
92. Overcoming overwhelm with Katie Grimes
From Mothering Ourselves Mindfully by Sarah Harmon
May 19, 2026 · 58 min · Season 1 · Episode 92
About this episode
Sarah Harmon and Katie Grimes discuss overcoming overwhelm through emotional regulation and the impact of early relationships on parenting.
Sarah met life coach, business coach, and podcast host Katie Grimes through Women's Business League, and after spending an hour walking before even hitting record, they had to cut themselves off just to start the podcast. This conversation covers it all — nervous system regulation, the link between our relationship with our moms and our relationships with everyone else, why "regulated" might be the wrong word, the power of play (and pleasure) for mothers, and why conscious parenting happens mostly outside the moments you're actually with your kids. Key Points How our earliest relationships — especially with our mothers — create the programming that shows up in our parenting, our partnerships, and our businesses The four rungs of the nervous system ladder: joy/contentment → fight or flight → freeze/fawn → trauma response — and how to recognize which rung you're on Katie's five-step process for regulating emotions in the moment: naming the feeling, identifying the driving thought, using movement, deciding how you want to feel, and shifting the story Why Sarah has officially retired the word "regulated" — and what the "flourished mother" offers as a more honest, embodied alternative…
People in this episode
Host: Sarah Harmon
Guest: Katie Grimes
Topics covered
- nervous system regulation
- conscious parenting
- mother-child relationships
- emotional regulation
- play and pleasure
Keywords
- overcoming overwhelm
- nervous system
- conscious parenting
- emotional regulation
- mothering
- play
- pleasure
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Women's Business League
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- 89. The grief for a mother who's still alive · April 28, 2026 · 18 min
- 88. The Non-episode Episode: A Permission Slip · April 21, 2026 · 3 min
- 87. There's no such thing as mental load · April 14, 2026 · 21 min
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