I AM MOTHER — Chapter 3: When Motherhood Asks You To Become Again with Mary Perry
Available on — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts & Substack
Interview Episode with Mary Perry
What happens when the life you’ve carefully built no longer fits the person you’re becoming?
In this episode, I’m joined by a mother of two who is still figuring it out, Mary Perry — navigating matrescence, identity, work, family, and what it means to show up for herself while constantly shifting through the seasons of motherhood.
We go deep into the identity journey that began with pregnancy and how becoming a mother invited her into a much softer, slower, more yin version of herself. As someone who had been deeply immersed in yoga — practicing regularly, teaching often, and living a highly structured life that felt entirely her own — pregnancy and motherhood asked her to release a lot of that control and crack open to a completely new way of being.
We talk about the physical realities of pregnancy, including health conditions that changed how she was able to move through her first pregnancy, and the unexpected ways those experiences shaped her relationship with her body and her yoga practice. We also get into the tension between being a holistic-minded person while choosing interventions like epidurals, and the reminder that there is no one “right” way to move through birth.
And then, we tell the birth stories.
She walks us through both of her births — two very different experiences — and the choices, circumstances, emotions, and expectations that surrounded each one.
We also talk about returning to corporate life after having both of her kids, what it feels like to hold motherhood alongside a professional identity, and how she’s continuing to figure out who she is within all of these roles.
This conversation is an honest look at the constant shifting of motherhood — the identities we shed, the ones we discover, and the parts of ourselves we’re learning to carry forward.
In this episode, we talk about:
The identity shift that happens through pregnancy and matrescence
Moving from a highly structured, scheduled life into the unpredictability of motherhood
What it meant to step into a more yin energy during pregnancy and beyond
How pregnancy health conditions changed her relationship with movement and yoga
The evolution of her yoga practice through motherhood
Holding holistic beliefs while also making choices like getting an epidural
The reality of having very different birth experiences
A breakdown of both of her birth stories
Letting go of the idea that there is one “right” way to birth or parent
Returning to work after having children
Navigating the corporate world while also navigating motherhood
The tension between who you were before children and who you’re becoming
Learning what your body, family, and life actually need in each season
Protecting your children’s privacy and reconsidering what gets shared online
The ongoing process of figuring out how to show up for yourself, your family, your friendships, and your career
This episode is a reminder that motherhood doesn’t just add another role to who you are — sometimes, it completely changes the way you understand yourself and what you prioritize.
