you are loveable as you are + teen MSC
Hello friends,
Have I mentioned lately that you are loveable exactly as you are? Just like this—flaws and beauty wrapped up in one beloved package. You can love yourself just like this. And your kiddos, too. You can love them as their shiny, imperfect selves, and teach them to do the same. This is why I write my newsletter each week. This is why I co-created the upcoming Intergenerational Healing Summit (check out the healing summit link here). This is why I teach Mindful Self-Compassion to Teens, and Adults, and Parents, and Kids. Because YOU ARE ALL LOVEABLE EXACTLY AS YOU ARE, and I deeply want you to sense this from the inside.
I’ll be talking about self-compassion for teens today, but I wanted to begin with a reminder of why we are on this self-compassion journey together. Because you are so worthy of love!
MSC for Teens – A Personal Story
Personal disclosure: I also finished teaching my older daughter the last of her confirmation preparation classes last week. When my 17-year-old and I were meditating together the night after both the confirmation and MSC-T classes had ended, I asked her which classes she had found more valuable—confirmation preparation classes or her MSC-T course. “Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens” was her immediate response. This is a girl who is choosing to get confirmed and values her faith and the lessons I taught her. She was not disparaging my RE lessons; instead she was acknowledging how truly valuable the content from the Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens course had been for her.
MSC for Teens Course
I’m also offering an introductory workshop for parent-teen pairs. If you know of a teen who might be interested in learning MSC for Teens, you can invite them to attend the workshop so that they can learn more (register for MSC-T workshop here).
My colleague, Karen Bluth, was the mastermind behind the creation and research on the Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens course. She is also one of the teachers who trained me to teach MSC for Teens to whom I will be forever grateful. Just as I dedicate my life to helping children learn self-compassion, Karen dedicates her life to sharing self-compassion with teens. She is developing a website that is just for teens, and she also has a ton of MSC for Teens resources on her website, including a list of MSC-T instructors who teach the course in person or live online.
Workshop on Teaching Self-Compassion to Teens with Karen Bluth
This workshop will be interactive, fun, engaging, and filled with exercises, activities, and practices that you can use with teens. The workshop is for anyone – parents, teachers, coaches, therapists, grandparents, school administrators, school staff, community leaders -anyone who works with teens and would like some tools to help support them in managing stress and improving their mental health.
Gratitude
Wishing you (self-)love and joy,
Jamie Lynn
P.S. Participating in sports can be a great opportunity for kids to practice self-compassion. My daughter Maya uses self-compassion help herself during the track season. She cross-trains multiple days a week to care for her body, and she uses elements of the self-compassion break to comfort herself when she has pre-race anxiety. And what are the results of all this self-compassion? She helped propel her team to the Wisconsin state track competition, which she will be racing in this coming weekend :). Self-compassion does not make us weak; it makes us strong!!!
Maya reminds herself that “she’s okay now, and she’ll be okay later” when she has pre-race anxiety. She also reminds herself that everyone feels nervous sometimes. And she frequently makes new friends when she’s waiting for the start of a race :))
P.P.S. If you haven’t listened yet, you can listen (or invite a teen to listen) to my interview with 17-year-old Grant about his journey to Mindful Self-Compassion.
A Youth’s Journey to Mindful Self-Compassion
When my colleague’s 17-year-old son attended my introductory Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens’ workshop and then signed for a Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens class, I asked if her son, Grant, would be up for being interviewed for my podcast. To my delight, Grant said yes!