Stressed Teens

Now more than ever teens need support for their mental health. The Trauma and Adversity Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness-Based Skills to Overcome and Recover from Prolonged Toxic Stress is available on Kindle and paperback: amzn.to/3TxSpuT

As you walk through your day today, notice the sounds that might otherwise go unnoticed. To be silent requires the complete absence of all sound. Consider if and when you are ever actually in silence.

Whenever you feel that taking care of yourself or making time for yourself is selfish, think twice. Remember this: The heart pumps blood to itself first before the other organs of the body. Similarly, you need to consider yourself before you can truly help or give to others.

More often than not, just considering a few things you’re grateful for can shift your mood and thinking away from being stressed or stuck in the negative to a less stressed and more positive outlook.

Experiences, people, thoughts, emotions … they are all temporary. All things come and go, just as all guests who enter your house will leave. They can be welcomed, learned from, and then bade a fond (or not so fond) farewell as they go.

With 50 fun and focused art projects, writing prompts, and exercises to help you find ways to feel more calm, confident, resilient and able to take care of yourself and manage your emotions, my book Take in the Good:

How you choose to respond to a situation is always up to you. Being mindful will help recognize what you can and cannot control.

All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment vital and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused. —Martha Graham, a pioneer in modern dance choreography

Knowing the landscape of stressors that have been affecting your life provides you with information you can use for managing and coping with stressors.

Before you post a message or hit send, take a mindful pause. Read what you wrote and ask yourself, Do I really want or need to say this … right now? Pausing can save you a lot of grief and drama.