About the book: Landscape of Mothers
Landscape of Mothers is a map of the places in your inner world that can help you reclaim yourself inside your role of mother.
The landscapes are the map locations: sun and moon, wind, desert, island, mountain, river, forest, and ocean. Each location has a gift that is important for mothering. For instance, Wind Mother has the gift of trust, Forest Mother’s gift is belonging, and River Mother’s gift is purpose. Just like when you take a vacation, Landscape of Mothers offers a directory of possibilities, but doesn’t determine your experience. There are “itineraries” to choose from, but the experience is your own to create. Order now through Amazon Or through Bookshop.org |
Landscape of Mothers Affirmations
Sun and Moon Mother :: I return to the cycles and patterns that soothe me
Wind Mother :: I can choose where I want to put my energy
Desert Mother :: I have healthy boundaries that protect and nourish me
Island Mother :: I can hear my Self when I am in solitude and stillness
Mountain Mother :: My body can be trusted to convey my truth
River Mother :: I have an internal compass that guides me
Forest Mother :: My life is connected to the lives of others, we need one another
Ocean Mother :: I am made of the unseeable magic of the Universe
About the author: Jill Doneen Clifton
In 2015/16 I publicly told the story of how I came to be a mother. In the crafting of that story I found my inner Council Of Mothers. I realized that they were how I survived my journey through motherhood and I eventually located myself amongst the hall of mirrors of my depression.
There was a time I realized that I had experienced about every kind of “being a mother” that one could be in this single lifetime. I was a "parentified" child, I placed a baby for adoption at 18, then I experienced secondary infertility, went through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, and I had a (happy!) surprise baby. I experienced debilitating postpartum depression after my last child, and found myself deeply questioning what it is to be a mother. What makes a good one? Am I a good one? Is there such a thing as a good mother?
Over the subsequent years, in my continued personal journey and working with other women through this process of reclaiming our Selves amidst motherhood, I’ve realized that there are a number of mother archetypes that are part of our inner landscape. It has led me to think of motherhood in more robust, whole, and multi-faceted ways.
Training and Qualifications
I am an explorer of life. I spent the first half (and then some) of my life deeply embedded in academic pursuits. I have a M.Sc. in Ocean Science and I did the better part of a Ph.D. in Forestry. The natural world was my solace and my guide, helping me out of bouts of depression, my ongoing effort to know and love myself, and ultimately to healing some of the patterns in my family of origin.
The second half of my life has been filled with learning about the unseen, the undervalued parts of life, and how the residues of trauma point us there. I am a certified practitioner of Bioenergy Balancing (2011) and I went on to be a teacher in the Bioenergy Balancing Practitioner Training Program for three years. I am also certified in Earth Medicine, and have been practicing in my daily life for nearly a decade. I have certifications for Healthy Boundaries for Kind People and Coaching As Activism.
I am also a self-taught explorer of the intersections of trauma-informed psychology, physiology and biochemistry, neurobiology, polyvagal theory, earth medicine, land art, energy healing and maintenance, altar building, and gnosis (knowing through lived experience).
The second half of my life has been filled with learning about the unseen, the undervalued parts of life, and how the residues of trauma point us there. I am a certified practitioner of Bioenergy Balancing (2011) and I went on to be a teacher in the Bioenergy Balancing Practitioner Training Program for three years. I am also certified in Earth Medicine, and have been practicing in my daily life for nearly a decade. I have certifications for Healthy Boundaries for Kind People and Coaching As Activism.
I am also a self-taught explorer of the intersections of trauma-informed psychology, physiology and biochemistry, neurobiology, polyvagal theory, earth medicine, land art, energy healing and maintenance, altar building, and gnosis (knowing through lived experience).
My commitments
I am committed to lineage healing. I long to see a world free of repeated generational trauma, a world in which people can be celebrated, accepted for who they are, and valued for their natural contribution.
Lineage healing breaks the patterns of harm that are passed from one generation to the next. But someone has to choose to be brave... to take active steps to address the old familial wounds... to reparent themselves as they try to parent their own children differently. This is a difficult task, but it also one that breaks the chains that bind wounds to your family line. I am committed to myself and my own healing, which is always ongoing. I am always learning and exploring my own edges (I have two teenagers after all... they keep me real on this front). |
I am committed to compassion, understanding, deep listening, and giving the questions that arise spaciousness and time.
I am committed to the integration and utilization of tools from far flung modalities such as scientific and medical research, conversations with Body Wisdom, maps and landscapes, inquiring with nature as a guide, and embodiment practices.
I am committed to the integration and utilization of tools from far flung modalities such as scientific and medical research, conversations with Body Wisdom, maps and landscapes, inquiring with nature as a guide, and embodiment practices.