Parents, caregivers, and supporters, I invite you to give this practice a try. Become aware of how it changes your own mood and energy as you face challenges in your own life. Then, notice how your breath can change, impact, and support the environment you facilitate with and for the children and teens in your life. Breath can be a powerful tool for talking to teenagers about the tough stuff!
As humans, we all have a desire to belong and to be significant. Positive Discipline teaches that every behavior a child or teen exhibits is an attempt to confirm that they belong and are significant. Today, we focus on how YOU, as a parent or caregiver, can use this concept as a foundation for intentional living.
As the parent of a teen, it can be truly powerful to practice self-encouragement. This involves practicing self-compassion, acknowledging that you cannot control your teen, and giving attention to “successes.” Keep reading for a daily self-encouragement practice.
Summer can be your greatest asset in guiding hard-to-reach teens (so, yes, I mean all teens) toward a healthy and happy adulthood. As the parent, motivated to get our teens involved this summer, we might try to explain to our kids how they’ll be challenged and better off by participating in summer programs and learning experiences. We also have to understand the benefits from a teenager’s perspective and communicate in ways that bring connection and collaboration.
As the school year winds down, you’ve probably already thought about your big summer commitments: summer camps and trips and now the reality of a very different schedule and rhythm for the summer months may be at the forefront of your mind. Summer offers many organizational challenges: inconsistent schedules, summer trips, sunset at 9 p.m., camps, playdates, and more. It also gives us a chance to spend more time with our kids and teens, which we hope can be fun instead of a struggle. When you organize your summer together with a focus on connection, summer fun is more likely.
As parents, caregivers, and supporters, it’s important to set limits in order to protect our energy and time. Boundaries support us in living with intention and getting our needs met. Furthermore, each one of us has the powerful responsibility to determine our boundaries and to create a life that reflects these values.
Teens who are experiencing stress may quickly change habits or routines, and when you become aware of this as the parent or caregiver, it can be easy to go into investigation-mode. You want to know what your teen is facing so that you can help them solve it and find relief. These moments require you to slow down, breathe deep, and focus on connection first; keep reading for strategies on how to talking to your teenager about their stress and overwhelm.
Movement, or shifting the energy in the physical body, can be an excellent way to get "unstuck" when you or your teen are facing big emotions. Keep reading 30 Ways to Move Through "Stuck" Emotional mindfully!
Two words that I hear often from my clients are "I'm anxious." I’ve written before on Talking to Teenagers About Mental Health, and because this topic is worthy of occupying space and needs to be destigmatized, I'm revisiting it. Keep reading for 35 Healing Tools for Times of Anxiety and Depression.
I’m excited to share a three-step process for exploring big emotions, “shoulds,” and limiting beliefs and invite you to use writing and drawing to work through this practice. This work of personal development and self-expression is a necessary form of self-care for you as a parent or caregiver (and for your rapidly developing teens).