Returning to Us

Lauren discusses how to design a self-care routine that is in alignment with your personality and core values. She talks in detail about her own routine, including some of the struggles she’s had along the way.  Time is our most valuable, nonrenewable resource. How we choose to use it can make all the difference in feeling happy, inspired, and valued.  Self-care doesn't have to be as extravag...

This episode is one of Lauren’s favorite topics: Personality Profiling and how it relates to Self-Care. How you live and feel is often shaped by your personality and values in life. Understanding yourself opens the door to know what motivates you and helps you live a satisfying life, both internally and externally. Also, knowing yourself makes decisions and what actions to take much easier.  Laure...

Lauren has an in-depth conversation with Rebecca Britt, an Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning.  Rebecca became involved with training horses as a child. In her career as a social worker, she realized the similarities of therapeutic intervention with children and training horses using natural horsemanship. From this realization, Stable Moments was born, an organization where community...

Think of self-care as preventative stress management.   In this episode, Lauren talks about why it’s important to practice self-care preventatively and not just as a reaction to a current state or situation. Imagine being so in tune with your emotional state and moods that you could actually change them. Thanks to neuroscience, we know it’s possible. Self-care is a learned skill. It takes time, pr...

This episode is all about food and gut health….and how it affects your brain and your mood. Processed food, high sugar intake, added hormones, and pesticides all affect your digestive system. Your gut biome cannot break those down easily, which disrupts the bacteria in your gut. Your gut has a direct line to your brain, so this disruption affects your brain and mood.  Processed foods include canne...

In this episode, Lauren has a conversation with Renee Pena Lopez, an Early Childhood Intervention Specialist in New York City and also the creator of The Magic of Littles . They discuss working with young kids, the importance of play, and the need for connection.  Renee’s passion comes from her own lived experience. Her life started as a preemie born to deaf parents. She had health problems as wel...

This is the fifth and final episode in our series about Room Design . We are discussing various design elements and how they impact stress, productivity, attention, and behavior.  During this series, we’ve talked about how environmental factors can affect moods, emotions, and learning. Based on recent research , lighting supports student performance. Fluorescent bulbs are counterproductive to stud...

This is the fourth episode in our series about Room Design . We are discussing various design elements and how they impact stress, productivity, attention, and behavior.  Think how you feel after being outside on a hot, humid day. You’re sweating, hot, and feeling exhausted. Now, think how a child feels in a hot classroom with either no A/C or bad airflow. They will struggle to remember what they...

This is the third episode in our series about Room Design . We are discussing various design elements and how they impact stress, productivity, attention, and behavior .  Have you ever been out for a walk and smelled something that triggered a memory? Our sense of smell can trigger memories and strong emotions, both good and bad.  The olfactory nerve taps into the memory system of the brain. That’...

This is the second episode in our series about Room Design . We are discussing various design elements and how they impact stress, productivity, attention, and behavior .  Color has its own magnetic frequency. It has an energy that influences the neurological pathways in the brain.  Color also influences our moods, emotions, and actions . It is very impactful, so why not choose colors to help kidd...

This is the first episode in our series about Room Design . We are discussing various design elements and how they impact stress, productivity, attention, and behavior.  A study by Cornell University found that chronic noise caused stress in children. The study also found they did not learn as well as those in a quiet neighborhood.  The body and the brain are in tune to things nearby, including so...

Lauren has an informative, in-depth conversation with Justina Hertzler about food and mood regulation . They discuss the importance of asking questions and the difference in pharmaceutical vs herbal options.   Justina explains several topics, including: Low FODMAP diet Elimination diet Gut-Brain connection  Justina’s passion for this work comes from a long-held, deep desire to educate people about...

What is Sensory Integration? It is the act of integrating all of your senses to neutralize and balance the body. This can be used both reactively and preventatively to help reset the nervous system.  Research into sensory integration has shown how it repairs damaged neurons from stress or trauma. It’s also one of the best forms of therapy to calm kiddos and lower the chance of breakdown. What does...

Lauren has an in-depth conversation with certified Early Childhood Educator, Katie Deppen. She teaches first grade in Pennsylvania and has previously taught third and fourth grades in Berlin, Germany. Katie discusses in detail the classroom changes and teaching challenges during a global pandemic.  Katie discusses many topics during this episode: Her classroom experience this school year. Teaching...

What if you could change the way the brain works just by changing what you feed yourself and your kiddos? YOU CAN!  Food is medicine and can heal your body. Food and nutrition is also a significant contributor to how our brain operates. Lauren discusses how an auto-immune disorder changed how she views food and herbs. She describes healing herself by changing what she ate.  Processed Foods Process...

Listen to our in-depth conversation with integrated nutrition health coach, Lindsey Kaszuba. She helps women make food and lifestyle changes tailored specifically for them. Lindsey teaches people to integrate health into their lifestyles.  Lindsey discusses her lifetime interest in health and wellness. Becoming a certified health coach taught her about the mind-body-soul connection. She also learn...

Childhood activities seem to have dramatically changed in recent decades. Instead of unsupervised outdoor play, many activities are scheduled and monitored. Many children do not engage in any type of risky activities which often teaches valuable lessons. Various research has been published on the benefits of “risky play” and how it affects resilience. ( See reference below. )  Another change: both...

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is simply a tense and release strategy. Tense certain muscle groups, hold tight for a few seconds, then release. It’s free, requires little effort or energy, and the best part…. kids think it’s fun!  The Science behind it: As an overly stressed society, PMR helps us get back into balance and keeps our nervous system neutralized . Teaching kids these active and e...

One of the best calming and coping mechanisms is simply breathing.  The Science Behind It: Our stress response systems are activated by the world’s stressors, both big and small. When we are continuously stressed, our nervous system is pushed out of balance. We get stuck in our Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), the Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn part of our brain. In this state, it is much easier to...

If a child responds strongly to any of their senses, then a Sensory Need is likely. These responses could be to loud noises, the volume of a classroom or voice, textures of food or clothes, etc. Often, these things may seem normal to you and others, but to the child, they are extremely irritating. This can often cause unwanted behavior. People may mistakenly categorize this need as OCD - obsessive...

A Physical Need is any physiological need that is unmet. Food, water, shelter, and sleep are key physical needs. Most often, the first 3 are met. Sleep is a big factor in mood shifts and emotion management. The amount of sleep someone is getting should always be considered.  This acronym can be helpful in identifying and solving a physical need – HALT .       H - Hungry       A - Angry       L - L...

Think about it. How much control do kids really have over their daily activities? Likely 90% of adult communication with kids is directive or authoritative . Wake up, get out of bed, brush your teeth, put on these clothes, get on the school bus, eat your dinner, etc. When someone has little control over their life, it ignites the stress response system . A constant lack of control causes the NEED...

The second of the 5 Needs Areas is the attachment and relationship need . This is the need to feel connected, that you belong to a group. The groups could be a family system, a school system, or a classroom.  When kids are lacking in this need area, they will seek ways to connect and belong. For example, a child may be overly kind and loving or needy. An opposite behavior showing this need may be...

Lauren discusses the first need of the 5 Needs Areas - self-regulation/emotional regulation. What is self-regulation? Being able to monitor and manage your energy state, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Adults have the intellectual and emotional capacity to change their emotional states. This is much harder for kids since their brains are not as developed . The Prefrontal Cortex (IE Thinking Bra...

Lauren has an in-depth conversation with Catherine Dennis , early childhood specialist, adjunct faculty, and Mom to seven kiddos. Catherine explains how she came to better understand the effects of trauma in children, and in what ways it changed her approach to working with children and adults. Teaching emotional regulation skills at a young age gives kids tools for adulthood. Catherine explains h...