Tag: teens

compassion, Health / Wellness, Mental health, Mindfulness, Mindset, self care, Stress / Anxiety

Teens Have It Rough: Help Your Teenager Navigate Tough Waters With This All-In-One Gratitude Journal!

Cassandra Troughton

Teenagers Sure do Have it Rough…

For them, life is a balancing act.

  • Balancing stress from all the social pressures…
  • Struggling with confidence and self-acceptance…
  • Questioning their place in this world…

They have to deal with all this (and more) with an under-developed brain.

Their brains are STILL a work in progress…

I look at that list (even with my developed adult brain) and know I’d be struggling balancing all of that too…

So What Can We Do?

How can we help them navigate through this tricky spot in life?

I asked myself these very same questions at the beginning of this school year…

Because this School Year, I Found Myself Neck-Deep in the Middle of Grade 9 Classroom Waters…

This classroom was filled with some complex kids with complex needs…

I wanted to help them…

The way I wish someone helped me back then…

They desperately needed certain skills…

Skills that would help them THRIVE, instead of just SURVIVE…

This is why, after much thought and a lot of field research (testing the waters of my Grade 9 classroom), I came up with a way to help my students build an essential skillset!

A skillset that would help them, not only, navigate the rough waters of Junior High, but also prepare them for life (and develop their brains along the way)!

Introducing…
The Kids Yoga Stories Gratitude Journal for Teens!!

Okay, but what makes this Gratitude Journal so special?

How is a gratitude journal supposed to help our struggling Teens…?

Well, THIS journal is MORE than just any old Gratitude Journal…

In fact, it helps Teens develop qualities and skills like:

  • Emotional Regulation and Stress Management
  • Confidence and Self-Esteem
  • Empathy and Compassion for Themselves and Others
  • Positive Self-Talk and and Self-Acceptance
  • Forgiveness and Perspective Shifting
  • And of course, Expressing Gratitude and Feelings of Appreciation

How Does One Journal Do All of This?

It provides regulation strategies, like Breath of the Month and Mindful Colouring, to manage stress and anxiety – tools that Teens can use for life!

(I don’t care who you are, you can’t tell me Teens are “too cool for school” to colour… My field research says otherwise! :P)

The Weekly Positive Affirmations promote positive self-talk, self-acceptance, boosts confidence and reminds Teens to show themselves compassion. We are all just human, after all.

The Gratitude Questions and Challenges are thought provoking and help shift perspective in Teens. They begin to understand their place in the world and have appreciation for whats going on around them.

This Interactive Journal provides a creative outlet for Teens to get thoughts and worries out of their heads. Getting things out on paper gives Teens the chance to reflect on experiences and even learn from them.

Plus, we already know that when our Mental Health improves, so does our overall health! This translates to other parts of our lives.

And Teens will benefit for years to come!

But Why?

Why Did I Decide To Create A Journal For Teens Unlike Any Other?

Well, I’d like to ask you this…

Do YOU remember what it was like being a Teenager?

I sure do…

And when I met my Grade 9 students on that very first day, I saw myself in all of them.

All of my insecurities…

All of my worries…

All of my struggles trying to fit into the world…

I Barely Got By My Teen Years

I wasn’t about to let that happen to these kids.

So…

I asked myself,

“How would I have helped MYSELF back in my Teen years?”

“What supports did I desperately need?”

DIY: Gratitude Notebooks

A few students and I put together personal notebooks filled with gratitude, breathing and calming strategies, affirmations, and other random thoughts!

The note books were amazing, but they just weren’t quite enough…

They weren’t as organized as I would have liked.

They weren’t as appealing to the Teenager who is concerned about appearance.

So….

I took all of these lessons I learned from my Gratitude Notebooks,

All of the lessons from my Teenage students,

And all of the lessons from reflecting on my Teen years,

And turned them into the beautiful…

Kids Yoga Stories Gratitude Journal for Teens!

KYS Teen Gratitude Journal

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are…”

The Kids Yoga Stories Gratitude Journal for Teens helps teens develop the courage to be who they really are.

So they can be who they are really meant to be…

With Love & Gratitude,

Miss T.

If You are Interested in Helping Your Teen Navigate Tough Waters…

Check out the Kids Yoga Stories Gratitude Journal for Teens!

Get Your Copy Here!

Twelve weeks of Gratitude Journal Prompts, Reflection Questions, Breathing Exercises, Positive Affirmations, and more!

This Journal Also Includes:

  • A NEW Gratitude Question EVERY DAY
  • Weekly Mandala Colouring Pages (That Double as Positive Affirmations)
  • Inspirational Quotes for Each Day of Prompts

Here Are What Some Teens Had To Say About The
Kids Yoga Stories Gratitude Journal:

“I would buy 8 copies of this journal if I could…”

-Grade 9 Student

“Can you let me know when this journal comes out so I can get my parents to buy it?”

-Grade 7 Student
Get Your Copy of The KYS Gratitude Journal For Teens Here
Education, Kids, Mindset, Stress / Anxiety

Teenagers: Treacherous Tiny Humans… But, Are They Actually?

Cassandra Troughton

“I will NEVER work with teenagers. You wont ever find me working in a Junior High School…”

– Young Miss T.

Said a young, naive Miss T.

But, Why?

Do you remember the kind of terror – I mean, kid, you were as a teen?

I never wanted to deal with treacherous teens, like myself.

I told myself, there was just no way…

… Until This Year Happened…

My little Elementary school closed down, and in its place, a Grade 4-9 school was built.

On one hand, I didn’t want to leave my students who would transfer to this new school.

But on the other hand, I remembered the promise I made to myself in my early days of Education.

The promise I made to never work with teenagers.

Why would I want to put myself through that…?

I don’t know what I was thinking when I said YES to the position at this new school….

I don’t know what I was thinking when I said YES when they asked if I’d work with a Grade 9 classroom….

But I did anyways.

I Was Paralyzed With Fear Back In September.

Surrounded by “kids” taller than I was.

Surrounded by cliques of teens.

How was I supposed to look confident? Unafraid?

When deep down, I felt like I was thrown back in junior high trying to prove myself to all these “cool” teens. Trying to “fit in”. To be “accepted” as one of their own.

I remember asking other staff members for advice.

“They’re Just Big Kids” – They’d All Say.

It took me a while to realize this was true.

It took me a while to look past their height and intimidating demeanour.

What it took, was me coming back to the school after my leave of absence…

I mustered up the courage to seek out my Grade 9’s again – worrying, yet again, if they’d be angry with me for leaving.

I worried that the kids I was scared of all along, would really give me something to be afraid of…

“Look! It’s Miss T!” – Someone Shouted.

I took one step through the door, and immediately was pummelled by student hugs!

Hugs so tight that it took me back to my Elementary school days…

These hugs felt exactly like my Grade 1’s and 2’s hugs did.

Except, this time, when I looked down, there weren’t tiny humans hanging on tightly to my legs…

Instead, there were beautiful tiny souls disguised as teenagers.

I learned a beautiful lesson that day…

Do not be fooled: Teenagers really are just big kids after all…

Thank you to the teenagers who changed my life and my perception…

I am grateful for all you taught me!
(Yes, I’m looking at you – My Homeroom 9-1‘s)

With love,

Miss T.