Teaching Mindfulness to Children, to Teachers, to Lawyers, to Judges- My Playlist from June, 2015, "Mindfulness - Awareness"

During this turbulent & heartbreaking month.. perhaps, we all need some  Mindfulness-Learn-Speak?

This is a great introductory video to a series called "Go Strengths Online" which is designed to teach Mindfulness to children at home and at school. It is produced by a group called "gozenonline." Don't you wish you'd thought of that name? 

I have left my "2015 Mindfulness- Awareness" Playlist "Public" on the "Valerie Houghton" YouTube channel. This playlist includes a TEDx Talk by Dr. Daniel Siegel, MD on Neural Integration, another one by Megan McElheran, PhD titled "Trauma, Change and Resilience" plus three inspirational video clips from "Remember the Titans" and  public health video short film titled "The Best Medicine: Why Relationships Matter" by WatchRelate. 

AND if you want to find any of these goodies on your own, please do! As always, take what you like and share what you like. During this turbulent month... we need to practice MINDFULNESS. As they say in Titans, "teach (us) to trust the soul of a man rather than his look... no matter what aspect of our lives, I hope we can live by these words. 

Happy Sunday. Peace be with you.

"Through Our Eyes: Children, Violence and Trauma" Thank you, Office for the Victims of Crimes

Eighth Grader Made This Video for a School Project Featuring Problem of Child Abduction

This video was made by a girl named Ava, for her school project where she selected a global issue. It was featured by a website called Reunite International (www.reunite.org) which assists families with international abductions. This video was published in early December, 2013. There is an upcoming annual Child Abduction Conference 2014, hosted by 1 Kings Bench Walk Chambers,  (UK) being held on January 24th, 2014 for lawyers specializing working with these complex cases. The press release states: "Designed for those in the legal profession, the conference will include lectures and open discussions in the company of acknowledged child abduction law specialists, designed to inform and keep attendees up to date with the law in this complex area. To register your attendance please complete the online form which can be found at www.1kbw.co.uk/conferences."

My Little Niece: A Short Digital Story to Commemorate the Final Day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence: Thank You, Center for Digital Storytelling and the Asian Women's Shelter

Depression: "I Had a Black Dog" The Equal Opportunity Mongrel... 450,000,000 People Affected by Mental Illness, Worldwide and We CAN Do Something to Help and Heal! Reach Out, Be Authentic and Practice Empathy and Gratitude... That's a Start :)

"Bullies Kill, Words Scar, Rumors Destroy"

Kaelynn shouts it out (although she is silent in this brief video) against all bullies, after numerous years of enduring her own torturous abuse until her friend's suicide galvanized her to take action to stand up, speak up and call on all of us to protect others. It is very difficult for people to understand why this ability to "save " someone else motivates people to reach beyond their own perceived ability to help themselves. Yet, they can. History is full of examples of these people. They walk among us, every day. Social scientists have studied this and confirmed this ability (described as reflecting "empathy" or "agape", among other terms). What a brave heart lives within this young woman. She deserves our gratitude, our prayers and our willingness to demonstrate our courage to stand up in front of her and say no more. We will not stand by and say nothing. Nor will we participate or silently "pass it on." Thank you, Kaelynn. Thank you for finding your voice and sharing it here...

PSA About Stopping the Easy Access to Guns and Please Note the Violence Against Women Act Has Lapsed in the U.S.

This powerful, 2007 London commercial shows images of the impact of a bullet on an apple, an egg, a watermelon and a water bottle.  London ad agency AMV BBDO got a former Navy SEAL to shoot the items and the photography was slowed to 10,000 frames per second. There are no images of harm to any animal or human in this video. Thank you, BuzzFeed.

Beautiful "Duck Run" Where Nature Shows How Little Ones "Pick Their Person(s)"

New Brand with Wordle and Facebook Page Launch

I am catching up with "modern times" today. On the strong advice from others (ya, ya, ya...) I have made this new Wordle, which includes various "synonyms" with my mission statement and my professional foci (I learned that is the plural form for the word "focus".) 

I also started my professional Facebook Page:

(https://www.facebook.com/CounselorsConsultantsInc.) 

That was absolutely frightening... There was no time to do a "draft" or think it over! I tend to value and fully embrace the beauty and wonder in reflection, running ideas and drafts by my "FOCI GROUP" (gotta work in that new word) and generally operate by the principle "When in doubt, DON'T." 

However, I discovered today that this is not how social media works. I have been inspired by Stephanie Kimbro, my MILO listserve mates, Brandify, MyCase, Virtual Mediation Labs and numerous clients to forge ahead. These folks have no idea of their inspirational impact and are not responsible for any of these decisions. Thank you for your kind tolerance. 

"There is no such thing as bad feedback. Good news or bad news; it is all valuable! Thank you."

"Broken Trust Depicts the Impact of Harsh Anti-Immigrant Sentiment: Harming Children

Inspirational Attitude Adjustment: "Get Back Up, Nick Vujicic"

Who Rocks, Who Rocks Cheer- Awesome! Thank you, Playworks!

Trauma, Brain and Relationship: Helping Children Heal

Parental Alienation: It Starts Within the Marriage, Guys!

THE SQUID AND THE WHALE: Movie Trailer. Watch more top selected videos about: Movie Trailers, Laura Linney

Lundy Bancroft's Presentation on the Emotional Wounds of Witnessing Abuse on YouTube