Attunement: Foundations for a Lifetime

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A mother and child sit face-to-face, each giving their full attention to the other. As the infant gleefully interacts with her mother through cooing, pointing, and the like, the mother responds by appropriately mirroring the child’s facial expressions, repeating the cooing sound, looking to where she points, and responding verbally. They are in a synchronous dance of mutually delighting in one another—the child leading; the mother responding. Then, for a brief moment, the mother turns her face away. As she turns toward her daughter once again, something has changed—something immediately evident to the child. Where the mother was once smiling and responding to her, the child now sees a stoic, unresponsive face. Could this be another game? The child smiles, knowing this always bring a smile to her mother’s face. Nothing. She coos happily and reaches for her mother’s face—surely this will get mom’s attention! Again, nothing. The mother sits in the presen ...

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Posted in:

  • Attachment

Tags:

  • childhood
  • mindfullness
  • parent

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

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Imagine entering a new country and expecting to be fluent in the language.  You think “I want to go to France,” so you book a trip and step off the plane thinking that the research and planning you’ve done for your trip will fully equip you to speak to the people you meet in French.  When you try to speak French, for some reason, no one understands you.  Worse yet, you have no idea what anyone is saying to you.  This could cause some problems on your vacation…

This example is unlikely to occur in real life.Read more

Posted in:

  • Mindset

Tags:

  • challenge
  • growth

Mind Control

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When you hear the words “mind control”, I’m guessing your thoughts go to things like hypnotists, Sci-Fi movies, and social media among a host of other things. In each of these situations, the idea of mind control is typically something that someone (or something) does to another person. However, I want to consider mind control from a personal standpoint. Is it possible to achieve self-mind control? What would that look like? Is this something to be desired? 

Now, maybe the term “mind control” is a bit extreme to use in this context, but I want to suggest that we can have more control over our own minds than what most of us would normally think. This includes our thoughts and mindsets and, to a certain extent, our moods and emotions as a result. To understand where I’m coming from, it will be helpful to highlight a recent line of research in neuroscience that looks into the wellbeing of our minds. An organization called The Center for He ...

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Posted in:

  • Change

Tags:

  • mind control

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