0 items | AUD  0.00
$ - AUD
$ - AUD
$ - NZD
$ - USD
$ - CAD
€ - EUR
£ - GBP

by Sophia Smith

[post-views] VIEWS

The True Value of Healthy Habits We’re Teaching Our Kids

The True Value of Healthy Habits We’re Teaching Our Kids

Raising your kids and teaching them to grow up into responsible and hardworking young people is surely not an easy task, but it has to be done no matter what. You will have to deal with numerous challenges in order to get this done, but trust us – it’ll be worth all the effort. If you are wondering how to do that successfully, stay with us. Here are six healthy habits you need to teach your children.

  1. Emotional Health Comes First

    Emotional health is pretty much underrated these days, when there are medicines and magic pills for every problem we might encounter. Still, it is crucial that your little ones understand its importance. Emotional stability can be seen as a useful trait nowadays, since we lead hectic lives and burn out quickly. Teach your kids to maintain deep relationships with people, especially with you, their siblings, friends, and the rest of the family. This will help them establish other kinds of relationships later in life.

  2. Everything is About Balance

    As an adult, you know that it’s extremely hard to find balance in life. Sometimes it even seems unattainable, since we are often stuck in the grip of our jobs and other grown-up responsibilities. However, you should do your best when teaching your children that having balance is essential. Show them how to manage their tasks from an early age, teach them that fun always comes after hard work, and that they can have it all. Work hard – play hard, right?

  3. Hard Work Always Pays off

    Teaching kids to have a good work ethic will help them manage their responsibilities properly, when it comes to both their school work and job. Even though you may want to make everything as easy as possible for them, that will do them more harm than good when they grow up. Instead, teach them that hard work always pays off and you will see them growing up into responsible, diligent young people who really mean business.

  4. Appreciate Nature

    In the era of immense technological innovations and the rapid development of the Internet, it can be very hard to get your kids outdoor and teach them to love nature. The majority of them would rather stay home playing video games or watching TV for hours, which can be bad for both their physical and mental health. Prove them that they can have fun outside of their comfort zone, and your kids will be grateful for teaching them how to connect with nature in the best way possible.

  5. Managing Moods Is the Key to Success

    A skill of mood management is another true gem your kids need to develop. In case you didn’t know, we have the ability to consciously change our moods, meaning that we are actually in charge of our own emotions. Experts advise that parents should teach their kids to identify, monitor and shift their own moods, so that they can correct negative thoughts all by themselves. That will surely lead to a positive attitude and self-image which are more than rewarding.

  6. Cultivate Fun and Optimism

    Having fun and laughing out loud is certainly the best cure for everything, so make sure that your kids are aware of that. The more we get together and laugh together, the happier we’ll be! Happiness and optimism are real game-changers that can improve not only your mood, but also your life in general. So teach your kids that valuable lesson and watch them grow up happy. It doesn’t get better than that!

Raising kids is definitely a difficult task that requires a lot of work, patience and effort. However, you’ll see that it will pay off. Seeing your kids happy and successful is what counts, so make sure that you have done everything you possibly could in order to achieve that. Help your kids overcome all the obstacles instead of overcoming them by yourself, and you will give them the most valuable thing – the knowledge about the world.

About the Author: Sophia Smith

Sophia is Australian based beauty, lifestyle and health blogger. She is very passionate about organic beauty products, healthy lifestyle and personal development. She is regular contributor at High Style Life.

Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +

2 Comments

Meg Ferrante

Would love to see a post about number 5 alone. Mood management is truly important but to me, the hardest one on the list. My 10-year-old LOVES to run away when he is angry or wronged. I picture a lifetime of him running away from his problems and it scares me. I want to help him and I do try (pull him back in the room, get down on his level, take my voice to a whisper, etc) What else can we do to help him? For 88 percent of the day, he is as happy as a lark but when the worm turns, LOOK OUT!

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Join our newsletter

We would love you to follow us on Social Media to stay up to date with the latest Hey Sigmund news and upcoming events.

Follow Hey Sigmund on Instagram

karenyoung_heysigmund

Their calm and courage starts with ours.

This doesn’t mean we have to feel calm or brave. The truth is that when a young person is anxious, angry, or overwhelmed, we probably won’t feel calm or brave.

Where you can, tap into that part of you that knows they are safe enough and that they are capable of being brave enough. Then breathe.

Breathing calms our nervous system so theirs can settle alongside.

This is co-regulation. It lets them borrow our calm when theirs is feeling out of reach for a while. Breathe and be with.

This is how calm is caught.

Now for the brave: Rather than avoiding the brave, important, growthful things they need to do, as long as they are safe, comfort them through it.

This takes courage. Of course you’ll want to protect them from anything that feels tough or uncomfortable, but as long as they are safe, we don’t need to.

This is how we give them the experience they need to trust their capacity to do hard things, even when they are anxious.

This is how we build their brave - gently, lovingly, one tiny brave step after another.

Courage isn’t about being fearless - but about trusting they can do hard things when they feel anxious about it. This will take time and lots of experience. So first, we support them through the experience of anxiety by leading, calmly, bravely through the storm.

Because courage isn’t the absence of anxiety.

It’s moving forward, with support, until confidence catches up.♥️

View Instagram post by karenyoung_heysigmund

Feb 3

Open post by karenyoung_heysigmund with ID 18342591154234926
Their calm and courage starts with ours. This doesn’t mean we have to feel calm or brave. The truth is that when a young person is anxious, angry, or overwhelmed, we probably won’t feel calm or brave. Where you can, tap into that part of you that knows they are safe enough and that they are capable of being brave enough. Then breathe. Breathing calms our nervous system so theirs can settle alongside. This is co-regulation. It lets them borrow our calm when theirs is feeling out of reach for a while. Breathe and be with. This is how calm is caught. Now for the brave: Rather than avoiding the brave, important, growthful things they need to do, as long as they are safe, comfort them through it. This takes courage. Of course you’ll want to protect them from anything that feels tough or uncomfortable, but as long as they are safe, we don’t need to. This is how we give them the experience they need to trust their capacity to do hard things, even when they are anxious. This is how we build their brave - gently, lovingly, one tiny brave step after another. Courage isn’t about being fearless - but about trusting they can do hard things when they feel anxious about it. This will take time and lots of experience. So first, we support them through the experience of anxiety by leading, calmly, bravely through the storm. Because courage isn’t the absence of anxiety. It’s moving forward, with support, until confidence catches up.♥️

karenyoung_heysigmund

‘Making sure they aren’t alone in it’ means making sure we, or another adult, helps them feel seen, safe, and cared as they move towards the brave, meaningful, growthful thing.❤️

View Instagram post by karenyoung_heysigmund

Feb 1

Open post by karenyoung_heysigmund with ID 18436931278128876
‘Making sure they aren’t alone in it’ means making sure we, or another adult, helps them feel seen, safe, and cared as they move towards the brave, meaningful, growthful thing.❤️

karenyoung_heysigmund

Children will look to their closest adult - a parent, a teacher, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle - for signs of safety and signs of danger.

What the parent believes, the child will follow, for better or worse.

Anxiety doesn’t mean they aren’t safe or capable. It means they don’t feel safe or capable enough yet.

As long as they are safe, this is where they need to borrow our calm and certainty until they can find their own.

The questions to ask are, ‘Do I believe they are safe and cared for here?’ ‘Do I believe they are capable?’

It’s okay if your answer is no to either of these. We aren’t meant to feel safe handing our kiddos over to every situation or to any adult.

But if the answer is no, that’s where the work is.

What do you need to know they are safe and cared for? What changes need to be made? What can help you feel more certain? Is their discomfort from something unsafe or from something growthful? What needs to happen to know they are capable of this?

This can be so tricky for parents as it isn’t always clear. Are they anxious because this is new or because it’s unsafe?

As long as they are relationally safe (or have an adult working towards this) and their bodies feel safe, the work is to believe in them enough for them to believe it too - to handle our very understandable distress at their distress, make space for their distress, and show them we believe in them by what we do next: support avoidance or brave behaviour.

As long as they are safe, we don’t need to get rid of their anxiety or big feelings. Lovingly make space for those feelings AND brave behaviour. They can feel anxious and do brave.

‘I know this feels big. Bring all your feelings to me. I can look after you through all of it. And yes, this is happening. I know you can do this. We’ll do it together.’

But we have to be kind and patient with ourselves too. The same instinct that makes you a wonderful parent - the attachment instinct - might send your ‘they’re not safe’ radar into overdrive.

Talk to their adults at school, talk to them, get the info you need to feel certain enough, and trust they are safe, and capable enough, even when anxiety (theirs and yours) is saying no.❤️

View Instagram post by karenyoung_heysigmund

Jan 29

Open post by karenyoung_heysigmund with ID 18097682683908813
Children will look to their closest adult - a parent, a teacher, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle - for signs of safety and signs of danger. What the parent believes, the child will follow, for better or worse. Anxiety doesn’t mean they aren’t safe or capable. It means they don’t feel safe or capable enough yet. As long as they are safe, this is where they need to borrow our calm and certainty until they can find their own. The questions to ask are, ‘Do I believe they are safe and cared for here?’ ‘Do I believe they are capable?’ It’s okay if your answer is no to either of these. We aren’t meant to feel safe handing our kiddos over to every situation or to any adult. But if the answer is no, that’s where the work is. What do you need to know they are safe and cared for? What changes need to be made? What can help you feel more certain? Is their discomfort from something unsafe or from something growthful? What needs to happen to know they are capable of this? This can be so tricky for parents as it isn’t always clear. Are they anxious because this is new or because it’s unsafe? As long as they are relationally safe (or have an adult working towards this) and their bodies feel safe, the work is to believe in them enough for them to believe it too - to handle our very understandable distress at their distress, make space for their distress, and show them we believe in them by what we do next: support avoidance or brave behaviour. As long as they are safe, we don’t need to get rid of their anxiety or big feelings. Lovingly make space for those feelings AND brave behaviour. They can feel anxious and do brave. ‘I know this feels big. Bring all your feelings to me. I can look after you through all of it. And yes, this is happening. I know you can do this. We’ll do it together.’ But we have to be kind and patient with ourselves too. The same instinct that makes you a wonderful parent - the attachment instinct - might send your ‘they’re not safe’ radar into overdrive. Talk to their adults at school, talk to them, get the info you need to feel certain enough, and trust they are safe, and capable enough, even when anxiety (theirs and yours) is saying no.❤️

karenyoung_heysigmund

Anxiety in kids is tough for everyone - kids and the adults who care about them.

It’s awful for them and confusing for us. Do we move them forward? Hold them back? Is this growing them? Hurting them?

As long as they are safe - as long as they feel cared for through it and their bodies feel okay - anxiety doesn’t mean something is wrong.
It also doesn’t mean they aren’t capable.

It means there is a gap: ‘I want to, but I don’t know that I’ll be okay.’

As long as they are safe, they don’t need to avoid the situation. They need to keep going, with support, so they can gather the evidence they need. This might take time and lots of experiences.

The brain will always abandon the ‘I want to,’ in any situation that doesn’t have enough evidence - yet - that they’re safe.

Here’s the problem. If we support avoidance of safe situations, the brain doesn’t get the experience it needs to know the difference between hard, growthful things (like school, exams, driving tests, setting boundaries, job interviews, new friendships) and dangerous things.

It takes time and lots of experience to be able to handle the discomfort of anxiety - and all hard, important, growthful things will come with anxiety.

The work for us isn’t to hold them back from safe situations (even though we’ll want to) but to help them feel supported through the anxiety.

This is part of helping them gather the evidence their brains and bodies need to know they can feel safe and do hard things, even when they are anxious.

Think of the space between comfortable (before the growthful thing) and ‘I’ve done the important, growthful thing,’ as ‘the brave space’.

But it never feels brave. It feels like anxious, nervous, stressed, scared, awkward, clumsy. It’s all brave - because that’s what anxiety is. It’s handling the discomfort of the brave space while they inch toward the important thing.

Any experience in the brave space matters. Even if it’s just little steps at a time. Why? Because this is where they learn that they don’t need to be scared of anxiety when they’re heading towards something important. As long as they are safe, the anxiety of the brave space won’t hurt them. It will grow them.❤️

View Instagram post by karenyoung_heysigmund

Jan 28

Open post by karenyoung_heysigmund with ID 18382936468153868
Anxiety in kids is tough for everyone - kids and the adults who care about them. It’s awful for them and confusing for us. Do we move them forward? Hold them back? Is this growing them? Hurting them? As long as they are safe - as long as they feel cared for through it and their bodies feel okay - anxiety doesn’t mean something is wrong. It also doesn’t mean they aren’t capable. It means there is a gap: ‘I want to, but I don’t know that I’ll be okay.’ As long as they are safe, they don’t need to avoid the situation. They need to keep going, with support, so they can gather the evidence they need. This might take time and lots of experiences. The brain will always abandon the ‘I want to,’ in any situation that doesn’t have enough evidence - yet - that they’re safe. Here’s the problem. If we support avoidance of safe situations, the brain doesn’t get the experience it needs to know the difference between hard, growthful things (like school, exams, driving tests, setting boundaries, job interviews, new friendships) and dangerous things. It takes time and lots of experience to be able to handle the discomfort of anxiety - and all hard, important, growthful things will come with anxiety. The work for us isn’t to hold them back from safe situations (even though we’ll want to) but to help them feel supported through the anxiety. This is part of helping them gather the evidence their brains and bodies need to know they can feel safe and do hard things, even when they are anxious. Think of the space between comfortable (before the growthful thing) and ‘I’ve done the important, growthful thing,’ as ‘the brave space’. But it never feels brave. It feels like anxious, nervous, stressed, scared, awkward, clumsy. It’s all brave - because that’s what anxiety is. It’s handling the discomfort of the brave space while they inch toward the important thing. Any experience in the brave space matters. Even if it’s just little steps at a time. Why? Because this is where they learn that they don’t need to be scared of anxiety when they’re heading towards something important. As long as they are safe, the anxiety of the brave space won’t hurt them. It will grow them.❤️

karenyoung_heysigmund

In the first few days or weeks of school, feelings might get big. This might happen before school (the anticipation) or after school (when their nervous systems reach capacity).

As long as they are safe (relationally, physiologically) their anxiety is normal and understandable and we don’t need to ‘fix’ it or rush them through it.

They’re doing something big, something brave. Their brains and bodies will be searching for the familiar in the unfamiliar. They’re getting to know new routines, spaces, people. It’s a lot! Feeling safe in that might take time. But feeling safe and being safe are different.

We don’t need to stop their anxiety or rush them through it. Our work is to help them move with it. Because when they feel anxious, and get safely through the other side of that anxiety, they learn something so important: they learn they can do hard things - even when they feel like they don’t have what it takes, they can do hard things. We know this about them already, but they’ll need experience in safe, caring environments, little by little, to know this for themselves.

Help them move through it by letting them know that all their feelings are safe with you, that their feelings make sense, and at the end of the day, let those feelings do what they need to. If they need to burst out of them like a little meteor shower, that’s okay. Maybe they’ll need to talk, or not, or cry, or get loud, or play, or be still, or messy for a while. That’s okay. It’s a nervous system at capacity looking for the release valve. It’s not a bad child. It’s never that.

Tomorrow might be tricker, and the next day trickier, until their brains and bodies get enough experience that this is okay.

As long as they are safe, and they get there, it all counts. It’s all brave. It’s all enough.❤️

View Instagram post by karenyoung_heysigmund

Jan 27

Open post by karenyoung_heysigmund with ID 17927849610192008
In the first few days or weeks of school, feelings might get big. This might happen before school (the anticipation) or after school (when their nervous systems reach capacity). As long as they are safe (relationally, physiologically) their anxiety is normal and understandable and we don’t need to ‘fix’ it or rush them through it. They’re doing something big, something brave. Their brains and bodies will be searching for the familiar in the unfamiliar. They’re getting to know new routines, spaces, people. It’s a lot! Feeling safe in that might take time. But feeling safe and being safe are different. We don’t need to stop their anxiety or rush them through it. Our work is to help them move with it. Because when they feel anxious, and get safely through the other side of that anxiety, they learn something so important: they learn they can do hard things - even when they feel like they don’t have what it takes, they can do hard things. We know this about them already, but they’ll need experience in safe, caring environments, little by little, to know this for themselves. Help them move through it by letting them know that all their feelings are safe with you, that their feelings make sense, and at the end of the day, let those feelings do what they need to. If they need to burst out of them like a little meteor shower, that’s okay. Maybe they’ll need to talk, or not, or cry, or get loud, or play, or be still, or messy for a while. That’s okay. It’s a nervous system at capacity looking for the release valve. It’s not a bad child. It’s never that. Tomorrow might be tricker, and the next day trickier, until their brains and bodies get enough experience that this is okay. As long as they are safe, and they get there, it all counts. It’s all brave. It’s all enough.❤️

MENU
View Cart Checkout Continue Shopping