Nurturing Minds

I’m posting these photos here for the same reason I had them taken in the first place… Because I feel uncomfortable.

As soon as I was asked if I wanted to have these photos taken I was very aware of the immediate resistance I felt. I was met with thoughts such as “I’m not the type of person to do that sort of thing”, “I’ll look awful”, “what will other people think of me”.

But over the last few years I have been really trying to work on my self confidence and self worth. Pre motherhood I had very little of either but since becoming a Mama I’ve been on a journey of self discovery and acceptance. So even though I felt this inner resistance I also knew this was an amazing opportunity to continue working on my self appreciation and love.

Thank you so much for this opportunity and for making me feel so relaxed. I had an absolute blast having these photos taken and am so happy with the end result.

So if your met with resistance, question how well it serves you. We can’t grow if we stay inside our comfort zones all the time. So push yourselves Mamas not just for your kids, but for yourselves, because your bloody amazing!

I had such a great morning with this group of amazing mamas (forgot to take a photo until half had gone home).

We covered so many different topics today, including toddler development, behaviour and emotions. We also talked about how to implement and maintain boundaries with toddlers and lots of de-escalation and emotional regulation techniques for both mamas and children. We also reflected on ours and societies expectations children and parenting and how this effects our relationships with our children, and how our experiences of being parented have impacted us.

✨ If you would like to book a session like this please send me a message! ✨

Anyone else’s children ready for a break over the holidays?

There are so many things that contribute towards children’s behaviour and emotions can definitely run high this time of year!

Join my mailing list at www.nurturingminds.co for tips on how to reduce stress and manage your expectations over the summer holidays!

I’ve been going into The Wittering’s Village Pre-School every week for over a year now and it has been my privilege to see these wonderful children grow!

They have learned so much about their emotions, how they experience them in their bodies, self compassion, kindness, mindfulness and some calming breathing techniques. Every week there is such a difference and the children show me how much they have learned, the sessions are filled with so many smiling faces and it is wonderful to see!

I absolutely love getting your feedback on sessions!

The next big feelings workshop for children aged 5-10 years old is on Saturday 15th July 10-11am.

Book through the link in my bio.

What a day!

Sharing the results from my study at the research poster presentation was a great way to end this chapter of my university experience. I have loved carrying out my research on parent stress and can’t wait to share the results with you!

Although the juggle was as real as ever and I had to run off without saying goodbyes so I could make it to the end of my daughters first summer fair!

Tag your child’s primary school or nursery to give them the opportunity to claim one of 5 free ‘understanding your emotions’ sessions!

Schools and nurseries must be within the Chichester/Bognor areas.

Session details:
Nursery - 1 x 30 minute session for maximum of 15 children aged 3 & 4.

Schools - 1 x 30 minute session to be delivered to a whole class of primary aged children.

There are 5 of these sessions available and will be allocated to the schools/nurseries who book first.

Send an email to [email protected] to book!

Very excited to bring mindful play to for the first time on Thursday 1st June from 10-11am.

This session is aimed at pre-schoolers and their parents to learn about mindfulness and how you can incorporate this fantastic emotional regulation tool at home!

There will be sensory activities, craft, mindful games and the opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have about behaviour.

Fantastic first session at Pagham Pre-School this morning!

We loved having Amy from Nurturing Minds visit the Pre-School this morning for our first Tuesday mindfulness session.

Amy spoke to the children about their feelings and used visual prompts to encourage them to say how they were feeling today. Using glitter to represent the different emotions they then poured the glitter into a large glass jar.

The children then enjoyed using stickers and paint stickers to create their own mindfulness Jar. We look forward to welcoming Amy back next week! 🙂❤️

Last week I posted to my stories asking what you would like information/advice on.

So this week I will be doing a couple of posts on the demands of motherhood and how you can nurture yourself alongside your children.

(Meeussen & Van Laar, 2018)

Throwback to last weeks fantastic sessions!

The littles ones explored mindful play using their senses, some breathing exercises and a short meditation. I also had some great conversations with their mamas about how to incorporate mindfulness at home in their current routine.

The children in the big feelings workshop learned about their upstairs and downstairs brain. As well as how their bodies feel when they experience different emotions. With a very relaxing meditation to finish!

To hear about upcoming workshops first, sign up to the newsletter at www.nurturingminds.co

Great article highlighting the importance of nurturing children and families from pregnancy and beyond!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/03/early-years-support-parents?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR1T8zcTtTAYR_I4K0mV7xBL3A3jCIw0UIEh3xHu2FxHrjgGLQiYgdj2FKc

Our first few years as a child can determine the rest of our lives | Beverley Barnett-Jones If we get those early years right, we can avoid so much harm later in life. So why don’t we properly support parents?, says Beverley Barnett-Jones of Nuffield Family Justice Observatory

We’ll be covering some quick and simple emotional regulation strategies for parents, as well children in the Easter workshops.

Mindful play (under 5’s)
Tuesday 4th April 10-11am

Sensory play
Creative co-regulation tools
Behaviour support
Plenty of opportunity to speak to other parents and PLAY!

Big feelings workshop (5-10 years)
Wednesday 5th April
studio in Ford 10-11am

Understanding your feelings and behaviour
Creative emotional regulation tools
Children’s meditation
Refreshments

Click the link in bio to book your space.

Fantastic session with the 2 year olds today, exploring emotions and mindfulness using their senses!

Never too early to start developing healthy emotional well-being tools!

We had another fantastic visit from Amy at Nurturing Minds this morning! ☀️

The children were able to feel the feather on their skin and talk about how it felt. They enjoyed playing with the parachute and looking at the different colours on the parachute as they all got under it. 🪶

They then spoke about the sounds the parachute made when they were using it and looked at a variety of feelings pictures where they were able to pick how they were feeling. 🙂

Emotional regulation tools can be practiced and learned at any age!

There are so many benefits to developing these skills that help to protect the mental well-being of the whole family.

Both of my Easter workshops will help parents to support their children in developing healthy emotional regulation techniques and much more!

Click the link in my bio to book.

Easter Workshops

Tuesday 4th April - Mindful Play for children under 5 at

Wednesday 5th April - Big feelings workshop for children aged 5- 10 years old at studio.

Book here https://www.nurturingminds.co/book-online

A few of you might have noticed that there’s been a few changes on my social media and that raising mama is no more.

This change has been a long time coming and whilst I am so proud of what raising mama achieved, I am even more excited for the future of nurturing minds.

Nurturing Minds still holds all of same values as raising mama and this change is a reflection of how my business has grown. I’ve been working really hard developing programmes to support more families to improve their mental well-being.

You’ll still see mum and baby classes, creative parent and child workshops and all new online workshops for parents. As well as more classes within schools and nurseries.

There are still a few changes to be made as I switch everything over to nurturing minds. But for now please have a look at my new website (link in bio). I hope you love Nurturing Minds as much as I do!

To mark world book day later this week, the children at had a great time exploring mindfulness with crab & whale.

They particularly enjoyed practicing some soothing self touch by tickling their arms.

This beautiful story introduces children to concepts such mindfulness, kindness, patience and gratitude.

I’m so excited to start running weekly classes for home educated children at starting Wednesday 1st March 10:45-11:45.

To book a space please send me a message.

This morning the children at The Wittering’s Village Pre-School made valentines themed slime. They each made their own pot to improve their confidence and interconnectedness by learning a new skill together. They then enjoyed some mindful play with the ‘wet’, ‘sticky’ slime!

The children made valentines affirmation cards for themselves to take home ‘I believe in myself’, ‘I am loved’, ‘I am just right’.

As always we loved our weekly visit from Raising Mama 😊

The children were very excited to make slime this morning as they mixed all the ingredients together in the pot. Once the mixture had turn to slime, they enjoyed stretching it and rolling it into a ball with their hands.

They concentrated well as they all made their own Valentine’s Day cards with paint sticks and placed their own positive note on their cards. ❤️

Most children will have moments when they say things like “I can’t do this”, “no-one likes me” or “I’m rubbish at everything”.

But by promoting your child’s self-esteem you give them:
- Confidence to try new things
- Resilience when they fail
- Ability to respect and value themselves
- Autonomy

We can support our children to turn “ I can’t” into “I can’t do that yet” by increasing their self-esteem. Helping them to develop a growth mindset and feel confident in themselves!

There’s 2 spaces available for my half term workshop on Wednesday afternoon at all about supporting children to develop an attitude of self love!

Also spaces available for home educated children and young people to increase self-esteem at on Wednesday morning.

Send me a message to book your space!

Prioritise doing the things that make you feel calm and happy. Not only will you feel better for it but so will your children.

Kicking off with the fantastic children and staff at

A lot of the activities we have been focusing on encourage the children to connect with each other, teachers and parents by sharing their feelings and developing emotional literacy.

Today, we used play dough as a tool to explore emotions as well as a mindful sensory activity to increase concentration and focus on the present moment.

When children feel valued it helps to increase their self-esteem and feel more confident to try new things!

If you would like to understand more about how you can increase your child’s self-esteem you can book onto my upcoming ‘self- love’ workshop. Helping children to develop an attitude of self-belief and self-worth.

Message me to book your space.

Really looking forward to working with the fantastic team at Just Learn and meeting some wonderful children and young people!

🧠 Meet and Greet Q&A with next Wednesday at 11:45am. Meet another local children's worker who is coming to support some of our children here at Just Learn.

If you are concerned about your child’s mental health contact:
- Your GP
- Your child’s school
- Young minds charity 08088025544
- Text SHOUT to 85258
- In an emergency contact 999 or A&E

If you would like to understand more about how you can support your child’s mental well-being you can book onto one of my upcoming workshops.

Hi I’m Amy, founder of raising mama. A family wellbeing consultancy working with children and families to develop healthy mindsets and emotional well-being.

I am passionate about promoting positive mental health for whole families through evidence based workshops, groups and 1:1 sessions.

My qualifications include: Children and young peoples development, attachment, safeguarding, creative mindfulness and perinatal mental well-being. I am continuing to further my knowledge in this area by studying a BSc counselling psychology degree where I am researching parental stress and wellbeing.

M I N D F U L N E S S I N N A T U R E

A fantastic start to the week with the wonderful children collecting treasures in their outside space!

Promoting emotional regulation, focus and concentration.

~ You can practice mindfulness wherever you are by noticing the colours, textures, shapes and temperatures of the things in your environment.

I’ve finished my last session before Christmas and would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who has attended a group, workshop or 1:1 session. As well as the fabulous nursery staff, children and parents that I have worked with!

I love what I do but I wouldn’t be able to do it without each and every one of you. I am always so grateful for your support, it means so much to me!

Wishing you all a joy filled Christmas and peaceful new year!

I had a fantastic time on Monday at The Wittering’s Village Pre-School for their parent stay and play session.

Making Calm jars provides the opportunity talk about times that you and your child have experienced particular emotions. This normalises the concept that we all experience challenging emotions and that this is ok! Due to the ages of the children, we stuck with happy, sad and angry. This activity promotes emotional literacy, self awareness, empathy and compassion.

This can be a great tool to use at home as children (and adults) can watch the glitter settle in the jar which has a calming effect on breathing and helps to regulate emotions.

Another fantastic session yesterday morning with Raising Mama we all had such a great time!

The children loved pouring the different coloured glitter into their jars and giving them a good mix.

It was lovely to see all the staff, Parents/Carers and Grandparents joining in with the breathing exercises.

Thank you to all those that attended our stay and play 🙂✨

You’re just as important as everyone else so make some time for you this Christmas!

Us mums are usually the magic makers behind the scenes at Christmas time. Decorating the house, planning the grotto visits, light switch ons, buying and wrapping the presents, going to Christmas plays and dance shows. There’s SO much more pressure than the rest of the year (which let’s be honest is pretty busy at the best of times).

Which is why I suggest you make the time for yourself, because no one is going to give it to you. Come and relax with myself and the wonderful Aisling from on the 17th December for a mini festive retreat in West Stoke.

Or come along and learn some practical tools around your values and boundaries to reduce stress, anxiety and overwhelm at Christmas (and all year round) on the 9th with me at my mother nurture workshop in Ford.

Give yourself a gift this year. You can thank yourself later!

(Pic of me the last time I felt no extra Xmas stress 🤣)

Today Only!

£10 off 6 weeks Raising Mama (starting Monday 30th January 2023). Reduced from £60 to £50.

£6 off Mother Nurture at Christmas (9th December 12:30-2pm). Reduced from £25 to £19.

Bookings must be made today to receive discount. Message me to book!

Most wonderful time of the year, or most stressful time of the year?

Financial stress, family dynamics, Christmas shopping, cooking, school/nursery activities, plus all the rest that goes along with it!

Make time for yourself on 9th December 12:30-14:00 to focus on what YOU want this Christmas!

We will focus on your expectations and values so you can discover what is most important to YOU at this time of year. You’ll feel empowered to to set and honour your boundaries to create the kind of Christmas you want! We will also be covering simple tips and tricks that will support you and your children over the holiday period to manage feelings of stress and overwhelm.

Spaces are limited so please get in touch to book your place. Includes drinks and a festive treat!

Babies and Children are welcome to attend this session.

Developing emotional literacy helps children learn to express their emotions, self regulate, form positive relationships and develop social skills. As well as being protective of their mental health.

All of my sessions have a focus on developing emotional literacy helping children to recognise and understand their emotions and learn to express them to others. As well as supporting children to identify trusted adults who they can share their feelings with. Creating a safe and supportive environment, for children to learn emotional literacy skills, self compassion, kindness to others as well as mindfulness.

Research even suggests that emotional intelligence could be more important than IQ in terms of life success. One study found that only 20% of factors that contribute toward life success were related to IQ, however the other 80% related to emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995).

If you would like to know more about nursery sessions and workshops please get in touch to arrange a free taster session.

I can’t wait to be back!

Get in touch if you would like to join an intimate group designed to support and nurture you in the early days of parenting.

Raising Mama is back in the studio tomorrow! Raising Mama
There are a couple of spaces available, so please get in touch with Amy ASAP to register!

This is a beautiful course focused around you! Meet other mums and focus on your wellbeing, all while baby has a play and you enjoy a cuppa.

Get in touch with Raising Mama
now and join in tomorrow!❤️

There are many different reasons your bodies stress responses can be triggered in parenting.

~ Your babies cry
~ Your toddler hitting you
~ Noise
~ Your child’s behaviour
~ Conflicting views
~ Child having an accident

Whilst these stress responses are designed to help us perceive and respond to danger. It isn’t always helpful in parenting as most of the time your not facing a real threat to yours or your child’s safety.

The activation of your stress response is involuntary, but when you are able to notice what triggers you and what your response was. You can begin to develop tools that can help you to cope and recover. Returning your body to a calm state where you are able to think more clearly.

Breathing exercises, Mindfulness
Movement, Talking/ Feeling connected and getting outside in nature, can all help to calm your nervous system.

There’s still a couple of last minute spaces on my Raising Mama course starting tomorrow 11-12pm in Ford.

Over the 6 weeks we will be looking at what triggers your stress responses as you develop a toolkit of preventative strategies to help you on your parenting journey.

DM to book your space!

T Y P E S O F S E L F C A R E

Practical ~ Things that set you up for success and reduce stress. For me this is food prep, planning my week and even having a good sort out of old clothes/toys etc.

Emotional ~ These can be activities that help you reflect on your emotions. Such as journaling or talking to a therapist.

Spiritual ~ Things that nurture your spirit such as music, art, nature.

Mental ~ Activities that focus your mind e.g. mindfulness, reading a book, listening to a podcast.

Physical ~ Things that promote your physical health e.g. sleep, nourishing food and moving your body. I’m always dancing around the house, great way to alleviate any pre dinner time meltdowns in my house.

Social ~ Activities that help you feel truly connected to others. This could be a chat with a friend or joining a group that your interested in.

I know this list sounds like a lot but making some tiny changes each day can help to protect your mental health, reduce stress and anxiety as well as increasing your energy and overall wellbeing.

It’s so important to make time to care for yourself as a new parent as I’m sure any parent will agree, having a new baby is exhausting.

Come and join a supportive and nurturing group where you will meet like minded mamas at a similar stage to you.

6 weeks starting Friday 4th November 11-12 pm at the magic little moments studio in Ford.

This group is all about the mamas with relaxing meditations, journaling and discussion, as well as a selection of refreshments. Of course the babies are not forgotten as they are very much part of every session!

There are a few spaces available, Send me a message to book on.

So excited to be back for a new term at the beautiful studio in Ford from 4th November for 6 weeks!

This course is for new mamas with babies under a year old. It is designed to help you relax and de-stress from the week and leave you feeling empowered as a Mother!

Each week you will be guided through a calming meditation before we focus on that weeks theme. We’ll discuss and reflect on expectations as mothers, matresecence, emotions, instrusive thoughts and boundaries. As well as learning different mindfulness and wellbeing practices that you can try out and see what works best for you.

As part of the course you will also receive journaling prompts, access to a friendly and nurturing group WhatsApp chat and a ‘lush’ goody bag!

To book please send me a message. Payment plans are available.