I grew up in a small Midwest rural farming community in the late 1970s and early 1980s. My exposure to different perspectives and cultures was limited; however, one thing that we received at school that opened my eyes to world events was the Scholastic Weekly Reader.
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Resilience is the key to hope and strength. Resilience is the ability to withstand adversity and move through complex life events to adapt, change, and grow. Learning about resilience has given me hope.
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We never really get over the hurt of the word “No.” However, what if the word “No” can lead us to a “Yes”? What if the word isn’t rejection, disappointment, or fear of keeping up with the Jones? What if a “No” is really a “Yes” to something else?
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How can we help create safety in our environment with students or clients?
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Many teachers are several months into the new school year. As we move through the 2022-23 school year, what will you focus on in your classroom to decrease stress levels?
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I want to introduce you to one of my closest friends, Kim Hruba. Kim is an author, book coach, speaker, and mom to five children. She often writes about her family’s adventures on her weekly blog published Saturdays on the Wannaskan Almanac site.
She recently posted a blog that so fantastically illustrates the 4 C’s – Create Your Calm, Co-regulate, Connect and Change, that I immediately asked if I could share it with the Wildewood Learning readers. In her post, she shows how to use the 4 C’s when her daughter felt anxious and nervous about the upcoming piano festival.
I created a video explaining the 4 C’s for this month’s post and sharing Kim’s post to demonstrate how the 4 C’s would work in real life. I would suggest you watch the video and then read Kim’s post to see if you can identify the 4 C’s in action.
After learning about the strategy and reading about how a parent used the process, I would love to know about your 4 C’s experience.
You can find Kim’s blog post on the Wannaskan Almanac HERE. Plus find out more about what Kim does at her business website Redshoes Writing Solutions.
If you want to know more about the upcoming classes in 2022 for Strength-Based Resilience, click here!
Welcome to 2021!! A new year and a new set of possibilities before us. However, before you jump into the new year’s setting goals, resolutions, or intentions, I invite you to take some time to look back to the past year.
The past year has been a roller coaster ride of a year. I look back and see many downs and few ups throughout the year. How about you? Do you see any bright spots? Glimmers of positivity and hope?
In this month’s video, I talk about why it’s so easy for humans to see the negative and how you have to train your brain to see the positives. It’s all about practicing to look for the bright spots.
I would like to hear about the bright spots in your past year. Please leave a comment under the video and tell me about your bright spots for 2020.
I wish you much happiness and health in 2021!
Happy Halloween!
I thought today would be the appropriate day to talk about fear and anxiety.
Sometimes fun and fear can go together like today! Halloween is the annual time of the year when spooky costumes and scary movies can be fun!
However, when you are truly dealing with fears and anxieties, there is nothing fun about it.
We all have fears and anxiety. It’s part of all human experience.
Big Fears and little fears. Realistic and imagined fears.
I invite you to practice the skills presented in today’s video to move through fear and anxiety.
Then pass these skills on to the children in your life.
I love it when I receive questions from followers. Last week I had a really big question from a follower,
How do you help adults overcome
childhood trauma and toxic stress?
Wow! Big question! This is too big of a question to cover in a ten-minute video or even in a blog post. However, I can give you a few tools to start on a path that will decrease your toxic stress response and increase your self- regulation. Once your nervous system is regulated, tapping into your strengths to build up your resilience is key.
You can build your self-awareness toolbox as an adult and tap into those tools when stress enters your life.
This is a journey where each new tool you use and practice can help you along your path of resilience.
Watch Using Your Strengths to Overcome Challenges Part 1 and Part 2 to add more tools to your toolbox.
Strength-Based Resilience is a four-part course for educators, parents, and caregivers. A new session starts on September 9, 2020.
More information about the course can be found here.
Much has happened over the last few weeks that my head is spinning. Maybe you can relate:
My daughter came home from college for spring break. One week has turned into staying at home for the rest of the semester. Classes are now online for her.
My high school-age sons were off school starting March 17. Now the eight days off of school have turned into distance learning until May 4.
My son, who is a senior, reacted poorly to the news that the last months of his senior year would be without the daily interaction of friends. The loss and grief of potentially not having a prom or graduation ceremony are real.
I work from home. Most of my weekdays are spent with my dog and alone in the house. I have the occasional Zoom meeting or phone call, but mostly just quiet. However, that has not been the case for the last two weeks and it seems like it will not be the case for the next two months or more.
I want you to know that I understand. I hear you. I feel the anxiety and pain with you. The struggle is real.
Yet, I say to myself daily, “This to shall pass.” I breathe and I go outside into nature.
The video I am sharing with you is one that I made ten days ago. I felt it was important to share with you during this challenging time.
Nature has the power to heal and here are a few reasons why the power of nature can help you and your student or children through the challenges in life.
