One of the things I enjoy most about life is how much there is too learn. 

Learning is a lifelong process, it is a self-directed and self-paced journey of discovery which fills me with true wonder at the world.

When it comes to the area of kids nutrition, I’ve learnt bucket loads, through the eCourse Thrive, Raising Kids Who Love Real Food, which I proudly run with great mate Alexx Stuart from Low Tox Life. We are kicking off our only live round this year on the 22nd May 2019! 

There are SO many things I have learnt from interviewing various experts, so I decided to share just three things which have personally made me stop to think, and have made a difference to how I approach nutrition and parenting issues with my family as well as my clients.

1. In my interview with Dr Leila Masson, a biomedical paediatrician, we were talking about genes amongst many other things. It was enlightening to here how inheriting a gene alone doesn’t cause illness. It’s the gene in combination with certain environmental factors, which can trigger the expression of that gene. My daughter has inherited a gene from her Dad (Factor 5 Leiden) which makes her susceptible to blood clotting. This gene has been expressed in her Dad which has caused him health issues and lifelong reliance on blood thinning tablets. So you can imagine how worrying this has been for me. Given my daughter’s healthy lifestyle and reduced exposure to toxins, however, I am comforted that this gene is less likely to be triggered in her. Soooo good to know Dr Masson!

• In my interview with Simone Emery, from Play with Food and who is a Children’s Feeding Expert, I learnt SO MUCH about fussy eaters. Example, have you heard of the term ‘food jagging‘? It’s when your child suddenly gets stuck on a food and that’s the only thing they’ll eat. While it can be incredibly worrying to parents, Simone explains that often it’s simply related to a developmental or cognitive stage they are at, and she provides some very practical tips on how to work through this stage to ensure you child gets proper nutrition.

• My interview with David Bedrick, Counselor and Positive Body Image Advocate, was a huge eye opener not just for me, but with many members who were incredibly moved by the knowledge he shared. For instance, what he discovered when doing some research 7 or 8 years ago, was that more women were dying of eating disorders then they were dying of AIDS. But AIDS makes the headline news, eating disorders only makes the ‘style section’ tucked away somewhere. Eating disorders are deadly and affect 7 million women in America and affect approximately 9% of Australians. I loved David’s advice that one thing we can do is to help our children start to think critically about the ‘ideal female image’ from a young age, with tips and ideas on conversations you can start to have with them.

There is so much to learn about both physical and psychological health of our children and so many positive and simple ways we can overhaul or enhance their lives. Alexx Stuart and I share so much in our course THRIVE, RAISING KIDS WHO LOVE REAL FOOD. We are proud to say the experts we interviewed are the best in the field and we are blessed to have them share their wisdom and passion to help parents provide the best life possible for all of our children.

Join our only LIVE ROUND this year and be surrounded by passionate, likeminded parents on a mission to provide the best life for their kids and where Alexx and I will be daily present in the private Facebook to steer the ship and answer all your burning questions.

Bren x

And luckily I’m one of them!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 10th annual ‘Happiness & Its Causes’ conference which saw the world’s brightest minds in psychology, science, education, business, religion and the arts come together to educate and inspire thousands of people at Sydney’s beautiful Luna Park. I also had the good fortune to hear the Dalai Lama speak those inspiring words above and so many more.

On reflection, His Holiness took me back to when I was 18yrs old and and had decided that my life’s course would see me striving for love, connection, compassion, empathy, purpose and happiness. Without doubt, this path has been circuitous, and continues to experience curve balls, but his words reignited my trust and belief in human nature and what we can collectively achieve. And just maybe that means happiness too!

Charlie Scudamore, principal at Geelong Grammar is another exemplary human who is fighting for happiness. He has introduced Positive Psychology to his school and is passionate about finding what he and other teachers can do to improve the lives of children.

Mr Scudamore says.

“We would like to make the world a more peaceful and kinder place,”

In our affluent nation, there are so many young people with eating disorders, depression, anxiety, stress.

However, there are many schools around the world who are beginning to embed positive psychology in their curriculum. “We teach it as a subject, alongside mathematics and history,” he says. Thinking back, I reckon I could have used one of his positivity classes after a double period of maths!

He believes, and I agree, that education has been hijacked by too much assessment. He states that while it’s good to have academic success, the ‘developed countries’ have lost their way by focusing too much on outcomes and less on positive well being. Mr Scudamore’s focus is on creating  positive communities through our schools, classrooms, families and organisations by focusing on wellbeing. Specifically, he believes these 5 things can help shape positive communities:

• Trust
• Compassion
• Integrity
• Forgiveness
• And above all else, HOPE

He believes that if our children leave school with a developed sense of co-operation, kindness, and doing good things for other people, the world just may end up being a better place.

Both speakers believe that modern education has a strong orientation towards materialism and that we  need to question whether this will result in positive human beings and bring happiness to people.

“A materialistic life is no guarantee for inner peace or inner happiness, yet inner peace is the ultimate source of a happy life”

And one of my biggest a-ha! moments occurred with the realisation that self-care and self-worth wasn’t some new-age indulgence at all. It makes a whole lot more sense to regard taking care of oneself as something we owe to ourselves, to society and our communities.

“Micro moments of connection are not just about our own health, but also about the other person we are connecting with…..Working on yourself is not hedonistic, rather self-improvement will ripple out affects to the next person and then the community”

So it seems the secret to happiness for us and our children doesn’t lie in the latest iPad or Netflix (as fun as they can undoubtedly be), but rather lies in being loving and compassionate human beings, connectedness, self improvement, service to society, mindfulness and love.

Bren x