Is Coaching for Mothers the Support You’ve Been Missing? With Tessa Johnson-Jones
The Support Every Mother Needs (But Rarely Gets) When Returning to Work
There’s a moment that happens to nearly every working mother. You’ve just had this completely transformative, life-altering experience of growing and birthing a human being. Your brain has literally changed. Your priorities have shifted. Your body is recovering. And then… you’re expected to sit at your desk and read emails as if nothing happened.
One of my pregnancy yoga students said it perfectly last week: “I’ve just used life force to create another person, and now I need to schedule a meeting.” That contrast is jarring. It’s disorienting. And for many women, it’s utterly heartbreaking.
This is exactly why I wanted to share my recent conversation with Tessa Johnson-Jones, a postnatal yoga teacher, hypnobirthing instructor, and certified coach who’s bringing her corporate management experience into the world of motherhood support. Tessa is joining us at Krish Yoga Studio to lead monthly Mother Circles, and our conversation opened my eyes to how desperately mothers need this kind of structured support.
The Gap Between Transformation and Expectation
Tessa’s own story will resonate with so many of you. She was that woman who planned to work right up until birth. (Spoiler: she didn’t, stopping at 38 weeks.) After taking a full year of maternity leave in the UK, she returned to work with a supportive manager and brilliant team. But even with all that support, she felt completely lost.
“I just didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore,” she shared. “I felt like my brain had changed, I had no self-confidence, and I was just expected to come back and slot back in.”
Sound familiar? You’re supposed to “work like you don’t have kids and mother like you don’t have a job.” It’s an impossible standard that leaves women feeling like failures on both fronts.
Coaching vs Therapy: What’s the Difference?
One of the most valuable parts of our conversation was Tessa explaining the distinction between coaching and therapy for mothers. Both are important, but they serve different purposes.
Therapy looks back, exploring past trauma and mental health conditions with a trained clinician. It’s supportive, empathetic, and often long-term.
Coaching looks forward. It’s about goal-setting, maximizing potential, and finding practical solutions. It’s more challenging, more short-term, and focused on specific outcomes. A coach might ask: “What do you want to be as a working parent? What’s most important to you?”
For mothers, coaching goals might include negotiating part-time hours, achieving a 50-50 split of mental load with a partner, reconnecting with friends, or simply feeling more confident. These are valid, important goals that deserve structured support.
The Practical Tools That Actually Help
What struck me most about Tessa’s approach is how practical it is. Yes, there’s important values work and identity exploration. But there are also tangible tools that can reduce daily friction.
One of my favourites: Tessa and her partner literally wrote down every single household task they each do, then redistributed them intentionally. This isn’t about achieving perfect equality – some households function differently for various reasons – but about making conscious choices rather than defaulting to old patterns (especially post-maternity leave when you’ve often taken on more).
Another brilliant example: Tessa created three boxes in her hallway – one for herself, one for her partner, and one for her son. Each contains the essentials for leaving the house. No more running around searching for lip balm, water bottles, or keys while your toddler melts down. It sounds simple, but these tiny friction points accumulate throughout the day until you’re completely overwhelmed by 7pm.
The Mother Circles at Krish Yoga
Tessa will be leading monthly group coaching sessions for Krish Yoga members, focusing on themes like guilt, overwhelm, and identity. These won’t be one-to-one coaching sessions, but rather community spaces where mothers can share challenges, hear from others experiencing similar struggles, and leave with tangible actions to implement.
Each session will end with breathwork and relaxation, reinforcing the positive messages explored during the hour. It’s a holistic approach that honours both the practical and emotional needs of motherhood.
You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone
The return to work is a significant pressure point for mothers. The percentage of women who leave their jobs after returning from maternity leave is quite high – not necessarily because the job isn’t right anymore, but because they lack adequate support to navigate their new normal.
If you’re struggling with the identity shift of motherhood, feeling overwhelmed by the mental load, or wondering how to balance work and parenting, know that you’re not alone. And more importantly, know that support exists.
Sometimes we need therapy to process trauma or address mental health concerns. Sometimes we need coaching to set goals and find practical solutions. Often, we need community to realize we’re not the only ones feeling this way.
What we rarely need is to keep pushing through in survival mode, pretending everything is fine.
Journaling Prompts from Tessa to get you started:
- What do I see when I picture the ‘perfect mother’? How do I measure up to this image? Is this helpful or harmful to how I feel about mothering?
- What kind of mother do I want to be/how would I want my children to describe me? e.g. playful, calm, present? How can I shape my days/weeks to show up more like this?
- In parenting, what am I really proud of this week? what did I learn about myself or my child this week?
Thank you for listening!
