The Mother's Book of Well-Being: Caring for Yourself So You Can Care for Your Baby

Motherhood is a powerful and sacred experience. It can be exciting, thrilling, frightening, exhausting and rewarding all at the same time. The Mother’s Book of Well-Being begins and ends with the premise that the better you can take care of yourself during your baby’s first year, the better caregiver and mother you can be. From one mother to another, Lisa Groen Braner offers 52 essays, one per week, about different ways mothers can learn to take time for themselves.

Portraying both the reality and the joys of motherhood, The Mother’s Book of Well-Being offers spiritual sustenance combined with practical tips to assist new mothers in transcending common feelings of isolation, frustration and uncertainty.

From the prologue:

"As most mothers learn sooner or later, perpetual giving leaves you depleted. Recovering a sense of balance often feels impossible after the tumult of giving birth, breastfeeding and late nights. Yet it’s important that we replenish the well from which we regularly dispense unconditional love. Sometimes we need to escape, have lunch with a friend or walk in the woods with our mate. We need to make time for our spouse and our friends, who give us the support and strength to care for our children as we do. Most importantly, we need to take time for our own rest and reflection. As we learn to care more deeply about ourselves, we extend ourselves more intently to our children. Motherhood is a journey into wholeness, and the way is self-care."