Mamaste: Discover a More Authentic, Balanced, and Joyful Motherhood from Within

by Lori Bregman, Ursula Cary (Primary Contributor)

"No mama is perfect, but every mother has the power to be perfectly herself. This book is a must-read for any mom looking to be the most authentic mama YOU are. We all need support, and Lori Bregman has enough wisdom for the whole village." —Anne Hathaway, American actress and singer

A holistic guide to becoming a more balanced, authentic, and joyful Celebrity doula, pregnancy, women's wellness, and empowerment coach Lori Bregman introduces the "five expressions of motherhood": Action Mama, Flow Mama, Rebel Mama, Vulnerable Mama, and Free Mama. Lori offers supportive advice, exercises, meditations, and yoga practices to cultivate a healthy balanced life and stronger bonds. Guiding new mothers along a journey of self-discovery, these practices ultimately lead to a more enriching and contented experience for both mother and child. Fans of Lori Bregman's The Mindful Mom-To-Be , Kimberly Ann Johnson's The Fourth Trimester and Emily Oster's Cribsheet will love the advice, support, and guidance found in Mamaste .

Genres: Parenting

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2019

Reviews

[jasmyn♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this 2 days before my due date.

I am euphoric & it feels really surreal. I just still can't wrap my head around that I will be bringing a little human home.

These books make it feel very easy & it makes it feel charming. I honestly love reading books that help with pregnancy or books about pregnancy that just simply make you happy & ready for it all.

This book was very authentic & balanced. I loved it all. The title was perfect.

mamaste. 💙

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the advice given in this book is great advice, I feel like I have read it several times before in other holistic pregnancy and parenting books. With that being said, if you haven't read many books on this topic, definitely give it a try, it is filled with a great deal of useful information.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book.

[January Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Same old advice just geared towards Mothers. I read some and skimmed the rest. Self help and "inspiring' books are so repetitive.

[Veronica Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concept but unless you’re super into crystals, meditation and brewing your own tea this could have been an article

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and encouraging book for mothers and mothers-to-be that I would have probably really enjoyed in my early years as a mother (and to an extent found helpful even now as my oldest prepares to turn 21). It gives you a little personality test at the start to determine what type of mother you are (a main one and things that are also rather dominant) of five mother types -- action, flow, vulnerable, rebel and free. Action mamas take charge of things, free mamas seem like they don't worry about anything, vulnerable mamas tend to worry a lot and seek a lot of advice from others, and so on. I never really thought about why mothers seem to be one or another and there was some good insight into the reasons a woman would embrace an archetype or another. The author points out that we all have a little of each in us and we also can harness the good qualities of each, especially if we are mostly one or if we are in a time when another type would help more. Each section on the personality type has a summary of what it means with recommended yoga poses, crystals, meditations, and so on, along with more down-to-earth advice on how to use your personality type to get along with other mothers and live a less stressed life. It's a little new-agey in places but you can skip over things that don't work for you and still get a lot out of the basic advice.

I found myself realizing how I had changed as a mother over the years and seeing how some of my friendships had changed as my mama friends and I evolved to different types and didn't mesh as well. I appreciated the reminders about the good qualities of some things I fault myself with and that it's all fluid and can be shifted to a less stressful balance.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some great information and ideas, but just not really my vibe. I would recommend taking the quiz at the beginning of the book and read the chapters in order of which you fall into, not necessarily in chronological order.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I really wanted to like this book but it just didn’t do it for me.

The quiz was lacking and I don’t think accurately described my style of mama. The descriptions seemed a little wordy and vague. I would have liked more information on combinations of mama types and balancing them.

The yoga and meditations seem cool but are tough to incorporate since I don’t want to have to consult a book when doing either thing.

Overall the book felt really basic and I only got through it by skipping/skimming several sections (yoga, crystals, supplements and meditations) I did attempt some of the yoga flows and found a few poses I liked. I’ll keep the book I think for now (bought on eBay for $5) and probably flip through some of the exercises (purge writing specifically) and yoga poses.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an encouraging book for all moms. It includes a mothering personality sorter with 5 potential types: Action, Flow, Rebel, Vulnerable, and Free. There are chapters on each type, which include suggested yoga poses, meditations, affirmations, and several questions to deepen self-awareness. Chapters also include suggested essential oils and crystals to use, which are not my thing, but I know many moms will appreciate this.

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

[Josie Schreiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. One of my goals for this year is to learn to be more present and quiet my mind. This is definitely something I struggle with, especially now that I'm a mom of two. While the general advice was what you hear pretty often, I loved that this book included exercises, supplements and other helpful tools for embracing your personality.

Now that I've read through it, I plan on studying it a little more and implementing the practices into my daily routine.

[Ayu Ramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very candid and well-written book about mother archetypes, although I would like the author to have more robust references as to where she build the model of free, vulnerable, rebel, flow, and action mama from. Nevertheless, the author wrote eloquently and she knows her thing. I love how she explains the light and dark manifestation of each archetype, and how ultimately mothers need to have awareness where they currently stand and make course correction if needed.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a bunch about what kind of momma I am and how to improve myself, but I could have gone without the use this brand of essential oil and how to use crystals every chapter.

[Danielle Miner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will definitely read again. I need to try to embrace the other nothing personalities and find balance.