• by India Wooldridge , March 28, 2014

Like most of the internet this week, I have been in equal measure perplexed and amused at the now infamous term “Conscious Uncoupling.” In case you’ve been hiding under a rock this week, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced their decision to consciously uncouple, and the internet exploded. However, if we look past the quips on Twitter and obvious “SNL” fodder, what we see is an extreme form of a trend that has been gathering pace during the past few years. 

The desire to be mindful, present and make conscious and meaningful decisions is seen as a new aspirational goal. The Truth about Wellness study revealed that 28% of people globally are familiar with the term mindfulness. This rises to almost half of Americans; it would appear it’s not only Gwynnie who’s onto something. Once a taboo, our mental health is now seen as par with our physical health. Indeed, 50% of parents agree that their mental health is more important to them than their physical health.

Our desire to become more aware and self-aware is not only limited to our private worlds, it is increasingly manifesting itself in more public forums. Moms are being encouraged to make decisions about the way they define themselves as a mom.

For example, Etsy published a post written by the authors of Mom Inc. about creating a mom statement encouraging mothers on the platform “to describe your core values and goals as the entrepreneurial mother you hope to be” as you would in a mission statement. The idea being that your mom statement is just as important to your brand as your business’ mission statement in determining your future goals. This idea is not limited to business; research conducted by us last year revealed that 59% of U.S. parents always think of how best to promote themselves. 

In this light, you could say we are moving into a new era of mindful mothering. The implications of this for brands will be huge. Already 79% of US parents agree that the brands they buy say something about them and their identity. Mindful mothers will require mindful messaging that connects with, and enhances, their own values.