Neurodiversity acknowledges that every brain works differently, a natural human variation. Conditions like ADHD, autism, and anxiety fall under this category, demanding tailored support. Neurodiverse students, bright in their own right, often process information at unique speeds and benefit from specific learning strategies.

Parents must become staunch advocates for their neurodiverse students. Explore college resources like counseling and disability services. Actively seek out accommodations for students - provide detailed IEP or 504 plans. The more specific, the better. In addition, universities often offer free psychological counseling and support groups for neurodiverse students. Ensure your child is aware of the resources available to them and encourage them to use them. This proactive approach can significantly impact your child’s success and help them thrive.

At home or on campus, establish a dedicated study space to minimize distractions and promote focus. Encourage the use of tools like white noise machines, noise-canceling headphones, and calendars. Assist in scheduling academic and leisure activities, emphasizing balance between work and self-care. Physical movement is crucial—encourage activities in campus gyms or outdoor exercises.

Parents should assist with campus and online technology walkthroughs to become familiar with the systems they will be using for school. Another strategy to help neurodiverse students is to create a personalized "all about me" letter for instructors. Doing so will help manage professor expectations without stress. Consistent parental involvement and understanding can ease the transition and foster independence.

A little preparation can transform the college experience for neurodiverse students. By advocating, preparing, and supporting your child, you are setting them up for a successful transition. Engage with their journey every step of the way. The right strategies can ensure that neurodiverse students thrive in their college environment.

Moms, it is imperative that you work to regulate your nervous system to provide adequate responses and don't overreact when your child is in need. The transition to college can be stressful and emotional, and your children will need your support. The calmer you are, the less emotional chaos you will experience with your child.

Dani Taylor, a neurodiversity specialist, can be reached at Dani.taylor@sait.ca.

In a world where stress seems omnipresent, understanding and managing your nervous system can transform your life. Many of us experience overwhelming feelings and stress without realizing the root cause might be an unregulated nervous system. When you reset your nervous system, you equip yourself to handle stress, improve relationships with your children, and enhance your leadership potential.

Your nervous system is the communication network between your brain and body, sending signals back and forth. When dysregulated, you might experience anxiety, tension, or even illness. Recognizing these signs is the first step in restoring balance. For many, symptoms may manifest as stress, tension, or worry, making it difficult to function at their best. Awareness and understanding of how your body reacts allow you to take control and make necessary adjustments.

Key to improving your well-being is recognizing when your nervous system is dysregulated. Symptoms appear in various forms, such as overthinking, stress, defensiveness, or even perfectionism. Your body's response, like persistent tension or discomfort, signals the need for change. By tuning into these signals, you can start to identify patterns and take proactive steps to address them. This recognition is vital for regaining a state of calm and focus.

To reset your nervous system, focus on bringing your prefrontal cortex back online. This part of your brain, crucial for rational thinking, is often bypassed when stressed. Begin by acknowledging any tension and practicing relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing or muscle relaxation exercises. Creating a 'safety sequence'—asking yourself if you are safe, feel safe, and identifying physical reactions—can also guide you towards regulation. Implementing these techniques regularly can help shift your baseline state to one of calm and flexibility.

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Website for Leah Davidson

Leah’s Mental Health Journal on Amazon

Additional Resources

Download the free eBook and journal, Alleviate Anxiety by Developing Healthy Habits for a Healthy Mind.

Buy You, Me, and Anxiety: Take Action Over Anxiety to Enjoy Being You

Moms with anxiety face additional challenges when it comes to parenting. Add in a child with anxiety, and emotional chaos will ensue faster than you can say help! So what is Mom to do?

Here are a few key strategies for moms with anxiety to not only navigate the anxiety, but also create a safe and peaceful environment for your family while building thriving relationships.

4. Take a break from social media.

5. Pause.

6. Heal Yourself.

7. Pray.

Read the full show notes and access links to additional episodes and resources.

Additional resources.

If you'd like to learn more about parenting in the presence of anxiety, my book, "You, Me, and Anxiety: Take Action Over Anxiety to Enjoy Being You" - parent edition, is a fabulous resource. You will find not-to-dos, to-dos, and encouragement in addition to a plethora of scripture verses to guide you on your journey.

Schedule a discovery call with Robyn.

In a world that glorifies hustle, the concept of rest often feels foreign. Rest isn't a luxury; it's a necessity for both your mental and physical health. You need to rest and breathe. Embracing rest and breath can transform your daily life, enabling you to lead and parent with vitality rather than burnout.

When we refer to rest, it's not about idleness; it's about rejuvenation. It's crucial to reject the misconception that rest equates to laziness. Proper rest involves creating space for simplicity, silence, and sacred rhythms. This approach enables your mind and body to renew, allowing you to approach life with clarity and purpose.

Regulated nervous systems and renewed minds are integral to genuine rest. These elements counteract society’s push to overachieve, leading to unhealthy stress levels. To avoid unhealthy stress levels and potential future health complications, it is essential to rest and breathe.

Breathwork serves as a powerful tool for regulating your nervous system. Proper diaphragmatic breathing helps ensure that your physiology functions optimally, promoting peace and reducing anxiety. Many people unknowingly breathe incorrectly, using shallow breaths that keep the body in a stressed state.

Engage in breathwork by practicing slow, intentional breaths. These conscious breathing exercises can bring immediate calm and enhance mindful living.

Rest can be integrated into your life without sacrificing productivity. Consider setting aside five minutes each day for silence and solitude. During this time, focus on your breathing. Let go of societal expectations, tune into the present moment, and experience the tranquility of God's presence.

Simplicity and moderation are key. Allow yourself permission to reduce clutter in both your schedule and mind. This intentional practice of slowing down fosters a refreshing sense of peace and presence.

Read the full shownotes and access all links.

Download the free eBook: A Guide to Alleviate Anxiety by Developing Healthy Habits for a Healthy Mind

Website for Julie Roebken

Additional Resources for A Healthy Lifestyle

Regulate Your Nervous System - Bonus Episode.

Do You Want the Easy Way to Get Healthy? Adopt God's Prescription. - Episode 386 with Chelsea Blackbird.

How is the victim mentality influencing your life? Have you been the victim? Are others in your life playing the victim? Where is the victim mentality holding you hostage, parenthood, relationships, career?

In a nutshell, a victim mentality is when someone blames others for their life experiences. In other words, they do not take ownership of, or responsibility for their decisions and actions that resulted in unfavorable circumstances.

If you are the person employing a victim mentality, you are blaming others for things in your life that you are unhappy with. Blaming equates to powerlessness. When you, or others in your life, do not take ownership and consistently blame others, you sacrifice the power to change your circumstances.

Additionally, a victim mentality is characterized by a lack of accountability for one's actions. Likewise, they do not adopt healthy coping mechanisms; instead, they blame others. This can be the result of trauma or past experiences, or it could be an intentional choice. Complaining is a symptom of victimhood, and people deny responsibility or ownership for their part in their circumstances. Blaming others, Satan, or God is quite common when someone chooses victimhood.

I've recently heard an overwhelming number of people blame the devil for their current circumstances, be it relationships, financial insecurity, lack of success, emotional chaos within their families, or anxiety. When anyone gives Satan credit for their circumstances, they are rendering themselves powerless to him.

Scripture verses that remind us that Satan has no authority over us:

Luke 10:19 "See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you."

1 John 4:4 "Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

Colossians 1:13 "He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,"

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Anxiety

One of the first steps you can take is to download the free eBook, Alleviate Anxiety by Developing Healthy Habits for a Healthy Mind. The second step is to give yourself a social media reset and use the time you've been scrolling to get closer to Jesus.

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In the hustle and bustle of today's world, finding solace in self-trust is not just a nicety but a necessity. When navigating the challenges of being a parent, a leader, or simply trying to achieve personal goals, self-trust can enhance your decision-making capabilities. In addition, self-trust will help build overall mental resilience.

Self-trust is often misunderstood or undervalued, a quiet yet powerful force that guides us through the maze of life's decisions. It's the foundation on which we build our capacity to make choices—even when we’re plagued by uncertainty and doubt. It's not about being free of doubt but about learning to make decisions in its presence and having the confidence to follow through.

Building self-trust doesn't happen overnight—it requires intentional action and a shift in mindset. At the heart of this transformation is a profound yet straightforward cycle: making decisions, following through, and having your own back when results come to fruition.

1. Decision-Making
Each day, we make thousands of decisions without realizing it, yet we often focus on the difficult ones. Building self-trust involves recognizing that we're already capable decision-makers. By focusing on these everyday decisions, we begin to realize our strengths and the power within us, which propels us forward rather than holding us back.

2. Follow Through with Confidence
Following through with our decisions is where we gain valuable insights about ourselves. This isn't about sticking rigidly to a decision. It's about learning from the consequences of our actions. Self-trust grows when we learn to trust our data, allowing ourselves the flexibility to adjust and improve rather than perceiving unplanned outcomes as failures.

3. Having Your Own Back
Self-trust fundamentally involves being kind to ourselves in the face of outcomes that don't align with our expectations. Instead of self-criticism, we learn to evaluate the data derived from our experience. By celebrating our efforts and learning from the results, we foster a positive internal narrative that furthers our growth and resilience.

Read the full show notes and access all links.

Website for Dawn Ledet

Buy Dawn Ledet’s Books:

Master Your Inner Dialogue: Transforming Your Self-Talk For Goal Success

Trust. Surrender. Obey.: Faith Lessons from My Dogs

The increasing dependency on social media has significantly impacted how we perceive success, identity, and connection. A social media reset can be a transformative journey to reconnect with yourself and God, enhance personal well-being, and rediscover the true essence of life and relationships.

Social media is a double-edged sword, offering both the potential for positive impact and the risk of negative influence. Like money, it holds no intrinsic morality but can shape behaviors and mindsets based on how it's used. Today, we risk living more vividly in the artificial world of pixels than in our own, tangible realities. A social media reset encourages us to reassess the motivations behind our frequent scrolling and posting. Additionally, it allows us to examine the subtle impacts on our spiritual and mental well-being.

When we shift our focus through a social media reset, we open the door to deep spiritual insights. However, this shift isn't merely about limiting screen time; it's about prioritizing time with God and nurturing our inner selves. The ever-present digital noise can drown out the gentle call of God, pulling us away from a life filled with purpose and peace. A social media reset sets the stage for us to reconnect with God. In addition, it reminds us that our value doesn't hinge on digital validation but on divine, unconditional love.

Success in life and business doesn't depend on social media metrics. In pursuing a more authentic existence, we are reminded that our worth is fundamentally rooted in what God says about us. Our identity in Christ far surpasses any number of likes or followers. As part of a social media reset, we are invited to rediscover joy and focus on building real, meaningful connections with those around us.

Read the full show notes and access all links.

Pre-Order Allie Marie Smith’s Book: Social Media Reset: A 30-Day Guided Journey to Unplug, Reconnect with God, and Reclaim Your Joy

Get Robyn’s Book: You, Me, and Anxiety: Take Action Over Anxiety to Enjoy Being You.

Download the free eBook: A guide for alleviating anxiety and adopting healthy habits for a healthy mind.

In the realm of parenting, the relationship between a mother and her son is both unique and crucial. As children transition from adolescence into adulthood, fostering a healthy mother-son relationship can be pivotal in shaping well-rounded, compassionate, and confident young men.

The journey of parenting boys is filled with distinct challenges and joys. Raising sons is not just about addressing their basic needs but also about understanding their intrinsic masculine traits. It's crucial for mothers to be consciously involved in their sons' emotional and social development, which can directly influence how boys perceive their role within the family and society.

A striking point raised is the profound impact a mother's relationship can have on her son’s development. Contrary to some societal narratives, celebrating masculine traits doesn’t have to come at the expense of femininity. Instead, nurturing these traits while fostering empathy and kindness is key.

One of the simplest yet most transformative strategies for fostering a healthy mother-son relationship is through open communication. Asking your son questions like, "How do you know I love you?" can open the door to better understanding and communication. This simple question encourages sons to express what actions or words make them feel loved and supported—information that is invaluable for any parent striving to connect more deeply with their child.

It's no secret that boys today face a barrage of mixed messages about masculinity. Many boys are led to believe that their natural inclinations to protect and provide are undesirable or even toxic. However, it’s essential to help them embrace these natural traits while also learning to express emotions in a healthy manner.

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Website for Heidi Allsop

A free resource for you:

If you or your teen is struggling with anxiety, download the free eBook: A Guide for Alleviating Anxiety and Developing Healthy Habits for a Healthy Mind.