Mindful Parenting Of Tweens And Teens

Being a parent is an all-encompassing, wonderful, and trying experience. And as a mother of four (three of them currently teens), I know that sometimes it can be all three at once. Each of their developmental stages present their own unique challenges, but adolescence is often a complicated and difficult period for both child and parent. The complex world in which we live today only complicates the matter. If you’re like most of us parents of teens, you are probably experiencing the entire range of emotion, from disappointment to pride, grief to joy, frustration to excitement, and everything in between. While these emotions will inevitably arise in the course of your navigating this stage with your child, the skills of mindfulness will be an incredible support to you in retaining equanimity and being the steady and calm presence your adolescent is truly in need of. In this 10-day course, I’ll walk you through some of the basic principles of mindful parenting that will help you to roll with the punches, model emotional intelligence, communicate and connect with your teen, and work towards a healthy balance of letting go slowly while still supporting your child’s growth and development. Please join me and this community as we learn to make subtle mindful choices that can really make a big difference in family life with tweens and teens.

Leçon 1: Mindful Culture In The Family

Parenting can be seen as a divine calling, rife with responsibility, but also opportunities unique to this important role. Raising children has a way of challenging us in ways we don’t experience elsewhere. Your mindfulness practice can truly revolutionize your family relationships as you learn to be more present, compassionate, emotionally regulated, and direct your attention to what is most important.

Leçon 2: Understanding Tweens And Teens

Today we set the stage for what is going on with your child. While rationally you know what adolescence is all about, in the moment of friction sometimes we forget that our tween or teen is doing exactly what they’re supposed to: defining themselves and learning to be independent of you. Cultivating mindfulness will help you to remember the bigger picture, and allow for more flexibility and acceptance of the process.

Leçon 3: Starting With Ourselves

Nothing helps us to see ourselves more poignantly than dealing with a “mini-me” running around. If we want to be mindful parents, it’s critical that we take a good look in the mirror and recognize what we are modeling for our children and how we can improve. We need to recognize our own baggage, narratives, rigidities and expectations that may not be serving us or our relationships. We need to start with ourselves!

Leçon 4: Learning To Let Go

On Day 4 of our course, we’ll explore the idea of sovereignty, letting our children be exactly who they are, and allowing for them to forge their own path in life. This doesn’t mean letting them do whatever they want, but rather that we honor, respect, and accept them and their choices, while mindfully and lovingly continuing to guide them as much as is appropriate over this period of development.

Leçon 5: Developing Acceptance

Acceptance is one of the key principles of mindfulness, and will play a very important role in your parenting of tweens and teens. When we learn not to cling so tightly to expectations about how we want things to be, we soften. We see our children with more empathy and understanding, and open doors in our relationships with them.

Leçon 6: Empathy And Love

Your love for your teen will change from year to year, becoming more mature and enduring as it undergoes different stages of development and as your relationship changes through the years. While it may be easy to be empathetic and loving some days, it will probably be very difficult other days. Today we’ll talk about how important this principle is in fostering a deep and abiding connection with your tween or teen.

Leçon 7: Striking A Balance

Today we discuss the importance of using your parental wisdom and intuition to find that delicate balance in guiding and supporting your adolescent. Keeping appropriate boundaries and expectations is necessary to keep your child safe, but learning to let them fail at times also helps them to learn just what they’re capable of. Your belief in them no matter what will always support your relationship and may be a critical component in their success.

Leçon 8: Connection And Communication

Communication with teens and tweens can be very difficult and takes a lot of patience, persistence, and strategy. The more you employ the skills of mindfulness, like empathy, acceptance, self-awareness and patience, the quicker you will learn what works with your child, and the deeper connection you will be able to create with them.

Leçon 9: Patience As A Skill

On Day 9 of our course we’ll talk about just how important patience is in your parenting experience. Patience will help you to be more accepting of failures and mistakes, be more understanding and flexible when things don’t go as expected, and let go of the anxieties that accompany difficulties. Patience will help you to model equanimity and to be that still, calm base your teen can always return home to.

Leçon 10: Keeping It All In Perspective

Today we wrap up our course by reviewing the mindful principles we’ve learned together over the course of these 10 days. But most importantly, we talk about the value of zooming out from time to time and remembering to keep everything in proper perspective. Your teen’s development may seem slow, but staying mindful will help you to see things as they are, appreciate progress, be positive, and love your child for who they are, in all their stages. Your mindfulness will help your relationship to bloom and flourish. You got this!

Reviews

What a impactful, helpful course! My husband and I listened openly each day and feel more prepared to mindfully approach all we are dealing with with both our tween and teen girls. We are grateful for this guidance and practice and look forward to practicing our parenting more mindfully each day! I truly appreciated the reminders that we are human and make mistakes and that I am amazing no matter what. I found myself reflecting on mistakes and am giving myself more grace by looking forward with more positivity in my approach to feel less guilt around past parenting imperfections! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS COURSE!!!! Highly recommended to many friends💝

I have taken this course over and over since I found it. I went through a long time of tremendous health challenges and really felt like I lost time with my son. As I was recovering he was 12 and ready to start his independence, just like any tween. But inside I was heartbroken. This course got me through it and after a season or two he is warming up and I am seeing results from being patient. Your kind words of encouragement was all I had to go on at times. Thank you so much for using your gift.

Dear Jennifer,
Your course, concepts, attitude, words & voice are balm to my soul. They keep reminding me of what is most important to me but gets forgotten at times of crisis & conflict. Especially as a single parent, having to cope with everything on my own, your words bring in the nourishing comfort & inspiration of an an understanding friend. Thank you 🙏🏽 so much!
Blessings

This was so specific and practical. I really enjoyed this and will share with others. The teen years can feel so challenging at times, but this course really lightened the load I’ve been carrying. 🙏