H E A LT H Y Y O U
For the Love of Mothers STORY MICHELLE JOHNS
MA, LPC-MHSP (TEMP), NCC, 200 HR E-RTY, 500 HR RYT
this
writing is a celebration of mothers. Whether you are a mother or not, you have life because of your mother. I recognize there are many difficult situations surrounding mothers, nevertheless this month, I want to focus on the beauty of motherhood. As a Clinical Mental Health Counselor (TLPCMHSP) and a trauma informed yoga teacher, my career is focused on empowering women to heal and overcome emotional, physical and verbal abuse. My work includes helping women reconnect to their body and find it a safe place to be after being abused and harmed in unimaginable ways. My focus is to be a safe place to hold space for women and help them find their path toward restoration through transformation of the relationship they hold with all the parts that make up the whole of their being. I celebrate mothers and all that they bring to humanity—the special and unique gifts that make them an important part of giving and sustaining life. As I spend my days with women who have been marginalized and minimized by unexpected and uninvited life events, I celebrate the graceful resilience I witness in their overcoming and rebounding to persevere toward the life they desire to create. For many that includes motherhood, despite unforeseen and unwarranted hardships. The calling to motherhood is often the dearest of all invitations. To quote my article in last May’s issue of At Home, “Whether you are [a parent] or not, you are a product of your parents. Whether you knew your parents well 84 | At Home Memphis & Mid South • May 2022
or not at all, they played a significant role in your development as a human. Parents are the most influential people in our lives. It is from our parents we inherit our legacy burdens and gifts.” I invite you to pause for a moment of gratitude for your mother; if for nothing else, for giving you life. If you are breathing right now in a body with flowing blood and a beating heart, it is because a mother carried you to term and gave you life. Mothers are not perfect people, but most mothers seek to give their best to their children each and every day. Mothers work hard to create harmony between their career and family. Mothers sacrifice a career outside the home to stay at home fulltime with their children. Mothers homeschool their children. Mothers manage multiple schedules for multiple family members. Mothers ensure their families are fed breakfast, lunch and dinner at home or on the go. Mothers heal wounds physically and emotionally throughout every stage of development. Mothers make celebrations grand and personal. Mothers encourage their children to live out their dreams. Mothers are the most influential people in our lives. While there may be many things we wish they did or would do differently, we are almost always grateful for them. We seek their advice and help when we plan an event, go to an event, cook our first meals, ask out our first date, go on our first date, have our first heartbreak, break our first heart, struggle with a bully, face a challenging coach or teacher, seek our first job, move into our first home away from home, and start our own branch of the family.
