Steve Biddulph is a legendary parenting educator.

He's the author of  The Secrets of Happy Children, Raising Boys in the 21st Century: How to Help Our Boys Become Open-Hearted, Kind and Strong Men, and The New Manhood, among others. His latest book, Fully Human: A New Way of Using Your Mind, isn't about child-rearing, though. It's a simple, working manual for being  human.

"I wanted to write something that was a culmination of a lifetime of working with people," Steve says, noting that he also learned a lot while writing the book.

He uses the metaphor of a 4-story mansion to explain the human experience: "Most people just live on a couple of floors," he says, "and they might complain about the accommodations. But there might be a really great ground floor that you haven't checked out -- that's your intuitive sense in your body -- and a fantastic roof garden that's open to the sky and stars, and that's our spirituality."

Our bodies are intimately connected to our brains, and our bodies, like those of other wild creatures, can sense and respond to all kinds of stimuli. "There's a wild creature that lives inside you," Steve says. "We haven't lost any of the abilities of the eagle or the brown bear or salmon swimming upstream." We need to learn to heed and act on our supersense and intuition.

A wise mama who was aware of this connection told her teenage that "sometimes our body sends us messages when our brain and our heart are in a complete spin, and our body knows what is right or wrong for us." Those words helped her teen make a wise choice, and they can help you as you confront the challenges of parenting as well.

In this episode, Janet & Steve discuss:

What is a human being?

The brain and body's ability to take in lots of info & process it -- and how learning to listen to our bodies will help us live fuller lives

Our "supersense"

Learning to listen to your body

The root of self-esteem

The power of emotions

Why conversations with your kids are so important

How wonder, awe & nature help us modulate our emotions

Links we mentioned (or should have) in this episode:

stevebiddulph.com — Steve’s online home

Fully Human: A New Way of Using Your Mind by Steve Biddulph -- Steve's new book

Steve Biddulph on Raising Boys -- ON BOYS episode

Building Boys Bulletin -- Jen's subscription newsletter

Boy Talk Blueprint -- Janet's guide to better conversations w your son!

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