It lasted for 10 days, and every day there were three free interviews streaming over the Internet. Now that it’s over you can buy access to all of the audio for $97. They plan on doing this yearly.

Another great source of information for raw moms is this great raw mom blog with multiple contributing authors.

Here’s a video about the Raw Mom Summit…

“The truly great advances of this generation will be made by those

who can make outrageous connections,

and only a mind which knows how to play can do that.”

~Nagle Jackson

Information about the importance of play keeps popping into the field of my awareness. For example I met someone recently who said they were doing research on the importance of play in adulthood. And then at the conference this weekend, one of the speakers mentioned this…

I’m a naturally playful person, and I believe this is another asset I bring to my work as a nanny.

After joining together in village dances, we began the day with wonder. Shea Darian spoke on “Working Wonders: Cultivating Reverence and Gratitude with Our Children”.  The talk was so moving we gave her a standing ovation.

She talked about how when children ask “why?” a good way to respond is with, “hmmmm….I wonder.” Right now Ankia is in a stage where she asks why frequently, so I will have many opportunities to use this softening, playful phrase.

Shea described children as “Wonder Gurus”.

She told us how Robert Fuller, in his book “Wonder: From Emotion to Spirituality” explains that wonder can-

• fill us with feelings of expansiveness
• give us a fuller sense of presence
• expand our peripheral vision
• take us beyond self absorption
• open our hearts and minds to others
• motivate us to act to preserve the integrity of life
• inspire curiosity
• free us from environmental conditioning
• help us abandon dysfunctional identities
• help us entertain the possible

Shea explained that because children “soak us up into their being”, we would be wise to go through our day in a mood of wonder.

The next speaker was Suzanne Down, on “Imagination, the Key to Thinking”.

She told a story about an egoic archer and a trickster farmer. Then she told a story about a king and his three daughters. She explained how the first story spoke to our lower brain, and the second story qualified as “Lifted Language” because it spoke to, and helped develop our higher brain.

She put on a “story apron” which created a kind of stage out of her lap. Then she put on a lovely puppet show, with simple and sweet stories that conveyed values such as appreciating beauty, and the importance of nurturing.

While listening to Suzanne, ideas started popping in my head like popcorn, and I’m looking forward to spending more time playing with dolls and puppets, and creating stories for the girls.

After lunch we broke into small groups and discussed what we had been inspired by the conference, to start doing in our daily lives. We each wrote down three wishes we had.

Mine were-

1) I bring my highest, most loving, most present self to the girls I care for, every day.

2) I love caring for the home and this love for the tasks of daily life engages the girls so that they join me.

3) I creatively use story and song to inspire the girls to love the things that will nourish them the most.

We all went around the circle and read our wishes to each other. When I had read mine, the woman who was leading our group looked at George and said, “And this is your nanny!”  I felt very flattered.

After discussing how to make our wishes a reality, we joined back with the larger group, and each group shared what they had discussed.

We closed the day by learning more Village Dances from Anna Rainville. For one of the dances she called in all the pregnant mothers from the conference and we did a dance and song of blessing on them. It was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes.

I am deeply grateful to have had the honor to participate in the Healthy Families Conference. I feel nourished by all the singing and dancing, and filled with ideas and energy for the beautiful work I am so privileged to do.

As we were waiting for the conference to start, George told me that the girls get excited to see me each morning. As the time approaches for my arrival they start asking, “Where’s Lauren?”

When he said that, I felt a wonderful warm feeling wash over my heart. The girls tell me they love me, and that they love being with me, but something about hearing about how they get excited about me coming, and hearing it from George, was especially precious to me.

The conference started with Village Dances. lead by Anna Rainville, an award winning and multi-talented Waldorf teacher. I was honored when she sat by me at lunch, told me I had a lot to offer and told me I should get a degree so people would take what I know seriously.

After the Village Dances we listened to a talk by Peggy O’Mara, publisher, editor and owner of “Mothering Magazine”- the only independently owned parenting magazine in the world.

Something she said that stood out for me was, “Information is not enough, you must have community to shore up your values.”

She said the human family is in the process of moving from a dominant culture of competition to a worldwide culture of cooperation.

She said that when children are developing, they move forward and then have periods of falling back into old ways. She said the falling back can be an important part of development. And the same is true for us as adults. When we fall back, we should embrace it as part of the overall forward movement of life.

After Peggy’s talk we moved to breakout sessions. The one I attended was on the topic of creating rhythms in the day. It was lead by a wonderful woman named Shea Darian, author of “Seven Times the Sun”.

She said that we as caregivers have privileged access to the wisdom of children. That resonated strongly with me. I feel blessed to have such privileged access.

Shea talked about how in Tibet, caring for children is considered a sacred practice. In Tibetan culture, the two best paths to enlightenment are to enter the monastery, or to care for children.

I would add that it’s not just caring for children that brings us closer to remembering our true nature, but it’s caring for them in a mindful sacred way that really does the job. The way one has to simplify, focus, and live in the moment in order to care for children well, has a very similar feel to monastic life.

Shea said that being a caregiver is a true love offering, and that love is transformational.

She explained how creating rhythms to the day makes transparent our priorities. She reminded us that young children thrive on repetition. And that creating routines cuts down on the number of decisions adults have to make, and frees some of our energy for focusing on the children.

“We must so order our lives, to make room for the largeness of our love.”

I can’t remember if that was her quote or if she was quoting someone else. But it rang true for me.

And then she shared this gem with us…

“Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it, take with you your all.”

~ Kahlil Gibran

Shea discussed how simple ritual renews the body, soul and spirit. And how it infuses ordinary tasks with beauty.

She emphasized how rhythm is the most important tool for discipline we have. Rhythm teaches children the lessons we wish to impart, and develops the child’s sense of trust through consistent loving attention.

Shea touched on how making our lives more simple is important to creating rhythm. We must be comfortable saying no, because a yes to one thing is a no to a hundred other things.

The next event of the conference was lunch. I loved the table companions I was lucky enough to have, and the conversation was lively.

After lunch Cynthia Aldinger, founder and executive director of LifeWays North America, spoke to us about “The Tasks of Homelife as the Foundation for Education”.

I loved it when she said, “Enthusiasm for what we are doing, draws children in.”

She said that the domestic arts are considered one of the four Living Arts. The other three are creative art, social ability and the art of nurturing.

After Cynthia’s talk, I went again to learn from Shea Darian. This time she taught us songs and dances.

I left the conference filled with ideas and inspiration. I’m looking forward to what I’ll learn tomorrow!

I just arrived home from an evening workshop on resilience.  It was based on the teachings of Dr. Gordon Neufeld and it was led by Patti Drobot, who is an authorized Neufeld practitioner.

I was fascinated by the importance placed on crying as part of a process that helps people think more clearly. It reminded me of what I learned and experienced when I studied co-counseling. When we have a good cry, where we feel real sadness and release the pent up frustration in us, we reach a place of acceptance and can more easily adapt to life. Our ability to think creatively is restored.

Patti talked about how becoming mature involves three steps-

1) Individuation (which comes from having a deep attachment)

2) Integrative Functioning (which happens between the ages of five and seven and involves having two opposing emotions. An example is “I want to hit my sister but I don’t want to hurt her”)

It’s interesting to me that Anika, the four year old I take care of who will be turning five in October, is right on the cusp of this new psychological development.

3) Adaptive Process (otherwise known as resilience)

In order for us to go through these three stages and reach maturity the brain needs to register WHAT DOESN’T WORK. This can not be taught through words. It is done through our limbic system, which is our emotional/instinctual brain.

We can not “teach” this to children, but we can coach them through a process that will cultivate resilience.

One example they gave was…

Three year old Madison wants a cookie. Caregiver says no. Madison asks why.

If the caregiver answers the why question, it opens the door to negotiation, which can delay the child’s ability to reach the registration of futility.

The caregiver should instead be “The agent of futility” and “The angel of comfort”.  They should give a clear discisive no, and hold it. And they should comfort the child by doing things like naming the child’s emotion, and holding the child.

The goal is to transform mad into sad.

Each time the child has the experience of feeling frustration, registering futility, and crying to release the emotions, they become more resilient. The limbic system registers that the individual can face challenges and grow from them. A sense of one’s self as a person who is adaptable and strong develops.

This process also helps the child’s heart stay soft and open, instead of closed down and hard. A hard heart can lead to depression, which means “to press down on”.

In order to help a child have a soft heart, we need to have a good relationship with them. Patti said that in order to build a good relationship we had to avoid separation, shame and alarm. Those are concepts she didn’t explain in depth and I look forward to learning more about them.

It is also important to melt the heart with warm words, and with enjoying being with them.

It was a great talk and I left feeling very inspired and excited to integrate these ideas into my childcare approach.

I’m a certified laughter yoga leader!

My instructor was Bharata Wingham.

Bharata Wingham is a versatile teacher best known for teaching Laugh-a-Yoga® and laughing meditation. He was trained and certified by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide laughter clubs. Bharata is also an Integral Yoga instructor and the author of An Ancient New Idea. http://www.laugha-yoga.com

Through my training, I’ve studied the healing power of laughter. Yes, there really have been scientific studies that prove laughter’s amazing benefits for our bodies and minds.

I take great joy in encouraging laughter in children.

I recently took a personality test designed by biological anthropologist, Helen Fisher. The gist of my results is that I’m predominantly influenced by estrogen and oxytocin. I love to nurture. How perfect then, that I’m a nanny. I love to love and care for other human beings.

Here’s are some blurbs from my test results..

You intuitively know what people want and need.

You are highly compassionate.

You care deeply about others.

You like to work to improve the world.

You are flexible, affable, and open to adventure.

You seek win-win solutions.

You adeptly bring peace to a chaotic world around you.

You are a warm, insightful companion.

I remain grounded, rooted and centered when working. I stay in the present moment, am aware of my breath, and I feel a deep connection to the earth. Practicing being present with children in this way is part of my spiritual development. It’s part of why I feel called to work as a nanny.