Note: this blog is a continuation of my last blog: Overcoming OCD…how it all began. My last blog featured Rohan* who had a debilitating nighttime fear of someone breaking into his house and taking him away. Rohan had been unable to sleep in his own room for the past...
When Rohan was five years old, he was outside playing with a friend, and a man walked through the alley. Rohan’s friend pointed at the man in the alley and said that the man was a kidnapper. Rohan ran into the house to find his mom. His mom assured him that he was...
Note: Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for a special treat from our family. Hello Friends, Have you ever noticed that your brain gets a little (or a lot) more anxious, neurotic, depressed, etc. than usual when you get sick? It’s a common occurrence, and I try...
Recently, my colleague, Dajana Yoakely, signed herself and her kids up for my parent-child self-compassion class. When I sent her a welcome email, she replied that she wasn’t sure how her kids were going to feel about taking the parent-child class. She said, “I told...
When I make a mistake, oftentimes shame is in the room. If you have taken the Feelings Habit Animal Quiz and read my article about the four feelings habit animals, you might remember that the deer is the feelings habit animal that is most correlated with...
Kids learn best through play! That’s because it’s easier to pay attention to playful things, and also because the neurotrophic factors the brain produces during play make it easier to remember what you’ve learned. In previous articles, I have shared about the Feelings...
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...