Blog

Exactly six years ago this week, I wrote a post, “ The Neurobiology of Grace Under Pressure, ” which offered some practical advice on different ways to increase parasympathetic activation within the autonomic nervous system (which counterbalances fight-or-flight responses) by engaging the vagus nerve . One section of that 2013 post recommended practicing Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM) . Typically, during LKM you systematically direct warm-hearted thoughts of love and kindness to four...

Mindfulness meditation has long been touted as a way to reduce stress and pain. More recently, it also has gained traction as a tool to improve our relationships, helping us to be more kind and less biased and angry when we regularly practice it. Yet when we talk about mindful meditation, often we are thinking about a combination of practices that have been taught together for millennia. These might include breath awareness—focusing on your breath and letting thoughts and feelings pass by...

@Christine Cissy White asked me to share more about the Bridging to Resilience Conference. I am blown away by the depth of expertise presenting with us this year! There is no other conference like this. We will have at-promise students and parents sharing with us as well as community organizations that are hungry to partner with schools for solutions! We are so much stronger when everyone’s at the table! Conference highlights: Opening Remarks and kickoff by ACEs Connection Founder,...

Vincent Felitti is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Diego, and the founder of the Department of Preventive Medicine for Kaiser Permanente, where he served as the chief of preventive medicine for 26 years, during which time his department provided comprehensive medical evaluations to 1.1 million individuals, becoming the largest single-site medical evaluation facility in the western world. In today’s episode we discuss the history and origins of the Adverse...

“Run,” he would shout. On two legs, I couldn’t match the speed of a terrified calf or steer, but I was plenty fast, especially in a sprint, so I’d launch myself across the gravel in front of our trailer while my father stood about ten yards behind me twirling his rope.

With the opening of the 57th Legislature, the Potts Family Foundation has been busy rebuilding its Early Childhood Legislative Caucus with returning and new members alike. Membership comes from both sides of the aisle and both chambers of the Legislature. The caucus is made up of members who have committed to working through the state budget and policy to improve the lives of Oklahoma’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens and their families. In 2016, the foundation announced the OK25by25...

Pepper spray is excruciatingly painful, according to firsthand reports by many former L.A. County juvenile hall and probation camp inmates, and inflicts its torture on contact with the skin and especially the eyes, nose and mouth. As used by the staff, it causes a burning pain that continues as its victims are detained, away from the working sinks and showers that are needed to “decontaminate,” or wash the chemicals off. And the pain returns at night, the youths say, as chemicals absorbed by...

WILMINGTON, Del . – Governor John Carney on Tuesday announced two new initiatives from the Family Services Cabinet Council to implement Executive Order 24 , which launched efforts to make Delaware a trauma-informed state. The Family Services Cabinet Council – a cabinet-level group reestablished by Governor Carney in February 2017 to coordinate public and private services for Delaware families – will promote Trauma Awareness Month throughout Delaware during May 2019 and launch the...

This Oregon School Boards Association article details testimony from two trauma informed schools pilot projects in Oregon. Here is the article .

People who experienced early trauma show common patterns in the way they form attachments. Among all the the long-term outcomes associated with ACEs, the damage to the way we seek and form romantic relationships can be one the most devastating, yet one of the least discussed. As a survivor, I had to learn a systematic way to change this, and after years of informally teaching hundreds of peers to heal the pattern and use a structured approach to dating , I've just put it all into an online...

Tracie Mason has lived in Spartanburg, South Carolina all her life. Despite a recent uptick in growth and development, Spartanburg maintains its close-knit sense of community and rural atmosphere. It is one of the things Mason loves most about Spartanburg, which was named one of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2015 Culture of Health communities. At 14, Mason became pregnant with her first child. After struggling to maintain a job, attend school, and care for her daughter all at once,...

“Smart, Safe, and Fair: Strategies to Prevent Youth Violence, Heal Victims of Crimes, and Reduce Racial Inequality,” published through a collaboration between the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) and the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) addresses how to help youth involved in violent crime — both offenders and victims. Confinement of youth convicted of crimes has decreased; however, violent crime convictions have not. The report shows that confinement of youth is more expensive and...