This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. When I teach self-compassion to kids in schools, I do an exercise in which kids imagine that a friend of theirs has lost or broken something...
The Feelings Habit Animal Quiz is from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids. There is nothing that can get a group of kids to roll their eyes like talking to them about feelings. The topic of feelings for most kids (and many grown-ups) is boring at...
What emotional and psychological gifts do you wish for children? Perseverance, happiness, kindness, authenticity, compassion, joy? What about resilience? Resilience can be defined as the ability to endure or bounce back from difficulties. Sometimes people define...
Have you ever experienced "imposter syndrome"? Imposter syndrome is when you think that you are not "good enough" to share on a topic or do a particular task because you are imperfect, and your brain tells you the story that your imperfection and doubts make you...
How many of us know someone - an adult, teen or child - who could benefit from the resource of self-compassion? We might think, Wow! That person really needs to be kinder to themselves and stop beating themselves up! But what is the best way to help another person to...
Click here to listen to an audio of this blog. My children are growing up. As they enter the second half of their childhoods, I am increasingly aware that my time with them is finite. Like many parents, I often function in a sort of survival or efficiency mode. What...
A few weeks ago, my ten year-old came home from her first field hockey practice with some news that touched my heart. She said that the first half of practice she had been practicing self-criticism and comparing herself to others, but then the second half of practice,...
My older daughter Maya was born sensitive, curious, and creative. As Maya grew, I learned that all of her five senses were extra sensitive. For her sounds were louder, smells and tastes more acute, she had a strong draw to everything tactile, and she saw “light...
A few weeks ago I was contemplating schooling options for my daughters for next year. Even though my daughters currently attend a wonderful, progressive school that is a block and a half from the home where we are living, every so often I hear a little voice that...