There are three powerful healthy choices your teen will make that have a huge impact on her life. Providing her insight and information will support her in making wise, thoughtful choices when it comes to how she fuels her body, who she chooses to befriend, and most importantly, how she thinks about herself and her world. 

#1 Choosing Healthy Foods

Does your daughter know that many foods contain nutrients that can actually fight stress?   Teaching her about the health benefits of a certain food will help her make informed choices when it comes to snacking and meal planning, and minimize stress.  

Introduce her to these stress-busting foods and try my favorite stress-busting smoothie. 

Almonds are full of B vitamins and magnesium, both of which produce serotonin, which helps regulate mood, relieve stress, and improve sleep.

Pistachios and Walnuts reduce tension and lower blood pressure.

Bananas contain tryptophan, which is also converted into serotonin.

Dark Chocolate has polyphenols, which are antioxidants and help slow and repair organ damage caused by stress.

Blueberries are extremely high in vitamin C and fiber helping our body reduce tension and regulate blood sugar levels.

Apricots are rich in magnesium, Vitamin C, and fiber. Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant, which can help reduce the feeling of stress in the body.

Oats boost serotonin, a calming brain chemical.

Spinach is high in magnesium will reduce stress-triggered headaches and fatigue.

Pumpkin Seeds are loaded with stress-busting potential thanks to high levels of magnesium.

My Favorite Stress-Busting Smoothie

Break out the blender for this super easy, super delicious stress-busting smoothie! 

Blend:

• Ice
• 1c. almond milk
• 1-2 tsps. almond butter
• ½-1 frozen banana
• 1½-1c. of fresh or frozen berries. (I love blueberries and cherries)
• A handful of fresh spinach

#2 Choosing Healthy Friends

Friendships are a big part of the preteen and teen years.  They can be a source of support and joy as well as a source of stress and drama.  Building strong, trusting friendships starts with developing self-awareness and connecting with core values.   To help your daughter learn how to choose healthy, supportive friends, start with a heart-to-heart conversion. Use these questions to get started:

• What’s important to you in a friendship? 
• How do your current friends reflect the best parts of you?
• How do you reflect the best parts of your friends?

#3 Choosing Healthy Thoughts

Everything begins with our thoughts. When girls learn to shift negative thinking into empowering, positive thoughts, it has a ripple effect, influencing their actions, habits, character, and destiny!

Teach your daughter the power of positive thinking and how to choose words that amplify good experiences and feelings, and minimize the bad.  Start by introducing her to my favorite mind-shifts: 

Instead of- This is horrible!                    Try- This is helping me grow.

 Instead of- This hurts!                           Try- I am getting stronger.

 Instead of- I want to give up!                Try- I am improving!

Instead of- This is really annoying!        Try- I don’t like this situation and I’m going to do something (take an action) that changes it.

In my upcoming Mother-Daughter Yoga class, Inspiring Healthy Choices, we will explore these three core areas of life and how to make choices that lead to health, happiness, and contentment.  Join us at Buddhi Yoga on September 19 at 1 PM for a fun and inspiring class.