Mindful Mama: Raising Kind, Confident Kids Without Losing Your Cool | Parenting Strategies For Big Emotions & More

What do I do when my child is having big emotions and how do I help my child manage them better? In my conversation with Wynne Kinder, owner and creator of Wellness Works in Schools, Wynne shares effective strategies on how to connect with our kids when they’re having big emotions, and how we can best help them to learn emotional regulation. *New!* Watch video clips from this episode on the Mindfu...

How can you encourage your husband to be more involved and take a more active role in parenting? Jason Kreidman, the founder of Dad University, gives us some powerful advice for getting and keeping your husband engaged. *New!* Watch video clips from this episode on the Mindful Mama Youtube channel! If you enjoyed this episode, and it inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear about it and know you...

What does it mean to live gratefully every day? In my conversation with Kristi Nelson, executive director of A Network for Grateful Living, we talk about living a life of gratefulness, the transformative effects of changing perspective, and how to bring more gratefulness into your family. *New!* Watch video clips from this episode on the Mindful Mama Youtube channel! If you enjoyed this episode, a...

In order to be happy, do we always have to think happy thoughts, banishing the negative ones? Dr. Andrea Bonior, licensed clinical psychologist and the author of “Detox Your Thoughts” counters this, saying that unhappiness comes not from having negative thoughts, but from paying too much attention to them, thus giving them too much power. In our conversation we talk about this idea, as well as how...

As children get older, they begin to realize just how big the world is, triggering fears and creating anxiety. As a parent, they look to us for reassurance and guidance. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Aude Henin, Ph. D. about helping children cope with stress, anxiety, and OCD, how to help our children work towards facing their fears, and how to recognize when our children need additional support....

The Terrible Twos. The Three-nagers. Why are these years so hard, filled with countless meltdowns, frustration, and stress? Does it have to be this way? In today’s podcast, I talk to Devon Kuntzman, ACC and ICF certified coach about how we can overcome the challenges and experience the joy of toddlerhood. *New!* Watch video clips from this episode on the Mindful Mama Youtube channel! If you enjoye...

What is attachment theory? How can I help my child develop secure attachment? What if I don’t have a secure attachment style, myself? Today, I talk to Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Attachment Specialist, Paula Sacks. We discuss the importance of secure attachment and how the attachment a child develops with their primary caregiver sets the foundation for all future relationships. *New!* Watc...

When are fears normal for kids and when are they a cause for concern? In this episode, I talk to Natasha Daniels, anxiety & OCD Child therapist and a mom to three kids with anxiety and OCD, who helps us to distinguish between the two. She offers valuable insights into what signs to watch for and how we are best able to support our kiddos. *New!* Watch video clips from this episode on the Mindful M...

In this podcast episode, I talk to Dr. Meghan Owenz, author of the book, Spoiled Right: Delaying Screens and Giving Children What They Really Need. Dr. Owenz explains why screens should be avoided for children under 5 and are actually necessary (to an extent) for older kids. We talk about finding a balance, using her S.P.O.I.L. method, and tools that can be used to reclaim some of the time our kid...

Our bodies have so much to tell us. Why aren’t we listening? Today, I talk to Kimberly Ann Johnson, a Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution practitioner and author of the newly released book, Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Power, and Use It for Good. We have a fascinating discussion about how tuning into our bodies is the starting point for understanding our needs, improving com...

What makes Mindful Parenting different? What do you learn inside Mindful Parenting? How is it different from “mindfulness for parents?” In this very special reverse-interview, Hunter answers questions posed by Lynn Weller, the Mindful Parenting Community Manager. You’ll learn about why Mindful Parenting came about, Hunter’s own struggles, and what’s inside the ground-breaking course she developed....

Montessori is an innovative education modality that puts great emphasis on preparing the environment to help children succeed. They follow children’s sensitive periods for more individualized learning. Montessori has prepared some amazing creative thinkers, including Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (founders of Google), Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Helen Keller! Let’s bri...

How can dads step up to the plate and become better dads to their kids? Larry Hagner, the creator of The Dad Edge Podcast, is here to let us know. Find out how dads can become better role models and improve marital relationships too! *New!* Watch video clips from this episode on the Mindful Mama Youtube channel! If you enjoyed this episode, and it inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear about i...

Hunter makes a guest appearance on Sage Family Podcast, with Rachel Rainbolt. In this conversation, they talk about what it means to parent mindfully. They discuss topics like what’s happening in our brains and bodies when we feel the stress response, what mindfulness is, and how it is helpful when we’re in that stress response, we can hold a beginner’s mind, the parenting superpower - empathy, an...

Birds & Bees. This is a conversation so many of us put off. Perhaps, it’s the uncomfortable memories we have of having an awkward conversation with our parents, or maybe it’s a conversation our parents never even had with us. However, this is the single most important conversation that we should be having with our kids. How and when we should be having these conversations? How do we keep our kids...

Why do emotions feel automatic and uncontrollable? Does rational thought really control emotion? How does emotion affect disease? The brain is so amazingly complex and still largely a mystery. My conversation with Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, who is among the top one percent most-cited scientists in the world for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience, provides a deeper understandi...

During this time of remote learning, there are so many questions that are coming up around screen time. Are our kids getting too much screen time? Is there such a thing as “healthy” screen time? When is time to cut back on screen time? Anya Kamenetz, author of The Art of Screen Time: Digital Parenting Without Fear, helps us get to the bottom of these questions, along with many others. If you enjoy...

Our parenting styles are strongly influenced by both how we were parented and current societal norms. However, what if how we have learned to parent doesn’t feel right? What if we believe our children deserve more? In this conversation, I talk to Leslie Priscilla Arreola-Hillenbrand about her experience growing up in an authoritarian culture and how she has looked to the history of her ancestry to...

We parents are often unknowingly (and knowingly) making some big communication mistakes with our children. These mistakes can cause resistance, resentment, and damage to your relationship. How can we communicate better? I talk to Jennie Rosier, Ph. D. about how to improve our communication with our kids. If you enjoyed this episode, and it inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear about it and kn...

How is it that we are here in February and STILL struggling with remote learning? Sigh. Yes, the pandemic will end one day, but in the meantime, remote learning is not working super-well for a bunch of kids. For help, I talk to author and educator Steven Greene about how we can make it better. If you enjoyed this episode, and it inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear about it and know your big...

Do you feel guilty if you don’t like to play with your child - or feel bad because you want a break from your child? Don’t! These are new developments in WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) societies—that don’t actually benefit children. Author and anthropologist David F. Lancy compares our parenting with other societies across time and around the world. If you enjoyed this...

When we are in autopilot mode or reactive, we tend to be at our worst at our parenting—missing chances to connect and see what’s going on under the surface for our children. Without a mindfulness practice in our lives, we can become overrun by reactivity. Learn how mindfulness works to lower reactivity and becomes our parental superpower and how to bring it into your life. If you enjoyed this epis...

How does the way we parent our children relate to the criminal justice system? According to my podcast guest, Katherine Wintery-Sellery, a lot. In this episode, we talk about family conflict and the essential mindset changes we need to move to a more cooperative, compassionate model. If you enjoyed this episode, and it inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takea...

What do children need most? Unconditional love. Most of us can agree on that, yet we often don’t even realize the ways in which we are conditional with our parenting, which is not only bad for kids, it’s deeply counterproductive! Author and peaceful parenting leader, Alfie Kohn gives insights into our own assumptions and intentions for our kids. If you enjoyed this episode, and it inspired you in...

Everyone experiences fears, and sometimes they can hold us back from living authentically and achieving our full potential. So what do we do with our fears? Author and wellness coach Koya Webb tells us that our fears can be our teachers and make us fierce. We can turn our obstacles into seeds for growth instead! If you enjoyed this episode, and it inspired you in some way, I’d love to hear about i...