Our brains have about a hundred billion neurons with neuropathways longer than the earth's distance to the moon. That's a lot of pathways needing construction if we want to break bad habits!

Recently, road construction sparked a greater awareness of how our brain's neural pathways work. I was driving home across the Bozeman Pass on Interstate 90, and there was a string of construction signs for several miles. Initially, the signs signaled to reduce speed to 55. Next, the right lane would be closed in a half-mile; then, another speed reduction. All of the cars in front of me obediently [...]

A key to healthy relationships is understanding how best to express your love to your partner—loving in a way that resonates with them and fulfills their needs. Dr. Gary Chapman devised a meaningful method to communicate with your partner and show your affection based on their innate preferences. Dubbed the Love Languages, this approach relies on the theory that every individual has a predisposition to and identifies more heavily with one of five ways to spread and receive love.

One of the most challenging times in parenting is when your child hits the teenage years. Parenting teens is as much a rite of passage for you as it is for your teen. When things get tense, science shows that calmness is key to your teen's brain.

Learn about teenage brain development and parenting tips to keep you sane and the parent-child connection strong!

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Spring is in full swing and it's only a few weeks before school lets out. And what a year it's been! The pandemic with its alternating virtual and in-person schedules and quarantines has exhausted teachers, stressed parents with unpredictable changes, and crashed the social life of our teenagers. Summer will be a welcome change!

Do you know what motivates you? Does it ever seem like some people are more motivated than others? And what's the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation anyway? 

Whether you're trying to motivate yourself to write a term paper, to lose weight, or you're an employer endeavoring to motivate an employee, it's critical knowing what turns on the green light in the brain. And motivation is unique depending on temperament, values, past experience, and goals.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

There are little speed bumps in relationships, and there are major roadblocks. Most relationships survive speed bumps, but when couples make major missteps regularly, continue to hurt one another, or create roadblocks to love and loving, things start going downhill—sometimes gradually, and sometimes unexpectedly with an affair. Wouldn't you like to replace these unloving behaviors and roadblocks with loving habits to build a healthy relationship instead? Looking for advice about love?

As parents, we all know how difficult it can be to keep our patience with our vivacious children, especially in their innocent moments of exploring their world at full throttle. Parenting with patience can be challenging when our child is misbehaving, especially when we don't know how to redirect children's behavior without squelching their spirits.

What parenting strategies lead to positive discipline and greater patience? How do we prevent losing it with our children? And are you a bad mom when you are impatient?

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

As schools across the nation from Pre-K to Doctoral work have moved to online platform schools, teachers, students, and families alike are struggling to deal with the transition. As a Middle School Teacher, I have struggled with the transition from Brick-and-Mortar School Teacher to Coming to You from My Living Room Teacher.

The most critical concept that has helped me with this transition has been learning the phrase Emergency Distance Education (EDE). It has a few variations including Emergency Remote Learning and Emergency Remote Education.

Emotions can inadvertently run our lives, can't they?

Does worry keep you awake at night? Do you ever say to yourself, "Why am I so emotional?" You even confess to your friends, "I'm very emotional. I don't know what's wrong with me." Or does your partner say to you, "Stop being so emotional!" or "Why do you have to be so sensitive?"

Common things I hear in coaching. Without emotional intelligence and emotional regulation, we can feel like we're traveling on a runaway train. And driving that train is usually an inner critic.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes