Are you secretly terrified of all that unstructured time with your atypical kids?
How do you want to feel this summer?
Are you looking forward to it?
Are you excited or scared by the prospect of unstructured time with your atypical kids?
Have you got calming skills to get you through it?
“Is your intention to connect or to correct? Parents who can define their intention can help meet children’s vital needs, including stability, security, safety and guidance. What is your purpose? To correct and manage your children or to connect with and enjoy them?”
-Sura Hart and Victoria Kindle Hodson, Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids
Make joyful memories with just a little preparation
Many parents are overwhelmed at the thought…
Drop judgement and allow both restlessness and spaciousness this season.
Springtime is about welcoming opportunities for growth. The inherent restlessness we may feel is what gives us the energy to spring clean, to shake things up, get out in nature, and to revise the systems that no longer serve us.
Uneasiness
What if, rather than “should-ing” on ourselves, we create space for our uncertainty and even for uneasiness? Let’s drop our expectations and allow both restlessness and spaciousness. There is no need to judge your mind for doing what it does best: Scanning for danger and what needs to be done.
During this season, I’m guided by this wisdom:
“It’s a…
How to explore negative feelings honestly, and grow through the experience
Are there any parents who aren’t struggling right now?
If you aren’t, you don’t need to keep reading. You can scroll along to sourdough recipes and such. However, pause first…
Are You Absolutely Sure?
Many parents I speak with say they are surprisingly fine, at first… until they stop to notice. You may be holding it all together, but unaware of the toll that tension takes over time. You may have gotten so good at numbing out that you haven’t examined your underlying feelings recently.
If you’re toggling between powering through your day without a break and collapsing to numb out at the end…
Unconditional positive regard is the key to seeing kids shine, no matter how neurotypical they are
Non-judgment, self-regulation, and appreciation: these are essential in any yoga class. When teaching atypical kids and their families (my specialty as a teacher), these qualities will make or break your class.
After getting questions from another yoga teacher who was getting ready to teach her first family yoga to a group of families with autistic kids, I decided to share my own best practices and suggestions.
These suggestions could be useful to you as well if you are doing yoga with your own family at home. Modeling inclusivity benefits everyone, no matter how neurotypical they are.
First of all, I…
Focus on a cherished memory regularly to saturate your brain with connections that spark joy
During these anxious times, we need a practice to help us remember that we have the capacity to feel happy, safe, and grateful.
I could tell you why to do this, or I could show you…
Cherished Memory Meditation
Find a comfortable seat
Be aware of your senses. You might look around and listen, taking in the reality of your present environment without judgement. Orient yourself in the moment.
Place a hand on your heart or the center of your chest. Begin to breathe more softly, deeply and slowly. If you are comfortable, close your eyes. …
My path from confusion to courage
Parents, your own self-care will create harmony in your family and ultimately change the world. My atypical family still struggles, but we don’t fall apart.
Enmeshed
My son was suffering. His inner turmoil bubbled over into meltdowns that shattered my nerves. I felt anxious and powerless. The barrier between us as parent and child was so permeable, that we were emotionally entangled. Our tentacles wrapped until you couldn’t tell whose limb was whose.
Wasn’t love for a child supposed to be this way? My bliss derived from my relationship with him, and so did my anguish. I rode every wave of…
Connection, strategies, and support for overwhelmed parents of atypical kids.
Does the stress of holding it all together make your body tense? Are you emotionally drained? Feeling cynical, uninspired, or irritable more often than usual? Could you use some strategies, support and community?
Parents of intense atypical kids: How do you want to feel by next Friday? Calm? Seen? Supported? Me too!
That’s why I’m hosting 5 Days to Calmer Kinder Parenting starting Monday. Join me to feel understood, cared for and calm. It is a quick boost of support and self-care. You can be done in 5 minutes a day and the practices are accessible. The challenge is new and improved with daily videos or audio downloads.
Can you commit to 5 minutes a day for 5 days?
How this quote by Michael J. Fox is sustaining my relationship
My husband John is the optimist in our family. I don’t know how your relationship works, but in mine we polarize. I go towards the dark side and John goes towards the light. So, in the last 14 years I’ve slowly moved closer to the pessimist pole. Being a pragmatist or realist took a lot of effort, and I’m more comfortable in pessimism. We’re old friends. But recently, like Kylo Ren, I have been feeling “the pull to the light.” Actively practicing gratitude has made optimism feel more realistic to me.
Defensive Pessimist
As a young child, I landed in “defensive pessimism”…
Breathe out your burnout so you can rest and change the world!
Does the stress of holding it all together make your body tense? Are you emotionally drained? Physically exhausted? Feeling cynical, uninspired, or irritable more often than usual?
Who isn’t suffering from burnout, honestly, after the year we’ve had?
The practice of pranayama is deep and vast, yet it is accessible to anyone who breathes.
Breathing patterns have helped me to prevent and recover from burnout. I’m a meditation coach and inclusive yoga teacher. I specialize in building resilience to overwhelm. I help anxious parents like me to not just survive but to feel calm, present, and connected.
Breathing patterns are…
Kate Lynch
I teach self-care, mindfulness and yoga to parents of intense kids. Author of the upcoming book, Mindfully Parenting Atypical Kids. healthyhappyyoga.com
