Last week I started a book that is amazing. You may find me sharing from it as I continue to listen. It's about a 10 hour listen, so there is a lot of good information to come our way. The book is called Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy.
Mindfulness at Home
Monday, February 24, 2025
MGI
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Why
Have you ever been caught in a never ending string of "why" from a child? There was once a time that my oldest two children asked why so much I had to limit them to one why a day. Their whys were not for true curiosity but rather to simply see how many whys they could make someone answer.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Ice Ice Baby
Do you have that child who escalates and cannot come back?
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
The Space Between
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In the space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." -Author Unknown but often attributed to Viktor Frenkl, there is no clear evidence to refute or confirm.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness:
1 out of 6 youth experience mental health conditions. Only half of those youth will receive treatment.
50% of all lifetime metal health begins by the age of 14.
The average delay between onset of symptoms and treatment is 11 years.
In 2020, 1 in 5 youth reported that the pandemic had a negative impact on their mental health.
In 2020 there was a 31% increase in mental health related ER visits among adolescents.
According to the CDC:
In 2021 4 in 10 students reported they felt persistently sad or hopeless.
In 2021 1 in 5 students reported seriously considering suicide. And 1 in 10 students have attempted suicide.
The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that the most common mental health concerns for youth are; anxiety, depression, ADHD, and eating disorders.
How can we support our students and their mental health?
2 out of the top 3 ideas on the list put out by the CDC are; mindfulness and social emotional learning. Two things we already promote at as a school. We are working to support the mental health of your students.
You can too.
We utilize a program called Inner Explorer. You can connect with the Inner Explorer at Home app for free.
Did you know that research shows, what we focus on expands? This goes deeper than always being positive and the power of positive thinking. Studies show that those without depression symptoms tend to form more positive memories and have more positive memory recall. By utilizing mindfulness we expand the positive parts of our brain and promote positive memories and positive recall.
Mental energy matters.
I am sure many of you have heard the expression, neurons that fire together wire together, in short this means that the more we expand the positive parts of our brain the more we wire our brain for the positive. Mindfulness promotes the expansion of the positive and the increase in positive wiring.
A good mindfulness practice is a simple one that follows three steps.
Pause
Reframe
Kindness and Compassion
💓
Pause to think and reflect. (without judgment)
Reframe the thought. (we do not have to be positive but we can reframe a situation to see more than the negative.)
Kindness and Compassion toward yourself for where you currently are and where you would like to be and for how you are working on getting there. Be kind to your current self. Show compassion as you work toward a more positive future.
Remember the best way to teach this to your students is to first teach it to yourself.
Friday, April 12, 2024
Parenting is Challenging, We are here to Help
Two of my favorite psychologists are a source of my information this week. Dr. Becky Kennedy and Dr. Adam Grant. Both psychology impact how I parent, in a positive way. And I hope that you take some time to consider what will be shared this week.
Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant has a podcast called Re: Thinking with Adam Grant. On his podcast he hosted Clinical Psychologist Becky Kennedy. Dr. Kennedy is known as a parenting expert. If you have a moment check out her Instagram page. Her short advice videos will have you reflecting on your parenting/educating behaviors. During this episode of Dr. Grant's podcast the pair explored ideas in parenting.
Something that was said during the episode that really stuck out to me was a comment about the questions we ask. It was said that the questions we ask others show them the road we want to walk down with them. One example is the question that Adam Grant asks his children when they get home from school. And it is a question I have adopted and ask in my home too. The question is who did you help today? Dr. Grant shared that as he began to ask this question his wife suggested adding who helped you today? Dr. Grant admits that he was not fully onboard at first. He wanted to focus on his children becoming helpers and seeking ways to support others. His wife helped him understand that children need to also be taught to accept help and to let others support them. I love this idea. I have added this to my daughter's daily check in after school.
What questions might you be asking your student? Are you asking them if they were good? Or are you asking how they helped?
Another great idea that was present was from Dr. Kennedy. She shared that she likes to take time once a month or more if she can, to spend one-on-one time with her children. She said that during this time she makes sure her phone is rooms away. During this time she askes her children for a performance review. She asks "how can I do better?" or "what do you need from me?" She shared that her children have commented on screen time, use of specific apps, etc. This opens a line of communication and chance to allow a child to feel like they are important and their opinion matters. Dr. Kennedy shared that she is then also able to share again her view point.
As a parent this can be a scary idea. We don't want to let kids feel on equal footing with us. We are the authority. But this isn't about giving them a chance to change the rules but rather an opportunity to review them and why they were created. It gives them a chance to be heard and to hear you.
There were so many good points in the podcast. Go look it up and listen. I want to share just a couple more quick highlights.
During the conversation Dr. Kennedy said that as adults we need to get better at repair. Get good at repair. Apologize to students. Repair what has been broken. Children need to see humility. We make mistakes.
Children need connection. They need to feel like adults care. Dr. Kennedy shared that the best advice she can give to anyone is to let children know that you believe in them. Children need to hear " I believe in you." Children also need to know what adults believe them. They need to hear "I believe you."
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Mindful Grit is Perseverance
Mindful Grit is Perseverance
Perseverance. It is a great word. Saying it makes you feel driven.
Grit. Similar to perseverance, is also a word that when you say it or think it, you feel it.
If you have Grit, you Persevere.
On her website KimRoberts.Co Kim shares " Perseverance seems super-human in the face of never-ending hold-up."
This is something which relates to many of us. When we are faced with a challenge we are unsure we can meet we feel that digging deep for grit and perseverance is a super-human task we cannot muster. The thought to keep going can be a daunting one. We just don't want to do it anymore, not when giving up seems so much easier.
On her website Kim also states that perseverance is showing-up. The beginning of perseverance is simply to show up.
Kim also shares two other things she feels are important parts to perseverance. She states that we need to set intentions. Know what you want to do. Set it as your intention. This gives you your goal to work toward. This creates the plan.
Before you show up and set your intentions Kim shares that you must first commit/recommit to a mindfulness meditation practice.
Why? Good question.
Research shows that mindfulness helps us develop grit. And as we have learned, grit is perseverance.
Mindfulness encourages us to act with awareness and intention. Awareness and intention have been shown to be predictors of consistency. These are all key aspects in developing grit.
Mindfulness is an amazing tool which helps us navigate setbacks while sustaining interest and focus on a goal.
Mindfulness helps us learn; better, calmer, and more productive ways to reevaluate a situation.
If we practice mindfulness we can learn to visualize a setback and work on positive ways to maintain expectations.
Mindfulness keeps us in the moment, resets experiences, suspend judgment, address anxiety, gain control, and prevent catastrophizing. A daily mindfulness practice can also help us learn the difference between a downward spiral and an upward spiral. Mindfulness helps change our inner voice to one of encouragement and determination and can helps us keep commitments.
On his website RonRutland.com, Ron shares stories of his various journeys in life. One journey began June 20, 2013 and lasted 27 months. For 27 months Ron biked across 75 Countries with the goal of making it to the 2015 rugby world cup in England.
Ron shares that he quite his corporate job, sold his belongs and started his bike journey in South Africa; just him, a backpack, and a bike.
As he shares about his experience Ron states that during his trip two things got him through; mindfulness and perseverance. Ron shares that he did not simply practice mindfulness but rather feels he became mindfulness and this built his perseverance.
With the start of a new year and many resolutions being made (and wanting to be kept...perseverance perhaps) let's set an intention toward mindfulness.
MGI
Last week I started a book that is amazing. You may find me sharing from it as I continue to listen. It's about a 10 hour listen, so th...
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Mindful Grit is Perseverance Perseverance. It is a great word. Saying it makes you feel driven. Grit. Similar to perseverance, is also a ...