Shame has been on my mind quite a bit lately, in particular ways that shame gets used as a tool to keep us disconnected from ourselves and each other.

I’m lucky to lead and share spaces exploring this theme with girls and women of all ages. While decades separate many of us, I can’t unsee the parallels and similarities in the stories where shame governs us. The details and names in our stories may be different, but the core feelings are the same - isolation, pain, and secrecy.

Brene Brown defines shame as “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging”. Unlike guilt, shame doesn’t attach to...

I'm proud of my husband Jed for being on the front lines as a teen and family therapist. His workplace just published this article about Gen Z, highlighting another great piece about stress, so I'm sharing both articles with you!

Today’s teenagers and young adults are increasingly reporting feeling anxious, stressed or depressed. Supposedly 91%! But why?

Vaping is generally understood to be less risky than smoking. But not vaping is healthier than vaping - even for a generation of teens whose cigarette use is at a 40-year low. So how do we have successful conversations with teenagers about the hazards of e-cigarettes? Here’s a guide to how you might address vaping — or almost any other form of risky business — with the teenagers in your life..."
Keep reading to see our QUICK GUIDE or view full article here.

This morning I splurged on a babysitter and made it into the hills. I saw bunnies sunbathing, flocks of birds moving as one. I saw big bumblebees lost in giant violet thistle flowers, inspiration in the last wildflowers painted pink across the hills. I saw a family of quail with a bunch of fluffy new babies, so teeny tiny they'd all fit into my hands. I saw the sun and sky and wind across the dry land. And they all saw me. I was given a huge turkey feather, an owl feather, and some herbs as I walked.

To everyone but especially the mamas - Go. Just, go. It won't be enough. Go anyway. Bring less than you think you need. Go lightly. Weave yourself back into the village you long for with your steps, your breath, your natural pace.

A culturally responsive, SEL-based training for professionals who work with girls. Training Options around the Bay Area: August 1st-2nd, 5th-6th & 26th-27th

Our friends at Girls Leadership are offering an awesome Social Emotional Literacy training and collaborative workshop! My dear mama-sister Mia will be heading this up. She is a total bad ass! Check it out...

Developmental Psychologist and advisor to Love Your Nature, Diana Divecha PhD writes about the current state of affairs for American teens and why conscious mentoring is essential to their wellness. She discusses the possibility is that our society has forgotten about the important developmental task of adolescence, and how finding a healthy identity is perhaps the key task of this life stage. She writes...

"Teens benefit from, and want, relationships in which their understanding of the world and their place in it can be co-constructed in a healthy way. A mentoring relationship or facilitated group can help teens process their growing awareness with like-minded people while balancing it with a focus on healthy development. In such a setting, the skills for mastery and sense of control can gradually emerge at a developmentally appropriate pace that teens can manage.

In an APA study of stress, three-quarters of the teens surveyed said they wanted more emotional support... The more families can name and normalize emotions and emotional competence, the more successfully teens develop. Good relationships are essential to mental health and well-being.

Building emotional intelligence skills is always important, too. Every teen will benefit from a) the ability to be aware of their feelings and b) having strategies for regulation. As one woman on the Love Your Nature Teen Wisdom Panel said about meditation, “It’s real. You should try it.” (Read full article here...)

We are honored to have Mindful Digital Life founder Claudia L’Amoreaux share her thoughts on our recent Teen Wisdom Panel in her blog post Weaving the Social Fabric. Claudia started Mindful Digital Life to support parents and young people on the journey, helping build skills and mindfulness practices to live in this digital age with care and intention. Thank you Claudia for the work you do, and for attending our panel!