If you're looking for something more fun or playful check out the videos on my homepage or the Kids Mindfulness Coaching page. If you want some deep thinking, research, and storytelling read on...
I have personal and professional tethers to mindfulness. Personally I've navigated several seasons of life where anxiety was my companion so I had to learn tools to work with it. I frequently think "If I'd only known about mindfulness earlier, those years would've been a lot easier." Professionally, my degree is in Child Development, I've taken graduate level counseling classes and I have certifications in mindfulness, health coaching and yoga.
I teach kids mindfulness, I teach adults mindfulness, I teach mindfulness in parenting groups and I am on the faculty for an international mindfulness training school. My goal is always to make mindfulness relevant, simple and effective by synthesizing my 20+ years of research and learning into playful, high-impact activities.
As host of The Stress Nanny Podcast, I interview guests and share insights to help families take an intentional (mindful) approach to managing the stress we're all facing. I am constantly learning and researching to connect families with the latest, most effective tools.
It was important to me that I have a practice for long enough that I'd integrated the principles of mindfulness into my life. In other words, I wanted to embody mindfulness before teaching it. This is especially important when working with kids because they can spot fake people pretty easily. My decades of practice living a mindful life and the compassion that has resulted is something that sets me apart from a lot of other teachers. I have lived mindfully for a long time so I can easily help kids and adults find ways to connect with the practice to work through stress and enhance their lives.
My approach to teaching mindfulness is interdisciplinary and largely informed by the following theories:
Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Duffey & Haberstroh's Developmental Relational Counseling Theory
Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development
Dr. Dan Siegel's Mindsight
Prochaska & DiClemente's Stages of Change Model
Shazer & Berg's Solution Focused Brief Therapy
I define mindfulness as knowing what's going on inside you, knowing what's going on outside you, making a choice on purpose.
Why Mindfulness for Kids? As evidenced by the epic numbers of kids who are navigating anxiety in our modern culture, it's clear there's a gap in our mental health support for kids. I focus on mindfulness because it's an efficient, easy-to-learn, high-impact intervention that kids can do on their own. Mindfulness helps kids regulate their nervous systems through breathing, moving or managing the flow of their thoughts to bring them into a place of steadiness which also invites them to connect more readily with others. These skills of resilience have a significant impact during the formative years of development because they allow kids the flexibility to move through struggles with an emphasis on building self-awareness and emotional intelligence and leveraging the choices they do have which is empowering for mental and emotional health. In addition to supporting optimal development, emotional intelligence is continuing to emerge as a key indicator of success in college and the workforce. I always say when it comes to shoring up kids' mental health, mindfulness is a great place to start. As you'll see, I spread out mindfulness activities kind of like a buffet and let kids choose the ones that appeal to them.
Why Mindfulness for Adults? Most of us adults weren't taught mindfulness or emotional regulation when we were younger so we're left to figure it out as adults. Some of us are trying to do this while parenting. And still others are doing this as professionals and individuals navigating life. No matter where you're at in life or in your practice, mindfulness can support you in enhancing self-awareness, managing emotions, building healthy relationships, and letting go of the negative self-talk that so many of us experience. With steady practice, mindfulness can help you build the life you're envisioning.
If you've read this far, you're a rockstar. As you can tell, I can really geek out about mindfulness and I'm committed to help you access the benefits of mindfulness.
I'd love to answer any questions you have. Feel free to check out one of my 3 offerings:
the Mindfulness Club (weekly group mindfulness coaching for teens and tweens)
Kids Mindfulness Coaching (individual weekly zoom sessions for kids.
Call the Stress Nanny (hour long consult to troubleshoot a specific issue)
You'd get started with any of those options by filling out my questionnaire and then we'd chat.
