“Life is not a dress rehearsal. Every day, you should have at least one exquisite moment.”
Sally Karioth
Author: admin
Thursday Thought
First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.
Thomas A. Kempis
Find Ease This Weekend
Are you longing for more meaningful work or more fulfilling relationships? Or just more time to focus on what matters most? (Or how about just more time in general?) I would love to help you find these things!
Please join me for a rejuvenating weekend retreat from November 1 to 3, 2019 at 1440 Multiversity, a beautiful 75-acre campus nestled in the California redwoods near Santa Cruz.
Why slow down and focus on yourself when you’re already so busy? Because we all need to carve out time not just to THINK about fulfilling our potential, but also to start CHANGING OUR LIVES.
We are going to keep this group small so that I can spend time coaching each of you individually. We’ll work with science-based practices that will help you identify hidden obstacles (we all have them) that are keeping you from leading your most joyful, productive, and meaningful life.
If you haven’t been to 1440 before, you are in for a treat. We’ll be able to take advantage of all that this beautiful new retreat center has to offer, including locally sourced, seasonal meals, daily meditation and yoga classes, and a well-appointed fitness center.
Space is limited; we anticipate that this retreat will fill up fast.
Raising Happiness with a Teenager in the House
I’m a little bossy (my brother always jokes that he is going to make a t-shirt for me that reads, “I’m not bossy. People just need direction”) and so the strategies I describe in this video are good ones for me to practice. And they are good for younger kids, too — why not get in the habit of asking good questions and being the “historian of their success” sooner rather than later?
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
This video is the 2nd in a set of bonus videos from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Check out the rest of the Homestudy here.
Parenting Video: Choosing to Forgive
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.” –Buddha
Covered in This Video:
- Why holding a grudge is not a happiness habit
- Why–and how–to raise forgiving kids
- Why revenge isn’t thrilling or glamorous
- Choosing compassion rather than anger
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
This video is the 4th in a series about avoiding beliefs or habits that make us unhappy from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Check out the rest of the Homestudy here.
How to Raise Kind and Compassionate Kids
“Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness.”
—Leo Tolstoy
Covered in This Video:
- What we get when we give
- Why kindness makes us healthy and happy
- Broaden children’s “giving vocabularies”
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
This video is the 4th in a series about fostering the skills of luck, optimism, and generosity from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Check out the rest of the Homestudy here.
Video: How to Parent (More) Mindfully
“Whatever you are doing, ask yourself, ‘What is the state of my mind?'”
–Dalai Lama
How can we parent more mindfully? I like to identify those situations in which I tend NOT to be very mindful, and then actually script for myself the change I’d like to make. I’ve found (and research shows) that we do better when we (1) identify an action trigger (e.g., when bickering begins in the back seat of the car) and (2) make specific plans for what to do next (I will practice noticing, labeling, accepting, and breathing).
For years I had post-it notes placed around my home that I would see in the typical places that I would “lose my mindfulness.” They said:
- Notice
- Label
- Accept
- Breathe
This video is the 2nd in a series about mindful parenting from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Check out the rest of the Homestudy here.
Covered in this video:
- Parenting mindfully will help you parent more skillfully. It may also help you apply what you’ve learned in other themes even better.
- How do do it: Four steps to mindful parenting.
- Practicing Loving-Kindness with kids.
If you want to try out a loving-kindness meditation at bedtime tonight and you’d like more instruction, check out this short video.
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
Pressuring Kids Doesn’t Make them Successful
This video is the 2nd in a series about avoiding beliefs or habits that make us unhappy from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Check out the rest of the Homestudy here.
Have you talked to your kids lately about what stresses them out? We parents do well to assess our own sources of stress. Even if we are stressed, we can model coping with stress positively by practice one (or more!) of the following:
- Mindfulness and/or meditation.
- Rest. Take a break from busyness. Get enough sleep.
- Exercise.
- Have some fun! Goof around a little! Have a moment of lightheartedness.
- Spend time with friends and family. Schedule a date night, family game night, or go out with some friends.
Resources:
https://www.challengesuccess.org/
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
How to Teach Kids Optimism
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
—Oscar Wilde
Covered in This Video:
- Three easy ways to promote confidence and optimism in your children
- Practice positive thinking about the future using the “best possible future self” exercise: Have each of your children articulate what their best possible future would look like in either one, five, OR ten years. How do they feel? Where do they live? What do they do? etc.
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
This video is the 3rd in a series about fostering the skills of luck, optimism, and generosity from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Check out the rest of the Homestudy here.
How to Stop Ruminating, and Help Kids Do the Same
“Some pursue happiness, others create it.”
–Author unknown.
Covered in this video:
- Over-thinking about a problem or negative event doesn’t help
- Why ratios of positive to negative emotions matter
- Why “faking it” doesn’t work
- 3 Steps to feeling happier when we’ve felt bad
- A go-to list of techniques to feel happier instantly
Happiness Tip: Do something fun to authentically increase your positive emotions. Do you need to make a fun dance-party playlist? Find some YouTube videos that will make you all laugh? Dig up that book that inspires you?
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
This video is the 1st in a series about how parents can foster the skills of luck, optimism, and generosity in their children, from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Check out the rest of the Homestudy here.