Quality Time with your Kids

As parents, we tend to feel like there’s not enough time in a day for quality time with our kids. We want to maintain a strong connection with them, but how can we juggle that, sports practice, work, and so many other responsibilities? The key is quality over quantity. Quality time does not have to involve a 2-hour shopping spree or a full-day activity. When your children were toddlers, going for a walk together or having them help you bake cookies was considered quality time together. So why would that have to change as your children get older? Sometimes, even the simplest ideas for quality time will work great. Here are some tips and tricks to making bonding with your child easier…

How to Improve your Focus

Do you find it tough to stay focused, or to get your kids to stay focused? It’s hard for us all to maintain our attention, especially when there are plenty of distractions around us. Our phones are going off with notifications, our kids are vying for our attention, and our worries are pulling us from the present moment. How can we stay on task when there are so many things fighting for our attention? The key is to concentrate on just one thing: the task at hand that’s right in front of you. Mindfulness techniques can help you do just that! Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment. If you can be present, you can focus more easily. Here are some tips to help you avoid distractions and actually get things done…

Action steps, Mindfulness, Tips for Your MindEmily ZemanFebruary 1, 2023mindfulness, focus, attention, self-help

Making Gratitude a Daily Practice

Thanksgiving is the perfect reminder to be thankful. It’s an opportunity to reconnect with loved ones, shared memories and a warm meal together, and think about all of the little things we’re grateful for. But the holiday season shouldn’t be the only time we do this! Year-round gratitude can help boost your mood, your energy, your overall health, and so much more. So as we head into a long winter ahead, consider making gratitude a daily practice. We’ll show you easy ways to incorporate gratitude into your life. It’s not as hard as you’d think!

What is Conscious Parenting?

When your children act up or misbehave, what do you do? Do you immediately react with a harsh “Stop it right now!” or do you pause and ask yourself “Why are they feeling upset?” It’s normal to take the first approach; in fact, it’s instinctive. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always lead to the best results. Reacting to your child’s maladaptive behaviors can sometimes fuel their intense emotions instead of cooling them. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to parenting, there are ways to reduce stress and help your children grow. One option is conscious parenting. What is conscious parenting and how can you put it to practice? We’ll explain…

The Benefits of Being Mindful Outdoors

When you think of mindfulness, do you think, “That doesn’t work for me”? This perception is more common than you’d think. It’s totally relatable to think that mindfulness won’t work for you because you can’t sit cross-legged, tuning out the world, in a complete internal silence. Here’s the good news: to practice mindfulness, you don’t have to do that at all! If you are someone who also cannot imagine tuning out the world and your daily stressors, try to TUNE IN instead. To truly practice mindfulness is to take notice of the body, thoughts, and emotions in the present moment and without judgment. And one of the best ways to begin a successful mindfulness practice is to practice outdoors. We’ll explain how you can get started…

Using your Breath to Soothe Feelings of Fear and Panic

In moments of fear and panic, you may not know what to do. Your mind is racing, your heart is beating rapidly, and you may start to sweat in response to the intense emotions. You may not realize it, but you have a tool handy at all times to reduce these powerful—and at times, overwhelming—emotions. You don’t need to pack it with you, because it automatically goes wherever you go. What is this tool, this key to soothing fear and panic? It’s your breath. Your breath is your lifeline. It sustains you without you even thinking about it, and it can help you in times of crisis too. Your breath can help regulate your body physically, mentally, and emotionally. All you have to do is be mindful of it. Here’s how it works…

The Benefits of Child's Pose

Are you looking for an easy way to find peace in your everyday routine? Child’s Pose (Balasana) is a simple pose that has several healing benefits. It is a restorative, resting pose—the kind of pose that you can use to center yourself, regulate your breath, and calm your body and mind. In this pose, you can reconnect with your breath and take a moment to check in with how you are feeling. Let’s explore how to practice Child’s Pose and how it can help you achieve calmness…

Cultivating Gratitude

This Thanksgiving, many of us will be able to gather as we did prior to the pandemic. While this is definitely something we can be thankful for, we don’t need to wait for the holidays to acknowledge our blessings and embrace gratitude. We can practice gratitude every day of the year! In fact, incorporating gratitude into our daily routines can improve both our mood and our relationships. So what is gratitude, why should we practice it, and how can we make it a habit that sticks? Let’s dive in…

Improve Your Sleep Hygiene With Mindfulness

Do you find yourself glancing at the clock and wishing you could finally fall asleep? Do you lay in bed ruminating over the day’s events or worrying about that meeting tomorrow? Are you spending too much time on social media when you should be sleeping? If the answer to any of the above is yes, then you may not be getting enough sleep. Sleep is essential for both our physical and mental health. It aids in immunity and our ability to cope with stress. So what can we do to improve our quality of sleep? Here are some tips to improve your sleep hygiene…

Managing Negative Self-Talk

When you think about yourself, do negative thoughts instantly come to mind? Do you put yourself down over every little mistake you make? If you experience thoughts like this, you are engaging in negative self-talk—and you are not alone. Negative self-talk may not seem to be a big deal, but over time, they can make an impact on how you view yourself and how you feel. Your thoughts are powerful, and they will influence your emotions and behavior in the long run. Therefore, it’s important to manage negative self-talk so that you’re avoiding increases in anxiety and negative self-image. Here are some tips for managing negative self-talk…

Social Media Self-Care

Social media has become a significant part of our daily lives, as we check apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok on a daily basis. While there are many positive aspects of social media, there are drawbacks to these platforms as well. Social media can affect our mental health; when we compare ourselves to others and see how much happier other people appear to be, it can make us feel depressed or anxious, among other feelings. That’s where self-care comes in to combat the negative effects of social media. If the content on your news feeds is negatively impacting your mental health, here are a few tips to practice social media self-care…

Grounding Techniques to Practice When You’re Anxious in Public

Anxiety can creep in at the most inconvenient times—like when you’re in class, when you’re out with friends or when you’re out and about in any public space. Anxiety can barge into your mind, seize the direction of your thoughts, and transport you far away from the present in an anxious tailspin. This disruption of your thoughts can pull you away from enjoying the present moment or even being able to concentrate on the task at hand. If you find yourself struggling with anxious thoughts, try practicing these grounding techniques to bring your attention back to the present…

How to Practice Gratitude

Are you interested in practicing gratitude? Have you heard about the benefits of doing so, but you’re not sure where to start? Let’s talk about gratitude. Gratitude is actively noticing and appreciating aspects of your life that you are thankful for. It’s sometimes like second nature to focus on the negative. When you think about the negative, it’s easy to forget about the things that you’re grateful for. So how can you overcome that tendency and shift your focus to one of gratitude? Here are some tips to increase gratefulness in your life…

How to Cultivate Your Attention with Mindfulness

Every moment of every day, you’ll find a number of things fighting for your attention at once. Whether it’s your phone going off with another notification, your children asking for you, or your co-worker sending you a question via email, it’s understandably tough to stay on task. With so many distractions, your attention is often split between multiple things at once. When your attention is divided, you’re not as focused in the moment. How can you focus on what’s right in front of you, avoid distractions, and actually get things done? Try using mindfulness to cultivate your attention and enhance your experiences. Let’s explore how to go about this…

Practicing Conscious Parenting

Parenting has its ups and downs. When your children are getting along and they’re in good moods, it’s wonderful. But when one child is misbehaving, or another child’s behavior is out of control, you may naturally feel frustrated, concerned, and unsure of how to respond. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to parenting, there are ways to reduce stress and help your children grow. One option is conscious parenting. Conscious parenting is a mindful, parent-focused approach. The central idea is that in order to help your children, you must first help yourself. Let’s learn more about how to be a conscious parent…

How to Mindfully Respond to your Child

It can be difficult to always respond to your child in the most effective way. When you’re in a stressful situation, your body acts without thinking. You may act on your emotions and respond in ways that you later regret. However, you can modify your response before you act on impulse by incorporating mindfulness into your parenting. You have the option to react on emotions or respond mindfully. Let’s explore how you can start to integrate mindfulness into your parenting approach in order to reduce stress and maintain a positive parent-child relationship…

Showing Up With Compassion

As parents, it is possible that you’re incredibly hard on yourself; this kind of behavior can be destructive. It is easy to imagine demonstrating compassion for those that you love. However, it’s far more difficult to show compassion towards yourself. The mindfulness practice for self-compassion will help you learn to practice self-compassion in your daily life. Practicing self compassion is one of the best ways to improve your wellness and your mood, as well as strengthen your relationship with your family members. Learn how to practice a self-compassion break in order to show yourself kindness, alleviate stress, and help you cope with the challenges of parenthood…

Fact or Feeling? What's Really Going On

As a parent, it may be difficult to separate facts from feelings. You sometimes find yourself acting on a temporary emotion when the evidence does not support this response. Consider using the skill, “check the facts,” next time you’re feeling that your reaction isn’t matching up to the situation. Check the Facts helps you to modify your response to a level that is appropriate for the situation, or to respond with a more fitting emotion. Before you act, ask yourself, is the way that you are feeling and thinking about a situation factual? Let’s explore how you can find the proof first…

Calm Your Mind With Mindful Breathing

Did you know that one of the simplest ways to calm your mind is something that you’re already doing every second of the day? That’s right—it’s all about your breath! When you feel intense emotions, your may instinctively try to slow down your breath. Being mindful of your breathing is as easy as that! Mindful breathing is a powerful yet underutilized tool that helps you calm intense emotions and bring awareness to your present moment. By mindfully breathing, you can create a relaxing effect on your mind and body. Consider these three types of mindful breathing techniques to promote a calmer mood…

3 Ways to Avoid Holiday Self-Punishment

After a delicious Thanksgiving meal with loved ones, does your mood feel lower? Are you hit with negative feelings that weigh you down? The holidays are a time of celebration and enjoyment; so why is it that once the festivities have ended, we’re met with a sense of sadness or regret? It’s more common than you’d think to experience post-holiday self-punishment. After the thrill of a positive experience, we’re susceptible to succumbing to negative emotions. Avoid punishing yourself and stop getting stuck in negative feelings by following these simple steps…

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