I know you've heard all the hooplah about mindfulness, and probably scrolled right on past it, but it's all true! It's actually been really well-researched for its effectiveness. Mindfulness helps you break out of your head, and be more present in your life. It makes you aware of how you’re feeling and helps you better manage stress and big emotions. Sounds easy, right!?! It can be when I teach you!
Mindfulness focuses on being in tune with what is happening in the moment. When you gain awareness of body sensations, emotions and thoughts, you have the opportunity to respond rather than react in difficult life situations.
Mindfulness helps cultivate calm, self-compassion, and joy. We use it to de-stress and focus on what's important.
Juggling a full life (kiddos, career, self care, oh my!) can leave you feeling emotionally tuned out from yourself and your loved ones. Practicing mindfulness does not need to be something else you have to check off your "to do" list. It can begin to happen in a few breaths or while stopped at a red light.
I have been weaving mindfulness into psychotherapy throughout my whole career, and am dedicated to teaching this powerful tool.
I created the Mindfulness for Families program at The Center for Mindful Living, and co-lead Stefanie and Elisha Goldstein's CALM (Connecting Adolescents to Learning Mindfulness). I taught mindfulness & meditation to children and teachers at the Wise School and Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH). I was the meditation and mindfulness educator for the Rustic Canyon Restaurant Group. I have even launched a meditation and mindfulness app called Evenflow!
I was trained by The Center for Mindfulness at UCSD to teach Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindful Schools to teach children. These are just a handful among my varied trainings and experiences in mindfulness, learn more about me or reach out to learn more!
As you develop awareness of your thoughts and feelings, you can better understand them and how they impact your behaviors. Then, you can take a step back; assess more objectively, think about how your decisions may affect a situation, and then choose the right response. What if everyone in your family were able to do this together?
Mindfulness is a really useful tool for kids and families. It helps everybody calm down big emotions so that each family member can communicate their feelings, get their needs met, and the whole family can get along.
What's incredibly cool is that when parents can recognize their stress and anxiety and take the time to practice mindfulness, they empower the whole family to find calm at home. This also role models good stress-reducing and calming habits for their children. Mindfulness is evidence-based and shown in science to work for the entire family, even those as young as 2!