Stay ConnectedEver wish you had a zen friend? Someone who could help you ease your tween or tween’s anxiety, while also supporting you, so parenting was more peaceful?
Well good news, host Lauren Wolfe, a therapist and mom who’s made it through those anxious teen years is here to offer parents some zen!
A full-length episode comes out every Tuesday. And “A Drop of Zen,” a short guided meditation or a “Zen Bonus Boost,” a mini episode, come out every Friday.
Copyright: © 2022 Your Zen Friend
On this podcast I will talk about Feeling our Feelings, the importance of doing this, and how we can support our children through feeling difficult emotions. I will share tips on how to make time and space for our emotions and why that's helpful. I will also provide tips on how to support your children in having a healthy emotional life.
One of the strategies I share in this podcast is How to Ride The Wave. Here's how you do this:
I also share a strategy from Nicole Sachs, LCSW who is an author and has a podcast called “Cure for Chronic Pain." Nicole's technique called Journal Speak is a wonderful way to take time to feel your feelings. Here's how you do it:
I mention the books Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times and the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling.
In our Drop of Zen today (our short guided meditation) I will guide you through an exercise designed to help you get in touch with your emotions.
If you like this episode please subscribe! And it helps others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this episode I will be interviewing Bridgett Burrick Brown on Redefining Beauty for Ourselves and Our Children. Bridgett is the founder of the Beyond Beauty Project, a movement to help improve self-esteem and confidence around body image and mental health. See below for Bridgett's bio and contact information.
It was such a pleasure interviewing Bridgett! Bridgett opens up about her experience in the modeling industry in the past and present. She also shares about the tremendous loss she experienced within a two year period as a young mom. I am so inspired by the work Bridgett is doing and how she shares what she has learned from the obstacles she has overcome.
In our Drop of Zen (our short guided meditation) I'll talk you through a meditation to help you connect with feeling more positive about your body.
If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
Bridgett's Bio:
Bridgett Burrick Brown is the founder of Beyond Beauty Project, a movement and multimedia platform that focuses on inspiring confidence and acceptance surrounding beauty, body image, and mental health. Using her two decades of experience in the modeling industry as a model, Brown strives to change the narrative of beauty by redefining its meaning from the inside out, providing education and awareness around feeling our best mentally, physically, and spiritually. By breaking down the barriers to true beauty and self-worth, Bridgett empowers people to ditch the patriarchal standards and shape their own beauty, free from judgment and others’ expectations. She is a dedicated advocate and activist for women, mental health, body diversity and disordered eating recovery, as well as a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach from NYC’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition, a W.I.T.S Certified Personal Trainer, and is Certified in Ayurveda from Lotus Flow University. She is also a mother, wife, former dancer and host of Beyond Beauty Project: The Podcast.
Find Bridgett at:
https://www.beyondbeautyproject.com/contact
or on Instagram:
@beyond.beauty.project
or check out her podcast:
Beyond Beauty Project The Podcast (find it wherever you find your podcasts)
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this podcast I will talk about Surviving and Thriving While Raising Tweens and Teens. Lately, I have been asking you, the listener, what you would like to hear about on this podcast. And I have had numerous requests for talking about topics on raising teens. So I decided I would bring to you a series called Surviving and Thriving While Parenting Teens and Tweens. Throughout the year I will be talking to you on different topics related to raising teens. And I’m going to throw in tweens as well because kids don’t really become a teen the day they turn 13 years old. Most parents see glimpses of traits in their children that are associated with being a teenager in those tween years which is actually classified as ages 8-12.
Ages 8-19 is a huge age range. For this podcast I’m going to focus more on the older tween and up so I’ll really focus more on about age 11 or 12 and up. But if you have children younger than age 11 I think this will still be helpful to listen to because you are really building a foundation now that will be helpful to raising teens down the road. And if you don’t have children you can just feel all sorts of smug that you don’t have to deal with any of this. I’m kidding but listening to the podcasts in this series could help you to improve your connection with nieces or nephews or the teens that you work with.
I am curious, who out there made resolutions or set intentions for the new year? I'll share with you how I'm doing on the New Year's intentions that I set recently. Did any of you set an intention while listening to the Drop of Zen meditation in last week's episode (episode #14 Reflecting on the Past and Setting Intentions for the Future)? I will be checking in on our facebook group to see how listeners are doing with the intentions they've set. On this episode I'll share with you how I'm doing so far with mine. If you haven't joined our Facbebook group please join us! You can find it by going to Facebook Groups and searching, "Your Zen Friend." There's also a link below.
Parenting any age group of children can be challenging. But parenting tweens and teens is an especially challenging time. Why, you may wonder, is this so? Because tweens and teens are "individuating." I'll talk about what this means and what this looks like. And I'll give you some concrete strategies to help make this difficult time a little easier for you. Maybe even a lot easier! Go big or go home, right? :) And (spoiler alert) some of these strategies are about caring for yourself. Other strategies are about knowing how your buttons get pushed and how to respond in a way that doesn't send you into a shame spiral when they are pushed.
In our Drop of Zen (our short guided meditation) I'll talk you through a breathing technique that is super calming and can be used anywhere and at anytime.
If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this podcast I will talk about Reflecting on the Past and Setting Intentions for the Future. Identifying what is not working in our lives and creating goals to make changes can be really helpful. I will provide tips and strategies to help you be successful in keeping and attaining the goals you set for yourself.
I'll talk about a tool that can help you to assess where your life is out of balance. That's the The Balance Bound Planner. This planner has sections for: work, home, others and self. I will tell you what I discovered about myself in just a few days of using this planner. If you would like to get a Balance Bound Planner, find one at https://www.balancebound.co/shop/stationery-gifts
The Balance Bound planner has a spot where you can come up with a word for the year. I’ll share what mine is and how I built my intention for the year around it.
One of the strategies I will talk about comes from understanding how you best meet inner and outer expectations in your life. To better understand this you can read Gretchin Rubin’s book, “The Four Tendencies,” or take the quiz to find out what tendency you are: https://gretchenrubin.com/quiz/the-four-tendencies-quiz/
https://www.amazon.com/The-Four-Tendencies-audiobook/dp/B071L426J6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=229PGX3X808O8&keywords=the+four+tendencies+by+gretchen+rubin&qid=1672626012&sprefix=the+four+ten%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-1
No matter what goals you set for yourself, I will invite you to to aim for progress, not perfection. Remember to have compassion for yourself if it’s harder to achieve the goals you set than you had hoped. This is a journey and we are most likely not going to hit the destination of having everything perfectly perfect (bummer!) We are often moving towards balance but so rarely do we stay there for long.
In our Drop of Zen today (our short guided meditation) we will do a little reflecting on the past year and intention setting for the new year. Feel free to have a piece of paper and a writing utensil nearby to jot down what comes up for you.
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If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
***This podcast talks about holiday magic. Please listen away from little ears.
On this podcast I will talk about Finding the Joy in Holiday Mishaps. Don’t we all have those? The things that go wrong during the holiday season can add stress but also sometimes lead to laughs and memories that connect us to the people who lived the experiences with us. But first I’ll update you on how I had A LOT of fun at a local musical with my friend Vanessa David (to hear an episode with Vanessa, see episode #5 How We Connect Through Food; Food for Fuel and Food for Love). Vanessa and I managed to have a holiday mishap along the way! I'll tell you all about it. Then I’ll share about that time I had to send Holiday Cards overseas when I worked as an Admin. Or more accurately, an Admin to the Admin. Well, let’s just say it didn’t go perfectly but it makes me laugh every time I think about it. I’ll also tell you about that time my dad dressed as Santa for my daughter Leena and her friend and how that involved a number of holiday mishaps. The picture for this week's show is actually a pic of my dad, Leena and our dog Jeter. As you can see Jeter was pretty happy about sitting on Santa's lap but Leena was not. You'll never guess the audio book I selected a few years ago to listen to while wrapping gifts. It was not a good choice! I'll tell you about that also. And finally, I'll talk about some snafus involving The Elf on the Shelf and how I got into some hot water with some kid counseling clients.
On today’s episode I mention:
Author and Podcaster Gretchen Rubin. You can find her podcast by searching “Happier with Gretchen Rubin,” wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this podcast I will share 5 Ways to Create More Zen for the Holidays and provide you with a Last Minute Gift Guide.
Here is a list of all the products and websites mentioned in this episode:
Balanced Bound Planner: https://www.balancebound.co/shop/stationery-gifts
Also check out the "Good Enough-ish," Podcast wherever you find your podcasts
Revive Essential Oils:
Essential Oil Diffuser:
Natural Body Lotions, Soaps and Candles:
Local CT Book Store and online ordering:
https://www.turningthepagebooks.com/
Local CT coffee shop:
https://www.lastdropcoffeeshop.com/
Bic mechanical pencil:
https://www.amazon.com/BIC-Mechanical-2-Pencil-60ct/dp/B07JM8HF56/ref=sr_1_4?crid=LI5R9VDGCDFF&keywords=bic+mechanical+pencil&qid=1670809236&sprefix=bic+m%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-4
If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this podcast I will talk with Lori Simon about Holiday Fantasy vs. Holiday Reality.
Do you ever find that the way your holiday preparation and holiday celebrations turn out are quite different from the way you picture it in your head? Then this episode is for you!
Lori and I will talk about holiday decorating, gift wrapping, baking, celebrating and managing our own expectations as well as those of our children. We will also each commit to taking something off our already full plates this holiday season. Or, well, we will think about taking something off, LOL!
On this episode Lori mentions her tradition of making these sugar cookies: https://www.bettycrocker.com/products/cookiemix/sugar
And Lauren mentions her tradition of making this Gingerbread Recipe (I’ll also post it in our Facebook group:
Ginger Snaps (Gingerbread Men)
2 cups flour (sifted)¾ cup shortening
2 tsp baking soda1 cup sugar
1 tsp ground ginger4 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp ground cloves1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
Sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream shortening. Add sugar, egg and molasses. Beat well. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth. Mixture will be very stiff.
For snaps: Take a teaspoon of mixture, roll into a ball, and then roll ball in sugar. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
For Gingerbread Men: Chill dough for one hour. Lightly flour rolling surface and rolling pin. Roll and cut dough with cookie cutters. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees. Length of time will vary according to how big or how thick the cookies are. For small gingerbread men, (approximately 3 inches long) they baked for me in 10 – 12 min.
A Little About Lori:
Lori Simon graduated with a Bachelors in Science in Medical Technology from Western Connecticut State University. She is a wife and mom to 6 kids. She is currently home schooling 3 children (at what she likes to refer to as Simon School) while the other 3 attend college. Lori loves all things Disney and frequents Disney World, which is about two hours from her home in Florida. When Lori is not at Disney World you can find her using her creativity to make every day fun including minor holidays (think groundhog meatloaf) or of course, talking to Lauren on the phone. Lori believes in the go big or go home approach to most things, especially when it comes to decorating for Halloween and Christmas. Side note……… Lori was busy teaching children how to dissect cow eyeballs so Lauren had to write this bio. EW! LOL or as Lori likes to say, LOL, LOL, LOL!!!
If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this podcast I will talk about: Making Your Home Your Sanctuary with interior designer and friend Don Richards.
Don will share his expertise on home do’s and don’t, decorating for the holidays and how to make your home reflect who you are.
A little about Don: Consumed by architecture, design, and home since childhood, Don graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia with a degree in Historic Preservation. For the last thirty years, his obsession with home has seen him in the worlds of interior design, visual merchandising, and real estate. A Litchfield County native, Don has designed spaces in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Florida, while vowing never again to work in NYC because of elevator constraints. Can a sofa be disassembled and put back together? The answer is yes. Should it be? LOL, the answer is no. He believes the key to a space being home is personality and quirk. Try and think outside the box with vintage and unique. Look toward the architectural style of the property and let that guide you. If you love it, it will usually work. Just no 75'' flat screens, please. Don is passionate about BLTs, turtlenecks, and his orange tabby, Ernest. Not necessarily in that order.
He can be reached at:
Middlebury Furniture and Home Design
1101 Southford Road
Middlebury, CT 06762
860-996-8690
don@theshoppes.net
donrichardsIII on Instagram
If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this podcast I will talk about supporting your children with healthy friendships and nurturing your own friendships.
I am excited to have an interview with my friend of over 40 years Tara Brophy! Make sure you listen to the very end for our "blooper," sound check. Tara and I have been laughing together since the 4th grade and man was it hard for us to record this podcast and be serious. But we did it! Mostly, LOL.
Tara brings a unique perspective to children's friendships since she is a 3rd grade teacher. Listen in as a grade school teacher and children's therapist talk about how parents can support their children in having healthy friendships. They'll also discuss the importance of making time to nurture your own friendships as well.
A Little About Tara:
Raised by her minister mom, Tara’s first gig was as a singing Sunday school teacher who uncovered the joy of storytelling at potluck suppers. Later bringing down the house at Connecticut libraries, camps and schools, Tara became a superheroine for the Earth, strumming a green guitar and dancing for the planet, but has since retired her cape. Now an eternal eight year old, she is a puppet-waving, songwriting, pogo-sticking third grade teacher of twenty-five years who learns the most from kids who draw their own lines. Constructive play is the hallmark of her teaching style where imagination and positivity win the day as the most powerful tools for constructing a loving community in a diverse classroom. She’s been known to jam out with her school-librarian husband while their two teenagers sigh, but secretly love it. Tara’s eighteen pound orange tabby Chester often snores in a backyard hammock while enduring obsessive photo sessions. Her other passions (hiking, kayaking, and collecting vintage Fisher Price people) all inspire more and more ideas.
Her FaceBook Page of Songs: https://www.facebook.com/songsbytara
If you like this episode please subscribe! It also will help others to find this podcast when you leave a 5 star rating and review.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
On this podcast I will talk about how opposites attract and how we can have rich and rewarding friendships when we respect and celebrate each other and our differences.
I am excited to have an interview with my friend of over 35 years Lori Simon!
A Little About Lori:
Lori Simon graduated with a Bachelors in Science in Medical Technology from Western Connecticut State University. She is a wife and mom to 6 kids. She is currently home schooling 3 children (at what she likes to refer to as Simon School) while the other 3 attend college. Lori loves all things Disney and frequents Disney World, which is about two hours from her home in Florida. When Lori is not at Disney World you can find her using her creativity to make every day fun including minor holidays (think groundhog meatloaf) or of course, talking to Lauren on the phone. Lori believes in the go big or go home approach to most things, especially when it comes to decorating for Halloween and Christmas. Side note……… Lori was busy teaching children how to dissect cow eyeballs so Lauren had to write this bio. EW! LOL or as Lori likes to say, LOL, LOL, LOL!!!
On this podcast I mention author Brene Brown. Check out Brene's famous talk on vulnerability here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&t=492s
Here are Lori's hot holiday toys recommendations for 2022:
https://www.target.com/p/magic-mixies-blue-magical-crystal-ball/-/A-84797840?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tmnv&DFA=71700000100919980&CPNG=PLA_DVM%2Ba064R0000138jTxQAI-TargetToys_HKC_GoogleSearch_Holiday_2022-719030&adgroup=PLA_TargetToys&LID=700000001393753pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9003431&gclid=CjwKCAiA68ebBhB-EiwALVC-Nl7qxDh_2jKpCbbFARiu_t02VKbh8acOrq3i93Pg6m9nGlmknnyRzBoC5OMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.thetoyinsider.com/toys/little-live-pets-mama-surprise/
If you like this episode please subscribe! And help me out by leaving a review below. If you leave a 5 star review I may read it on a future episode. By rating and reviewing this podcast you will help others to find it who could benefit from the content.
If you have a question, comment or an idea for a future episode please reach out.
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourzenfriend
Email me at: YourZenFriendPod@gmail.com
Find me on instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourzenfriendpod/
For more information on Lauren's counseling services check out: www.LaurenCounseling.com
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended to be a replacement for diagnosis, mental health therapy or psychological treatment of any kind. Please consult with your doctor or mental health provider in order to care for your physical or mental health.
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