The Mommy Sangha Podcast

Welcome to the very first episode of the Mommy Sangha Podcast!

In this opening conversation, Bec and Stina introduce themselves, share how Mommy Sangha came to be, and dig into one of the biggest misconceptions about mindfulness and motherhood: that being a “mindful mom” means staying calm, centered, and blissfully present all the time.

Spoiler: it does not.

Motherhood is messy. Meditation is messy. Life is messy.

And maybe the mess isn’t evidence that we’re doing it wrong.

Drawing from the Buddhist teaching “No Mud, No Lotus,” Bec and Stina explore what happens when we stop trying to get rid of the mud and start learning how to be with what’s actually happening: the screaming baby, the missed nap, the cold coffee, the parenting mistake, the guilt spiral, the kid who knows exactly how to push the button that was apparently custom-made just for them.

Because mindfulness isn’t about clearing your mind or becoming impossible to rattle. It’s about noticing when we’ve been swept away by the story in our heads and learning, again and again, to come back.

Sometimes that happens on a meditation cushion.

Sometimes it happens while bouncing a wet, screaming baby on your shoulder.

Both count.

In this episode, we talk about:

* Why traditional ideas of meditation often don’t fit the reality of parenting

* What mindfulness actually means when you have children

* Why you do not need to clear your mind to meditate

* The “squirrel mind” and learning to notice distraction without fighting it

* The constant good mom/bad mom storyline

* Sleep schedules, parenting books, and the illusion of control

* The difference between accepting difficulty and spiritually bypassing it

* Why our kids need some struggle in order to develop resilience

* Why parents need room to make mistakes, too

* Repairing with our children after we lose our cool

* “Mindfulness after the fact” and why noticing five minutes later still counts

* How parenting can bring us face-to-face with our own childhoods

* Developing compassion for ourselves, our children, and even our own parents

* Why the mud isn’t getting in the way of the practice

It is the practice.

A little about Mommy Sangha

Mommy Sangha is a free online meditation and conversation community for mothers and parents.

We begin with a short, accessible guided meditation, followed by honest conversation about how mindfulness, meditation, parenting, and real life actually intersect.

You do not need an established meditation practice.

You do not need a quiet house.

You do not even need to put the baby down.

You can meditate while breastfeeding, rocking a baby, sitting on the floor, or listening during a 3 a.m. wake-up.

Because practice has to fit into your life, not the other way around.

Mommy Sangha currently meets Wednesdays at 1 PM Eastern, and recordings are available between meetings.

Learn more and find the current Mommy Sangha link at ombirths.com.

Mentioned in this episode

No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh

Meditation teachers Susan Piver and David Nichtern

Shamatha-vipassana meditation and the practice of gently returning attention to the present moment

About your hosts

Bec Conant is a longtime prenatal yoga teacher, doula, childbirth educator, meditation teacher, and founder of Om Births. She has worked in the birth world for more than two decades and is also a mom navigating the practice right alongside everyone else.She has lead the Mommy Sangha since 2020

Stina Rice first discovered meditation through Bec’s prenatal and Baby & Me yoga nearly a decade ago. What began as sticking around after class for a little meditation grew into a deep personal practice, weekly Mommy Sangha participation, and eventually becoming a meditation teacher herself. Outside of meditation, Stina is a self-described “jack of all trades” and has worked as a teacher, lawyer, performer, and professional astrologer, all while parenting two kids.

Together, Bec and Stina are here to explore motherhood without airbrushing it: the wisdom, the ridiculousness, the beauty, the buttons our kids push, the mistakes we make, and all the mud we inevitably step in along the way.

As Bec says at the end of the episode:

You’re not doing it wrong. The mud is supposed to be there.

Connect with Om Births

* Om Births

* Follow Bec on IG

* Follow Stina on IG

* Mommy Sangha on YouTube

If this conversation resonated, follow or subscribe to the Mommy Sangha Podcast so you can join us for the next one..