The Blissful Parenting Podcast

It is so important to recognize the impact husbands and fathers have on their wives and on their children. There's a lot of pressure on Dads, considering the weight of their responsibilities in the family. Dads deserve a community to support them, while they are doing their best to keep it all together, and be a great role model to their children. Kevin Williams started The Legendary Dads Podcast to build a supporting community for Dads , helping them become a ‘high performance’ Dad who’s leading his family to a successful and fulfilling life. In this episode, Kevin talks about the importance of leaving a legacy, and how you can be a Legendary Dad in your own home. Moms will also hear some advice from Kevin on how they can support their husbands and together be a Legendary Parents. “In terms of being a Legendary Dad, my ambition is to leave such a legacy that my kids, my great grandkids and their children, will talk about this purpose and this process that I initiated with my family, so that I would be a legend in the family tree…I do want my family to have everything they need to live an amazing life and to deal with whatever is going to come in the future years.” - Kevin Williams

Every parent wants a deep connection with their children while guiding them through life. But sometimes we felt like we can’t get that connection, it seems like kids aren’t listening. We try to bottle up everything, then suddenly we explode, we yell, we feel guilty. If we’re not yelling, how can we get our kids to listen? This episode is worth listening to. Yelling is one of the most common dilemmas of parents in raising children. What are the consequences of yelling? What are we actually reinforcing when we raise our voice to our kids? Is it possible to raise a child without raising your voice? What is really happening when parents use positive and negative reinforcement? Michelle and our guest, Rachel Duffy will dive into these questions, and will help you break the cycle of the traditional model of parenting. “When we yell when our children are in a meltdown, our nervous system is in what is called a ‘Dysregulated State'..Our nervous system flipped the switch to say something dangerous is happening right now. And the only behaviors available in that state are fight, flight, freeze fun. So when we explode on our kids, or when our kids explode, that means we are in a fight state. It's a dysregulated state. To get out of it, yelling is not going to get you out of it…You would have to talk to the nervous system and flip off the switch”. - Rachel Duffy

Sometimes our fitness gets left behind because of those crazy busy days. The thought of going to the gym on certain days a week is very overwhelming. But healthy habits and fitness should not be the last on our list. It is something that parents should be paying attention to. So despite our hectic schedule, how can we become a role model for healthy habits to our kids? You don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of hours and days at the gym if you have the structures at home - that’s what we’re going to dive into today with our guest, Sartre Jean-Gilles. He talks about what is Behavior Change, and what transformation people can expect in his 12-week program. Let’s hear some tips and tricks from Sartre on the easy healthy habits you can do at home. “This is going to help you not just in diet and nutrition, but also your family life, your career. I guarantee it, because this is so transformative. The Behavior Change around fitness is a microcosm.” - Sartre Jean-Gilles

Parents, college planning is not just about picking a good school, choosing a course and then forcing your child into it. It's about helping your child figure out their core values, their gifts and their talents. That is the perfect plan for your kids to be college ready. So when should parents start planning for their kid’s college education? Why is third grade not too early to start preparing for college? Shellee Howard , the Founder, and CEO of College Ready has been helping families all over the world to find the perfect college for their kids that fits them academically, financially and socially. Listen as she impart her knowledge and tools that could help families get their kids ready for college. You wouldn’t want to miss out on those strategies that will help your students get accepted into college. The magic? Help your student build a resume that represents who they are and why they matter. “Approach college as a business. It's such an emotional thing for people, but colleges need your student as much as you want your child to get into a good education. So use that same return on investment mindset and go and get a great deal.” - Shellee Howard

Death and loss is inevitable. As soon as our kids are old enough to love, to have an attachment to something or someone, they will grieve and mourn for those losses. When is the best time to talk about grief and loss to our kids? Well, the best time to prepare for grief is NOT when the tsunami of heartache is hitting hard. Today, we’re gonna dive into what our kids need to know about grief and loss. This is something our guest, Shirley Thiessen, a grief coach and educator, wishes herself to know as a young mom. This episode will help to protect your kids from the harshness of loss and pain. Let us also learn how each of us can be a “Hope Hero” in this world full of grief. “Grief is really hard work, it is exhausting. If we don't absorb the loss, if we don't reconcile it, it's gonna bubble up years later in very unhealthy ways. So it's a beautiful thing to be able to teach our children that we're going to face our pain, we're going to look for ways to learn from it, and to get a meaning or purpose from that pain…I think pain can teach us how to look out for others who are hurting, and come alongside them.” - Shirley Thiessen

Because of the negativities that are happening in our society including bullying, raising a kid with confidence and self-esteem is very challenging, but it shouldn’t be overlooked - it’s where our kids start to explode their growth and development. So, how can we instill self-esteem and confidence in our kids? What is the difference between self-esteem and confidence? Raja Vaidya once suffered severe bullying because of his lifelong stutter. In this episode, he will dive into how Karate transformed himself from being bullied to someone who’s helping thousands of people build self esteem and confidence for over 37 years as a 6th degree Master Black Belt. Raja will motivate us that any obstacle can be overcome with the right MIND-SHIFT “Confidence is what other people see about you. Self esteem is what you feel about yourself and what you believe about yourself. We need to have self-esteem and confidence match up together. And when they do, that's when you have a powerful person that can take advantage of their own talents and lead people.” - Raja Vaidya

Kids are such spiritual beings. They have the gifts within that may not yet be discovered. How can we help our kids discover their gifts, connect to their inner wisdom and master their personal power within? Why is it important to teach them the importance of balance between mind, body and spirit? How could their personal power protect them energetically and spiritually when faced with negativity? Eva Goulette founded Dancing Jaguar's Spirit Camp with her mission of helping children access their inner wisdom, discover their authentic selves, and help them celebrate the gifts that they were born with. Tune in as Eva gives us a glimpse on the amazing things they do at Spirit Camp, and as she tells us the stories about children and how their Power Animals make them understand that they’re not alone. “My definition of a peaceful warrior is someone who has learned to master their personal power within , take it outward and do good in the world with it. And these are kids who are absolutely doing that, because they're learning how to trust their inner wisdom, how to trust their intuition, how to pay attention to the sensations and the signals that we get when we're connected to our God source energy. “ - Eva Goulette

Moms usually make themselves last, and sometimes take off themselves from their to-do list. How can you give your kids your all, if you don’t have the energy, if you always make yourself last? Moms, it is taking off your sunshine - so STOP IT, have time with yourself and include your self-care in your list! We need a whole generation of women that are leading and not shining away from their life. Our guest, Tiffiny Roper believes that moms are the beacon of light in the family. She wants them to shine so bright that everybody around them has to start wearing sunglasses. Tiffany is helping women become the best of themselves, live with fulfilment and joy to be a sunshine to everybody - inspiring their kids, their family and the community. “We're such nurturers (moms) that we care, we give, we serve, but you know, you can't give from a cup that is completely empty. So you have to give what you want to your kids to yourself first. “ - Tiffiny Roper

Is it possible for us to raise healthy kids, but we haven't dealt with our own trauma yet? Does this make us bad? No. We all have wounds, and we’re all doing our best to regulate ourselves so we could not impart the trauma to our children. But the more we heal, the more reliable, the more consistent and the more available we become to our children. Joining Michelle today is the founder of PRISMA, Greg Wieting. He has helped thousands of people heal from their trauma for 2 decades. He dives into how we can heal our own anxiety, depression, and chronic pain rooted in trauma, so we can be a better model to our children. Greg also talks about why chemical imbalance doesn’t cause anxiety and depression. “I think the essence of healing is not problem solving or fixing, but it's presence. There's nothing broken, bad or wrong. This is something hurt that needs loving intention. The more we develop that capacity to support ourselves with that loving attention, and the wounded parts of ourselves, then the more we can show up to our kids, to our loved ones and to our family.” - Greg Wieting

As parents, we want all the best for our children, we want to prepare them for a successful future. So saving and investing even in their very young age is very important. How can we teach our kids about money? What are the benefits of getting started early with financial planning for our kids? How can we do that? Does it make sense to get insurance for our kids? Joining us is Jamie Madigan, a licensed Certified Financial Planner and a legacy insights expert. He’s helping people build a solid financial security foundation and let them fully understand how their investments are performing. Today, Jamie talked about the 2 main reasons why we would want to get started early with financial planning. Well, it’s time to set our financial goals, and prepare our kids for their brighter future! “The sooner we get started with money, and the more often that we top it up or add more money in, the better. We get the benefit of compounding. Our money earns interest and continues to grow. And the interest that we earn gets reinvested. So the sooner we get started with investing, the better because we're giving the opportunity for money to grow, earn more and work harder for us.” - Jamie Madigan

We have seen a huge percentage of college dropouts. These have caused them anxiety, feeling like they weren’t able to live up to their full potential and their zone of genius. How can we help our kids prepare for their success in getting into high school and beyond into college? Listen as Lynn Teatro dives into how we can help our kids figure out their zone of genius and live to their full potential. She identified the keys to college success and how parents can set a good example to their kids when it comes to education and success. Lynn has the mission to help dropouts and other struggling students find their zone of genius, and help them boost their confidence. “30% of students did drop out in their first year. That is a huge loss, it's a loss of money, it's a loss of brilliance, not not only for the students, but for the future of our planet. We need every person to find their zone of genius and work that so they can be fulfilled and that we heal this planet of all the strife that it's going through. We need people who are educated and as knowledgeable as possible.” - Lynn Teatro

When we have kids, we sometimes make our marriage less of a priority. We feel like we don’t have much time in the relationship and having a deeper communication with our spouse becomes a challenge. Are you struggling to communicate? How does the communication within your marriage could make an impact in your kid's life? Mike Stewart, a relationship coach will give us some very helpful tips on how to keep our relationship with our spouse at high importance. Mike has a proven system to help you recapture the love you had on your wedding day and has practical tips on keeping that connection alive. “We tend to make kids' activities or their lives more important than our marriage. But marriage is the foundation of raising healthy kids. If you can keep that communication open…then you really create a good model for your kids.” - Mike Stewart

We are bombarded by negativities and by what people set and believed about the standard of beauty. When we look in the mirror, we usually want to pick out all the things we hate about ourselves, which makes us feel like we’re ugly and we’re not enough. But are we not really enough? Kelly Falardeau, a burn survivor speaker, author and coach , will make you realize you can still be beautiful even you don't like a part of your body. Yes, you can love yourself without having to love everything. Always remember, You Are Beautiful! “We don't have to be flawless. We don't have to be perfect in order to be beautiful..You can have freckles, and you’ll be gorgeous. You can have a scar like me, and you’ll be gorgeous. We're just so hard on ourselves, and we judge ourselves so harshly.” - Kelly Falardeau

Would you like to grow that special bond between you and your child? Improving your communication skills is the key that you need. We all know that in this busy world, and in this digital world, communication within the family is very challenging, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Yes, you can improve your family communication skills. How? Dr. Denny Coates is here to give us some helpful tips! He is an expert in parent-child communication and adolescent brain development. Listen to Dr. Denny’s practical tips on how you can build that special bond with your child by improving your communication skills. “Just as in leadership, just about everything you do as a leader is an act of communication. And so if you think about it, almost everything a parent does is an act of communication, whether it's nonverbal or verbal. So it's a big deal” - Dr. Denny Coates

Kids are melting, falling apart, and struggling with some mental health issues. They feel like they’re unworthy and always invalidated - which makes a child live with low self-esteem. How can we instill a higher sense of self-esteem to our kids? Here’s the 5 important tips from Gail Kauranen Jones, in Creating High Self-Esteem Kids. Gail is an intuitive coach, gifted wordsmith, inspiring teacher, and a certified in high self-esteem coaching for parents, educators and children. She dives into how we can build that high self-esteem to our kids by making them feel worthy, validated and acknowledged. “I would really encourage every parent to really work on their own worthiness because you're going to be marrying it to your children. The greatest gift you can give your children is to claim your own worthiness.” - Gail Kauranen Jones