But I also know what I’m navigating through is going to resonate with so many of you AND I am also just so like done (I know y’all going to feel this one) with the perfectionist performance on social media that isn’t a truthful representation of the real life behind the screen.

I will tell you what though; the truth from the messy middle is much harder to show. There’s ease in only showing the polished perfected side of our lives where we have it all together. But what about when we don’t? What about this beautifully fragile and tender place called the messy middle?

The biggest illusion is that we truly believe when we feel like we ‘don’t have our shit together’ that we actually don’t have our shit together. The reality is that actually having our shit together all the time is the illusion. The human experience of life is inherently messy. What if it having your shit together wasn’t about performing a certain way but instead being capable to dance through the tangles of life, meet the truth where it is and share that and make art with the perceived mess?

So in this piece I’m going to share vulnerably (if I had a dollar for every time I’ve typed that word since I’ve started this subbie ha!) what’s been unfolding for me, and then how I’ve been supporting myself through this season will be shared in the next piece. This piece does talk about childhood experiences (sans specifics) and how they can impact us but also how they happen for us, so if you need to, please tread with care for your own heart.

I invite you to join me as a paid subscriber for just $5 NZD a month to unlock access to all my paid articles, including this one (which is incredibly raw and real. I do not hold back, including direct references to what I sang at the top of my lungs while editing this piece):

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We are making big (like BIG) moves and sitting with big (like très BIG) life decisions.

Continuing with the sea sailing analogy, I’m going to extend this further to explain how it’s felt for us both during this time. If we think about our bodies as the ships carrying ourselves over the seas of change, it’s felt like all of our belongings inside of the ship have been thrown around on rough waves. In our bodies, it’s felt like we’ve been shaken up and all of our junk in the trunk has come up to be processed and witnessed.

I will be sharing more about what we’re moving through and deciding on (it’s in the realm of family structure / schooling / location / work / relationships) in time once I’m able to. But over the next few posts, I want to share more about how I’m supporting myself through this season.

In this piece, I’ll be talking into hiding vs sharing from the messy middle. In future pieces, I’ll be sharing about how I’ve been supporting myself through this season and exactly what we’re moving through as a family. Those pieces will be for paid subscribers only so you can consider joining below x

Typically in the past, I would navigate through these moments of big change by pulling back, shutting down and waiting it out until it felt easier. Sharing from the scar, instead of the wound. “Here’s what I’ve been navigating” but sharing only once I’ve navigated through it successfully and I’m out the other side. Give me the gold star, but never see me as anything other than polished and with my shit together.

In my last Substack piece, I touched on the performative side of social media + content creation and how if we identify as a particular label like “conscious” or “crunchy” or “natural” then we can make decisions that we feel like we should make to fit this box we’ve created for ourselves and then perform our lives to make sure we stay inside of this box.

Then it gets very twisted because we start planning our day around “what will my followers love to see” instead of “what would I love to experience today”. Small, subtle decisions day-after-day and all of a sudden our lives have become an empty performance for numbers on a screen.

Like what the actual fuck team. My ancestors sailed across the ocean on a boat to a country they’d never seen before and set up life here in an island in the middle of nowhere. Am I honouring their bravery by waking up each day performing my life for squares on a screen? We’re starting to lose the plot. OR ARE WE JUST STARTING TO FIND THE PLOT? Is this the plot? We’re finding the plot. We’re actually in the plot twist. The plot started to become about performance and we’re shifting the plot back to living our most authentic lives again.

The plot of our lives cannot be about performing. I know and I know you know that you were born for so much more than that. That there’s more to life than performing for others. For altering your words to suit others. For curating your decisions to get the most reach. For making yourself more digestible. More acceptable.

So as I’ve been exploring this notion of performance in my life and how decisions I’ve made in the past were influenced by this desire to fit in the box I’d made for myself, it’s illuminated for me how I had also formed a belief that I wasn’t able to show up in my business unless I was able to perform a certain way.

A belief that I had to be a certain version of me to be online and show up and share and lead others, because otherwise I wasn’t on brand. It wasn’t what you expected of me. I had to be polished and perfect. My brand is all about wellness as a mother, but what happens when I move through seasons of feeling disconnected from my own vibrancy? How do I show up when I’m moving through it? When life be life-ing me?

Well, guess what is even less on brand? Being inauthentic as fucccck.

So typically, I would pull back when I couldn’t match the perfect polished version of myself that I had decided you all needed me to be. When I was in the messy middle, I would hide. When I was navigating through life, I would put my business on pause. When I was in the wound, I’d wait for the scar to then share.

I know what I’m moving through right now is going to resonate with so many of you. I’ve always said that becoming a mother is becoming a parent to the child you created and birthed, but also becoming a parent to the child inside of you too.

Those words could not be more relevant for me right now.

As we’ve sailed these seas of change, my inner world has been centre stage for me. And as I’ve been navigating through all that is needing my attunement and attention, I’ve found myself pulling waayyyyy the fuck back. Hiding. Shutting down. Thanks nervous system for doing what you’re meant to do. But also, thanks to a little bit of shame for helping me hide.

Shame that it feels like everyone around me has their shit together and I don’t (lol the stories our minds tell us) and I have to wait until I do to get back out there. The more I wait, the further away I feel. Shame that what I have experienced in my life has made me weak and not strong (couldn’t be further from the truth). Shame that I’m the only one navigating through this and no-one will understand (more stories).

And so, here I am rewriting this shame. Rewriting this story. Rewriting this pattern of waiting for the polished perfection to show up and share.

I know what I’m navigating through will resonate deeply with many of you. It’s asked me to pull back and go within, which I’ve wanted to honour, but I don’t want to stay there and hide anymore.

Stay tuned for the next piece where I share more about supporting myself through seasons of change in a stormy sea.

Until then, I’m sending love to you and to all of our inner children who are the strongest little darlings I know,
By Jess Anderson x

I am notorious for going deep in conversations quickly. Don’t ask me about the weather or “what I’ve been up to”. Tell me what’s on your heart, what’s taking up space in your mind, how are you experiencing the world right now. Let’s go deep, and because we all know as mothers that we have about 1.2 seconds before we’re going to have to redirect our focus somewhere else, let’s go deep in a timely fashion.

As many of you know, I went offline for a year in 2025. (If you haven’t read about that you can find my first post on my feed). While I was offline I lost connection with a way of being that I haven’t been able to rediscover since returning - and I’m not looking to regain the connection.

It’s such a subtle way of being, I don’t actually know if many users of social media will even be conscious they’re doing it. Like many things, it starts slowly, then becomes ‘simply what we do’ after some time.

At some point before social media and without camera phones that we carried in our pockets everywhere (yes that life did exist I promise you), we lived our lives without documenting every moment. Aside from with the written word.

When I went offline, this was partly what I lost connection with. My life was no longer continuously documented. But it’s not just the documenting of life - it’s the intention behind it.

You see, what happens is, we go from taking a photo of a moment in our life because it’s something we want to document and remember for the rest of time to taking a photo of a moment in our life because it’s something that will look good on the ‘gram.

And that small, subtle distinction is a super slippery slidey slope to get on.

My morning coffee? Now an Instagramable moment. But only if I turn the handle that way by 13° so it catches the light perfectly.
My pilates class? Now an Instagramable moment. But only if I’m wearing the right activewear and grab the post-worthy matcha after (no shade to the matcha fans - but please only order one if you actually enjoy it).
My morning shower routine? Now an Instagramable moment. But only if I have a mask on that I can take a photo wearing afterwards.

When the intention behind our behaviours is driven by ‘what will look good on Instagram’ it is never going to end with us living our most authentic lives.

Instead of living our most aligned, fun, vibrant, exciting, fulfilled lives and then sharing moments of that life on social media, the tables have turned, and we now plan our most Instagramable life and hope that it leaves us feeling like we’re living an aligned life.

An impossible expectation in my experience.

Before going offline, I knew this way of being well. Then I went offline and regained the habit of taking photos when the motivation to take the photo was driven by genuine authenticity to want a photo of the moment. Not because it would look good on the ‘gram or get the likes or be aesthetically pleasing for my brand. But because it was a special moment of my life that I didn’t want to forget.

My thoughts shifted from planning moments that would look good for the ‘gram or being excited about events knowing they’d be epic content, to planning moments that would leave me feeling a particular way. And if I took a photo then, great, and if not, then I have something called a memory.

Our behaviour is so driven by what we perceive will be liked by others that we’ve forgotten what we even like ourselves.

There’s a version of you that’s being moulded by what you’re seeing online and telling yourself you ‘should be’ more like.

Is that truly yours?

Is this truly your life you’re living?

Or is it the life that someone else’s squares have convinced you that you need.

I’ve often wondered how many health-conscious, natural, crunchy, whatever-you-want-to-call-it mothers are living on a block of land giving the homesteading slow living a go because they got convinced that it looked like a good idea from Instagram. AND they got convinced from Instagram that the homestead would be the perfect little backdrop for their photos on their grid. Did they actually want that life, or did they decide that an algorithm would favour content of cute ducklings?

If we’re basing our life decisions - from minor things like what we’re going to do for the day to major things like whether we’re going to buy a homestead or not - on whether something is going to look good for the ‘gram or not, then I’m sorry to be the one to say this, but we have a major problem here.

I couldn’t wonder this without having walked it partly myself. We almost bought a lifestyle block (I’ve also shared about this in another piece if you so choose to scroll for that you can) and we pulled pin last minute because the idea of the land was great. The reality was me being mainly responsible for the land while my husband worked in his business outside of the home. And did I actually desire that for my reality? Hold on a minute. Let me add another ball to my juggling show while I think about it.

We’re getting caught up in thinking about what we can share on Instagram as our next highlight, instead of actually feeling the true feelings of joy in our bodies as we experience that highlight of our life. It’s a twisted path we walk now as our phones have become the first thing we touch when we wake and the last thing before we go to bed.

Since returning online, I haven’t been able to master the reconnection with that way of being. The one where I plan my life around content, instead of planning my content around my life. And I have no intention of reconnecting that habit.

It’s a subtle one, but you’ll be surprised how it sneaks up on you.

Here’s a good way to know if you’ve fallen suspect:
Next time you take a photo and you adjust something in your reality slightly before you hit the capture button, ask yourself:
Why you’re trying to make a moment even more perfect than it already was? Who is it for? What is it for? Are you documenting your life, or are you performing your life for content?

I can speak into this, because we’ve just had a huge shimmyshake up and redirect in our own personal life (which is why I’ve been slightly less present online lately) and I’ll be sharing more soon with my paid subs. If you wanna become one and unlock all the goodness, I welcome you in with open arms. Let’s talk more about creating your own authentic life - for your eyeballs and heart bubbles first; then for the ‘gram. And not the other way round.

Sending you big love as always,
By Jess Anderson x

I shared on my Instagram today (a place I’m starting to re-enjoy playing in again) about how the wellness world is reminding me of a Masterchef episode.

You know how the contestants get given a cooking challenge and a timer starts and it’s all a frantic rush until the judge yells out “tools down”? I actually had to google if this was Masterchef or an episode of the Block (a renovation show for those not in the know). Turns out they use it for both.

And now I want to use it for women in the wellness world.

We’re rushing around biohacking our way to breakfast then optimising our every move, without actually ever getting the “tools down” break.

Our days are loaded with habits that we’ve stacked, gadgets that are tracking our every move and supplements that are meant to be making us more polished, more perky, more perfect.

Yet.. underneath it all is a suffocated woman. Wishing someone would give her an easy out. A way to say “FUCK this, I am done” without a care in the world.

But we care too much now. We’re being sold hair oil and Korean face masks and supplements we can’t live without and rings that track our sleep and if we don’t keep up then our greatest fear of being left behind will be realised.

One of the most powerful things I ever did for my wellbeing was give my body more space and grace. A little less input gave me a lotta big output.

At first I couldn’t understand it. I was doing “all the things” to the point of rigidity and it was only once I let go a little that I saw progress.

Wait, what? That doesn’t fit with the Masterchef mould.

I gave myself my own tools down, and realised through the process what the essentials were for maintaining my wellbeing and what was just fluff on the top that was, to be frank, fucking me up.

Once I started to approach my wellbeing as a woman like a woman, things started to shift.

We haven’t got a Masterchef judge in our lives. (Although let’s be real: many of us do have partners who are watching us with concern as we manically manipulate every minute so we’re maxxxxxxing our health). We won’t get given the “tools down” breather that those contestants get.

Unless we give it to ourselves.

I’m not saying to throw it all in the bin. I am saying it’s time to reclaim the common sense I know you have inside and use that to discern between what’s actually shifting the needle for you, and what’s just adding stress to your already existing load. What’s necessary, and what’s clever marketing that’s draining your bank account and filling up your day.

It’s not always about what we’re doing. It’s more about how we’re doing it.

If we’re running a sprint every single minute of the day so we can fit all of the 8566327458956-steps to our wellness routine in, I can almost guarantee it’s not serving us.

If we’re approaching it like the contestants on Masterchef approach the cook-offs, or like the couples on the Block approach the room reveals, we’re going to burn out. We can’t sustain that.

Don’t burn yourself out trying to get out of burn out.

It feels ridiculous to type that out, but I know this message well. I lived through it.

So tomorrow morning, instead of waking up and rushing into breakfast because you must eat a high-protein breakfast within 30 minutes of waking before even considering a coffee and also see the sunrise while balancing on one foot, just take a breath. Remind yourself, there is no competition. No judge coming to score your wellness routine.

There’s just you.

And it’s okay to go at the pace that brings you back alive.

Until next time, big love to you as always,
By Jess Anderson x

As I started to reclaim myself, my power, my energy, my needs, one of the first things I would do to connect back in with myself was go to my local cafe and take myself out for a date.

Not because I didn’t have any friends to go with (but if this is you, that’s okay too) but because I was building the relationship back with myself. I didn’t want to need a catch-up with a friend to be the reason that I would go to a cafe. I didn’t want to wait for a reason or an external circumstance to do the things that brought me joy and more aliveness.

When I’d share these solo dates with friends, some of them would be geniunely surpised that I’d do this. I could feel the shame in their words as they almost whispered, “but what if someone saw you? I don’t think I could do that”

Someone saw me, what?

Sitting in silence, sipping on a cuppa, connected to my own energy, thoughts and dreams? I hope they do see that.

More so, I hope too that my children see that.

They see and experience a mother who is connected to her own energy, her own life, her own joy, her own purpose, her own passion, her own life-force, her own existence.

A mother who can claim a table at a cafe and hold the space just for one.

After a few solo dates to my local cafe, I then added in a solo date to the movies to see a chick-flick. After this, I went away for the night on my own. Then I went away for three nights.

All of these were the stepping stones to being able to claim an eight-night trip overseas to Bali. It started with the reclamation of the solo table at the cafe.

I didn’t go from being with my kids constantly and never claiming any spaciousness for myself to booking a flight to Bali.

Slowly over the years I played around with how experiences made me feel and how they made me return to the home as a mother. So that everyone’s energy could rise to match mine, instead of us all falling in a heap.

I’m not sharing about my solo dates as a mother because I’ve figured out some rule in the rule-book that you don’t know about. I’m not sharing because I’m better in any way, or have my shit more together in any shape or form (believe me on this).

I’m sharing because the road home to myself has taken YEARS of devotion. And it’s lit a fire in me to also be devoted to your own homecoming. That’s why I’ll share. For you, the authentic you, the real you, the truest you, who is waiting for you to spend time with her. She’s why I’m here. Because for SO LONG I forgot she even existed for me.

There can be so many reasons that we delay the devotion to our own needs and time as mothers. The guilt of not being there with the kids. The worry of missing something. The shame of not being able to handle it without a break. The rejection of spending the finances on ourselves instead of the whole family.

This weekend, I invite you to join me in a little challenge. Think about one thing that you love to do - maybe it’s a hike, or a cafe date, or perhaps it’s going to the cinema or a show - or maybe you’re ready for a night or two away. Now you have it in your mind, I invite you to book a time-slot in for it over the next few days or week.

Before the fear, worry or what-ifs get in your way, follow the path of devotion to yourself knowing that this is what gets poured back into your family.

Tell me in the comments below what you book in, or better yet, send me a DM on IG on your solo date. I’d love to see it.

Big love to you,
By Jess Anderson x

I ran into a friend yesterday (side note: if you bump into me at the playground be prepared to skip the niceties and go straight into the deep chats), and I shared with her that one of the biggest reminders I received on this retreat was something I think many mothers forget from time to time - that we’re individual humans having our own life experience for the first time while also being a mother.

To read more about my insights into this revelation, and more about my solo trip to Bali, you are welcome to subscribe below for just $5 NZD / month which unlocks full access to all the inner workings of my mind and heart.

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I’ll be sharing this raw and vulnerable experience from the heart (I moved through huge emotions on this trip that I think all mothers will resonate with) behind this paywall, so I invite you to pay the $5 NZD below to unlock access.

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As it turns out, on this trip I’ve redefined wellness for myself. It now includes having the resilience and energy and vitality to live on your edge and be fully in your life.

After spending the last 8 days away from my children, husband and home on my first ever solo international trip to a retreat in Bali, I have had so many - almost too many - moments of clarity like this where I’ve gone “oh my gosh this all makes so much sense now” in my head (and out loud). Many downloads. Many aha moments. Many, many realisations. Many insights. Many moments in awe at the wonder of it all. Many moments that felt like all the threads from the last two years coming together to make the most beautiful picture.

I’m going to share and talk about those moments in this piece (and coming pieces).

Before leaving, I was still deciding if I’d share about my experience while I was there immersed in it, or after I got home. Once I arrived, it was clear to me there would be no space to share in the moment. So instead, I’m going to catch you all up on the juicy stories and goss now I’m back on NZ soil.

If you’re curious about the retreat and who it was with, what fears I worked through (there were airport bathroom tears), how I worked through them, what the wonder-filled moments were, what deep clarity I gained and all the other goodness, I invite you to unlock access to all the paid articles for just $5 NZD a month.

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Here’s what I’ve been hiding from sharing: I’m writing this to you from seat 35A flying 17,356 feet in the air. This is my first international trip solo since becoming a mother. And I’ve been hiding from sharing it with you all.

To read where I’m going, what I’m doing, why I’m hiding and what I’ve been working through to get from hiding to sharing, I invite you to join as a paid subscriber which gives you full access to all the juicy articles I write.

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Because of this, I also know that many of you would have started being health-conscious because you wanted to start feeling better in your body / mind (just as I did). But somewhere along the line, what started as a way to “clean up your diet” a little, turned a little more obsessive.

And now, now you’re all of a sudden holding firmly to the identity of being health-conscious, while not actually feeling healthy and it’s a conflicting and confusing place to be.

I’m pretty certain that you didn’t start being health-conscious so you could endure a light sweat everytime Grandma offers a lolly or something sugar-laden, and I’m also pretty certain you didn’t start being health-conscious so your relationship could be filled with death stares when your man gets the wrong product at the supermarket.

Being faced with the dilemma of using the ‘wrong’ product or throwing it in the bin haunts your thoughts.

Not to mention that I’m pretty sure you didn’t start being health-conscious so you could spend your precious child-free moments reading, researching and listening to all the latest podcasts and conscious parenting webinars.

There comes a point where you realise that being health-conscious while not actually feeling healthy is not working.

There comes a point where you realise that being stubborn in the identity of being health-conscious is actually stealing your life-force.

There comes a point where you realise that the whole point of being health-conscious is to actually feel well and to live your life fully.

Not to spend it sweating over lists, ingredients, wellness steps or whether you’re doing it right or not.

The reality is, we’re focusing more on what we’re doing, rather than who and how we’re being.

Making sourdough from scratch while fermenting with frustration on the inside because we feel so burnt out from trying to keep up.

I’m all for holding a standard for my life so I have the energy to live the life I’m here to live, but I’m now also about making it easy and recognising when I’m adding way too much to my plate before it’s too late.

I’ll be hosting a free event on all of this soon, but first; my first solo international trip is coming up so I’m focusing my energy there for now.

Big love your way as always,
By Jess Anderson x

Almost one year ago exactly, we sold our home and bought our dream piece of land. You can read about it here:

While we waited for the land to be titled, we rented a home in the same area the land was in. And it slowly started to dawn on me that this wasn’t actually the dream for me anymore.

You can choose to join as a paid subscriber for just $5 NZD a month to read more x

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In case you missed it, here’s part one for you to catch up on:

After writing part one, I had so many ideas come through that I’ve spent most evenings since with pen to paper getting it all out of my head and into form.

It feels like a rarity in this world to be sharing something written by hand without the assistance of ChatGPT to make it sound more polished. No prompts of “make this sound better” have been used in the creation, I promise.

But I also know your bullsh*t radar is well and truly on, so you don’t need me to make disclaimers like this. You can sense if something has been written by a human, or by a computer trying to make it perfect.

It’s going to become more rare to find work that hasn’t had the input of AI in some form. And I get it - it’s handy to have the ability to make our words sound even more polished, but I’ve reached the ‘f*ck it’ stage of not wanting things to sound more polished, I want them to sound more real. More human. More raw. More gritty. More honest. More YOU.

So in this new offering I’ve been filling an entire notebook with (no joke), that’s what you’ll get. More ME. More YOU. More of the authentic, original, real, raw YOU.

I’m excited to get acquainted with her, are you too?

I’ll be sharing more soon, but in the meantime, here are some words to leave a trail of what’s to come:
Wellness. Heart. Spark. Return. Wonder. Creation. Beauty. Joy. Focus. Vitality. Vision.

It feels like life legacy work. Like my whole life and life’s work has been building to this creation. All the experiences I’ve walked through are to now walk alongside others with. Pheewwwww.

I’m off to keep writing. What could you create today?

Lots of love your way,
By Jess Anderson x

Naturally, when children / teenagers are forced to go to something, no matter what it is, there is usually resistance. This was most definitely the case for me and my experience growing up with church.

Sunday became the day to sign up to any sport that would ‘get us out of church’ or pull a sickie so we could stay in bed instead.

It’s taken me years to unravel from this conditioning around believing in anything because the programming about church, and therefore God, being uncool and something to mock or avoid at all costs was so strong.

I want to share my journey on this path with you all here, vulnerably, openly, from the heart. But I feel hesitant - what if I get it wrong? What if I offend someone? What if I put people off because I’m saying the word ‘God’ in an article?

But also, what if I inspire someone? What if I open someone’s mind? What if I gift someone else trust in their existence?

And so, on we go.

This piece has been inspired by my most recent house move which took place only yesterday. I’m surrounded by packing boxes, but the kids are out on an adventure, and I’d rather unpack my mind than unpack the cupboards.

(If you’d like to read more, I invite you to join as a paid sub below x)

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Even if your consumption of the world news is minimal, you’d have to be living with your head in the sand to have missed the world events right now. It’s everywhere, it’s loud, it’s filled with fear.

And the trend I’m seeing is these incredible mothers who have such beautiful offerings to the world are now doubting their missions.

The world is on fire, so wtaf is even the point?
We’re all doomed anyway, so why even bother?
Social media is giving me the ick, so I can’t be in my business.

Believe me, I know these feelings and the last one is something I wrestle with on the regular.

But of course social media is giving you the ick if you’re only using it to consistently top up your already overflowing cup of fear.

I believe many of us would benefit from a break from social media. I also believe many of us would not need the break if we could use that space for creation instead of consumption.

Right now, the most important thing you can do as a mother (with or without a business) is protect your peace, protect your home, protect your energy. Defend it like it’s the only thing that matters, because it kinda is.

I know how it feels to tune into the media of the world, and come out the other side feeling like you’ve been in a washing machine of doom and fear. It leaves you with a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Colours no longer look as bright. The future looks even dimmer.

We have a choice. We get to choose what we consume.

This isn’t about putting our heads in the sand and hoping it will all go away. It’s about becoming the strongest version of yourself starting with your MIND because there is always going to be uncertainty in the world. This is the only certain thing.

Conscious and aware, but not living with the fear.

I give you full permission today to tune out of the fear-filled narrative and tune back into your truth. Your inner knowing. Your creativity. Your heart-led business that would fill the world with so much joy.

There is a point.
It is worthwhile.
But it’s also up to you to be a leader of your relationship with consumption so the fear doesn’t drown out your faith in your future.

You have a vision for what that looks like, and if you’re spinning around in circles, stuck in your head, preppin’ for the worst case scenario, you’re not going to find it.

The world needs your creation now more than ever. Whether that’s your heart-led business or your heart-led home, you’re creating nonetheless.

Sending big love your way,
By Jess Anderson x

Anyway, back to my day, I started it with a facial that one of my beautiful girlfriends gifted me for my birthday and it was so delightful. The women who held the space has spent years investing in her own inner work and although was years older than me, we shared such a deep resonance of life and learnings so we chatted for much longer than the session time. If any locals reading this want the recommendation for the most restorative meditative facial, hmu.

Afterwards, I came home and could feel the creatives stirring in me. Since being back in my business, I’ve felt the calling to work with mothers and after holding the LifeForce Reset recently, the fires were well and truly stoked. But, I’m hesitating. I’m feeling resistance. And I want to take you with me as I walk through this.

When I started running online programs five years ago, it was a novel experience. The online coaching world was just taking off and it felt fun to be part of the momentum of the journey. I loved the idea of holding a masterclass, then sharing about an epic creation of mine at the end, and inviting mothers to join me inside. It felt fun and it was fun and it was successful.

Many would think, well why don’t you just repeat the same process if it was successful then?

And it’s been tempting to. But I will always follow my intuition in life, motherhood and especially in my business. And my intuition is telling me that this model of passive courses with content videos are on there way out. Not because the incredible coaches aren’t offering insanely valuable information - but because we - and mothers in particular - are drowning in information.

Many now are using AI as their coach, or counsellor, their confidant. The collation of information is easier than it’s ever been, quicker than it’s ever been, but it would appear to me that we’re getting further and further from being in our bodies and being well in our bodies and minds.

What I’m really feeling is a mother-wide overwhelming sense of deeeeeeep fatigue at just how much wellness information is available to them and how many steps they need to take to truly feel well. With the age of AI now on our doorstep also, I can see that more information isn’t actually what’s needed here. More steps to add to the AI-generated reminders that ping-ding-a-doo-doo all over the house also isn’t what’s needed.

Women, and mothers in particular, need the exhale, the slowness, the less, the quiet, the pace to soften.

Here’s what my spidey-senses are feeling for the mother-wide collective right now, I’d love to hear if this is what you’re feeling too?

• A deep primal need to be around other women without the judgement or fear of being seen or being kicked out of the tribe

• Less noise and information and wellness world weird extreme bio-hacks that makes being well in our bodies feel impossible

• A gentle return to the body, to the senses, to the inner knowing we have and reminding ourselves of how potent our wisdom is

• More time in the body and in the heart, and less time in the head and in fearful not-so-merry-go-round thinking

• An effortless way to approach wellness and health that actually leaves mothers feeling well and filled with energy for life

• Things to do with spare time that doesn’t involve numbing ourselves with more scrolling or more screens

• Knowing how to be the mother who claims time for herself - not out of guilt, but out of necessity

• A little tune up of the inner radar for bs information that’s circulating in the media to protect our peace and mental vibrancy

And so as I feel into these things, what I’m also feeling is that another masterclass with another online course with pre-recorded videos is not the way.

What is the way?

How can I support mothers to feel that sparkly feeling of wellness coursing through their bodies? How can I encourage them to disconnect to reconnect? How can I get them out of their heads and back into their hearts?

And how do I reach these women if I want to embody my message and not spend all of my time circulating on social media sharing my message?

I know my next offering will be online, as my mission is one I want to spread far and wide. But it’s going to look different. As I ponder these thoughts, I’ll leave it here for now and drop back in with part two as the awareness lands.

Sending big love your way,
By Jess Anderson x

No-one on the internet can override the wisdom you carry. You’ll soon know if the advice you’ve received is out of alignment with what you truly believe to be true as the right path forward for you - because you’ll feel it. In your whole body. Your whole body will either contract or expand. You’ll feel the sparkle of truth.

But, just because we carry the answers, doesn’t mean it’s always the easiest path forward.

I just followed my gut instincts on a decision and it’s a full-body yes for me, but BOY OH BOY have I had to work through the fear that’s come with this decision. We may know the truth in our bodies, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be fear served up alongside it.

The growth comes when we can feel the full-body yes in our system, not numb the sensation or avoid it by scrolling looking for a reason to distrust it, and actually follow through even when the fear shows up.

I want to share a very personal and raw example of how this recently came up in my life, so if you’d like to read on, you can become a paid subscriber below:

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One of the ideas is quite possibly the COOLEST thing I will ever create; but alas, you will have to wait a bit longer to hear more about that. Good things take time and all that.

However, the first one I can share is the name for this publication which is now called The LifeForce Lounge. A place where mothers can gather in comfy chairs with a cuppa in hand and digest words about effortless wellness that aligns with their design. Oommphhh, yum.

The first of many ideas to be implemented in my business. In fact, I had so many ideas come through during this 30 minute power nap that I had to tell them to slow down - but also that I was listening.

It takes courage and full trust to actually follow through with ideas that come to us. I know you can relate. You know the ideas that come through when we actually allow white space for them to land. Usually when we’re in the shower, or washing the dishes, or driving somewhere familiar.

It’s so easy to dismiss this wisdom. To think “I’ll do it later” or to never do it at all. But I have personally found that my best ideas are always the one that arrive in my brain knocking at the door and are felt in the body with that full feeling of “yes, this is it”.

Actually, my youngest’s name arrived in this way. On the same drive I was doing yesterday funnily enough. I was 30 weeks pregnant and driving home and it knocked on my door and I got tears in my eyes and thought, “of course, that’s it”.

I didn’t just stumble into this level of self-trust however.

It has taken me years to harness the ability to take action on what knocks on the door of my brain. To trust that it will work out. To trust that it’s in my highest intention. To trust that something greater is leading the way.

And not just with my business, but in motherhood too. Since becoming a mother it’s become increasingly obvious to me how this innate wisdom and insight is attempted to be stamped out of us.

We have apps telling us when our baby aka a-unique-human-being-who-there-is-only-one-of should be tired, or when they should have milk, or how long they should be feeding overnight, or how they should be sleeping independently by a certain age.

I don’t speak about the details of these things with my children as I want to honour their privacy around their lives BUT what I can share is that I am so grateful that my journey in motherhood has given me unshakable self-trust.

Not even sideways glances from well-meaning family members about our choices with our children even rattle me slightly anymore. Lol I know you all relate to that one.

You have all the answers within. It’s part of our incredibly intelligent design as mothers. We instinctively know the right path. But unfortunately with the age of information and the age of abandoning our instincts to follow the expert advice of a stranger on the internet, we’ve lost connection with it.

My hope and intention with this space is that you reconnect to that wisdom inside of you that is burning away ready to knock on your brain’s door and tell you all the right answers for you and your family.

Because truthfully, no-one knows you or your family better than you. No expert on the internet can replace the wisdom that you carry for your family’s best intentions. No expert on the internet can replace the communication your baby is sharing with you directly through body language and their eyes. No expert on the internet can give you better advice than the advice your gut is giving you right now.

Welcome to the LifeForce Lounge, babe; this era in business is feeling like my most favourite yet.

We’ll chat soon,
By Jess Anderson x

Through holding the space in this group, I felt so lit up and inspired and it provided me with a stream of life-force energy. The joy I received from speaking into my lived experiences and transformation was tangible. I could feel it radiating through my whole being.

And I became so incredibly aware of what my thoughts started doing when I was experiencing this joy.

Something I spoke about in the group was circling thoughts that we can ruminate on and allow them to take us on a merry-go round and around and around and around. We flash the worst case scenario through our minds over and over again until we are utterly convinced that this scenario will be our reality. Then we wonder why we feel so down or burnt out - when our minds are literally sending us on a trip we don’t want to actually be on.

But a part of us does want to be on this trip; and it’s the part of us that’s addicted to the stress hormones that this thought patterning gives us. Dr Joe Dispenza (gosh I’m a fan) talks all about how addictive stress hormones are and how our thoughts can adjust to meet this addiction. Here’s a quote of his to explain more: “The hormones of stress—adrenaline and cortisol—are highly addictive. When we live in stress for long periods of time, the body becomes conditioned to those chemicals. The body begins to crave the emotional states associated with them, like anger, fear, or anxiety, because it has become dependent on that familiar chemistry.”

So we can become addicted to the stress chemicals, crave the emotional states that feed this loop and then continue believing the worst-case thinking to trigger the emotional state. We can live in a projected future that we’ve created from negative experiences in the past and completely miss the only one true moment that we actually have: the one right in front of us.

Worst-case thinking also protects us in a way. It feels safe. It allows us to ‘cover our bases’. To not get hurt. To not have everything taken away. But is that truly the life we’re here to live? One filled with negativity and worst-cases? One where we don’t actually feel the joy of the life we’re creating?

In the book, The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks also talks about this concept where we can reach a limit of how much love, success and creativity we allow ourselves to feel and then we can sabotage it to return to what feels safe. He says: When we exceed our internal thermostat setting, we will do just about anything to get back into our familiar zone where we feel secure. Upper limits are created by false beliefs we learned early in life.

And I felt this happen to me while I was hosting LifeForce.

I reached an upper limit on my joy and I wanted to sabotage it to return to safety. My thoughts started to bring problems for me to focus on and ruminate about so they took the place of my joy. I could literally feel my heart contract and start to close off to what I was feeling.

I know any mothers reading this will resonate. Right from the start of pregnancy, motherhood is portrayed as a struggle or something to dread or just survive through. And I’m certainly not disagreeing that motherhood comes with challenges or moments where you’re sitting on the floor wondering if you’re doing any of it right - but how much are we allowing this narrative to dictate our experience?

Are we believing that motherhood is a struggle because someone told us it needs to be? Are we believing that motherhood is a struggle because feeling the true joy it brings you feels unsafe? Are we believing motherhood is a struggle because it’s our truth or is it someone else’s?

My invitation to you today is to simply bring awareness to your thoughts. My invitation to you today is to open your heart a little bit more. My invitation to you today is to feel the joy of this present moment without your mind telling you it’s going to get taken away.

More on all of this soon, but in the meantime, I’m sending you so much love.
By Jess Anderson x

Something isn’t quite adding up, is it? Can you feel that too?

As mothers we are inundated with constant noise about how to hack our health, how to optimise our bodies like they are machines and which toxin in our home is out to get us next.

Yet, collectively, as mothers and as women, we’re feeling further and further away from an actual state of wellness.

Constant consuming, constant scrolling, constant doing, constant checking, constant searching, constant hacking, constant outsourcing. And we’re left checked out, overwhelmed and disconnected from what truly makes us feel well.

It’s time for a reclamation of your life-force energy and a realignment of your habits, babe.

Join me for the free reset you didn't know you needed. We're going to hit pause on the constant input and the habits you know aren't serving you, and support you to tune back in to the most reliable information you can access - what's inside of you.

You can join anytime and work through the reset at your own pace (best completed slowly and gently over 10 days).
Subscribe as a paid or free subscriber below to get started:

See you inside babe,
By Jess Anderson x