Kid's - Attitude
The LEAN Kids Program helps regulate your child’s level of happy
hormones (serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, and norepinephrine), which
are secreted by the pituitary gland, the pea-sized master gland located
deep within the base of the brain. Happy hormones regulate mood,
appetite, sleep and general well-being. The more balanced your hormones,
the happier you feel.
Attitude is Everything
Here are some strategies
you can teach your child so that he can
intentionally balance and boost his happy hormones.
- Move to boost happy hormones (for ideas look at the
exercise section)
- Feed the happy hormones- we teach a special technique, traffic light eating.
- Laugh to increase happy hormones- laughter increases heart rate and
blood circulation, lowers stress hormones and raises the happy hormones.
Try to be a funny family.
Help Children Like Their Bodies
- Like your body type-everyone is shaped differently, focus on their
strengths.
- Praise your child’s body- “You have such a nice voice” “Your hair is so
pretty” “You have such strong arms”.
- Frame good feelings- let your child overhear you talking positively
about them to others.
Raise a Positive Child
- You have heard the advice, “Set your mind to it”. That is what you are
doing when you program a child’s developing brain with positive beliefs
instead of negative ones. Your child will inherit the attitudes shared
by your family because it’s what she perceives as the norm. That is why
it is so important to model optimism.
- Nurture a positive atmosphere- whenever you are with your child, look
for teachable moments to model a positive attitude.
- The art of mental u-turns-Help your child avoid toxic thoughts that can
escalate into a mind full of negative feelings. Dr. Sear’s calls these
mental U-turns, or rewind messages. When a toxic thought enters your
mind and you feel your thoughts head in a negative direction, start
again with more positive thinking. Tell your child that when her head
fills with sad or scary thoughts, she can change her thinking to happy
and fun thoughts.
- Focus on the solution-when your child comes to you with a problem,
respond, “Let’s find a way to fix it”. Let them see how you can come to
a conclusion.
Teach Your Child How to Relax
- Relaxation boosts happy hormones
- Encourage mini-meditations-help your children fill their minds with
pleasant thoughts, such as replaying fun scenes, ball games, vacations
and happy relationships with friends.
- Take a deep breath-teach your child to take a long, slow breath that
first fills his lungs and then pushes his tummy out. This allows all the
breathing muscles to expand and let the most air in.
- Play music-music mellows the mind.
- A human touch-especially if your child is the touchy-feely type, give
her a brief mini massage or a long back rub when she is stressed.
While most children will grow happier as they make the fitness and
nutritional habits of the LEAN Kids Program their own, happiness is not
something we can take for granted.
I hope some of these ideas have given
you some practical tools for helping your children have a positive
joyful outlook on life and toward themselves.
Relaxation Boosts Happy Hormones
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Laugh to Increase Your Happy Hormones
Nurture a Positive Atmosphere
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Thank God!
