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The Path to Resilience

by | Jan 1, 2025 | Jamie Lynn's Journey, Mindfulness, Resilience, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

A Gift and A Community

 

Hello Friends,

Happy New Year! A common New Year’s tradition is to set an intention or resolution for the year. This could be an action that would entail fierce self-compassion (i.e. I am going to take care of my body this year by…), or it could be more centered around tender compassion (e.g. “May I begin to accept myself as I am”).

Regardless of whether our aspirations include creating change or cultivating tender acceptance (or both!), we will need resilience habits on the path.

I’ll share part of my New Year’s Resolution later in this newsletter, but first, a gift for you….

A Free Gift for You

Long before I created the Parent-Child Self-Compassion Class and the Resilience Habits for Parents Course (both of which I am offering this January!), I created the Path to Resilience program. The program is timeless and special, and today I have a gift for you: a free PDF of the beautiful and inspiring Path to Resilience Photo Book!

Access your free PDF here

If you read / download the book using the free download here. And if you love it, please review the book on Goodreads or Amazon.

What is the Magic of the Path to Resilience?

When I created my parent-child programs (parent-child self-compassion, Resilience Habits for Parents, and the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbooks for Kids), I used the engaging metaphors and framework from the Path to Resilience and fused it with foundational ideas from the Mindful Self-Compassion program (created by Drs. Kristin Neff and Chris Germer). The Path plus MSC was a match made in heaven!

What made the Path to Resilience so magical? I’m going to explain the magical ingredient from the Path to Resilience in a short video for paid subscribers.

What’s up with this “Paid Subscribers” option?

This is my first newsletter that includes an option for paid subscribers, and I’d like to share with you why I am creating this option, as well as why some of you might want to join me on this journey.

But first, let me clarify that my newsletter will continue to be free. It’s the personal videos, tips, discussion threads, and monthly live-online sessions that are for my paid subscribers.

One of the things that I have been wrestling with this past year is a desire to feel more connected with my readers, and I believe the paid subscriber option will help us create this connection. Here’s how:

  • Personal. A paid subscriber option will allow me to share things from my personal journey in a space that is more private. I don’t want the whole world to know personal details of my life, and having a subgroup of paid subscribers will create a smaller community for me to share tidbits of my personal journey.
  • Community. I have been wishing for more interaction with you, my precious readers. Our community of paid subscribers will have a private place to comment on ideas and respond to one another’s discussion posts. And our monthly live-online sessions will enable us to connect more deeply.
  • Examples and Tips for You. I have more to share than there is space to share in this newsletter. This includes more personal examples as well as tips for teaching self-compassion to kids. Our paid subscriber videos will enable me to share just a little more with you.
  • Supporting my Work. I need income to support my family and my work. And also to buy dark chocolate :)). A paid subscriber option helps to support me, my family, and my work, which helps me continue to be able to share self-compassion with children.

Feel free to email me with any questions about the paid subscriber community option.

Subscribed

My New Year’s Resolution for 2025

I’ll share more about the struggle that is fueling my 2025 resolution in a future newsletter. But part of my intention for 2025 is to focus on depth over breadth, and quality over quantity. This is part of what inspired me to create our paid community, and it’s also the impetus for the collective journey that I’ll be guiding you on for 2025.

Our Collective Journey for 2025

This year, I plan to walk us through concepts, ideas, activities, and teaching tips from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids. We’ll start with the introduction, and we’ll walk through each of the eight lands from the first book. I am excited to go on this journey with you!

Wishing you light and love,

Jamie Lynn

P.S. My girls and I went on a mini-vacation to visit family and also to spend some quality time together. It was delightful!

Jamie-Lynn and her daughters ice skating.

The Rabbit Listened – The Power of Presence

by | Dec 23, 2024 | Mindfulness, Parenting, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

Kindness and Self-Kindness

Hello friends,

The winter solstice has passed (hooray!) and for many the holidays are approaching. Happy holidays to those who celebrate! I have some insights to share with you that can help you tap into your greatest gift this season: presence.

These ideas are inspired by my interview with Cori Doerrfeld, author of one my favorite children’s books, The Rabbit Listened.

Jamie-Lynn and a book

In the story, The Rabbit Listened, a child named Taylor is upset, and a collection of animals appear to “help.” Their well-intended advice for Taylor to vent, fix, talk, laugh, or forget about the problem are all poorly received by Taylor. Taylor finds no comfort until the rabbit comes with a warm presence and simply listens.

The Rabbit Listened reminds us of the power of your presence when people around you, including children, are struggling in big and small ways. You can scroll down to the bottom of the page for a link to my full interview with Cori.

I love to use the book, The Rabbit Listened, when I teach children about self-compassion because the ideas from the book can also apply to how we treat ourselves when we are struggling. Six kids from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids “Kids’ Team” created a play that reenacts the story from The Rabbit Listened, and at the end of the video the kids and I show how we can apply the ideas both to compassion for self and compassion for others.

Applying these lessons to our holiday experiences

As we approach the holidays, many of may experience joy, and we may also experience grief. Last weekend and again later this week, my family and I are going up north to visit my stepdad who is in hospice. My mom has a broken heart as she watches her husband decline, and I so desperately want to decrease my mom and stepdad’s suffering. I want to help, and listening to my conversation with Cori reminds me that what my mom and stepdad most need in this moment is my presence. Click here to listen to a one-minute clip from my interview with Cori.

My heartwarming podcast with author Cori Doerrfeld

You can listen to our full podcast episode on Substack, Youtube, or your favorite podcast app.

I love that a rabbit is the comforting animal in Cori’s delightful book, as well as the kind and encouraging animal (pictured above) from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids and my Parent-Child Self-Compassion and Resilience Habits for Parents classes. As Cori shares in our podcast episode, sometimes just picturing the rabbit can help us call on our kind, gentle presence when things go wrong.

Wishing you both joy and compassion as we move past the solstice and into the holidays. May you enjoy the gift of presence.

With Light and Love,

Jamie Lynn

What is Your Resilience Animal?

by | Dec 17, 2024 | Mindfulness, Parenting, Resilience, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

A NEW quiz for you and your kids

 

Hello friends!

You may have read my previous blogs on the feelings habit animals. Learning about feelings habits and taking the fun feelings habit animal quiz is an excellent first step for helping kids (and grown-ups) be mindful of their feelings’ tendencies and recognize that others also sometimes think and feel like them.

Being mindful of our tendency to explode with feelings, hide feelings, suppress feelings, or feel ashamed of feelings is in and of itself a resilience habit. In my Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbooks for Kids and my parent-child self-compassion class, I use five resilience animals to help kids and grown-ups grow mindfulness and self-compassion. These are the same five animals that I teach parents to use in my Resilience Habits for Parents class. (Note: there are still open spots in my January Parent-Child Self-Compassion and my Resilience Habits for Parents classes.)

In volume 2 of the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, kids are encouraged to continue to practice and deepen the 5 resilience habits they learned in volume 1, and they are offered the Resilience Animal Quiz as a way to reflect and consider which of the 5 resilience habits they would like to practice.

The resilience animal quiz has the same six questions as the feelings habit animal quiz. Only this time, the responses are choices that exemplify the 5 resilience habits. When things go wrong, would you like to…

  • Observe like Spots the giraffe?
  • Remind yourself you’re not alone like Buddy the dog?
  • Is kindness your super power like Snuggles the bunny?
  • Do you look for the good like Sunny?
  • Or would you take action like Doodles the dolphin?

Discover which of the five Resilience Animals from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids is your best match by taking the Resilience Animal Quiz! (It’s fun for adults, too!)

TAKE RESILIENCE ANIMAL QUIZ

Kids who are familiar with the resilience animals from my parent-child class or volume 1 of my workbook enjoy the Resilience Quiz, and they report that it really makes them think about how to apply the resilience animal skills in real life (of course the ultimate goal!).

In January, in addition to teaching a Resilience Habits for Parents course, I’ll also be starting a community for caregivers of children. You can join my community to learn how to implement the ideas and practices from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbooks for Kids in your own life and also how to best support kids in growing these same skills. If you’d like to be on the waiting / interest list for my community (dubbed “Jamie Lynn’s Community”) reply to this email to let me know.

Milwaukee locals can also join me in January for an in-person author visit, parent-child workshops (through the Whitefish Bay Rec Department), and an 8-week Self-Compassion for Shame course. And everyone is invited to join me for my live-online classes and workshops, including an Intro to Teaching Self-Compassion to Children Workshop offered in partnership with Kristin Neff’s community (free for everyone!).

JOIN UPCOMING EVENTS WITH JAMIE LYNN

I hope you enjoyed the Resilience Animal Quiz (feel free to comment with your resilience animal)! My predominant resilience animal is Snuggles the bunny (kindness). But I’m also a big fan of Buddy (remembering I’m not alone) and Sunny (noticing goodness).

I am grateful to be on team self-compassion with you.

With light, love, and hope,

Jamie Lynn

Post-Traumatic Growth

by | Nov 23, 2024 | Mindfulness, Parenting, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

Join Chris Willard and me as we step into the world of mindfulness and connection

 

Hello Friends,

Yesterday I finished teaching my Parent-Child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion class for a research study, and a number of kids were crying at the end of class because they were going to miss our fun class and our group. Oh my goodness, does this touch my heart! So beautiful.🥹

The Parent-Child class has grown and changed over the years to include all of the playful animals and comics from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, and kids and parents love the class now more than ever (you can order the workbook or sign up for a free Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers info session below):

Order the Workbook

Free Intro Session with Jamie Lynn

How We Grow Through What We Go Through

Today, I’m excited to share with you something positive that can emerge from challenging life circumstances: post-traumatic growth. When adversity strikes, do you ever fear that you are going to experience a mental health setback? What if the opposite were true?

That’s what my candid conversation with Dr. Chris Willard for this month’s We Are in It Together podcast is about. We talk about the resources that we can bring to adverse experiences (including mindfulness, self-compassion and EACH OTHER) that can help us transform something difficult into something life-promoting. He even suggests that post-traumatic stress can co-exist with post-traumatic growth (could this really be true!?).

I am incredibly honored to have so many wonderful guests, including Chris Willard, for my podcast. HONORED!! Chris is a prolific author, instructor at the Harvard Medical School, intergenerational mindfulness teacher, and an all-around great guy! Here’s a little clip of Chris talking about how one parent found mindful moments in a car:

Highlights from our conversation include:

  • Chris’s story of moving from opioid addiction to flourishing through mindfulness and connection
  • Tips for making mindfulness trauma sensitive (for example, stationary mindfulness can be unsettling for some, but mindfulness in motion can be more accessible)
  • Having a caregiver practice mindfulness may actually be more beneficial for a child more than teaching the child mindfulness (your practice matters!)
  • The importance of community for healing (that’s why We Are in It Together!)

Please check out our podcast on your favorite podcast listening app (or my YouTube or Substack), and share it with others!

Thank you for being a supporter of mindfulness and self-compassion for children and caregivers. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to share this goodness with others :).

With gratitude for our community,

Jamie Lynn

P.S. This past week I got to spend some time in-person with Karen Bluth who is the program creator of the Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens program. She is such an amazing human with an amazing heart for sharing self-compassion with teens. I feel blessed to know such compassionate and visionary people. ❤️

Jamie-Lynn and Karen Bluth

Mindfulness for Kids and Grown-Ups

by | Nov 20, 2024 | Mindfulness, Resilience, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

A Silly Video and some Solid Strategies

Hello Friends!

Has anyone felt an acute need for coping strategies recently? Me, too! Today I’ll share some tools I’ve been using to get through, as well as how you can help kids grow these same skills. We’ll start with the silly kid stuff, and you can scroll down if you’d like to hear my personal stuff.

Silly Stuff for Kids – Koala is sitting on MY bench

One of the most playful aspects of the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbooks for Kids is the animals! Beaver is the feelings habit animal that has a sticky brain. Can anyone relate to a sticky brain?! I sure can 😃

A handful of kids from “the Kids Team” helped me create some playful videos about the animals from the book. In this 1-minute video, Beaver is stressed out because a koala is sitting on “his” bench (do your kids ever say stuff like this!?). Go ahead and press play. It’s really good!

Note: If you are interested in buying stuffed animals featured in this video and the workbook for kids, I’ve created a webpage with stuffie links here.

As Spots (the mindfulness giraffe) suggests in the video:

“Instead of suppressing and obsessing, just take a look around.”

I know, it’s easier said than done. But truthfully, mindfulness is such an awesome resource for adults and kids. Last week when I had a lot of big feelings, I had to rely on mindfulness a lot: mindfulness of my feelings, mindfulness of my thoughts, and mindfulness of the fact that I needed NOT to focus on my feelings and thoughts too much. More about my personal journey below.

My Personal Coping Strategies

As a general rule I try to avoid talking about politics at work. I have a mom, dad, stepmom, stepdad and a little sister who all have different political views than me, and I understand and value people who view things differently. That being said, I’m having big feelings about the recent election, and I will share about how I’ve been processing my feelings.

This was an email I sent to a friend last week Friday:

My feelings are so big. I have been observing my own thoughts, and they are not reflective of my normal ideas (I have extreme thoughts about cutting ties with people and institutions). I’ve told myself that I can entertain the value of any of these thoughts in a couple of weeks. I’m just practicing mindful awareness (observing thoughts), and reminding myself that my thoughts are not reliable right now because my feelings are too big. Periodically I focus on my feelings (while walking in nature or talking with friends), and then I spend a lot of time refocusing my attention because the feelings can be overwhelming (feeling more doesn’t equal self-compassion).

Last week, I processed my feelings in little (and sometimes big) bursts. I have processed shock, anger, and devastation. In between processing emotions, I tried to notice my five senses, and I also spent a fair amount of time focusing on other things (like my work!). Since then, my emotions have temporarily leveled out. I know I will have lots more processing to do in January, as will many of us.

Mindfulness and self-compassion are tools that we need now and will continue to need going forward. And they are tools that children—especially marginalized children—need now more than ever.

Upcoming ClassesThe Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens Course starts next week, November 19th!

If you’d like to learn more about Parent-Child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion, you can attend my upcoming free intro session. At the end of the intro session, I’ll share about how you could become a Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers (MSC-CC) teacher (optional part of intro session at the end).

  • Register for a free Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers (MSC-CC) intro session below.

MSC-CC Intro Session

 

And in January, I’ll be teaching an adult Mindful Self-Compassion Course, a Resilience Habits for Parents Course, a Parent-Child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion class, and even an in-person Self-Compassion for Shame course.

I am more committed than ever to helping spread mindfulness and self-compassion to youth, adults and families.

With love,

Jamie Lynn

P.S. Here’s a picture of a little stuffie that one of my Mindful Self-Compassion students sent me. I feel so loved! 😍

Jamie-Lynn with a stuff animal as a present from her student.

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