TODAY’S TOPIC IS NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART, AND THAT TOPIC IS AROUND THE IDEA OF HELPING OUR KIDS OPTIMIZE THEIR HEALTH.
This is something that gets overlooked constantly, but it’s absolutely critical and directly related to their opportunities to step into their next level of leadership.
In today’s episode, we’re going to go through some basic and simple ways that you can help your kids really understand the power of how they fuel their bodies and how they show up in the world, based on how they take care of themselves.
Let’s raise them up right!
IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:
[1:38] No More “Band Aids”
Growing up, I have vivid memories of sitting around the dining room table for breakfast before school and having cinnamon toast crunch given to me. I also have vivid memories of my parents asking why I was bouncing off the walls and not paying attention. Hmm, because you literally just injected me with sugar and zero nutrition?
This concept of optimizing your body goes so far beyond just the food that we eat. It has to do with an understanding of why it’s so critical to take care of our health, why it’s so so important for our children at an early age, to understand the power that they have in their hands, to take care of themselves and take care of their bodies, and to fuel it in a way that allows them to have the best possible output and the best possible outcomes.
Our oldest, Jack, had eczema as a baby and, of course, the doctor prescribed steroid cream. Michael and I were not ready to use steroid cream on our baby so we started looking for alternative solutions that would help us get to the root cause. We were done with the “band aids”, both for ourselves and for our children, we didn’t want to raise them up that way. We wanted them to be empowered and understand that they could take control and do things in a way that was going to best serve them and best serve their health.
[4:30] Raising Leaders
This isn’t a conversation about how to get your picky eaters to eat better. This is a conversation about raising Luminaries, raising leaders – and leadership is going to be fully embodied when the body that it’s embodying it is in its best body.
We can’t always control all the factors when it comes to health but what are the things that we can teach our kids and how can we inspire our kids to want to do it for their own benefit?
[6:50] Empower Them
Health goes beyond just the food we eat. Kids are sitting on couches as little couch potatoes, living in this virtual reality where they’re not getting any physical activity. As humans, we thrive in nature, we thrive with movement, we thrive with community and relationships in person, we thrive when we are taking care of ourselves and we’re connected more to the healthier foods that come from the earth.
So, we’ve been having these conversations with our kids since they were really little, but it’s never from a restrictive place. We also try to lead by example, because kids embody what they see. This also works if you have older children. You haven’t missed the mark, it’s not too late. Your kids are smart, give them credit where it’s due. A conversation that allows them to make those conclusions on their own and ultimately make those choices is really empowering.
[10:50] Embrace It, Lean Into It and Embody It
I think that the critical and often missing piece is that parents treat their kids like they’re not smart enough, but kids understand cause and effect. They understand the correlation between one thing and another when they’re given the opportunity to learn it. And even as an adult, when I learned those correlations, it woke me up. But imagine the power you’re giving your child when they don’t have to undo all the health struggles and challenges that are self-inflicted from making poor choices. This way, they can face things as they come and they can have a stronger foundation to be able to do that and feel empowered and educated to do it.
Our bodies truly are a temple that deserves to be treated with the utmost care and respect. Many of us abuse our body with what we put in it and how we don’t take care of it and we lean on the many band aids available to us, and then we wonder why we can’t elevate into the levels we’re feeling called to. The people who embrace this, lean into it and embody it – they’re the world changers.
Give your children that gift, but more than anything, give yourself that gift for your children. Be the example!
RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
