Jodi Richardson - Anxious Mums: How mums can turn their anxiety into strength

The challenge of anxiety never tests you more than when you become a mother. From conceiving to pregnancy to birth, and forever more, there are infinite reasons for your anxiety to be heightened.

The impact on mothers isnt just the anxiety itself, its the stop sign it seems to put up in front of you at almost every turn. Anxiety can stand in the way of living a rich, full and wonderful life, and of fulfilling your potential personally, professionally and as a mother.

But this doesnt have to be your reality. Dr Jodi Richardson, co-author of the bestselling Anxious Kids , knows this because she has lived with anxiety and is a wellbeing expert. Now, she wants to educate and inspire mothers to:

• recognise and understand your anxiety
• build the skills and a lifestyle to manage and minimise your symptoms develop skills to manage unhelpful and frightening thoughts cultivate confidence to embrace change and uncertainty
• strengthen your ability and willingness to tolerate discomfort
• know and act by your values
• enrich relationships with your partner, friends and children
• manage your emotional labour
• strive to fulfil personal and professional goals and ambitions
• raise emotionally intelligent children with skills for flourishing mental health

Grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy, and positive psychology, Anxious Mums cuts through the science, giving you the knowledge, tools, support and confidence to make a positive difference to your mental health, and to your kids, too.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of carefully repairing broken porcelain and pottery with strong, elegant, golden seams. Any flaws are considered an important part of the history of the piece, making each unique and more beautiful than before.

Though I didnt always, I now view my anxiety through this lens, and right here, right now, I invite you to do the same. Like I did, I know you have long-held beliefs about your anxiety, and the cost and impact it has had, and continues to have, on your life. Changing the way you think about it, and elevating the way you move forward, thriving with anxiety, are my intentions for you as you read this book.

Anxiety has cost me, too: believe me when I tell you, I understand . For decades I thought I was broken, that there was something inherently wrong with me, that I was damaged in ways no one would ever understand, least of all me. I know now that this was not the case. I was never broken; neither were you and youre not broken now. We are whole and unique and have earned our golden stripes; developing wisdom and experiencing growth because of the challenges anxiety has brought each of us along the way.

These challenges never test us more than when were becoming parents. From conceiving to pregnancy to birth, and forever more, there are infinite reasons for our anxiety to be heightened. We have so much to do, think and worry about, and our children depend on us for so much; to be present and available, to role model calm and rational ways of coping under stress, to be relaxed and playful, to sit with them in their own pain and discomfort, and raise them to be responsible and independent people who care about others, take excellent care of themselves and so much more. No longer is our anxiety a challenge for us alone, or together with our partner: consideration of how it impacts our children is paramount. The last thing we want is for our anxiety to affect them, or our parenting.

This book is for every single one of us who faces these challenges of anxiety the normal, less severe variety, right through to a chronic condition while doing all we can to be the best mothers possible for our amazing kids. This is a book for mums from all family structures, of which there are many wonderful, rich and diverse variations, and for mums of children of all ages: whether to a little one, brand new to your nest; a toddler; a primary schooler; a teen; an adult child ready to take the leap (or not); or a child whos all grown up and flown the coop (or any combination of the above!). I hope youll find Anxious Mums an insightful, comforting, helpful, relevant and relatable resource; that it will support you to look to the future with more excitement, health and hope.

In my presentations to parents I share some of my own story, to reassure them that I get it. That theyre learning from someone whos not only professionally dedicated to shining a light on anxiety but also intimately understands what its like to be anxious and in need of understanding, tools and strategies. Ive lost count of the number of mums whove come up to me after a presentation about helping children with anxiety, to talk about their own struggles and how they too need help. One woman even told me that hearing my story was life-changing, and that other mums would benefit from hearing it, too. I was incredibly humbled to learn the difference Id made that day. Anxious Mums is my way of sharing my journey in parallel with information and strategies that can have a meaningful impact on your life.

As I write this book Im mum to two primary-school-aged kids, Hunter and Mackinley, but, like you, I wear lots of different hats. Im a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a cousin, a niece, a neighbour, a black belt in karate, a professional speaker, an educator and an author with an anxiety disorder.

Its been said that the most important work we will ever do is within the walls of our own homes. Theres much truth in that, but, only after weve taken care of ourselves can we be there for our children in the ways we know will see them flourish and grow into successful adults who look after themselves, other people, their communities and our beautiful planet.

In Anxious Mums youll learn what happens in an anxious brain; all the ways anxiety impacts us physically; why anxiety is more common among women than men; how it impacts us in both shared and individual ways at different stages of motherhood, including conception, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and beyond; how it can colour our parenting and what to do about that; strategies for raising happier kids with flourishing mental health; how we can manage and minimise our symptoms using powerful science-backed strategies; and how we can turn down the volume on our anxious thoughts. Theres even a chapter for partners of anxious mums.

Ill also help you to identify whats really important to you and how to align your behaviour with what matters. Youll internalise the understanding that, anxious or not, you can move forward every single day in the direction of purpose, fulfilment and as a loving, present, compassionate and inspiring parent. Throughout this book Ill be your partner in learning all this and much more.

My anxiety has taught me a huge amount, and it no longer stands in the way of me living a rich, full, purposeful, meaningful, healthy and wonderful life. Thank you so much for joining me I dont take your attention for granted for one moment. Lets get started, shall we?