Do you practice gratitude? Or do you label is as ‘woo woo’ Or are you still stuck on the fence? In recent years, research into the power of gratitude has identified the importance that practicing daily gratitude has on our sense of happiness and well-being. When we practice gratitude consistently, and over a duration of …
Do you ever wonder if we have gotten confidence completely wrong? As I get older, I have had to continually question the concept of confidence, and how it has been sold to me as a human being, from childhood to adulthood. Let’s start with the basics, what is confidence? Confidence is described as ‘the feeling …
So often, I meet children and adults in every day life who talk to me about the fact that they ‘can’t change’ or that they ‘are just this way’ – even though their feelings, actions, behaviours or lifestyle are causing them upset they cannot find a way to change and feel that ‘nothing works’. Change …
From childhood, we are brought up with stories all around us. From picture books to fairytales, to storybooks and poems, to advertising and the newspapers. To the stories we tell children at school through their reports and our messages, to the messages parents feed them at home, in texts or through interactions. We are surrounded …
Happiness When we feel happy, our bodies release dopamine and serotonin, which make us feel good. In a world, where we can easily up-regulate our amygdala’s to constantly be looking for threat and worry, helping children to tap into their happy, excited and grateful feelings helps counter stress and anxiety. So, in this activity we …
Procrastination is described as ‘the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something, despite knowing that thee will be negative consequences’. In its simplest form, procrastination is a decision to stay in my current emotions and state, rather than push myself into a more uncomfortable or challenging one, despite knowing it will cause me …
When exams begin, nerves and anxiety escalate. However, with the right strategies we can calm our central nervous system and relax our minds to perform at our best. Did you know: One study found that students performed 4.8% better if they took a bottle of water to exams Perhaps not shocking, as drinking cold water …
Have you ever noticed, that people talk about confidence as a primary factor? That we believe that we need to acquire it in order to take action? When I am more confident I will…. When I have more confidence I am going to….. If I had more confidence I would….. The interesting thing about confidence …
Previously, I spoke about the child behaviour iceberg (find it here), so in this article, I want to look at the ABC of behaviour. When I started my career working as an early years practitioner, later as a Nursery Manager and then a lecturer of early years, (before eventually finding myself as an inspector) I would …
Affirmations Affirmations are positive statements which are used to to help us challenge and overcome difficult or negative thoughts. They are simple statements which are repeated as part of a routine to help us move through challenges. Affirmations can also be displayed so that we can read them frequently and help us to make positive …
