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Mindfullness

Intentional, Mindfullness, Natural Strength Parenting™, Parenting Tips, Strengths

Parenting is Tough. We Can Help!

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Parenting is Tough! We Can Help! Being a parent is the most important and challenging job you’ll ever do! Natural Strength Parenting™ from Beech Acres Parenting Center can help you navigate these challenging times and help you enjoy parenting your child more. What is Natural Strength Parenting™? Natural Strength Parenting™ is a unique approach to parenting that encourages you to be intentional and mindful while focusing on your child’s innate strengths. Building on their strengths will increase their confidence, self-esteem, and resilience, which can lead to positive well-being. Natural Strength Parenting™ combines intentionality, the 24 character strengths, and the positive psychology of mindfulness into an effective parenting model that can profoundly impact your family. Start By Being Intentional To be intentional is to live a proactive, purposeful life instead of a reactive life on auto-pilot. Here are some simple steps to get started with intentionality: Discover Your Family’s Strengths Did you know everyone has 24 character strengths inside of them? Natural energy comes from using our top 5 – but all are inside! Human reflex is to fix what’s wrong… but brain science has taught us that encouraging your children’s strengths builds the resilience and skills to resist the negative influences surrounding them. Here are some simple steps to get started with strengths: Practice Mindfulness We can only see our child(ren)’s strengths if our minds are open to them and purposely noticing what she/he is doing. Likewise, we can only set a specific intention for the future if we are aware of our current situation. Start with these simple steps to implement mindfulness: Putting It All Together Let’s see how this all works together. Let’s say you’ve set an intention to raise a strong, independent daughter. You can reinforce this intention by making subtle changes in everyday moments. You’re in a hurry to get home after basketball practice. Your default might be to snap, “Get in the car! We’re running late. Instead, you could remember your intention and mindfully engage. You might recall that she was afraid to try out for the team. “You used your strength of bravery when you tried out for the team.” Ask a powerful question in the moment: “What new thing did you learn today that will help you be a better player? I want to hear about it on the way home, but we’ve got to gobecause we’re running late today.” See how a small change can make a big difference? That’s Natural Strength Parenting™ at work.

Photo of a happy family sharing hot chocolate together in front of a Christmas tree and fireplace
Mindfullness, Natural Strength Parenting™, Parenting Tips, Strengths

Practicing Mindfulness With Your Family During The Holidays Is Important

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Practicing mindfulness with your family during the holidays can be difficult, but it is very important! So many parents report feelings of being stressed during this time of year. There are more holiday-related responsibilities, and with shorter days, managing changes in your children’s school schedule, stress are inevitable. To add to the stress, we are SUPPOSED to be joyful, so we push our more negative feelings aside. Here are some parenting tips for a calm and enjoyable Holiday Season: 1) Intentionally slow down to get more done. When we hurry, we become forgetful and resentful. Focus on one thing at a time, and your to-do list will be more manageable, and you will feel more accomplished. 2) Show empathy towards yourself and say ‘no’. It is o.k. to decline an invitation and replace it with alone time to read, go for a walk or take a lavender-infused bath. Self-care is a great value to model to your children. 3) Create traditions that fit your family. If baking cookies from scratch is not something you enjoy and have no time for, create another tradition that is better suited to your family. Perhaps it is watching a holiday movie and making homemade hot cocoa or chocolate-covered popcorn. 4) Delegate chores according to everyone’s strengths. Does your son love to help with cooking? Let him plan and prepare a simple dinner. Is your daughter creative? Have her help with decorating or wrapping presents. 5) Make room for Mindfulness. Create space to do mindful moments with your family. Before a meal, before bedtime, a few moments of mindful breathing can be relaxing and calming.

Graphic for Parent Connext® with a photo of a dad and son fist bumping each other
character strengths, Mindfullness, Natural Strength Parenting™, Parent Connext™, Parenting Tips, Parents

Let’s Get Started With Natural Strength Parenting™

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Parenting Is Hard! Being a parent is the most important and challenging job you’ll ever do! Natural Strength Parenting™ can help you navigate the challenging times and enjoy your child more. What is Natural Strength Parenting™ Natural Strength Parenting™ is a unique approach to parenting that encourages you to be intentional and mindful in your parenting while focusing on your child’s innate strengths. Building on their strengths will increase their confidence, self-esteem, and resilience, all of which lead to positive well-being. Natural Strength Parenting™ combines intentionality, the 24 character strengths, and the positive psychology of mindfulness into an effective parenting model that can have a profound impact on your family. Start By Being Intentional To be intentional is to live a proactive, purposeful life instead of a reactive life on auto-pilot.Here are some simple steps to get started with intentionality. • Stop asking your children, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ ask them ‘Who do you want to be when you grow up? What type of adult?’• Take a moment to contemplate what you want your children to say about you in your eulogy.Bigger Steps:• Write down your values as a family. Here is a true story of one family.• Color a family crest together from the Natural Strength Parenting™ Starter Kit. Discover Your Family’s Strengths Did you know everyone has 24 character strengths inside of them? Natural energy comes from using our top 5 – but all are inside! Human’s reflex is to fix what’s wrong… but brain science has taught us by encouraging your children’s strengths builds the resilience and skills to resist the negative influences surrounding them. Here are some simple steps to get started with strengths. • Try replacing the phrase ‘good job’ with something more specific. ‘It was brave of you to sign-up for that activity without knowing anyone.’ ‘You really persevered working through that social studies project.’ You are strength-spotting! Bigger Steps: • Either take the complete VIA Character Strength survey at their website or try the shorter version in our ‘starter kit’ and then plot out your family in the table! Practice Mindfulness We can only see our child(ren)’s strengths if our minds are open to them and purposely noticing what she/he is doing. Likewise, we can only set a specific intention for the future if we are aware of our current situation. Start with these simple steps to implement mindfulness. • Take a breath.• Play and put down the smartphone – try the Forest app Bigger Steps: • Teach your kids, S.T.O.P. and encourage them to use it before MAP tests, their next game; music recitals… or when they are about to lose it with a sibling. Putting It All Together You set an intention to raise a strong, independent daughter. You can reinforce this intention by making subtle changes in everyday moments. You’re in a hurry to get home after basketball practice. Your default might be to snap “Get in thecar. We’re running late.” Instead, you could remember your intention and mindfully engage.You might recall that she was afraid to try out for the team. “You used your strength of bravery when you tried out for the team.” Ask a powerful question in the moment: “What new thing did you learn today that will help you be a better player? I want to hear about it on the way home, but we’ve got to gobecause we’re running late today.” See how a small change can make a big difference?

White graphic with a whimsical orange sun icon and the Parent Connext™ & Beech Acres logos beneath it
Mindfullness, Parent Connext™, Parenting Tips

Soothing Sun, A Mindful Activity from Parent Connext™

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Mindful moments help the brain and body calm, connect and clarify. When this happens, it is easier for our brain to make helpful and wise decisions. Being in this present moment, allows us to take better care of ourselves and others. Try This: Use your finger and start in the center of the sun. As you trace the spiral outward, repeat: “I am calm. I am calm. I am calm.” Next, trace the spiral back inward and repeat, “I am safe. I am safe. I am safe.” Then, trace the spiral outward and repeat, “I am loved. I am loved. I am loved.” Repeat these steps as many times as needed until you feel calm, safe, and loved. Family Follow Up: Practice the soothing sun technique 2 or 3 times every day with your child. If practiced when calm, it will be easier to use. Hang the picture as a reminder to practice. The motion of spiraling in and out with the finger, with the calming self-talk, can be used without the picture. Your child (or you) can make the same motion on any safe surface, such as a desk, the palm of the hand, the sleeve of a shirt, or the carpet at circle time. Ask your child: “How did you feel before you used the soothing sun? After? What did you notice about your body?” Download this activity here.

Orange and green wheel of mindful practices
Mindfullness, Parent Connext™, Parenting Tips

Mindful Practices from Parent Connext™

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Mindful Practices Most of us are moving at the speed of light, engaged in innovative and exciting new projects that play to our strengths yet we can feel overwhelmed with deadlines and the task lists that often accompany them. Mindful practices can help. There are different skills emphasized in various mindful practices so that youcan feel more accomplished and less stressed: Presence Instruction which heightens attentiveness to vision, sound and taste (calming when you are feeling stressed), Affect Training that allows for greater compassion, empathy and acceptance (we are hardest on ourselves during stressful times) and Perspective Training to help a person reflect on the perspective of another person and minimize unproductive and energy-draining negative thoughts and feelings (creating stress not reducing it). To achieve a greater mind-body balance, a sense of calm and to be more productive, try one of these. Or several. Informal Practice 1. Breathing. This can be done anywhere at any time. Try this before a meeting or just while sitting at your desk. All you have to do is be still and focus on your breath for at least one minute. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth; one cycle should last about 6 seconds. Feel yourself breathing from your belly-the deeper the breath, the more beneficial it is as it brings oxygen to all parts of you. Try to stay focused on your breathing but if thoughts come to mind, its o.k., just notice them and then focus back on your breath. One minute is good, two or three is even better. 2. Listening. We are influenced by our past experiences so when we are experiencing stress we unconsciously and automatically respond in similar ways to a current situation. Your mind says ‘here we go again’ and all parts of you respond accordingly. When we listen from a more conscious, mindful state, we can achieve a neutral presence that lets us hear sound without preconception. You can listen to music, the sounds of birds outside of your window or any other sound that captures your attention to practice this. Just listen without judging. Training yourself to do this will allow you to be more accepting and less critical both of yourself and of others. 3. Leave It. There is no such thing as work-life balance. It is more about work-life integration. We think about our personal lives at work and our professional lives at home. But being mindful as you transition from one place to the other can keep stress at bay. Whether it be a mantra, breathing, or whatever else you choose, create the space that allows you to consciously shift gears from one place to the other. Formal Practice Mindful Awareness 4. Observation. This practice is designed to help us connect to things that are important in our environment since we so easily miss them when we are in a hurry. While in your office, choose an object to focus on that holds special meaning to you. It might be a picture of your favorite place or a family member, artwork or a saying. It can also be something that you wear. Focus on that object as if you are looking at it for the first time. Notice the details. If it’s a picture, the features or the material that you chose for the frame. What feeling does this object create? The way that you are experiencing this object is unique to you and important enough that you have it at work as a reminder. Taking a deep breath in gratitude for the positive feelings it likely brings you can shift stressful thinking, reigniting the energy you need for your day. 5. Immersion. The intention of this activity is to cultivate contentment in the moment and escape the persistent striving we find ourselves caught up in on a daily basis. Rather than anxiously wanting to finish something so that we can get on to the next thing we are thinking about, fully experience each task as you are doing it. If you are prepping for a meeting, pay attention to the tasks you are working on in the moment for that meeting. Creating an entirely new experience by being fully engaged and noticing every moment that you are dedicating to that task. Do not let other disruptions shift your attention. You’ll find that the anxiousness and dread you feel in completing the task lessens and you may even find it enjoyable. 6. Appreciation. This one is simple and yet very powerful. Notice 5 things that other people say or do in a day that may go unnoticed or unappreciated. Let them know. When you give thanks and gratitude to people, work life is automatically less stressful. And it’s contagious so it gets paid forward. Mindful Movement 7. Movement. When you are feeling tired or restless from sitting at your desk, simply get up and stretch. However it feels best to you. Pull your left arm over your body to the right and again the opposite way. Move your shoulders up and down. Move your neck in a circular motion. This small but powerful spurt of energy allows your mind and body to refuel and is a great stress reliever. 8. Mindful Walking. The practice of mindful movement can help students and adults relax and manage their own stress. Start off by practicing mindful walking as a group. It iseasy to walk mindfully, you start off by finding a short path to walk to and from in your classroom. You can also form a large circle and have everyone slowly walk in the same direction around the circle. Have your students practice this in silence. The key to mindful walking is to notice the feelings and sensations in your legs, notice how each step feels and sounds. As your mind wanders and thinks about other things, bring your attention back to your feet and legs. You may even offer the students the opportunity to take off their shoes. By practicing without your shoes on you really can feel

Photo of a mother grabbing food with her two kids sitting with their plates
Mindfullness

Mindful Eating

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Mindful eating is a mindful awareness exercise to help ground you in the present moment and bring awareness and attention to your five senses. This allows you to practice laser vision and focus. Give it a try! Download this exercise for your family today!

Calming Canteen graphic for BAPC
Mindfullness

Create a Calming Canteen and Feel the Benefits of Mindfulness

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Create a Calming Canteen and Feel the Benefits of Mindfulness Focusing on mindfulness can help your family find ways to calm their minds and bodies. Mindfulness can ease stress and reduce anxiety. Create a calming canteen with this fun download and feel the benefit of mindfulness. Materials and Directions: With your family, take a clean Plastic Bottle and squeeze a small amount of Glue into the bottle (1-2 squeezes, about the size of a quarter). Now add about 1 tablespoon of Glitter to the bottle. If you would like to add a pop of color, add 2-3 drops of Food Coloring. Fill your canteen with water. Now you are ready to Super Glue or hot glue the top on the bottle to ensure the lid stays on tight. Use Your Canteen: Shake your Calming Canteen for 20-30 seconds. Notice how cloudy it is and how you can no longer see through to the other side. This is how your mind looks when you are upset, overwhelmed or on emotional overdrive. When our mind feels like this we have a hard time focusing, making good decisions, and interacting with others. Take three deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you take these deep breaths notice the glitter starting to settle, along with your own mind. Notice how all the glitter has settled and the water is clear again. Do you feel calmer? Is your mind less cloudy? How might you use this activity at home? Download this activity. 

Photo of a mom and dad kneeling on the ground with their son and daughter
character strengths, Mindfullness, Natural Strength Parenting™, Parenting Tips, Parents, Strengths

Getting Started With Natural Strength Parenting™

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Getting Started With Natural Strength Parenting NEW! Get started with Natural Strength Parenting™ with this FREE 7-day text course ! “I just can’t do this,” your child sighs in frustration after working on one math problem for a half hour. “Some kids are being mean to me at school,” your child quietly confides to you after coming home with a tear in their favorite hoodie. “I hate you!” Your child shouts as they slam their bedroom door. (They don’t mean it!) Parenting Can Be Challenging! Parenting is the most important (and challenging) job you’ll ever do. Today’s rapidly changing world is creating a lot of stress for families, both parents and children alike. Sometimes it is difficult to find time to really be present with your kids. A New Approach Natural Strength Parenting™ is a unique approach to parenting from Beech Acres Parenting Center. Natural Strength Parenting™ encourages you to be intentional and mindful in your parenting while focusing on your child’s innate strengths. Building on their strengths will increase their confidence, self-esteem, and resilience all of which lead to positive well-being. We promise these skills aren’t hard, and more of your conversations will be about what’s going right vs. what they did wrong! Be Intentional, Focus On Their Strengths, and Be Mindful About Being In The Moment With Them Setting an intention is as simple as asking yourself two questions: 1. Who do YOU want to be as a parent? 2. What kind of person do you want your child to be? Let’s say you set an intention for your daughter to be a strong, independent woman. You can reinforce this intention by making subtle changes in everyday moments. After rushing to pick her up from basketball practice and get home in time for dinner it’s easy to say; “Get in the car! We’re late for dinner.” But imagine what it would look like to mindfully engage with them in the moment. Recall that intention and remember how scared she was to try out for the team. What strength did she use? “Thank you for using your strength of bravery to try out for the basketball team.” Ask a powerful question to get start a meaningful conversation. “What new thing did you learn today that helps you be a better player? I want to hear about it on the way home, but we’ve got to go since we’re running behind today.” See how a small change can make a big difference? Let’s Get Started! Have every member of your family complete the Spotlight on my Strengths Survey. Once you’ve discovered everyone’s innate strengths you can build on those strengths by “spotting” your kids using them every day. Ready For More? Our website has a variety of valuable resources, fun activities, and creative exercises to help you bring Natural Strength Parenting™ to life in your family. Natural Strength Parenting™ is the culmination of over 170 years of parenting experience at Beech Acres Parenting Center. For the first time, intentionality, mindfulness, and character strengths are working together in a fun, seamless framework that can make a big difference for your family. Learn more about Natural Strength Parenting™ by visiting our website or schedule a one- hour Natural Strength Parenting™ coaching session with one of our child development experts. Get started with Natural Strength Parenting today! #NaturalStrengthParenting #ParentPurposefully #ParentMindfully #ParentStrong

Wide angle photo of a stairwell
Anxiety, Mindfullness, Natural Strength Parenting™, Parenting Tips, Strengths

Prepare Your Children For Evacuation Drills At School By Discussing Their Strengths and Using Mindfulness

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Prepare Your Children For Evacuation Drills At School By Discussing Their Strengths and Using Mindfulness By Rich Richmond, Marketing Associate, Beech Acres Parenting Center Recently, during a quiet family dinner, my daughter was recounting her activities from that day and shared that they had an evacuation drill that morning. Without really thinking, I asked her what kind of drill, fire? Tornado? “Active shooter,” she replied. For generations, fire drills and tornado drills were a common activity for schoolchildren, a brief reprieve from the daily routine, and a valuable opportunity to remind them what to do in case a natural or unexpected disaster hit their school. For a new generation of children, another type of drill -the active shooter drill- has become just as commonplace. I was not as shocked as I expected, these drills are a common and unfortunately a necessary part of today’s school routine, but I was a bit surprised at how casual she was about it. Active shooter drills are as foreign to me as air raid or bomb drills were when my parents, grandparents or aunt and uncles would reference them. But for millions of kids, this is the new normal. Schools have a variety of terms for these types of drills; active shooter, intruder, ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate), for my daughter’s drill, a “suspicious character” was in the building. Her school is “L” shaped, and I was also surprised to hear that while one half of the school practiced an evacuation, the other half, where the “suspicious character” was located, practiced lockdown, hiding, and fighting back. It sparked a lot of conversation that night, and I am sure many other parents were in the same situation. Your children will likely experience these drills at some point, and it is important that you talk with them before, during, and after to make sure they can articulate their feelings and understand the importance of prioritizing their physical safety AND mental well-being. I consulted the experts I work with at Beech Acres Parenting Center to discuss some strategies to prepare kids for these types of drills. Here’s what they had to say: Before The Drill Your school will probably inform you of any upcoming drills. Make sure you stay current with any communications from the school, including emails, social media updates, and forms sent home with your child. Explain to your child that the drill will be happening and why it is important to take it seriously. Be careful not to interject any of your own anxieties or feelings into the conversations, your child will pick up on that and may mirror those feelings. Instead, create and maintain an atmosphere of openness and support, encouraging your child to share with you all aspects of their day, both positive and negative. You’re in this together! Let them know whatever they are feeling; fear, dread, confusion, indifference, is normal and be supportive. During The Drill Make sure your child understands the importance of paying attention during the drill and carefully following the directions they are given. Please encourage them to use mindfulness to help them get through it. The same simple strategies they use to calm themselves down before a big test or important game can work here. Tell them to be aware of their body and surroundings, listen to what is around them, be present in the moment. One exercise they can do before, during, or after) is the S.T.O.P. meditation; Stop what they are doing, Take a breath, Observe their surroundings, body, mind, and feelings, and Proceed with a clear mind. They can do this quickly, in the moment, as a way to calm down and focus during the drill. After The Drill Parenting experts have long espoused the importance of having dinner together as a family, and while that may not always be possible, being present in the moments you have with your child is. Make sure you take some time every day to really talk with your child, ask them powerful questions about their day that encourage more than one-word answers. Ask them how they felt physically, emotionally, and mentally after the drill. Discover, notice, build, and reward their strengths of bravery, judgment, perseverance, social intelligence, perspective, and hope. These strengths, along with mindfulness activities, can help your children build resiliency. As parents, we cannot protect our children from everything, but what we can do is teach them the tools and skills necessary to build their resiliency. Learn more about building your child’s strengths through Natural Strength Parenting, Beech Acres Parenting Center’s unique approach to parenting. If you want to go further, schedule a parent coaching session today.

Photo of three bottles filled with liquid and various amounts of confetti
Anxiety, Mindfullness

Create a Calming Canteen and Feel the Benefits of Mindfulness

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This fun activity can help ease your child’s anxiety.  Gather Your Materials Clean, clear plastic water bottle 1 tablespoon of glitter food coloring (optional) Water Super glue or hot glue gun Make Your Canteen With your family, take a clean Plastic Bottle and squeeze a small amount of Glue into the bottle (1-2 squeezes, about the size of a quarter). Now add about 1 tablespoon of Glitter to the bottle. If you would like to add a pop of color, add 2-3 drops of Food Coloring. Fill your canteen with Water. Now you are ready to Super Glue or hot glue the top on the bottle to ensure the lid stays on tight. Parents, make sure you supervise use of hot glue gun! Practice Mindfulness Shake your Calming Canteen for 20-30 seconds. Notice how cloudy it is and how you can no longer see through to the other side. This is how your mind looks when you are upset, overwhelmed or on emotional overdrive. When our mind feels like this we have a hard time focusing, making good decisions and interacting with others. Take three deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you take these deep breaths notice the glitter starting to settle, along with your own mind. Notice how all the glitter has settled and the water is clear again. Do you feel calmer? Is your mind less cloudy? How might you use this activity at home?

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