When Laura Earnshaw found out her son was struggling with anxiety at school, she was shocked to discover there was no support available for him. As a leading global HR executive specializing in helping people thrive, she decided to take matters into her own hands and went on to create myHappymind, now an award-winning curriculum used in hundreds of nurseries and primary schools across the UK, that builds resilience, self-esteem and ultimately happiness in children. My Happy Mind will reveal, for the first time, all the science-backed secrets used in this curriculum to empower and educate parents – whether your child is struggling already or you want to future proof their mental health. Packed with inspiring stories and practical activities, you’ll find out: -The five ingredients to building resilient, balanced and happy minds -What a growth mindset is – and how to encourage this in your child -The power of dreaming and the importance of setting goals -How to teach your child to self-soothe when they feel stressed And much more! The message of this book is very simple: give today’s children the skills to thrive in tomorrow’s world.
I will definitely be using some of the ideas in this book going forward and I did have a few aha moments. Mental health is such an important subject and if by doing a few simple things you can improve or strengthen your child's mental health then just do it. I have used the happy breathing technique a few times now to great success particularly to help me to get back to sleep after being woken in the night - something I have struggled with for years.
I recently came across an inspiring book by Laura Earnshaw titled "The Happy Mind," and I couldn’t resist sharing my thoughts. In this compelling recount, Earnshaw narrates her journey of leaving the corporate world for the well-being of her little one, which eventually led to the creation of a manual aimed at helping people cope with life's challenges—emotionally, physically, and mentally.
What I particularly appreciate about her book is how she introduces the complexities of the human brain and its chemical compounds in a digestible way, allowing readers to understand their involuntary responses. "The Happy Mind" serves not only as a valuable resource for personal growth but also as a practical guide for cultivating happy habits.
Earnshaw provides online resources that are incredibly accessible, designed to remind us of these positive habits in our fast-paced, information-overload society. As an educator, I've started incorporating these strategies into my classrooms and sharing them with parents. It’s refreshing to witness a shift in the education system towards being more empathetic and prioritizing character building.
Gone are the days when children's emotions were brushed off as mere phases; Earnshaw’s work emphasizes the importance of recognizing and embracing each emotion as a unique power.
I highly recommend giving "The Happy Mind" a read. I believe it could be a valuable addition to both personal and educational settings.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts if you decide to check it out!
My Happy Mind is a great book that would be beneficial for anyone to read who wishes to help children build their confidence and resilience.
The book starts with the story of how My Happy Mind came to be which is really interesting and inspiring to see how one parents disappointment at an overstretched system inspired a whole new company which has helped many children, many of which there are examples of within this book.
The chapters following are all simple techniques to help with resilience and confidence like gratitude and active listening etc. but they are explained so well with examples, activities to add your thoughts and reflect on and lots of scientific / psychological experiments explained simply which prove the effectiveness of parts of each technique. I found the evidence of these really interesting as it proves that these things do work if you persevere at it.
The way the brain works is explained particularly well in this book and whilst I had read about this before in other books, this book did a fantastic job at keeping it simple whilst also having all the necessary details at the same time so it makes it easy to understand how it works and effects children (and adults) in real life situations.
This is a fantastic book that I have enjoyed reading and look forward to implementing the steps and helping grow the children's resilience and confidence. Well worth a read.