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Category: Health and Wellness

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Advice Health and Wellness Personal Development

You are not alone- Celebrating mental health awareness month

Dear Reader,

Every year, an average of 150,000 lives are tragically lost to drug, alcohol, and suicide-related causes in America. In the midst of the pandemic last year, the number of substance-abuse deaths rose by a devastating 18%, making 2020 the “deadliest year in drug history.”

These alarming statistics highlight the fact that many individuals feel isolated and alone in their struggles. However, May brings with it a powerful reminder: it is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Throughout this month, mental health experts, psychologists, and wellness teachers unite to emphasize a crucial message – you are not alone. Despite the physical isolation, global unrest, and unimaginable loss, we stand together in solidarity.

As someone who personally experienced the heartbreaking loss of my own brother to suicide years ago, I came to realize how shared childhood experiences and patterns often lead us to suppress our emotions and needs. Tragically, unmet needs can manifest in devastating ways. It was during that unimaginably painful period that my commitment to conscious parenting and mental health advocacy began to take shape.

Our society needs more than just awareness of mental illness; it requires a proactive approach to promoting mental wellness. We must equip ourselves with tools and strategies for effective and compassionate communication, managing emotions, and navigating distressing situations.

In the spirit of promoting mental well-being, I would like to share three simple hacks that can help you feel less anxious, more centered, and clear-headed:

  1. Draw Figure 8s: Using your index and middle finger, trace a figure 8 pattern around your eyes. Apply different pressures to instantly integrate the right and left brain, bringing a sense of balance and harmony.
  2. Practice Alternate Nostril Breathing: Breathe through one nostril at a time to experience deeper breaths, centeredness, and a release of anxiety. Begin by blocking the right nostril, inhale through the left, then block the left nostril and exhale through the right. Repeat the process, alternating nostrils.
  3. Engage in Ha! Exhales: Make fists with your hands, inhale deeply, and exhale with a forceful “HA!” as you bend forward. This technique will help calm you down, induce relaxation, and release nervous energy.

For those seeking more resources on mental health platforms, I recommend watching this enlightening video from the National Mental Health & Mental Fitness Summit in July 2019.

Remember, we are all on this journey together. Let us continuously remind one another that we don’t have to face our challenges alone.

Wishing you strength and well-being!

Love and Blessings,

Katherine

P.S. If you’re looking for a welcoming, compassionate support group that will accompany you through parental ups and downs, join our Conscious Parenting Facebook Group.

 

Categories
Growth Health and Wellness Leadership Parenting Personal Development

5 Steps to Ace the School Year

If you’re a parent or caregiver to a school-aged kid, chances are you’ve found yourself learning grammar or long division again — and sometimes, the teacher is on Zoom. And you’re fighting with the technology of uploading your child’s digital work. And trying to run a household. And maybe attempting to work yourself.

While it’s not easy to juggle all those priorities, it’s possible to make the experience a little better for both you and your kids.

The expectations around school and the pressure parents put on their kids can create a lot of stress. Whether your child is co-working with you at the living room table or back in the classroom, these 5 tips will help you both ace the semester:

  1. Discover your child’s learning style.

    Some kids find it easy to work independently while others need activity and collaboration. Find out which learning styles your child responds to best and help shape their experiences accordingly. Independent thinker? Give them time and space to study and work on their own. Collaborative mind? Encourage them to schedule more Zoom sessions with their classmates. Catering to their unique style will help your kid have a more positive experience.

  2. Encourage their hobbies.

    Who says education has to be by the book? Let your kids explore and expand their non-academic skills, like cooking, baking, drawing, or dancing. These skills are just as important as geometry or social studies. What matters is that they find ways to become engaged with something they care about. Their hobbies may change over time, but the ability to dig into an area of interest has lifelong benefits.

  3. 9Use the resources available.

    Look around you: you have a wealth of educational resources online and in your neighborhood. Coordinate a book swap with a classmate or neighbor. Hold biology class outside to look for real-life examples of the concepts your child is learning. Sign up for online guitar lessons (Youtube can teach you to do just about anything these days). Let your own creativity expand the options beyond the school’s lesson plan and the oh-so-many online worksheets.

4. Design a schedule for learning.

Children thrive with some structure in place — adults, too! It’s important that children have a dedicated time and place for school activities. Work with your child to develop their own little study nook in the house, and help them identify the best time for activities like homework and studying. While they may not be able to dictate their entire schedule, your child should definitely have input in this process.

5. Don’t focus on the grades.

Try not to be overly preoccupied with your child’s grades, especially during this wild and crazy year. Becoming too grade obsessed can give a kid the impression that their confidence or self-worth should be tied to competency. We have to constantly remind our children that love is not something they have to earn or acquire by doing well in school or being a “perfect” human. We are worthy of love and belonging simply because we’re alive and breathing. Work to be more forgiving if your child scores lower than expected on a test. And forgive yourself if you feel like a less than perfect teacher. Our children’s achievements are not a reflection of us!

One thing is certain: the school-from-home era has been a learning experience for all of us. Learning always means growth, which gives you and your child the opportunity to deepen your relationship and come together as a team. Besides, not everyone gets a chance to relive their school days. 🙂

If you and your child struggle to talk about school, my free ebook may help. I wrote 7 Strategies to Keep Your Relationship With Your Kids from Hitting the Boiling Point to give every parent the tools they need to improve their communication with their child, especially around hot-button issues like homework and grades. Grab your copy today.

Love and Blessings,

Katherine

Categories
Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Leadership Personal Development

Feeling anxious? This Can Help.

Remember your child as a baby? When they accidentally hit their head on the side of the crib or get startled awake by a loud noise? Seconds tick by slowly as you wait for the sound of that gulp for air — usually followed by a piercing cry.

Breathing: it’s probably the most hard-wired, involuntary function we do as human beings. Every creature, great or small, breathes. Breathing gives us life, and we don’t even have to think about doing it — you inhale and exhale as reflexively as your heart beats in your chest.

But despite the fact that breath keeps us alive, we tend to take it for granted.

The Harvard Business Review and the Yale News both recently conducted studies revealing the effectiveness of SKY Breath Meditation, a breathing modality that engages the parasympathetic nervous system — the part of your brain that controls rational thinking, gives you a sense of calm and provides balance in stressful situations. Participants in both studies reported a better sense of well-being and mental health after just two days of practicing the methods.

As someone who has been trained in SKY Breath Meditation for 10 years, I can attest that breath does so much more than supply your body with oxygen. The way you breathe can have a big influence on how you feel and experience the world.

If you’ve been stressed, depressed, or overwhelmed — by current events, the holiday season, or your kid’s insistence on listening to “Baby Shark” on repeat — you’re not alone.

Here are some tips to help you literally catch a breather (share them with your child too!):

  • Deeper inhales and longer exhales. What happens when your child cries? Their breaths turn to hiccups. The same thing happens when we feel stressed or sad. When you start breathing rapidly, consciously focus on taking deep inhales and long exhales. Count to 4 for inhales, 8 for exhales (or as close as you can comfortably get). The fog in your brain will clear up in seconds.
  • Do some quick, light stretching. Pressured by deadlines at work and the mounting pile of laundry at home? Take 5 minutes for a quick stretch break. Full-body activities like a yoga sun salutation get your blood flowing with good oxygen and help relieve stress.
  • Carve out time for meditation. Ten minutes is ample time for you to feel the positive effects of your breathing/meditation practice. Don’t have 10 minutes? Take 2 minutes, if that’s what you have. Find a quiet spot to sit in and breathe deeply. Check out our work with America Meditates by Art of Living.

Learning to control your breath can help rid your body of stress and flood you with positive energy. Not only will you feel more in control of yourself, but you’re also providing an excellent model for your children about the importance of self-care.

Supportive breathing is just one technique for becoming the parent you want to be. If you’re interested in true parenting transformation check out the 90 Day Parenting Reset Program.

Love and Blessings,
Katherine

PS To start 2023, we’re offering you 70% off of ANY of our supplemental parenting tools! That includes the Ultimate Parenting Toolbox, Applying Solutions Mini Course, and our Conscious Parenting Kickstart! Just go to our Conscious Parenting Revolution site and use the code TAKE ACTION at checkout. I’m so excited to dive deeper into this journey with you!

Categories
Culture Growth Health and Wellness Human Resources Leadership Personal Development

Is Your Teen Rebelling, Resisting, and Retaliating?

Is your teenager’s defiant behavior ruling your family life?

The teenage years are challenging, leaving many parents and caregivers at a loss. But in fact, there’s a perfectly legitimate explanation for their behavior. During adolescence, humans begin developing their prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for making judgments, weighing pros and cons, and managing emotional responses.

This critical part of the brain continues developing until the mid-20s, making it difficult for teenagers to think critically and manage their moods. Research even shows that teens often misread cues and facial expressions…and are more likely to interpret them as being shocked or angry.

Yikes! Combined with the flood of new hormones coursing through their bodies, it’s no wonder your teen walks around constantly sighing, rolling their eyes, and slamming doors!

17

Understanding the Three Rs

According to child psychologist Dr. Louise Porter, who I co-authored the Guidance Approach to Parenting with, 75% of family disruptions result from what Dr. Thomas Gordon called the Three Rs: Resistance, Rebellion, and Retaliation.

When your child refuses to walk beside you at the mall, they’re resisting. When they go to a party instead of doing their homework, they’re rebelling. When they’re aggressive with their siblings because they feel misunderstood, they’re retaliating.

Teens’ defiant behavior is a reaction to power and control being imposed over them and is the classic activation of those 3Rs mentioned above. The lack of control over their emotions and bodies, combined with their legitimate need for self-direction and autonomy that is thwarted by many parents, causes them to “act out.”

As parents, we owe it to our teenagers to practice empathy and do our best to understand where they’re coming from. To combat normal but challenging behaviors, we have to give them the autonomy they crave while still ensuring their safety and well-being

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7 Practical Tips for Managing Your Teen’s Behavior

The 3Rs can be eliminated by using the Guidance Approach to Parenting.  The reason the 3Rs surface is that controlling discipline activates them. The way to prevent them from surfacing is to never activate them in the first place. My TEDx talk, “The Rebellion is Here: We Created It and We Can Solve It,” has more detail about how the process works.

These practical tips can make a world of difference: 

1. When tempers rise, disengage. If your teen is defensive or upset, postpone heavy conversations for a later time. Give them space to calm down and think things over. You’ll benefit from this space, too.

2. Set age-appropriate guidelines. Give your teenagers the independence they crave, setting age-appropriate guidelines. What’s reasonable for a 13-year-old is probably too restrictive for a 16-year-old, so use your judgment and be open to feedback. Create solutions together, seeking clarity so everyone’s on the same page: “So are you saying you would feel better if I let you do your own thing from 2-5 pm on Saturdays, as long as you tell me where you’re going and with whom?”

3. Find common ground. Connect with your child by finding activities you both enjoy. Watch a movie together, go get ice cream, or play a favorite sport. Engaging in shared interests fosters a positive environment for meaningful connection. If your teen starts opening up about their life, listen and invite them to tell you more! Be careful not to use the 12 roadblocks to communication or will go awry!

Is Your Teen Rebelling, Resisting, and Retaliating

4. Respond, don’t react. When your teenager confides in you for the first time about, say, a boy they’re interested in, resist the urge to freak out! Drop the “my baby” perspective and be as objective as you can. Give advice like you would to a friend, assuring your teen that they can talk to you about anything—even the uncomfortable stuff.

5. Avoid phrases like “You never” and “You always.” Nothing sparks defensiveness more than the words “never” and “always.” Reframe your language to be non-accusatory. Instead of, “You’re always late for school!” say “I’ve received some reports about lateness from your school; is everything okay?”

6. Respect their privacy. With so much happening in their minds and bodies, teens can be extremely self-conscious about, well, everything. Respect their budding sense of self. That means no snooping in bedrooms, phones, laptops, or social media. Build trust with your teen, and they’ll feel empowered to tell you what’s going on.

7. Help them understand the changes in their body. Teens are better equipped at handling physiological changes when they’re fully aware of what’s happening. If they don’t want to talk to you about these changes, enlist the help of a trusted family member, friend, or counselor.

As your teenager navigates this complex period in their lives, it’s critical for parents to provide the support they desperately need.

Still feeling daunted? Parents need support, too! Our private FB community can help you chart these churning waters. Join us inside the Facebook Group for Tuesday Tips for Parents, Tuesdays at 6:10 pm PST. Our team of coaches streams in live every week to answer all your parenting questions.

Categories
Growth Health and Wellness Leadership

The Power of Consistency to Move You Forward

While many believe that knowledge is power, knowledge is only powerful when it’s consistently applied. Consistency may be the most important component of success. A small step forward each day adds up to a lot of mileage over time.

Are the little things you do each day adding up to something positive? Or have you noticed that not only is there no forward movement, but there’s been a slow and progressive slipping backwards? When it comes to healing from shattered trust and betrayal, inaction prevents progress and healing so even small steps forward add up to big results over time.

With consistent action over the next 10 or 20 years, what could you accomplish? Five workouts each week/ 5 days per week equal 1300 workouts in 1 year! Five minutes of meditation each day over the course of a few years can add up to… a lot of meditation. You get the idea.

Are your consistent behaviors helping or harming?

Use the power of consistency to enhance your success:

  1. If you re-lived today for the next 10 years, where would you end up? Saving just a small amount of money each day would save you many thousands of dollars if not more within a few years. If you overeat slightly each day, you’d eventually be many sizes larger.
  • An effective way to predict your success is to examine your average day and project the likely outcome into the future. An hour each night spent practicing the piano would give different results versus spending an extra hour watching TV.
  • Your teeth aren’t clean because you brushed them for an hour straight. They’re clean because you brushed them for 3 minutes for 3,000 days straight.
  • Consider where your daily habits and behaviors are leading you financially, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and physically. Where are your habits leading you?
  1. Realize that many changes in life come slowly. While some people advocate taking massive action to see massive results, that strategy can be difficult to apply and maintain.
  • Consider something like weight loss for example. You can’t lose 25 pounds in a day. Small changes occur to your weight each day. Those small, regular changes to your habits, beliefs and behavior about food and eating add up to impressive results.
  • Building a great company, the perfect body, or a great relationship all take time and consistency.
  1. Consistency requires habits and discipline. Use your discipline to develop useful habits. Use that discipline to get to the root of your beliefs and changing them because changing your beliefs will result in changing your habits.
  2. Learn to act in the moment. The greatest barrier to consistency is the belief that you can postpone an action to another day. Each day has the power to bring you closer to your goals. Each day lost is lost forever. You’ve probably heard that “someday” isn’t a day on the calendar.
  • The only real discipline required is the discipline to act right now.
  1. Have reasonable expectations. When your time horizon is unrealistic, it’s not easy to be consistent. When you ask too much of yourself too soon, it’s just as challenging. Be positive and enthusiastic, but be reasonable so you can experience a win versus being disappointed because you set yourself up for an unrealistic short term goal. Put your focus on regular and consistent improvement. Perfection isn’t required. I’ve also heard that we overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in 3 years so set an expectation factoring in those 2 ideas.
  2. Use reminders or triggers in your environment to encourage consistency. Think about the things that you do every day that could serve as reminders. Getting dressed, starting your car, and turning out the light each night are a few examples.
  • Each night you turn out the light, you could visualize your goals. After getting dressed, you could grab your gratitude journal for a few minutes of journaling and getting centered.

What you do once in a while doesn’t impact your life significantly. Rather, it’s what you do consistently. Consistency is a major predictor of success in any endeavor whether it’s in the realm of health, work, relationships and more. Develop habits and routines that guarantee success by changing them at the level of belief. Consistent behaviors determine your outcomes, so choose behaviors that drive you towards exactly what you want.

Dr. Debi
Founder and CEO, The PBT (Post Betrayal Transformation) Institute

Categories
Accounting Biography and History Culture Economics Growth Health and Wellness Industries News and Politics Taxes

Recent Video Explains Why Sri Lanka Just Declared Bankruptcy…

Sri Lanka Just Announced They Are Bankrupt. And Out of Fuel…

A country thriving and wealthy in 2012 just announced they are bankrupt in 2022.

Before it’s recent bankruptcy Sri Lanka  had a thriving economy. In fact its economy grew at an accelerated rate, ranked above Singapore, Ireland, and South Korea.

Located in the center of the world’s most important shipping location, the country was set up to be a world economic import superpower. But a crisis hit…

On Tuesday, the country’s president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, told the Sri Lankan parliament that the country is not only bankrupt and that it also has no fuel left. Government employees have been told to stay home due to fuel unavailability.

Inflation spiked 54.6% in a year and is expected to hit 60% soon, and transportation costs have gone up 128% in only one month, according to Bloomberg.

At the G7 Summit last month, the US pledged $20 million to assist Sri Lankans in the fight for food security. This came in addition to a previously donated amount of $12 million.

But despite global assistance, the nightmare is far from over for Sri Lanka. Premier Wickremesinghe said that the country was participating in negotiations as a bankrupt state, and the worse is yet to come…

“Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to (the IMF) separately. Only when they are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement at the staff level. This is not a straightforward process,” he said, and CNN reported.

A recent video explains the full story.

 

WATCH:

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Human Resources Leadership

Top 10 Passive Aggressive Office Coworkers That Will Make You Laugh

You don’t always get to choose who you work with but you’ve got to work with them for the most of the day.

Here’s the 10 passive aggressive office notes going around the internet.

 

#1 Graphics Designers Are Always Smartasses!

 

#2 An Email Went Out Around the Office About A Lost Pen. This Appeared In The Break Room The Next Day…

 

#3 I Wonder Why?

 

#4 A Touching Gesture From His Company After 9 Years Of Employment Came To An End

#5 Well Karen, That Escalated Rather Quickly

 

#6 This Happened 3 Times in 2 Weeks

 

#7 Never Drink Someone’s Energy Drink

 

#9 This Person Deserves a Raise

 

#10 Rest in Peace Kevin

 

 

 

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Culture Economics Growth Health and Wellness Industries Investing News and Politics

WATCH: Olive Oil and Tomatoes Will Cost More Now. Here’s Why…

Northern Italy’s worst drought in 70 years is about to take a big hit on olive oil and tomato prices.

Farmers say the drought could dramatically impact crops on olive oil, tomatoes, and rice resulting in yet another increase in prices for these products.

The Italian government declared a state of emergency in northern regions of Italy as the weather dried out entire stretches of the Po River, the countries longest river and major source of water irrigation for the north of Italy.

The drought has already cost billions of dollars in damage to Italian crops resulting in higher prices around the world…

 

WATCH:

 

Italy embraces as their severe drought dries up it’s longest river (the Po River). The Po River irrigates one of the biggest bread baskets in Europe. And it’s all dried up.

Farmers are extremely exhausted, and the situation is only getting worse. Here is a video of how the river depletion is causing havoc on the region…

 

WATCH:

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Best Practices Biography and History Body Language Entrepreneurship Health and Wellness Management Negotiations Skills

WATCH: How to Master the Art of Leadership Like Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn was basically the godfather of the motivation speaking industry and mentor to Tony Robbins.  He motivated and inspired millions to achieve their goals in pursuit of self-development.

Jim believed self-education knows no limits and has the potential to make you a fortune and it’s the key to self-fulfillment.

Think of all the greatest entrepreneurs of today, and in history… these are all self-educated people.

For all successful people self-education never ends, not after school, not after success or failure. Life is the classroom and the only goal is to learn and grow every day.

Here’s your daily dose of Jim Rhon in his speech that broke the internet…

WATCH:

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Best Practices Biography and History Body Language Culture Health and Wellness Human Resources Management

“You Become What You Think About” – The Strangest Secret Ever Told by Earl Nightingale

“We become what we think about most of the time, and that’s the strangest secret.”

– Earl Nightingale

The secret of success starts with mindset, at least according to Earl Nightengale anyway. If anyone knows a thing or two about the mindset, it would be him. He spent his entire life trying to answer one single question.

Here is what he discovered in the process…

 

How a Man Spent a Lifetime Searching the Answer to One Question…

“How can a person, starting from scratch, who has no particular advantage in the world, reach the goals that he feels are important to him, and by so doing, make a major contribution to others?”

His desire to find an answer and willingness to share his knowledge with others, enabled him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on success and what makes people successful.

 

How Nightingale Became the Godfather of Self Development

The owner of an insurance company, Earl spent many hours motivating his sales force to greater accomplishments. When he decided to go on vacation for an extended period of time, his sales manager begged him to put his inspirational words on record.

The result later became the recording entitled The Strangest Secret, the first spoken word message to win a Gold Record by selling over a million copies. In The Strangest Secret, Earl had found an answer to the question that had inspired him as a youth and, in turn, found a way to leave a lasting legacy for others.

Here’s the original audio of Earl Nightingale’s best kept secret that has helped millions overcome life’s biggest challenges.

WATCH:

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com