In a previous episode, Nisha explored the experience of the emotionally unavailable mother - the kind of absence that leaves your emotional world largely unheld. But this episode speaks to a different, often more confusing dynamic.

This is for the women who didn’t just experience absence - but something more active, more intrusive and harder to name.

The critical mother. The controlling mother. The emotionally intrusive or “devouring” mother.

The kind of dynamic where love didn’t feel stable or safe - where it may have felt conditional, tied to how you behaved, performed or showed up.

You may have experienced criticism that cut deeper than it should have. Comparisons that made you question yourself. Guilt that made you feel responsible for her emotions, and a level of shame that left you feeling like something about you was inherently wrong.

This episode is not about blaming your mum, but it is about acknowledging the impact.

Because many women spend years minimising this experience - telling themselves “it wasn’t that bad” or “she did her best”—while still carrying the emotional imprint of it in how they relate to themselves and others.

You don’t have to push through—just stay present with what feels manageable, and come back to the rest when you’re ready.

If you're struggling with this and would like more support:

• Work With Me: Request Your Consultation Call
• Women's Circle + Talking

This episode wasn’t planned.

After Nisha & Charni finished recording the previous episode, around expression writing and books, we kept talking - and left the camera on. What followed was a completely unfiltered, unstructured and unexpectedly powerful conversation. No agenda. Just honesty.. It's become its own episode, and rightly so!

We talk about the realities many women quietly navigate - marriage, identity and the slow loss of self. We question the narratives we’ve been handed, from societal expectations to what we consume online and why it's vital we question everything we read, see and hear on socials and the news.

This is the kind of conversation that doesn’t usually get shared. The kind that happens behind closed doors, when there’s no pressure to perform or package things neatly.

And towards the end, something unexpected happens - a moment of reflection that turns the lens back onto me, my work and what it really means to hold space for others.

If you’ve ever questioned the roles you’ve been given, the beliefs you’ve absorbed, or the version of yourself you’ve had to become - this one will land and change your perspective.

If you've already been through that, then you'll agree with a lot of what we say...

Keep in touch with Nisha

• Work With Me: Request Your Consultation Call

Keep in touch with Charni

• Instagram
• Website + Purchase her collection of works here

Today's episode is taken from a recent conversation I had with Rupinder from Asian Women Mean Business.

We explore why so many South Asian women struggle with self-trust, guilt, people-pleasing and self-doubt and why becoming yourself can sometimes feel like risking the relationships that matter most.

We discuss the hidden cost of living according to other people's expectations, the fear of disappointing family, and what it really takes to build a life that feels authentic without losing your sense of belonging.

If you've ever felt torn between being yourself and keeping the peace, this conversation is for you.

If you're struggling with this and would like more support:

• Work With Me: Self Trust Programme
• 8 Live weekly 90min+ sessions
• A bespoke workbook + journal
• A clear framework + practical tools to build self-trust
• Small, focussed group (8 women max) + recorded sessions + private community access

Join 130+ professionals who stopped overthinking, built self-trust and now show up confidently in their life, work and relationships!