changes your life might not involve sitting still at all.

If you're newly sober and trying to meditate, please know: it's supposed to feel hard right now.

You don't need to achieve some zen state. You don't need to feel peaceful or calm or blissed out. You don't need to do it "right." You just need to show up. Sit down. Notice what's here. Breathe.

Some days that will feel manageable. Other days it will feel impossible. Both are okay. The practice isn't about feeling better, it's about being willing to feel, period. And that willingness is everything. It's how you stay sober. It's how you heal. It's how you rebuild trust with yourself.

One breath at a time. One moment at a time. One day at a time.

That's the practice. That's the path. That's enough.

This practice didn't just help me survive the hard moments. It helped me actually experience the good ones too. Because when you practice being present with discomfort, you also get better at being present with joy. With the weight of your baby on your chest. With the miracle of their tiny fingers. With the fierce love that sometimes feels too big for your body.

Three minutes taught me how to be here. Not in my anxiety about the future or my regrets about the past. Just here. And on the hardest days of early motherhood and early sobriety, being here was the only way through.

It took me a while to realize that this isn’t about “shutting off” your thoughts. Rather, it’s about changing your relationship with them. And while the outline or exploration of the process might seem simple, it can take time to have breakthroughs, time for a ha moments, time for realizations. But like we say in yoga, “practice and all is coming”.