Calm & Loneliness - an emerging epidemic of Motherhood

I stumbled across this picture on the weekend, and it got me thinking. It got me thinking about two things...

Calm

&

Loneliness.

To me it highlights how, in our society these days, they are so often intrinsically linked for mothers. We often crave calm (or at least those women in the 6 Week Mama Reset and who are rolling into The Mother Hood do), it's that inner silence where we don't have immediate external expectations coupled with our inner to do list seemingly under control.

Yet as mums, reaching for calm can often lead us to loneliness.... to have it we have to be away from what is creating the busy - and this can lead to your loneliness.

We have to be seperate.

Especially when we are in the throes of the first few years. When the often relentless requirement to be mum leaves little time for calm creation... unless we move to a seperate space... where the loneliness can creep in.

Loneliness is in epidemic proportions apparently. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing, most Australians will experience loneliness at some point in their lives (Relationships Australia, 2018), and 1 in 2 people report they feel lonely for at least 1 day each week (Australian Psychological Society 2018). 

And if you look on some Mummy websites like essentialbaby.com or Mother.ly , there are plenty of articles backing up that mothers get more lonely than others do... at a whopping rate of 90%.

As mum's, our world shifts and we can feel saddened and lonely with the lack of adult interaction when we have a new babe. This can definitely lead to loneliness.

As mum's, we can often feel lonely surrounded by all our loved ones... or if we don't have a 'real' support group to hand onto.

This loneliness can create a health epidemic in our mums... You know those pesky things like 

- overwhelm

- fatigue

- snappy mum

- etc etc...

My hope for our mums is that their loneliness quotient decreases around the world. Whilst social media is seen to actually increase the accounts of loneliness, harnessing it for mums to connect with each other is a key for our generations.

I hope for all of you that you can have calm in your day without having to remove yourself from those you love. That you can do it in a snatched moment  here or an intentional action there.  

Dr Ali

Chiro, Mama, Lover of a calm and less lonely existence for all mums.