Usually it is more natural to think that children are the ones that need to grow up, not us :-). But you will be surprised to know, or maybe not, that children also allow us to grow up. You can read more about this in Dr Shefali Tsabary’s book on Conscious Parenting. It is simply a good read for all parents and she explains in more details how, while we parent our children, our old wounds tend to come up to the surface. And in the process this can at times taint our judgment when it comes to our interactions with our children.
When we accept that we too need to grow, and we open our eyes to the lessons our children place upon our paths, it actually strengthens our bond, and in the process we have a lot more compassion for our children.
Here is a video version of a previous Blog post. I hope you enjoy it.
It covers the multiple benefits of getting your children involved in chores from a young age. It is a mistake to only focus on academics…. then their self esteem is defined solely on academic success. What if your child struggles in school, then what? Too many times I see children’s self esteem suffer because they define their worth on externals, such as academics or sports.
Chores, among other things, allow children to build their self esteem, a sense of mastery, competency, responsibility, and many other skills and qualities. We need to shift our negative focus from chores being”chores” and rather opportunities to connect, take a break, be mindful while doing a task and thus disconnecting from complicated life issues or struggles.
Maybe after watching this video you too will see your household responsibilities in a totally different light… Enjoy!
Photo Credits: This presentation contains images that were used under a Creative Commons License. Click here to see the full list of images and attributions: https://app.contentsamurai.com/cc/2588
I have found on You Tube a series of inspirational short videos that I plan to share with you, one at a time.
When it comes to teaching children, schools have moved away from life skills, spirituality, home economics etc… the things that made us well rounded individuals.
Now school’s main focus is academics, to a point that arts and sports are no longer a priority, and teaching to read and math have taken priority over play with children as young as 4. I heard lately that we are the only nation (North America) that does not teach our children to meditate and live mindfully. It is quite a shame.
So now these teachings become the sole responsibility of the small family unit. We no longer have a village to raise a child, so it all depends on us, the parents. It all starts with US…. to heal our children, to teach our children, we FIRST need to live by the principles we want to pass down to them. We need to teach by example, not by lecturing here and there.
So, use these videos and watch them with your kids and start a discussion and make it a goal each day to live by these principles. You will see a shift in your family dynamics, but first, you will see a shift in you. It is a lot easier to teach something when we experience it rather than intellectually comprehend it. Our energy changes and it is contagious and our children change by osmosis. It is truly magical. Children are master imitators. Take advantage of it.
The first in the series is about gratitude. Here are a few quotes I have picked up from it…. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The pictures are stunning, you’ll see. Reminds us how amazing nature is and how much beauty surrounds us that we take for granted.
Life is about making choices and choosing what is important
Too many choices creates anxiety
Focus on what’s important, too often we take for granted the little things in life
Focus on what you do have, leaves little room for dwelling on what you don’t have
This fuels joy in your life and this turns it into gratitude
Look at the little things that surround you, the beauty
If you find your path you will never lose your way
Watch this alone, or with your children, and try to live by this principle. It will bring more joy and less anxiety or worry in your life, or despair.
Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I found this great webinar that might be helpful if you are struggling with depression. Let me share the information below which I have cut and pasted directly from the website:
Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness, Compassion and Play
A CE Webinar with Dr. Elisha Goldstein – When most of us think of the word “anti-depressant,” we think of a pill, but Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. shows us how science is now discovering that that’s not the only natural anti-depressants we have. As we intentionally practice tapping into these natural anti-depressants, we begin to form an anti-depressant brain and uncover a more enduring sense of resiliency and well-being. This treatment model has been inspired by some of the most current research on neuroscience and depression as well as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), created by Zindel Segal; Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), created by Jon Kabat-Zinn; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), created by Steven Hayes; and research by Brene Brown and others.
In this Webinar, you’ll learn how to nurture the brain’s natural antidepressants, provide clients relief from symptoms of depression, improve emotional resilience and give guidance on how people can protect themselves from depression. Conference participants will gain the following skills, drawn from uncovering happiness – aka Mindful Compassion Cognitive Therapy (MCCT):
Utilize mindfulness to lay a foundation for the antidepressant brain.
Discuss how self-compassion can be used as an antidepressant technique.
Apply meaning, compassion and purpose to develop a deeper understanding of resiliency and well-being.
Recognize how making happiness a habit can reclaim play in your life and how play can be mastered to bring about natural antidepressants.
Learning Objectives:
Describe what mindfulness is and how it helps interrupt the depressive loop
List three practical, formal ways to integrate mindfulness-based theory and practice when working with clients
List three current neuroscientific studies showing the relationship between mindfulness and depression
List and practice key self-compassion practices to use for self-care and to practice with clients in creating healing and forgiveness around pain
Describe the anti-depressant effects of compassion, play and learning
Image courtesy of markuso at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I know how precious time is for busy moms… even more if you are a single mom. Sometimes it feels like you are taking care of every one except yourself. Even going to gym might seem like an onerous task, but you keep hearing left and right how you need to exercise for good health, and it seems like you can never fit it into your schedule, or you are simply too exhausted to do anything!
What happens, if you’re like me, is you start with good intentions and then there’s a hick up and it all falls on the way side, and then you are down on yourself for not being able to sustain it.
So let me share what works for me. It has to be simple, doable and not take 2 hours of my time. The idea is to do a little bit every day and build it into a routine.
I try to do stretches in the morning using a quick yoga routine, and then I do an intense 5 minute workout. Depending on my work schedule, I will also work into my schedule a relaxing night time relaxing yoga routine (or just stretch). And I do all this from the comfort of my home. This is my new routine and I am hoping to work my way up to a 15 to 30 minute routine 2 to 3 times a week in addition to the 5 minute routine. When I get to that point I’ll keep you posted. Thing is, it’s not perfect yet but it sure is better than doing nothing. And when you see the links that I will send you to, you will understand that these short intense workouts, although brief offer great benefits.
I love Anita Goa for her yoga/fitness/palates routines. She is a personal trainer and offers a variety of videos for all types of levels (beginner to advance; relaxing to more challenging). She also has Philosophy Friday where she offers great wisdom and tips.
Here is a brief description of what she offers on YouTube:
Fitness Vinyasa™ is a dynamic flowing workout that connects traditional yoga poses, plyometrics, strength training and aerobics into creative combinations (vinyasas) linked to ones breath.
Fitness Vinyasa™ is a wholeistic approach to working out. It’s a workout designed to get your body strong, flexible, enduring and toned while having a lot of fun.
By using yoga as the foundation for this yoga inspired fitness workout you will flow, breathe, sweat while connecting to your body, mind and spirit. Fitness Vinyasa™ is not a yoga practice trying to give you a fitness workout or a fitness workout trying to give you the yoga feeling, it’s a workout that is thoughtfully crafted fusing the two into one. On the mat you are put in positions where you will learn organically about your body, mind and spirit so you can trust yourself enough to follow your own flow whether it’s on the mat or off the mat to live your life to your fullest potential.
Here are two videos I really like, the night routine and a quick 10 minute stretch routine:
I also really enjoy the intense and short workout videos that Zuzka Light has to offer.
Here is how she describes her workouts that you can find on YouTube:
Short, high-intensity workouts get your heart rate up and your metabolism moving fast. The idea is to push yourself with max effort for a short period of time, 10-20 minutes. I implement an innovative wrapping format of cardio exercises with other complex move-based exercises. This puts the body in a state of stress management to break plateaus and get real results. The exercises alone are not always complicated, but put into this complex wrapping format, the exercises together become challenging and body-changing. I like to change my workouts on a regular basis and program different move-based exercises to focus on specific areas like abs, butt, core, upper body, etc.
Here is one of my favourite leg exercise:
Finally, another type of quick but effective workout routine is called Tabata. It is a high intensity interval training. completed in 4 minutes.
Tabata training was discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo.
Each workout lasts four minutes and 20 seconds (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set).
Here are a couple of example you can find on YouTube:
Anyhow, try it out… schedule these in. Keep me posted and tell me what works for you!
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