“Every mom has the power to create a beautiful harmonious environment for her children, regardless of what the other parent is doing.”

–Mikki Gardner

Calmer co-parenting? Yes, please! Mikki Gardner is dedicated to helping moms co-parent confidently and well. You’re not going to agree 100% of the time, but you can co-parent calmly whether you are married, divorced, separated, or working with grandparents or others. Whether you're deciding to leave a marriage, you've already left a marriage, or you're in a marriage, there’s a lot in this conversation for you.

Mikki believes that when moms do the work to protect their wellbeing, to cultivate their own calmness, and to reclaim the freedom that they are really after, it helps not only them, but those around them. Part of that is being responsible, not reactive.

Her three step process for that is awareness, agency, and aligned action. It’s a simple process, but not easy. We talk through what it looks like to actually do it with kids or partners or exes and the other triggers life throws our way.

We talk about: 

• Pausing to take a breath and figure out what’s really going on
• The real options—to accept, change, or leave things—when we think we have no choice
• Getting out of the nasty-gram cycle
• Noticing what being triggered or activated feels like in your body
• The benefits and shadow side of people pleasing
• Making decisions from a grounded place within yourself—you already know

ABOUT MIKKI

Mikki Gardner is a certified life and conscious parenting coach. Driven by her own struggles of overcoming divorce, Mikki helps moms move past the divorce drama and conflict to become calm, confident co-parents, even without their ex’s participation. Mikki is the host of Co-Parenting with Confidence and the author of The People Pleasers Guide to Co-Parenting Well.

LINKS

• mikkigardner.com
• Instagram @mikkigardner

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Change comes from action. 

Doable changes are things that you can add into your life, one at a time to make micro shifts and really create a ripple effect that will create a big change over time. Choose one that really piques your interest and roll with it. 

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• NOTICE WHAT BEING TRIGGERED FEELS LIKE. Get back in touch with your body. We experience being triggered or activated in different ways. When you know what it feels like in your body, you can use that sign to help you learn to respond instead of reacting. The first step, this doable change is simply noticing how it feels and trying to recognize.
• PAUSE AND BREATHE. Reaction may not take you where you want to go. Pause and breathe. Take time to assess what’s really happening. (It’s often not the first thing you jump to.) Then choose how you want to respond.
• ACCEPT, CHANGE, OR LEAVE. Next time you feel like you have no choice in a situation, use these options. Can you accept the situation? Can you change it? Can you leave it?