Little Sprigs Podcast

Sandra Fazio is the author and founder of The Conscious Parent Blog, where she writes and shares what it means to be a conscious parent through her own parenting journey, based on the teachings and methods of Dr. Shefali Tsabary, author of the NY Times Bestseller, The Conscious Parent. Sandra is being trained and specializing in conscious parenting directly by Dr. Shefali Tsabary as a parent/family coach where she helps parents to create a deeper engagement with their children and a higher connectivity to themselves through the un-layering and evolution of the parental self. During this episode, Sandra shares her intimate story of becoming a mother. “When my daughter turned one in 2012, I consciously quit my long-standing six-figure career to be home full time. Although this was a blessing to have had the choice to make happen, at the same time it was a huge adjustment from being a career person and having a very structured routine to a non-structured routine and no longer in “control of my day”. At the prime age of 39, I found my daughter was “raising me” in ways I never thought possible. Prior to motherhood, I had parenting “all mapped out” – from how it would “look” and “go” Yet much to my surprise it was anything but what I expected. With my (unconscious ego), I figured since I had all my “ducks lined up” that stepping into my new-found parenting was going to be pretty smooth. Little did I know I was in for the biggest awakening of my life.” She offers us a sneak peek in her incredible webinar, 5 Ways To S.H.I.F.T. Our Thoughts From Lack To Abundance You can access the full webinar here: http://theconsciousparentblog.com/power-self-beliefs/ Sandra recently published an e-book which you can check out by clicking the link below:  “The Diaries of a Conscious Parent: One Mother’s Journey To Raising Herself Through Her Daughter’s Essence”. In gratitude, Christina

Download this interview Aric Bostick is One Awesome Guy As a former teacher, Aric inspires educational audiences nationwide—having equipped more than a half million people with energy and strategies to overcome personal challenges and achieve life-long goals. Aric fosters strong connections through his targeted, high-energy keynotes, workshops, and camps—reaching and training students, educators, parents and employees working to make a difference. In this episode he shares his acronym of how to be an AWESOME parent- Click Here To Grab Your Copy. We talk about what we feel really holds us back, as parents, from having the deeply connected relationship we want with our children. Some Questions I Had: As adults we come with a pretty strong agenda. Are there things you have learned along the way in your parenting journey that have helped you to honor who your daughter is, when she is pushing against your agenda? How has empathy transformed your relationship and how do you use this during conflict with your child? Are you aware, and can you share, how your own early childhood has affected your parenting style? Do you get “triggered” by your daughter’s behaviors? And are you able to connect those “triggers” with something that you were lacking in your own early childhood? It is some deep work to stay conscious and sit with the feeling of being “triggered” long enough to inquire what it is really about. So when you were triggered and feeling “rejected”, were you able to dig into that and identify what you were thinking and believing in that moment? Listen in to hear his raw and vulnerable answers. For more from Aric check out his website Aricbostick.com

Download this interview Do you find yourself engaging in power struggles, negotiations, and arguments with your children? Do you want to stop relying on bribes, threats or punishments to get your children to do what you ask? Join Susan and I as we role play a typical power struggle experience between parent and child.  ACT 1 will guide you into the first steps in ending these frustrating interactions. ACT 2 may sound very familiar, give you a giggle, and show what steps to take if you want to remain in the pattern of resistance. Susan Stiffelman, (also known as the Huffington Post’s weekly “Parent Coach” advice columnist) is dedicated to helping parents raise joyful, resilient kids without meltdowns, power struggles, or the various thieves of joy that can interfere with a parent’s ability to enjoy the journey of parenthood. Susan is a licensed Marriage, Family and Child therapist, a credentialed teacher, an educational therapist and a highly respected public speaker. Her parenting approach focuses on helping parents build deep connection with their children, managing their reactions (regardless of how their kids are behaving) so that they can be the calm Captain of the ship they naturally cooperate with, confide in, and respect. Susan Stiffelman embodies a unique blend of professional therapist, teacher, beloved auntie and down to earth mom. Her first book: Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids While Staying Cool, Calm, and Connected Is based on her work with thousands of parents and children, from celebrities to everyday moms and pops. Her newest book: Parenting With Presence: Practices for Raising Conscious, Confident, Caring Kids (An Eckhart Tolle Edition.) Guides readers through a variety of insights and exercises to help them use the challenges of parenting to grow and transform. Susan delivers practical, user-friendly parenting strategies that have been used with children from toddlers through young adults. While she draws on her professional training and experience, her approach to raising kids falls into step with the spiritually-based understanding of people like Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie. All the best, Christina P.S. Do you struggle to set healthy boundaries around screen time and video games. Want your kids to have fun online but concerned that they aren’t balancing their digital world with 3D activities? Join parenting author Susan Stiffelman for a free series called Parenting in the Digital Age. Speakers include Byron Katie, Alanis Morissette, Dr. Dan Siegel, Glennon Doyle Melton, Rachel Macy Stafford and a host of other writers, teachers, and experts in the field. Just click here to sign up! Only 1 week left!

Download this interview

Download this interview Today we are going to look at 2 distinct ways in which individuals view intelligence and learning, through mindset. Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, in decades of research on achievement and success. Mindsets are beliefs, beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. In her book, Mindset, Carol asks a questions right away, “Think about your intelligence, your talents, your personality. Are these qualities simply fixed traits, carved in stone and that’s that? Or are they things you can cultivate throughout your life? Teagan Bruce, Co-Founder of RadiantGirl.org, takes us step by step on how we can transition from a “Fixed Mindset” to a “Growth Mindset”.   When we are living with a fixed mindset, we believe that our traits, our intelligence, and who we are cannot be changed. It keeps us concerned with how we will be judged and comparing how we measure up. When we have a growth mindset, we see our qualities as things that can be developed through dedication and effort. We see “failure” as an opportunity for growth and understand that no one has ever accomplished great things without years of passionate practice and learning. So how do we foster this mindset in ourselves and our children? Would you like to raise your children to connect, trust, and nurture their true selves? Join Teagan and I on this step by step process that will empower you to cultivate a culture of risk-taking and positive self talk with the children in your life. All the best, Christina *Download the guide so you can follow along. Click Here To Get Your Guide

Download this interview “Mothers have an untapped spiritual power within us…qualities of connection, nurturing, intuition and a spiritual authority that comes from our ‘being’, not our ‘doing’.” – Suzi Lula Suzi Lula is a much-sought-after Spiritual Counselor, Teacher, and Inspirational Speaker who is an expert in the field of human transformation. Combining her innovative teachings over her 18 years in private practice, along with her masters degree training in spiritual psychology, Suzi is transforming the way people think about motherhood.  Known as a visionary leader, Suzi challenges conventional wisdom that says mothers must sacrifice and martyr themselves to be good mothers and instead, guides them to the realizations that when they thrive, their children will flourish as well. Her unique approach has led Suzi to be featured on The Today Show with Michael Bernard Beckwith on a piece highlighting Spirituality and the family. As well, alongside best-selling authors Dr. Shefali Tsabary (The Conscious Parent) and Neale Donald Walsch. Suzi is redefining Motherhood as an Evolutionary Path, Limitless in it’s possibilities to change the very nature of our mothering experience and therefore raise an entire generation of happy, thriving individuals. During the interview, Suzi addresses questions like: Why do you think that, even when we know how important self care is, it is so difficult for mothers to commit to a self care practice? For those mothers, whether working full time or a stay at home mom, who feel like they have zero time for themselves, do you have any suggestions to help them take a step back and find the space for Self-Care? Why do  you think that most mothers believe that Self-Care is selfish? Why is Self-Care so important for mothers? How can self-care really transform a mother’s life and relationship with her children? What are the results you experience when mothers really take care of themselves? We dig into these questions and much, much more. Suzi ends our conversation by sharing why she feels Self-Care is a Spiritual practice and a way of life. Listen in and allow her to give you full permission to love, pamper, and care for yourself so your children can thrive too. <3 For more info or just to say Hi, check out her website at SuziLula.com All the best, Christina

Download this interview “My love is unconditional. No matter what you could ever do, what you could ever say, where you could ever go, Mommy’s Love is unlimited. It will never stop, it will never be changed, and it will never go away.” – Emily Filmore Meet Emily Filmore, one of the most compassionate, conscious, and unconditional lover of humans that I have met. She openly shares her path of spiritual parenting, what that means to her, and how she has managed to avoid the typical fallbacks in discipline. With only one rule in her home, “Before you say or do anything, we ask, what would love do now?” Do you wonder how anything gets done? I did! What about boundaries? What about routine? Listen in as she weaves us through a beautiful example of being fully present. For generations we have been parenting from a place of deep fear, which leads to the desperate grasp at control tactics, threats, and bribes. Is it possible for us to shift and parent from a place of love, trust, and connection? How would the world change if we did? Are you demanding “Respect” from your child, but confusing it with “Obedience”? If you raise your child to be completely obedient, what kind of life are you preparing them for? It takes time, effort, and moment by moment presence to parent consciously. But it is important to ask ourselves, Do I want temporary compliance that leads to a life of resentment and separation, or do I want a deeply connected, life long relationship with my child that is based on trust and love? Is your current parenting style raising your child to be a free thinker? One of the biggest challenges in parenting is keeping the lines of communication open. Emily discusses how she reassures her children that she is always on their side, that they can bring anything they experience to her. One of her biggest fears is that they will have a challenge and fear her reaction and hide it from her. Often times when someone ( your child, friend, partner…) comes to you with a difficult challenge, it is tempting to want try and fix it, offer advice, share a similar experience, etc. It can be hard to truly hold space for them to be heard, felt and seen. Emily shares how she offers her family and friends both simultaneously so they don’t feel alone or isolated and still feel heard. Can we let go of the idea of right and wrong to meet our loved ones where they are? As our children grow older and begin to judge themselves, how do they maintain trust that we will never stop loving them? It is the worst feeling in the world to feel like we are on opposing teams with a loved one when a difference of feeling or opinion arises. Listen in to hear what Sage, Emily’s 9 year old daughter, came up with on her own, as a sensory tool to use with her mother when things get too heated. How can we hold space for our children, without freaking out or reacting, when they tell us something hard to hear about their experience? It is hard when your child is coming to you with something you feel that could harm them, especially when you feel responsible for their well being. So how do we communicate with them without blame, judgement, control, and fear? Don’t worry, we are not pretending that any of this is easy… In the end, Emily talks about why her, Laurie Lankins Farley,

Download this interview   There are 5 Natural Emotions that all humans feel and need to express. Love, Grief, Fear, Envy, and Anger. Unfortunately, most of us were not allowed to fully express these feelings as children and struggle now as an adult. The problem is, when the 5 natural human emotions are not allowed healthy expression, they turn into unnatural emotions that become very hard to work with. Unexpressed Love becomes Possession. Grief to Depression. Fear to Panic. Envy to Jealousy. Anger to Rage. Let’s take Grief on for a moment. A lot of people think of Grief as losing someone you love. But there are many other things in life that we may grieve for. And for children, grief is very different. They can experience grief by losing a favorite toy or blanket. This can be hard for parents to understand. “It’s just a blanket, we say…I will buy you a brand new one.” But it’s not the same. We need to take the time to see our children, tap into the feelings they are having and help them to move through them- without distraction or dismissal. This is not an easy thing to do. It is a daily practice. It requires that we realize that parenting is about us, not the child. Even when our 3 year old throws themselves down in the grocery store and starts to scream and cry. Take a moment and picture a parent standing over their child, demanding that they stop crying, threatening them, getting worked up and angry at them… Which looks worse, the crying child, or the panicking adult? But why do we panic? We have our own “thoughts” around what it means when our children let loose, but we also fear the judgements from the people around us. Can we take a pause here and agree as a community to support one another in bringing love, acceptance, support, and non judgement, as the adults on this planet allow our children to express their feelings without shame? When you see this happening, look at the child with love. Offer the parent a supportive look, or even say, “You are doing a great job.” Our nonverbal communication is so powerful. We are able to express all 5 of the natural human emotions nonverbally. The best thing we can do when our children are having a big reaction, is to stay quiet. Observe. Be aware. Allow the child to feel the emotion fully in their body and know it is a natural part of them. So many adults were not allowed to express their grief as children, which contributes to the high number of clinically depressed individuals today. If you were not allowed to express love, maybe you have become possessive of your children or your spouse. If you were not allowed to feel fear, you may be feelings panicked about everything as an adult. Or, you don’t want to show your panic so you simply try to control everything… Now more than ever we need to be a spiritual partner for our children. With the ability to connect, confide, and share with the entire planet, will we be the ones our children come to when they are struggling? What happens when we react to our children with judgement, fear, reprimands, criticism, etc? They take their deepest feelings and thoughts elsewhere. What they really want is to be trusted and heard. Can we truly be there for them without inserting our ...

Download this interview At each turn of the New Year, People make lists of how they want to shift their lives. Lose weight, stop smoking, set a routine, and so on. Why does it sometimes feel like it’s effortless to let negative habits creep up, but when we want to change them, or add a new healthy habit, it feels nearly impossible?   We need to understand that our subconscious mind is working towards surviving, not thriving. It’s only concern is to keep us alive and it knows that whatever we did yesterday worked. Our present consciousness craves the change but our subconscious resists out of fear. When setting intentions for the New Year, or any time for that matter, we want to make sure they are not just ideas we have created with our minds. To set ourselves up for success and move into the direction we want to go, we need to connect deeply with our hearts. Don’t let it be something you think you “should” do. In this episode, Mariah shares the process she takes herself through to ensure she is clear on her “what”, “why”, and “how” to set intentions that actually stick. She begins with some journal writing on the areas she would like to review. Some examples are: * Health * Relationships * Community * Connection to Spirit * Mothering If we look at the example of Mothering, you might ask yourself, “How do I want to show up for my children?” “What does that look like?” “What does that feel like?” “Do I need support for this and if so, from whom?” Some Helpful Tips Take the time to visualize your goal, to envision it already happening. Set up visual reminders. This could be anything from a vision board, inspirational quotes on post its, or a simple stone that represents health and well being. Ask yourself why this is important to you. If this goal is accomplished, how would my life change? The life of my family? What is it costing me to not make this shift? Is this something I really want, or just something I think I should do? Get an accountability partner, someone you love and trust that you can check in with about your goals. This could be once a week through a phone call or meet up for coffee or a walk. Offer each other empathy and support. No judgement. Focus on how you want your life to be, not what you don’t like. Frame your thoughts and plans with affirmative language. For example, “I want to start eating more vegetables in my diet.” Instead of, “I want to stop eating so much sugar.” Develop a Gratitude Practice. You will be amazed at how different your day feels by taking 5 minutes each morning when you wake to take a few deep breaths and say 3 things you are grateful for. Challenge yourself by coming up with 3 new things each day. Habits are very hard to change! Be gentle with yourself. Move into them with curiosity and knowing that you will feel resistance. Especially if you are shifting something that includes children. Allow them to express their feelings about it and talk with them about why it is important. The push back doesn’t mean it isn’t working. It is tempting to give up after a few weeks of difficulty. Breath. Reassess. Meditate. Reconnect. Be Curious. Love. All the best, Christina

Download this interview Fonta is a Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Educator. Using perceptual and behavioral tools she teaches a rich mix of logical and emotional communication for professional development. Area of Specialism include Verbal & nonverbal communication, leadership, mixed messaging, self representation, diplomacy and negotiation. She began her research in 2005 with the primary objective of helping “every day” people accurately self-represent and lead others. Her research focuses on the relationship between what you are saying (verbal) and how you are staying it (nonverbal) with particular emphasis on cleaning up any discrepancy between the two (mixed messaging). Fonta has presented her work at PVSF/UCLA Voice Conference as well as the Pacific Voice & Speech Conference and has published in the Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association’s Journal “The Voice and Speech Review” and the SF Bar Association’s “Bulletin”. Fonta has taught executive trainings for Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, Google, Ebay, Microsoft & Amazon. She is a voice and communication instructor for the San Francisco Bar Association, has worked with editors and journalists from the Wallstreet Journal, the Guardian, the New Yorker, Wired and Forbs Magazine. Fonta offers media training cross professionally but is a designated trainer for the Writers Grotto, helping authors launch their publications. She regularly trains surgeons, physicians, nurses and other clinicians as well as administrative staff at Stanford Hospital, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco General Hospital and California Pacific Medical Center. Fonta has conducted leadership training in biotech with companies such as Genentech and McKesson, in finance with companies such as Wells Fargo, American Express and Goldman Sachs and in software with companies such as Adobe, Twitter and Facebook. Fonta holds an MA in vocal pedagogy from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, a BA in voice from Bennington College and is a member of the Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association (VASTA). She has taught and lectured in London, New York, Los Angeles and centers her practice in San Francisco. You can learn more about Fonta and all her wonderful offerings at Eloquence Communication

The Difference Between Threats and Consequences

How to Handle Your Child’s Big Emotions

What Parents and Schools Need To Know About California’s New Vaccine Law

The Secret Power of Storytelling w/ David Sewell McCann from Sparkle Stories

How To Get Your Child To Listen w/ Christina Perez