Connection Archives - mentalhealthandwellbeinghub!

The Power of Presence

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 17:33:29 +0000

“Life is available only in the present moment.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

This week I had some interesting discussions with parents about the power of presence.

The only time you will fully be able to experience life is in the present moment. You are not engaged in time travel to the past, or to the future, you are in the present moment, it’s the only opportunity to fully live. The quality of true presence is an undervalued gift, it offers you the opportunity to learn, to be curious, to let your body lead rather than your mind.

Often when parents contact me it’s to talk about problems their child is having, I always like to take a step back and have a conversation with the parent to see where they are at and how they are showing up in their relationship with their child.

There is a vast difference between physical presence and the quality of your presence. Both are important, however, the latter is where the gold is.

As you go into the weekend notice the quality of your presence with your kids, with your partner, etc. How are YOU showing up?

Have you decided how a conversation will go before you have it? Have you decided what your child’s behaviour will be before it happens? Are you on devices while talking to your kids?

If you answered yes to any of these I encourage you to try something different. When you talk to your kids instead of responding be curious, be a detective, ask what else, tell me more or just listen without responding

We all want to feel like we are being heard, that we matter. The quality of our presence is a great way to show our kids that they are a priority – that they matter. Being in the moment is being fully alive, experiencing life in real-time. What a wonderful gift, reminder, lesson to show and share with your kids.

Much love,

Jessie-Lynn

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It’s GOOD To Be US!

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 19:29:07 +0000

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action. If you want to change the world go home and LOVE your family. Mother Theresa

We are passionate about connection, to self, to family and loved ones and to the community. Connection is part of a strong foundation for our children.

We LOVE Friday’s for a variety of reasons, one of the main ones is because we love FAMILY FRIDAY. It’s Good To Be Us is about connecting as a family and exploring all the amazing reasons your family is unique and how to ensure you stay connected.

This week we want to encourage you to explore presence as a family. What does presence mean to each of you? How do you feel when people around you are fully present? How do you show up for others? What stops you from being present? Is there room for improvement?

As a family what guidelines would you like to have around presence? For example, no electronics at mealtime? One meal a day altogether? The beauty of this is that it’s YOUR family, spend time connecting and deciding what works best for you.

Have a FABULOUS weekend and keep being amazing.

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Connection – We All Want It.

admin — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 03:53:26 +0000

“The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention…A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.” Rachel Naomi Remen

The power of connection should never be assumed nor underestimated. One of the most surprising conversations that came up during our summer workshops with teens was around the issue of connection. The fabulous thing about having open conversations is that we allow others to explore and share. When we give our kids the space to explore and we truly listen we can never predict what we will learn.

What came out of these conversations was nothing short of amazing (and might I say a bit mind-blowing). We were having a discussion about the current situation (the pandemic) and how everyone was feeling. One of the participants raised the issue of connection.

This individual mentioned that at the beginning of the lock-down how their family was doing all sorts of family activities. They had pyjama days, took turns preparing meals, game nights, etc. As time went on, although they were all still in the same household, the activities lessened and all being under the same roof was considered ‘family time’.

As discussions continued other participants agreed that they really enjoyed the feelings of connection they had as a family during the beginning of the lock-down. I did not expect this. Many parents come to me because they feel like their teens are disconnected and here they were talking about how much they loved the close family time.

I asked them if they had shared their feelings with their families and not one had done so. Fascinating!

Perhaps a great dinner table conversation would be to open up the discussion about the beginning of the lock-down and where we are now. How are they feeling? Are there things they learned? Are there changes they would like to see in your family? Ask and then just listen….

Much love.

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