Teaching Humanity Remotely with Dr. Mindy Shaw

In this episode, Dr. Shaw once again takes the opportunity to share how positivity can be found as the silver lining of difficult situations.   Her home in Florida was affected by a recent hurricane and she discusses the fallout from that challenging event and how resilience remains an important trait.

In this episode, Dr. Shaw presents a personal point of view regarding the feelings that some folks are having following the recent US Presidential election.  As an educator, Dr. Shaw focused on teaching humanity (just like with the title of this podcast), and for someone with her history it could be easy to be frustrated or scared or shocked by the recent political outcomes across the U.S. because teaching humanity involves teaching about kindness, inclusion, tolerance, respect and so much more... and those things seemed to be clearly missing from the winning team in this election cycle.  Her point of view here, however, is positive.  She offers advice on how we should all remain patient and positive because what happened had an element of inevitability.  She encourages everyone to stay strong and positive and keep focused on the best possible outcomes in the future.

In this episode Dr. Shaw addresses the notion of having confidence.  She begins by noting that, often in life, individuals who have confidence will go further than those who possess actual talent but lack confidence.  Dr. Shaw shares that this is hot topic for her personally, and that in fact while she is working on a new book, she tends to ask the question, "Am I really qualified to create this book?"   It really comes down to being an internal battle with self-doubt, and that can often be the re-appearance of an old "muscle," one that lacks confidence.  The idea is to exercise a new muscle that exudes confidence.  She points out that we all need to recognize those habits that don't serve us and to transform those negative thoughts into the feeling that "yes, I can."  Additionally, if you are going to allow anyone to be a coach for you in life, make sure that they are the kind of coach that lifts you up and doesn't keep you down.

In this episode, Dr. Shaw discusses how we overcome grief and how we allow ourselves to have the feelings that we have.  We cannot suppress certain feelings.. we have to feel them.  For her personally, self-observation followed by reflection on her own behavior leads her to her own transformation or adjustment from one mood to another.  She questions whether there is sometimes a need to be sad.  Sometimes there may be an unconscious addiction to feeling a certain way.  Sometimes depression feeds us.  Sometimes there are external forces that steer us to negativity.  Sometimes we are the cause of our own suffering.  Regardless of the causes, it's important to observe ourselves and recognize the state of our being in order to adjust and have the most fulfilling lives. 

In this very brief episode, Dr. Shaw introduces us to a new concept that she is developing as a program to assist families.   In schools, many students will be given an IEP or Individual Education Plan which is a document that identifies a given student's needs and outlines how those needs will be met.  Dr. Shaw believes that given the stresses and strains of life right now, many FAMILIES need a similar structure in order to have the best practices of family life come into play.  To that end, Dr. Shaw is beginning to offer her services in developing FEP's or Family Education Plans.  She briefly describes her new project on this podcast with more details to follow.   You can always learn more online about Dr. Shaw's history and her work and you can also contact her, all via her website at www.LearnWithMeRemotely.com.  

In this episode, Dr. Shaw takes a look at the need to balance the essence of a child with the developing personality of a child during a child's growth and emergence into being a person.  Their essence is that innocence and spirit that a young child has, the purity that enables them to be friendly and approachable and joyful about living and learning.  Their personality is that socialized side of a youngster where learned behaviors can inspire caution or the holding back of true expression.  Both are important ingredients for a child... you want your child to have an exuberance, yet they also need guardrails and boundaries in life for their own safety and protection and simply in order to fit in.  As with so many aspects of life and child-rearing, it's all about balance.

In this brief episode, Dr. Shaw puts forth the notion that it is important to see yourself as you are in order to effectuate change in your life.  While working on oneself, we need to be reflective and intentional and monitor our attention.  By doing so we build stamina and increase the muscle of patience and of having objectivity.  We all have blind spots, but when build up our attention we can eliminate those blind spots.  Also, much of the time that it seems as though change isn't happening, it actually slowly is.   The exercise of seeing oneself is actually the mechanism for change.

This week Dr. Shaw follows up on her last podcast where she had discussed those moments when young children are experiencing anxiety.  She begins her parenting advice this week by suggesting that we tell our children that those feelings of anxiety are natural and part of life and that can be done by sharing one's own experiences of feeling anxious, but only if that sharing is developmentally appropriate.  It's also helpful to remind our children that all moments pass, both the happy ones and the negative ones.  The key is maintaining an inner sense of well-being.  Challenges are just an invitation to overcome them and learn from that experience and one can't live in the negative space of an anxious moment.  Additionally, letting young children know that you once went through difficult times successfully will help them not get bogged down by anxiety.

In this episode you'll find a valuable conversation about something that has become more common among children, the experience of having anxiety.  Dr. Shaw begins by questioning whether not not there is a true and thriving and growing trend for children to experience nervousness.  She tables that discussion and then uses illustrative examples to lay out a real strategy for your children when it comes to dealing with anxiety... among the strategies are to be open and honest, to model or discuss your own anxieties with your child, and to consider counseling.  Anxiety among children is on the rise, and understanding the best possible approaches in parenting can be extremely helpful.

In this episode, Dr. Shaw discusses how, while parenting, one must trust the process.  She begins by sharing an example of a parent who was in communication with their family's small private school about classroom assignments and how this one family didn't end up getting the path that they wanted for their child.  Dr. Shaw looks at that situation, evaluates the plusses and minuses of what happened and offers a perfect strategy for that parent, and it's a solution that gives the disappointed family full control of their destiny.  Her philosophy is that there are any number of situations in family life where trust in one's own gut instinct can be the most beneficial tool,