This week's featured freebies

The exact tools you need for long-term wellbeing

I've been listening to my heart, my head, and the echoing sentiment of early adolescent parents and kids in my life and in the media - and the resounding theme is: we're struggling. This is such an intense time, whether you or your kid are facing anxiety, health issues, depression, chronic stress, overwhelm, or general discomfort, I believe today's episode is going to help you.

These external events in our lives only prove how much is out of our control. And, feeling out of control is really uncomfortable for most of us. Especially as caregivers, we're wired to keep everyone safe - to keep things under control as much as we can.

This process of wanting and trying to control things at all costs breeds the struggle, stress, or anxiety you or your kid might be feeling.

So, to help bolster your sense of confidence and ability to thrive through this challenging time, I'm going to share one of the tools that are within EA's digital course: Middle School Success for Parents. This is a course that prepares you with the mindsets and skills you need to thrive through the ups and downs of parenting an early adolescent.

If you are a parent who is looking to de-stress and clear the overwhelm from your life, this episode is to give you a system to coach yourself and your kid, so the bumps in the road don't negatively impact your mental health, your wellbeing, or your progress for the long term. These tools have helped me and so many students navigate tough times with greater clarity and ease.

I think we're all craving right now.

Take a look at today's talking points

There are a couple of main reasons parents, you, or your kid might feel stuck or supremely challenged right now. Usually, it's a combo of both...

• Reason 1:

• The first reason is you've got a knowledge gap. You don't know what to do, or what something is, and you don't know how you're going to do it, fix it, or solve it.

• Reason 2:

• Another reason is that we get stuck is because we're trapped in the loop of our emotions and knowing how to regulate them can be challenging, even for adults.

3 simple steps to practice regulating your emotions:

1. Step 1: Bring attention - even after the fact - to your emotions as they are coming up.

2. Step 2: Guide yourself or your kid to look for patterns of when you're in this emotion. Notice what happens in your body, is your breathing shallow, do you start to grit your teeth or clench your fists? Do you feel sick to your stomach? Come back to your body - and take a deep breath.

3. Step 3: Reflect - either with someone in a text, in a journal, talking out loud to yourself. Notice who, what, and why your emotion was triggered. Notice the patterns is key as you will become more aware of the next time those conditions are primed to have that emotion.

So, as you go through these steps to regulate your emotion. There is a story behind the emotion. You see our beliefs, or our own personal stories, create our experiences - and our experiences create our lives.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when you become aware of a belief or a story that's taking hold:

1. Ask yourself or your kid - is there evidence that proves this story is true?

2. Are there alternate points of view?

3. What if you didn't believe this? What would your life feel like?

This is episode is a small snapshot of what I offer in Middle School Success for Parents and if it spoke to you, find out more about the course. Mark your calendars because registration opens on March 28th!

Like what you hear? Keep listening to the Elevated Adolescence Podcast