A NeuroSpicy Mealtime Spiritual Practice
Meals are culturally and historically a time for nourishment and connection with others. For some neurodivergent…
MorePosts tagged: Anxiety
A NeuroSpicy Movement Meditation
Thoughts of school or preschool can generate anxious or nervous sensations in both neurodivergent and neurotypical…
MoreA NeuroSpicy Spiritual Practice for Easing Separations
Separating from a loved one can be particularly distressing for neurodivergent children. They may feel unsafe or…
MoreBreath Meditation
Children (and adults) sometimes struggle to manage their emotions when stressful events occur. They feel anxious and…
MoreNavigating Change with Ten Beautiful Things
Change can be both exciting and scary, and unwanted changes can be particularly stressful. Figuring out how to cope…
MoreExploring Body Image with Big
The National Organization for Women reports that more than half of all elementary age girls are worried about being…
MoreManaging Holiday Emotions
“But mom,” wailed my daughter, “I wanted to put the glitter stars on the tree.” She collapses onto the sofa and…
MoreFinding Comfort in I Am Not Afraid
Bedtime fears are a common childhood experience. Monsters under the bed or in the closet. Strange noises and shadows.…
MoreChildren’s Concerns about Climate Change
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that Earth’s temperature has risen just over a…
MoreTalking about Natural Disasters with Kids
Since Hurricane Helene made landfall last week, more than 190 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds more remain…
MoreExploring Neurodivergence with Good Different
When my daughter was four, she came home from school and told me that we could no longer show our teeth when we smiled.…
MoreHelping Kids Find Their Anchors
My uncle took me fishing on his boat for my tenth birthday. Partway through the trip, his line snagged something and…
MoreWhen Children Shoot Children
A 14-year-old Georgia teen brought a gun to school yesterday, killing two other students and two teachers. Eleven other…
MoreHow Nature Journals Increase Kids’ Well-Being
Last week, I saw a young child watching a bumble bee move from flower to flower on a large bush. “Shhh,” she told…
MoreExploring Self Image with What in the World is Wrong with Gisbert?
With the 2024 Summer Games about to kick off in Paris, children and adults are hyper-aware of how athletes look and…
MoreKids, Eco-Anxiety & Gardens
Heat domes that elevate temperatures to unsafe levels and spark wildfires. Fierce hurricanes and tropical storms that…
MoreExploring Identity with Inside Out 2
The transition from childhood to adolescence brings a host of new emotions to the fore: anxiety, envy, embarrassment,…
MoreImagining Wellbeing with IF
Studies show that around 65% of children develop imaginary friends (IFs) before they are seven. These sometimes quite…
MoreHow Uncertainty Encourages Wonder
My youngest child really disliked surprises when he was a preschooler. He wanted everything to go as expected. If he…
MoreThree Components of Hope
My daughter’s third grade teacher had a unique way of addressing her students when they felt discouraged. She would…
MoreObserving Earth Day as a Family
Earth Day (April 22) marks more than 50 years of organized global attention to the environment. It officially falls on…
MoreTelling Your Child You’re Seriously Ill
After weeks of endless (and often unkind) speculation, we now know: Princess Kate has cancer. She explains that she and…
MoreTalking with Kids about the Chiefs Parade Shooting
Nearly a million people were celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs and their Super Bowl win when shots rang out, killing…
MoreManaging Fears with Migration
When my daughter was little, she watched a movie where the mother died. Afterward, she would become upset every time…
MoreCreating a Calming Corner
December can be an overwhelming month for kids. Seasonal changes prompt a shift in clothing and outdoor activities.…
MoreManaging Misbehavior with Conscious Discipline
I’m watching a group of children prepare to act out a spiritual story. One child insists on taking the lead role, and…
MoreExploring Change with Where is Home, Daddy Bear?
My family moved when I was a child. For the first 6 months, I refused to call the new house ‘home’. I did not want…
MoreTalking about the Israel/Palestine Conflict with Children
After the 9/11 terrorist attack, my four year old asked, “Mommy, were there children on those planes?” I responded…
MoreHelping Children Find Their Anchors
As we were preparing to move from one state to another, my four year old fell apart. “Where’s my train, my bunny,…
MoreUsing Movement to Reduce Trauma Responses
Numerous studies show that stress is on the rise among children. Some experts suggest that school closures and pandemic…
MoreExploring Bad Days with Everything Will Be OK
Some days are just yucky. Things happen that children can’t control and don’t like. They might be little things,…
MoreTalking about Lockdown Drills with One Thursday Afternoon
Lockdown (Active Shooter) Drills have become a staple of children’s lives. Schools and organizations build them into…
MoreTalking about the Nashville School Shooting
Another school shooting, this time in Nashville. Seven people dead (including the shooter) and many more traumatized…
MoreShifting Bad Habits to Good Practices
When I was a child, I bit my nails. It was a reflexive action whenever I felt stressed or anxious. I don’t really…
MoreBoosting Resilience with a ‘Helping Hand’
My kindergartener woke in the middle of the night sobbing. We had just learned earlier that her friend’s mom had been…
MoreHelping Kids Have a ‘Happy’ New Year
“10…9…8…7...6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!” My family celebrated the start of 2023 with sparkling…
MoreDeveloping Patience
“How many more days, mom? How many more?” Every December, my kids would be hyper-charged with excitement for the…
MoreExploring Emotions with The Coat
Hand-me-downs can be a dreaded necessity or longed-for acquisition. I remember being crestfallen when a neighbor passed…
MoreReflecting on Lyle, Lyle Crocodile with Kids
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile offers several big songs and dance scenes that will engage and excite young moviegoers. But…
MorePreparing Preschoolers for Spiritual Learning
Working with preschoolers can be a blast! Many are full of curiosity about everything and eager to explore. Even the…
MoreTalking with Kids about the Uvalde School Shooting
A school terrorized by an active shooter. A classroom of children injured and dead. Teachers killed trying to protect…
MoreMindful Art
Self-awareness and emotional regulation are spiritual skills that every child needs. Research shows that art activities…
MoreTaming Anxiety
One of my children goes quiet when she’s anxious. Another talks incessantly and blows up when he gets overwhelmed.…
MoreMindful Nature Walks
I do a lot of walking. I sometimes walk from my house to my office two blocks away. I pace while talking on the phone…
MoreThe Spiritual Effects of Nature
My children loved going for walks when they were little. They would point out flowers, watch a caterpillar inch its way…
MoreFinding Our Calm
When my middle child was in third grade, she was very anxious about taking tests. Her stomach would hurt and she would…
MoreGuiding Questions for Pandemic Programming
Just when we thought it was safe to relax a little, the Omicron variant has swooped in and put pandemic debates in the…
MoreCreating a Sacred Healing Space
The last two years have been incredibly difficult. Children, as well as adults, have struggled to find spiritual…
MoreDo Threats of Punishment Serve a Spiritual Purpose?
To Elf or not to Elf? Every December, parents on my social media feeds wrestle with this Christmas conundrum. More than…
MoreGuided Meditation for Peacefulness
Stress and anxiety are common occurrences in contemporary family life. Parents and children have a lot to do each day,…
MoreCreating a Mindfulness Space
Mindfulness practices help children to become more self-aware. When they spend time being present with themselves, they…
MoreStrengthening Connections
“I forgot my mask” yelled my daughter as she ran home from the bus stop, then back out again, mask in hand. Going…
MoreBack to the ‘Kinda’ Familiar
As a new school year begins, many organizations are planning to welcome children back to in-person programs. But…
MoreColoring as a Mindfulness Practice
As children return to in-person gatherings, they may feel anxious and stressed. An art-based mindfulness practice can…
MoreSpiritual Counseling
For many children, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a time of trauma, grief, and loss. Even if children have come through…
MoreTeaching Hope
I’ll admit that I have generally thought of hope as an emotional state: an optimistic feeling of possibilities…
MoreInfant Stress & Spirituality
Throughout the pandemic, news reports and magazine articles have encouraged us to think deeply about developing mental…
MoreBuilding Spiritual Resilience
As new Covid-19 cases decline in the U.S., families are embracing opportunities to reconnect and restart communal…
MoreA Lament How-To
When life gets tough, a spiritual practice that deals with anxiety can make the difference between a whiny child and…
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