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Updates on The Family Alchemists

Hi Friends, When I created The Family Alchemists in 2018, I had a really big vision and mission of connecting people to the resources they need to grow. I have so many amazing professionals in the Conscious Parenting space as friends and was determined to help them...

How Recovery Principles Pave the Way to Conscious Parenting

Applying the 12 steps to my parenting helped me practice boundaries, communicate with integrity and ultimately BE loving and tolerant.

Conscious Communication Skills

In times of great social change, we look for the things we can control. We may not be able to predict the future for ourselves or our teens, but we can control how we communicate. The way we communicate reveals what we value and how we value it. I longed to connect...

How to Save a Marriage

So, you’re an empath married to a guy that treats you like a queen – most of the time. But those times he’s angry? You question if you’re more like your mother than you thought. You worry that his behavior is going to hurt your kids and that you’re being irresponsible...

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY MEAN TO YOU?

When I have a chance to actually discuss the topic with clients, it is very simple to explain my view of spirituality, understand my clients’ perspective, and come to a common ground semantically (and often philosophically). I notice I regularly attract people who...

Helping Your Kids During Coronavirus Social Distancing

Dear Brave Ones: Of course, we’re scared. That means it’s the time to be gentle and compassionate with ourselves and others. Can you imagine how scared our kids are? Their routines have been disrupted and they miss their teachers and friends. They have less control...

Out of the race

From the moment we are born, we are part of a race we never wanted to be in, we are measured by milestones and compared endlessly with any peers we share our life with. We are numbers in charts and checkmarks in lists of accomplishments, in other words, we are what we...

Mindful Parenting Through the Everyday Stresses

In the fast paced world of parenting where decisions are made in between spilled cereal, constant questioning and smartphone apps, it is no wonder the word mindfulness is becoming as necessary in a parent’s vocabulary as the word nap-time. And yet, for many,...

What our children ask of us

Our children ask so little really. Listen to my discoveries and ideas. Look through my eyes to understand my world. Feel my love, joy, frustration, pain. Hold my hand, my heart and me close. Be careful with me and understand me. I may feel off sometimes, when the...

Elf on the shelf, Magic of well-behaved kids?

I was already familiar with conscious parenting when the Elf on the Shelf became popular a few years ago, I found out about it when my kids were toddlers and I heard stories about him moving every night and being a fun addition during Christmas time. I was excited to...

In his book Brainstorm, The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain, Daniel Siegel talks about a practice he calls SIFT, which can be helpful to bring all of us, teens and parents alike, into greater connection with our internal world.  This means that throughout our day, we take a mental pause to get present with what we are experiencing in the moment.

The acronym SIFT can help you remember the four steps.

First, notice your SENSATIONS.  What is arising in your body at this moment? How is your breath? Your sensations are unique, but sensations are things like: tightness, lightness, cool, warm, tingly, constriction, heaviness, pounding, pressing, expanding, etc.

Second, notice any IMAGES that arise in your mind, perhaps a memory or a picture is present for you.

Third, what FEELINGS can you notice? Can you name the feeling?  There might be layers of different feelings, see if you can name them all.

Finally, what THOUGHTS are going through your mind? Even if there are no specific words, what is the overall tone or gist of what is happening mentally?

Its important to do this practice with a sense of curiosity and loving-kindness towards oneself.  There is no right or wrong, no need to change or fix anything, just bringing a noticing and an awareness to what we are experiencing in the moment.

Brainstorm has many practical tools to expand our sense of “mindsight”, a term Dan Siegel uses to describe the ability to see or know ourselves and others.  Mindsight encompasses three aspects–insight, or the ability to assess your own inner mental life, empathy, or the ability to sense the mental life of another person, and finally, integration, the ability to link different parts of something into a whole.  Taking up a practice of SIFTing through our experience can help expand our mindsight.

Brainstorm was  designed to be read by both teens and their parents, and I highly recommend it.  Its a wonderful read to get practical tools and  better understanding of the possibility and gifts of this stage of our life. #parentingteens #pause #sensations #images #feelings #thoughts #presence #mindfulness #support #bepresent

FREE: How To Finally Get Your Child To Listen And Act By Understanding Their Development And Getting The Best Behavior Out Of Them… Even In The Hour Before Bedtime. Yes, Really.

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