Mothering Ourselves Mindfully

Sarah Lowell Harmon
  • 5.0 (22)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to Mothering Ourselves Mindfully with me, Sarah Harmon. I am the founder, head teacher, and forever student at The School of MOM. I invite you to take a walk with me to hear insights, inspiration, and practical tools to help you navigate the everyday challenges of raising kids while nurturing your own well-being. Whether you’re deep in the trenches of parenting or looking for a moment of calm amidst the chaos, this podcast is your space for reflection, affirmation, and growth. Let's create new intergenerational patterns for ourselves AND our kids together.

  1. 1d ago

    97. An 11-mile hike + the power of believing

    Recorded mid-vacation on the last leg of our family road trip — Maine to New Hampshire to Lake George — this episode is a fresh-off-the-trail reflection on the two-day, 11-mile hike up Mount Washington my family and I just completed, totally green and totally underprepared on the research front. What I really want to talk about isn't the hike itself, but what made it work: my husband and I believing, from the start, that our kids could do it. That belief becomes the thread connecting this hike to two other places I've had to practice it — sleep training my first daughter and the early, rocky years of my marriage — and the invitation is the same across all three: where in your life are you one foot (or two feet) out the door on an outcome you actually want? Key Points The backstory: an 11-mile, two-day hike up Mount Washington, booked with minimal research, based on "if their kids could do it, ours can too"What was actually foundational to the day's success wasn't fitness or weather — it was beliefHow belief changes your nervous system state, which changes your feelings, your tone, your posture, and how the people around you co-regulate to youThe sleep training parallel: believing your child is capable changes your own posturing, even when it's still hardThe marriage parallel: how couples therapy and the Gottman work reframed the idea that you have to be "all in" for it to workThe moment on the trail Sarah almost gave in to doubt — and what pulled her backApplying this to manifestation: believing an outcome is possible vs. believing you're worthy of itThe engagement ring story — what happened when Sarah almost talked herself out of wanting something because she didn't feel worthy of itAn older woman's blunt wisdom on a plane: "There is no such thing as too much bling"The invitation: practice believing an outcome is inevitable, in parenting, in relationships, and in what you desire for yourself Quotes "Whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right.""It changes your nervous system state, which changes the feelings, which changes the thoughts, which changes how you show up.""We have to turn up the dial on the voice, the belief, that actually it will work out, and it is possible.""Girl, there is no such thing as too much bling. You wear that ring and you wear it proud." Resources Mentioned The Self-Awareness Trap — free audio resource: https://theschoolofmom.com/trapCommunity waitlist — mentioned as the place I "roll up my sleeves" with this work daily: https://theschoolofmom.com/waitlistDiscover Your Dominant Inner Voice Quiz: https://theschoolofmom.com/quizSend Sarah your voice note right HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/theschoolofmom What's Coming Next Sarah returns to her regular routine next week and leaves listeners with a question to sit with: where are you not fully believing in an outcome you want — for your kids, your relationship, or yourself — and what would it look like to turn the dial up on that belief? Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Mothering Ourselves Mindfully." We look forward to sharing more insights and inspiration in the upcoming episodes! www.theschoolofmom.com Instagram @the.schoolofmom Book a breakthrough Call

  2. Aug 13

    96. Self-care is NOT selfish, but it IS this...

    Recorded on a walk in Maine (same outfit, five days running, this episode takes on one of the beliefs that I get the most fired up about: the (couldn’t be more far from the truth) belief that self-care is selfish. I break down why that line is a lie, why attuned presence - not constant self-sacrifice - is what our loved ones actually need from us, and introduce a new framework born out of Mothering Ourselves Mindfully: self-care isn't selfish; it's selves-ish - selves in steady harmony. Key Points Why "self-care is selfish" is programming, not truthWhat our loved ones (and our kids especially) actually need from us: attuned presence, not self-sacrificeHow self-care builds the nervous system capacity to show up the way we want toThe reframe: it's not taking care of yourself that's actually selfishWhy Sarah changes "self" to "selves" throughout Mothering Ourselves Mindfully — we are not just one selfNaming our internal parts (anger, shame, anxiety) as a tool for selves careSelves care in action: the primal scream for anger vs. rest and softness for sadness or overwhelmThe new framework: selves-ish = selves in steady harmonyIntegration and wholeness — all parts of us are welcome Quotes "Self-care is selves-ish, and selves-ish is selves in steady harmony.""It is not taking care of yourself that is selfish.""The biggest present you can give is presence.""All parts of you are welcome here." Resources Mentioned Mothering Ourselves Mindfully waitlist - opens September 2026, program starts October 2026: https://theschoolofmom.com/waitlistThe Self-Awareness Trap — free audio resource: https://theschoolofmom.com/trapDiscover Your Dominant Inner Voice Quiz: https://theschoolofmom.com/quizSend Sarah your voice note right HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/theschoolofmom What's Coming Next Sarah invites listeners to carry this new belief forward — self-care is selves-ish — and to start noticing when the old "this is so selfish of me" story pops up, replacing it with the truer one: this is my selves learning to be in steady harmony. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Mothering Ourselves Mindfully." We look forward to sharing more insights and inspiration in the upcoming episodes! www.theschoolofmom.com Instagram @the.schoolofmom Book a breakthrough Call

  3. Aug 6

    95. This Is Me: My Story, and How I Can Support You

    Recorded on a walk before heading off on vacation, this episode is Sarah's continuation of last week's big reveal — The School of Mom is becoming The Home of Mothering Ourselves Mindfully, and Sarah is stepping fully into her own name, Sarah Lowell Harmon. Equal parts backstory and welcome mat, this episode traces the winding road that built her body of work — from a Psychology 101 class in Ohio to event management in New Zealand, from 3,300 supervised clinical hours to the 3am download that became The School of Mom — and lays out exactly how to step into the work now, whether you're brand new here or six years deep with her. Key Points The quick-and-honest version of Sarah's story: Denison University, a few lost years in San Diego, a working holiday visa in New Zealand that turned into running a women's duathlon series with Ironman NZ, yoga teacher training in NYC, and a graduate certificate in clinical mental health counselingWhy she's sharing her clinical hours and credentials — and her honest take on the difference between lived experience and formal training in a coaching-saturated industryThe 3am lightning-bolt download that led to opening The School of Mom in May 2020, and the eventual closing of both her private practice and Parent Wellness GroupThe pivotal conversation with her business strategist — "what got you here won't get you there" — that set the rebrand in motionWhy stepping out from "The School of Mom" is really about stepping out from behind the safety of a role (therapist, teacher) and into being fully, simply herselfA full breakdown of the offer path: Mothering Ourselves Mindfully (the year-long foundational program, opening for enrollment September 2026, starting October), Radical Flourishing (eight-month intimate small-group program, October–May), one-on-one work, and Untethered (returning soon, for women — "the apples" — with a hard or nonexistent relationship with their mother)Why Mothering Ourselves Mindfully is intentionally a year-long container — spaciousness for real mom-life, and honesty about the fact that nervous system and lineage healing doesn't happen in four weeksThe garden metaphor for this work: tending your own soil, roots, and weeds at a realistic, spare-time pace — weeds and allSarah's own lived experience as an adult child of divorce and daughter of a mother with significant mental illness — including estrangement — as the root of why this work exists Quotes "I am just me. I am me. Yes, I am a teacher, and I am a therapist, and I am a wife, and I am a mother — but I am me." "The home of Mothering Ourselves Mindfully is your body. It's our bodies, it's every body." "It's actually a question of how could I not?" "I bring the clinical background, the mindfulness and yoga background... and obviously the lived experience, which personally I think is equally if not more important." Resources Mentioned Episode 94: Coming Out From Behind the Curtain: Reclaiming Sarah Lowell Harmon: SPOTIFY (https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jQIkIzYogjiUaRirVy5fu?si=5lvqSKUXRsab9WqulqyTbA) or APPLE (https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/94-coming-out-from-behind-the-curtain-reclaiming/id1771757923?i=1000778974511)Mothering Ourselves Mindfully waitlist - opens September 2026, program starts October 2026: https://theschoolofmom.com/waitlistThe Self-Awareness Trap — free audio resource: https://theschoolofmom.com/trapWebsite: The Home of Mom: https://theschoolofmom.com/Send Sarah your voice note right HERE!: https://www.speakpipe.com/theschoolofmom Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Mothering Ourselves Mindfully." We look forward to sharing more insights and inspiration in the upcoming episodes! www.theschoolofmom.com Instagram @the.schoolofmom Book a breakthrough Call

  4. Jul 29

    94. Coming Out From Behind the Curtain: Reclaiming Sarah Lowell Harmon

    Some announcements can't be planned — they just have to come out. In this episode, recorded on a walk (dogs, snakes, and all), I share a big reveal I’ve been sitting on: stepping out from behind the curtain of The School of MOM and claiming my name, Sarah Lowell Harmon, and the brand itself is transitioning from The School of MOM to The Home of MOM. This episode is part backstory, part permission slip — for trusting your own timeline, reclaiming your name (literally and figuratively), and understanding why the body is the only home we've ever really had. Key Points Why Sarah decided to stop waiting for the "right" timing to make this announcement — and the dating-life pattern that helped her recognize she was doing it againThe identity evolution happening behind the scenes: moving from hiding behind "The School of MOM" to fully claiming authorship of the Mothering Ourselves Mindfully frameworkChanging her Instagram name after six years, and why reclaiming her maiden name, Lowell, matters as much as the brand shiftThe backstory connecting her parents' 2013–2014 divorce, her own marriage that same year, and losing her name right as her family foundation "bottomed out"Why closing Parent Wellness Group and stepping away from the therapist identity was the first visible thread of this bigger shiftThe meditation that delivered "The Home of MOM" — and the realization that home isn't a website, it's the bodyHow this connects to inner child work, lineage healing, and the "unflourished daughter" pattern many women are unconsciously passing downWhy Sarah is claiming her lane more specifically: supporting women in becoming the mother for their daughters they always needed — by becoming the mother for themselves firstAn invitation to notice your own self-imposed (or externally imposed) timelines — and permission to trust your body over "doing it right" Quotes "When my whole body knows something, I can't pretend that it's not here or true." "You do what your body and what your heart wants to do... at this stage in life, my friends, there are no grades." "Home is where the heart is. Home is our body. It is the only home you have ever had and will always have." "We do that through becoming the mother for ourselves first." Resources Mentioned The Self-Awareness Trap (free audio): https://theschoolofmom.com/trapMothering Ourselves Mindfully waitlist (revamped program opening soon): https://theschoolofmom.com/waitlistSend Sarah your voice note right here: https://www.speakpipe.com/theschoolofmom What's Coming Next Sarah will be sharing more on this transition — from The School of MOM to The Home of MOM — as it rolls out across the brand, along with details on the revamped Mothering Ourselves Mindfully program as the waitlist opens up. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Mothering Ourselves Mindfully." We look forward to sharing more insights and inspiration in the upcoming episodes! www.theschoolofmom.com Instagram @the.schoolofmom Book a breakthrough Call

  5. May 26

    93. Radical pauses: an update and invitation

    Sometimes the most aligned thing you can do is stop. In this episode, Sarah records something unplanned — a voice note from the woods — to share a message she couldn't wait to package properly: she's pausing the podcast. Not because things aren't working, but because they are running on automation — and she's not here for mindless loops. This episode is a real-time invitation to notice where you might be due for your own hard stop, and why pulling off the highway is sometimes the only way to actually choose your next destination. Key Points Why Sarah is pausing The School of MOM podcast — and why "it's working" isn't always a reason to keep goingThe difference between a routine that supports you and one that has you on cruise control without your consentThe concept of the "hard stop" — and the places Sarah has applied it in her life (social media, alcohol, and now content creation)Why we can't change direction while we're already in motion — and what Einstein has to do with itThe powerful internal shift happening for Sarah: her people-pleasing, perfectionism, and anxiety-driven parts are moving to the back seat — and her flourished mother parts are finally staying at the wheelWhat behavioral congruence means, and why it requires actually pausing, not just thinking about changingThe "full charge + system update" metaphor — and what the one-on-one retreat women coming to Sarah's home this week understand about deep resetsRadical Flourishing closing retreat coming end of May — and why there's never been a better time to get inA gentle prompt: Where in your life are you stuck in a mundane loop? What would your hard stop look like? Quotes "I'm not here to be part of mindless loops. So pauses are important. Resets are important." "We can't solve a problem with the energy that created the problem — we have to pull off, regroup, and ask: where are we actually going?" "My people-pleasing, anxiety, perfectionism — those parts used to be first ones to the wheel. Those parts are taking back seats." "My hope is that when I come back after this pause, you're going to feel, sense, and hear the upgrade in me." Resources Mentioned The School of MOM Quiz — take Sarah's quiz to identify the dominant parts in your nervous system: https://theschoolofmom.com/quizRadical Flourishing — Sarah's most intimate 8-month container (small group + one-on-one + in-person retreats). Closing retreat happening end of May. DM Sarah or visit The School of MOM to learn more.: https://theschoolofmom.com/radicalOne-on-one in-person retreat days at Sarah's home — message Sarah directly if you feel the pull: hello@theschoolofmom.com What's Coming Next The podcast is pausing — and that's the point. When Sarah returns, expect something upgraded, more aligned, and more her than ever. In the meantime, explore the back catalog, take the quiz, and ask yourself: what's your hard stop? Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Mothering Ourselves Mindfully." We look forward to sharing more insights and inspiration in the upcoming episodes! www.theschoolofmom.com Instagram @the.schoolofmom Book a breakthrough Call

  6. May 19

    92. Overcoming overwhelm with Katie Grimes

    Sarah met life coach, business coach, and podcast host Katie Grimes through Women's Business League, and after spending an hour walking before even hitting record, they had to cut themselves off just to start the podcast. This conversation covers it all — nervous system regulation, the link between our relationship with our moms and our relationships with everyone else, why "regulated" might be the wrong word, the power of play (and pleasure) for mothers, and why conscious parenting happens mostly outside the moments you're actually with your kids. Key Points How our earliest relationships — especially with our mothers — create the programming that shows up in our parenting, our partnerships, and our businessesThe four rungs of the nervous system ladder: joy/contentment → fight or flight → freeze/fawn → trauma response — and how to recognize which rung you're onKatie's five-step process for regulating emotions in the moment: naming the feeling, identifying the driving thought, using movement, deciding how you want to feel, and shifting the storyWhy Sarah has officially retired the word "regulated" — and what the "flourished mother" offers as a more honest, embodied alternativeThe biology of play: why play is a nervous system state, and why accessing it outside of your kids is actually what makes you more playful with themThe powerful link between pleasure, fun, and co-regulation — and why resistance to play is the exact place to get curiousWhy conscious parenting is 95% of the work happening outside the moment you're in with your child — and why the scripts don't work if your nervous system isn't there firstThe Carl Jung quote that anchors it all: "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate"Why women tend to take care of everyone else first — and how that pattern gets directly inherited from our caregiversA gentle, realistic approach to movement and self-care: set the bar so low you can trip over it Quotes "Kids don't need a regulated mom — they need a flourished mom. She's fully expressed. She owns and celebrates the full spectrum of her human experience." — Sarah "We don't need to feel better. We need to get better at feeling." — Gabor Maté (shared by Katie) "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." — Carl Jung (shared by Katie) "It's not what's wrong with you — it's what happened to you." — referenced by Katie "You can't solve a problem in the energy that created it." — Einstein (shared by Katie) "The trigger is the gift." "Set the bar so low you can trip over it." Resources Mentioned Katie Grimes' podcast: Anything for Love — available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DHP2FUvbp0IYYouSZ8oLM?si=51b071dcbc3c4e9d and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anything-for-love-katie-grimes/id1490607022feelingswheel.com — a tool for naming emotions (referenced by Katie): https://feelingswheel.com/The Body Keeps the Score — referenced in conversation: https://a.co/d/0ct3m4AQInside Out (Pixar) — used as an analogy for the nervous system ladder: https://www.pixar.com/inside-outThe Flourished Mother Map: https://theschoolofmom.com/mapSend Sarah a voice note right here!: https://www.speakpipe.com/theschoolofmom What's Coming Up The Scream is happening again — and ABC is covering it! If you want to join Sarah for a primal scream event at her home, watch for details. And if Radical Flourishing has been on your radar, doors are opening soon. This is the premium container for women who are ready to stop circling insight and start living it.

  7. May 12

    91. What do you WANT Mother’s Day to be?

    Mother's Day has come and gone - so how did it actually feel? In this final episode of our impromptu three-part Mother's Day series, Sarah reflects on her own evolving relationship with the holiday, shares the surprising and somewhat heartbreaking origin story of Mother's Day, and invites you into a post-holiday inquiry that matters far more than any bouquet or brunch. Because if there was any charge, resentment, or pressure wrapped up in this week for you - that's not something to push past. That's the gift. Key Points Why Mother's Day has become "just another day" for Sarah — and what that shift actually signals about her inner workThe surprising origin of Mother's Day: created by Anna Jarvis for personal reflection and intimate family connection, then commercialized so aggressively that Jarvis spent her life savings trying to abolish the holiday she createdThe $25 billion commercial juggernaut Mother's Day has become — and why that matters for how we relate to the dayWhy being triggered by Mother's Day is often a direct reflection of needs that aren't being met on a regular basis (not just one day a year)The powerful insight from a mom in The School of MOM community: "I'm only triggered by Mother's Day when I feel burned out or I'm not making time for myself"How resentment is an expectations-in-waiting — and what your Mother's Day feelings are actually pointing towardAn invitation to design your family celebrations on your own terms, not Hallmark'sA post-Mother's Day reflection framework: How did it feel? How do you want to feel next year? What needs to shift between now and then?Celebrating six years of The School of MOM — launched on Mother's Day 2020 Quotes "The trigger is the gift. If you're coming into Mother's Day and there's a lot of pressure on it, that means those needs are not getting filled outside of this one day a year." "I don't need a day to be appreciated. I don't need a day to advocate for time for myself anymore — because that is just part of my being now." "Expectations are resentments in the works." "I'm not waiting around for someone else to give me permission to go for a walk or get a massage. It's just part of what I do now." Resources Mentioned Episode 89: The Grief for a Mother Who's Still Alive SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kP528ObM87oS9uZhHQ9bH?si=pkUYRBr5QoiL8QOiYZ1OBA or APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/89-the-grief-for-a-mother-whos-still-alive/id1771757923?i=1000763998127Episode 90: When Mother’s Day Is a Trigger (and Why That’s Not a Bad Thing) SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3MRgYiDvClmZlE16NVjpVH?si=KliK-l2VQHeqtxfHLgEZJw or APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/90-when-mothers-day-is-a-trigger-and-why-thats-not-a-bad-thing/id1771757923?i=1000766202575 Flourished Mother Map: https://theschoolofmom.com/mapRadical Flourishing — doors opening end of May: https://theschoolofmom.com/radical What's Coming Next If this episode stirred something in you, sit with it. The post-Mother's Day reflection is where the real work begins. And if you're ready for support in tending to what came up — Radical Flourishing doors are opening at the end of May. This is the container where the shift Sarah described actually happens. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Mothering Ourselves Mindfully." We look forward to sharing more insights and inspiration in the upcoming episodes! www.theschoolofmom.com Instagram @the.schoolofmom Book a breakthrough Call

  8. May 5

    90. When Mother’s Day Is a Trigger (and Why That’s Not a Bad Thing)

    Mother's Day stirs up something different in all of us - warmth, grief, indifference, or something in between. In this episode, we get real about what Mother’s Day can bring up, and why we can still celebrate all of it, and why — counterintuitively — having a strained or non-existent relationship with your mom might actually be your greatest gift. This is a Mother's Day episode for every kind of mother, every kind of daughter, and every woman doing the inner work to claim a new level of worthiness. Key Points Why Mother's Day triggers such a wide spectrum of feelings — and why all of them deserve to be honoredA celebration of "the apples" — women in the School of MOM community whose strained or non-existent relationship with their mother is actually their biggest doorway to healingHow the relationship we have with our mothers (for better or for worse) is foundational to our self-worth — and why self-worth is at the nucleus of everything we desireThe connection between your subconscious sense of worthiness and your ability to receive, desire, and expand what you think is possible for your lifeSarah's personal journey with her own mom — and the shift from "I would give all this up for a healthy mom" to genuine gratitude for the doorway her mom becameAn introduction to Radical Flourishing — Sarah's most intimate support container — and why doors are opening at the end of MayThe question that guides the work: How good can it get? Quotes "The trigger is the gift. What is on the other side of that is really claiming what you desire — but more than that, it is claiming new levels of what you desire to unfold." "If you desire something in your life but your subconscious doesn't think you are worthy of it, it is going to be nearly impossible for that thing to come to fruition." "I would never be where I'm at today in terms of my ability to meet and tend to and love and mother all parts of myself mindfully — if it weren't for the mother that I have." "Let's all collectively decide to step into a new level of worthiness and self-worth — no matter what our relationship is with our mom." Resources Mentioned Episode 89 — Grieving a mother who is still alive: SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kP528ObM87oS9uZhHQ9bH?si=pkUYRBr5QoiL8QOiYZ1OBA or APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/89-the-grief-for-a-mother-whos-still-alive/id1771757923?i=1000763998127 Radical Flourishing — Sarah's most intimate support group (small group + one-on-one + in-person retreats). Doors open end of May — limited space. DM Sarah or get on the newsletter to be notified.: https://theschoolofmom.com/radicalFlourished Mother Map: https://theschoolofmom.com/mapNewsletter: https://theschoolofmom.com/newsletter What's Coming Next However Mother's Day lands for you this year — with joy, grief, or something messier — you belong here. The school is a place where all of it is welcome, and where the healing happens in community. Reach out, get on the list, and keep going. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of "Mothering Ourselves Mindfully." We look forward to sharing more insights and inspiration in the upcoming episodes! www.theschoolofmom.com Instagram @the.schoolofmom Book a breakthrough Call

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About

Welcome to Mothering Ourselves Mindfully with me, Sarah Harmon. I am the founder, head teacher, and forever student at The School of MOM. I invite you to take a walk with me to hear insights, inspiration, and practical tools to help you navigate the everyday challenges of raising kids while nurturing your own well-being. Whether you’re deep in the trenches of parenting or looking for a moment of calm amidst the chaos, this podcast is your space for reflection, affirmation, and growth. Let's create new intergenerational patterns for ourselves AND our kids together.

Information

  • Creator
    Sarah Lowell Harmon
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    98
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024 null All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Mothering Ourselves Mindfully

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