🛑 Teen Anxiety: YOUR Survival Guide

We Build Better Humans #65

Features: 1. The Montessori Dad interviews The Inter-Disciplinarian 2. “Survival Skills Every Child Should Know” 3. Big Life Journal’s Value Cards for Teens

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Social-emotional learning is teaching us a lot about anxiety.

Maybe it’s the post-pandemic feels that are still trickling their way out of the world’s water cooler. We can build better humans together when we shine a spotlight on anxiety from all the angles to bring it out of the dark. In that spirit, today’s Issue #65 is dedicated to the teen version of anxiety.

Substacker

J.D. Murgolo

produces prolific media that both entertains & informs. In his most recent podcast episode of “Dads Cry Too,” he interviews Rée (a.k.a The Inter-Disciplinarian) on the challenges of being the calm in the storm for kids of every age & stage——including those tough & tricky teen years.

Survival Skills to Tame the Turmoil

By this point, many of us recognize that deep breathing can be a real anxiety-reducer. But what if those anxious thoughts are rooted in lived experience, like surviving trauma (or simply being aware of traumatic events in the world & the potential for them to happen, even at home)?

Learning how to survive & overcome danger can sometimes set the mind at ease. Green Child Magazine shares a recent article on the critical thinking skills kids (& especially teenagers) need for wilderness survival … or even closer-to-home experiences like camping or hosting a backyard fire pit.

Some key takeaways:

• Teach the “rule of 3’s” for staying sane & safe (i.e., humans can survive for 3 days without food, 3 hours without water, etc.)

• Practice preparation to help them prepare to be prepared when you aren't there

• Remember that spending time outdoors can be naturally grounding & repairing for mental health issues

For Teens Only: Values Cards

(Click the graphic for the download!) Discovering one’s personal values is a whole different kind of “finding your center.” This exercise is invaluable for developing brains, bodies & personalities——with or without anxiety. Keeping this compass point can be helpful in all kinds of teen-centered life challenges.

Parents can find these & many other tools at the Big Life Journal shopping catalog, along with their parenting group cohort.

Thank you for reading, sharing & using the tools in We Build Better Humans. You are making the world a better place! … Looking for the BONUS CONTENT? Subscribe as a purchasing reader & get your access now!