Creating a friendly haven for mums and babies to connect, and recharge
THE calm and soft interior of For Rest Fermanagh is a warm place for babies and toddlers to rest their heads as they join with their mums in this warm cocoon. For Rest Fermanagh – located in Belcoo – has been welcoming mums and babies to their haven for several weeks now.
Those attending can enjoy baby and mum yoga, holistic sleep education, mindful craft, as well and meditation
and other mindfulness activities.
Started by Lauren Logan, Una Cirual and Lisa Rea, the group focuses on the idea that if you have a happy mum, you will have a happy baby, say the founders.
Explaining the fundamentals of For Rest, Mrs. Logan said: “There are three pillars to our business: we talk about Connection through Yoga, which is the pillar I bring; Rest, which is the connection Lisa brings; and Creativity, which is the connection Una brings.”
The women started their business as they wanted to create what they believed to be their ideal mum’s group.
They initially came together during the lockdown of 2020 when Mrs. Logan reached out to other mums from a breastfeeding group about the potential of going for a walk when Covid-19 restrictions were gradually lifting.
Mrs. Logan explained: “It’s great to get out and walk, but there’s nothing; there’s no hub for the mums to just drop in.
“It sparked off on my living room floor over coffee, while the kids were going mad, and we were just letting our ideas kind of go wild!
“We asked ourselves, ‘What does a mum’s group look like to us?’
“It’s a space that is non-judgmental, that is in a lovely setting, because they [mum’s groups] generally are [held] in cold halls, or they’re not comfortable.
“We wanted a place where the kettle is always on, and that mum is tended to as well, where you feel completely not judged, and it is safe, and you’re doing programmes that are enriching wellness.”
Discussing the importance of having a safe space for any mum and baby, Mrs. Logan shared her own story.
“When I had Finn, my first little boy, I suffered quite badly with postnatal depression, and I realised that you really do need a support system.
“With it being locked down [during 2020] and being so isolated, we are the most connected, but [were] the most isolated generations of parents that there has been.”
Explaining that the group places equal importance on both the child and parent, Mrs. Logan said: “They say ‘You need a village to raise a child’, but we were like, well, where is this village?
“And how do you say that support is there, and it’s fine to go into these groups here and there, but, you go to the group with your child and then you leave, and then you don’t really have a connection with another mum.
“It is all about the baby, and I think mums get forgotten about along the way.”
Sharing some words to live by as a parent, she said: “There’s a really lovely saying about you hold the mother and the child gets held too , and it’s about supporting the mum through her journey of becoming a mum through motherhood, and how if you have a happy mum, you have a happy baby.”
Currently, For Rest Fermanagh run a timetable of activities at a cost, but hope to be able to expand their offering.
“We’re completely self-funded. This is something we did look into, about having support to become funded, but there’s no money in the pot for many people at the minute, so we are completely self-funded”, said Mrs. Logan.
“We run a free event once every six weeks where we do a buggy walk; we have had a lovely turnout. We get nearly 30 mums attending.
“So it’s obvious that there’s a need for this connection”, she added.
You can find out more information about For Rest Fermanagh on Instagram by visiting @_for.rest.fermanagh_