Motherless Mother's Day is an annual virtual gathering for anyone whose relationship with Mother's Day falls outside the traditional narrative.
It was created for people navigating the loss of a mother or mother figure, estrangement, complicated family relationships, or other experiences of absence that can feel especially visible during a holiday centered on motherhood.
Created after my mother passed away just days before Mother's Day in 2017, this gathering grew out of my own search for a space where grief could be witnessed without needing to be fixed.
Mother's Day celebrates one experience of motherhood. Motherless Mother's Day makes space for the many experiences that are often left out of that story.
Who It's For
Motherless Mother's Day is for:
People grieving the loss of a mother or mother figure
People navigating estrangement or complicated family relationships
Caregivers and helpers who rarely make space for their own grief
Anyone who feels unseen, uncomfortable, or disconnected from traditional Mother's Day celebrations
You don't have to have a particular kind of grief to belong here. If Mother's Day brings up something complicated for you, there is space for you in this gathering.
What I Believe
Self-compassion is a leadership practice.
So much of our lives are organized around caring for other people. This gathering offers an opportunity to turn some of that care inward—to acknowledge what you're carrying, make space for your own experience, and practice meeting yourself with compassion.
This isn't about moving beyond grief or finding the right way to feel.
It's about making room for what is here.
What the Experience Is Like
Motherless Mother's Day is a gentle, two-hour virtual gathering combining embodied practice, guided reflection, community witnessing, and meditation.
Together, we'll create space to:
Arrive in the body
Through breathwork and embodied practices that help you slow down and connect with yourself.
Reflect
Through guided journaling and a teaching centered on the day's theme.
Be witnessed
Through optional community sharing and the experience of being with others who understand that Mother's Day can hold more than one story.
Close with care
Through a loving-kindness meditation to bring the gathering to a gentle close.
You don't need to have the right words. You don't need to perform your grief. And you don't need to arrive feeling any particular way.
You can simply come as you are.
The Intention
Participants leave feeling less alone in their grief and more connected to themselves and one another.
Rather than trying to fix, resolve, or move beyond grief, we practice making space for it—with greater compassion, presence, and tenderness.
An Annual Gathering
Motherless Mother's Day takes place virtually each year around Mother's Day.
Approximately 2 hours · Live virtual gathering · Annual offering
Mother's Day doesn't hold the same story for everyone.
There is room for your story here.