The Brave Girl Blog Navigating Friendship Challenges and Confidence

I recently conducted a poll on Instagram asking my followers if they had ever been rejected by a friend who joined a more popular group. Shockingly, 100% of them had gone through this experience. In The Brave Girl Tribe, this is a common topic among the girls.

Pursuing popularity can be problematic as it often overrides healthy social skills. For teens, popularity is more about social dynamics and seeking power and status, which can lead to fear and aggression among peers.

A study from the University of Virginia found that preteens who were most concerned about being popular tended to act older and more mature and were more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors. Interestingly, the group of tweens who acted more mature were the more popular kids in middle school but were the least socially successful as young adults.

To help your daughter seek genuine friendships rather than the pull of popularity, ask her what qualities she values in her friends and if her current friends meet...

Get ready to be swept away on a thrilling literary journey this April! 

 The Fearless Readers of the Brave Girl Tribe are here to recommend not one but two incredible books that are guaranteed to captivate your imagination.

First up is "The House Swap" by the talented Yvette Clark. This sweet and emotional book offers two unique perspectives on family and belonging.

Brave Girl Tribe Fearless Readers also recommend "Glitter Gets Everywhere," author Yvette Clark's debut novel that explores grief, change, and hope.

 If you're a mom of a girl or a teen, the Brave Mom Book Club on Facebook is the perfect place.

Last month we read "The Anxiety Audit" by the fantastic Lynn Lyons. This book is packed with valuable insights and practical tips for raising teenagers in the age of anxiety. If you want to watch the main takeaways from this book, join The Brave Mom Book Club on Facebook, dads are also welcome to join us.

Join our supportive community of brave moms as we...

Is your daughter a caring, attentive friend who helps out her friends as much as she can? However, when your daughter is struggling and needs the same caring, thoughtful friend, she seems to be alone. 

A lot of the girls I work with are so sweet and want to help their friends, but many heartaches happen because they don't have the boundaries they need to keep themselves safe in their relationships.

In The Brave Girl Tribe, we learned about boundaries, and I used Nedra Glover Tawwab's book Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide To Reclaiming Yourself, as a resource. If your daughter is struggling to set boundaries, this book may be a great resource. 

Why is setting boundaries so challenging for your daughter?

Here are the nine reasons that might make setting boundaries challenging for your daughter. Please share this list with your daughter and see which ones are tough for her. You can even share what is challenging for you. 

1. You fear being seen as...

Have you ever felt not yourself? 

You might feel like something is a bit off. You might have a hard time connecting to your thoughts and your feelings. You might be feeling stronger emotions and not fully understanding why. 

The other week I did not feel like myself at all. I felt very disconnected, stressed, overwhelmed, and emotional. It was tough, and I did shed some tears. Fortunately, I am feeling better as I write this blog post thanks to the help from some friends and my steps to help get myself back on track and feeling more like me. 

I know I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed, and I can't imagine the stress level that you may be experiencing in school. It is a lot to manage, and if you were home all last year, you might feel like a rubber band being stretched to the breaking point. 

Here are the Ten Tips to Help When You Are Not Feeling Like Yourself. 

Tip 1 

Start with a brain dump. 

Take a sheet of...

Hi Brave Girls,

Today we are doing a meditation based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s, A Handful of Quiet.

You will need 4 pebbles.

The first pebble is your flower. It is a reminder of being fresh and open. It also reminds us to see the beauty and possibilities around us.

The second pebble represents your mountain. The mountain pebble reminds us that we all are solid and calm inside. This helps our friends see us as reliable. It reminds us that we can depend on ourselves.

The third pebble represents calm water. When you look at the lake's calm surface, you can see the reflection of the clouds, the sky, and the mountains. Calm water helps reflect what is truly there. This pebble reminds us to find our calm.

The fourth pebble represents space and freedom. Space is freedom, and freedom is the foundation for true happiness.

Holding these pebbles while meditating can help you stay in the present moment. I love feeling the different textures of my pebbles and the cool touch!

...

Hi Brave Friends,

As part of the Inner Spring Cleaning, I will be sharing weekly meditations. 

This week we start with a Loving Kindness Meditation to help inspire compassion for yourself, family, friends, and even those people that bring up negative emotions in you.

There is a free Love and Kindness Journaling Page that is included in The Inner Spring Cleaning Mental Health Cleanse Journal that you can download. Do this quick activity after your meditation!  This will really help you deepen your experience.

Meditating has been the one thing that has truly made a difference in how I feel and how I react to everyday stressors in my life. 

I would love to hear your thoughts after doing this practice. Please leave a comment below.

I have a poster that you can print out and keep by your workspace so that you can do this practice anytime.

 Wishing you a wonderful day!

Love,
Laura 

Your Mental Wellness is just as important as your Physical Wellness.

We spend so much time in our heads- we need to make sure it’s a great place to be.

I have been busy spring cleaning, and it got me thinking that an inner mental spring cleaning might have me feeling even more light and airy than my house!

I would love for you to join me from April 12th to April 30th to do an Inner Spring Cleaning. You can join in by following me on Instagram or here on my website.

First, you need to download my free Inner Spring Cleaning Mental Health Cleanse Journal.  Download Your Copy

Next, join me each Monday for mindfulness practice and complete the journaling exercise found in the Inner Spring Cleaning Journal.

Each day record your gratitude.

Track your sleep as this is so important for your mental wellness. 

We will later track our moods, do mindful coloring, and have time to chat every Wednesday when I go Live on Instagram at 4:30 pom EST.

These exercises are an...

 When Your Daughter is Pushed Out of Her Friend Group: 10 Tips to Help Parents.

When your daughter is pushed out of her friend group, the experience can be very hurtful for her. We may remember this from our own childhood, but when it’s your own daughter, it feels even more heartbreaking.

It could be triggering for you and bring up experiences you thought you had gotten past.

Physical pain and mental pain don’t differentiate when they’re being felt. This pain is real for your daughter. We are a species that wants to be connected, and being excluded is physical pain.

Brave Momma and Brave Girl you are not alone!

Here are tips to help!

1. Make home a safe place to share and express what’s going on. 

The most important thing is not to let your daughter see how upsetting this is for you. This means staying calm if you’re triggered and not threatening to call the parents of the other girls involved. This kind of reaction will probably shut your...

The New Year is here, and with that, there may be many mixed emotions, especially as January continues to roll on. 

I was excited for 2020 to end and to celebrate that year coming to a close. The possibility found in a blank new year is exciting and offers us a lot of hope.

I celebrated by practicing yoga on the beach of North Carolina and then running into the ocean. It was only fitting to end my year on a beach since I started last year on a beach in my meditation.

Last year I met my future self on a gorgeous beach- it wasn't the cold and windy one that I ended the year on, and that future, Laura, she sure didn't share anything about COVID! 

This year when I was recording my meditation, I kept visualizing a snowy night walk to the top of a mountain overlooking a beautiful valley.  

This mindfulness recording will help you release what no longer serves you, hold onto the lessons and gems that you need to keep, and then get specific on...

The Brave Girl Project was honored to partner with The Highlight Pro Skydiving Team to celebrate the 100th anniversary of a woman's right to vote.

On October 10, 2020, The Highlight Pro Skydiving Team, made up of women only, performed an aerial display over the Alice Paul Institute, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the life and work of the American suffragist. Read more about the skydiving jump. 

The Highlight Skydiving Team was formed when several team members researched and read about the women's suffrage movement. The Highlight Sky Diving Team wanted to honor the amazing women that made voting a reality for women. They have been doing demonstration jumps all across our country, honoring the amazing women that persevered and helped to pass the 19th Amendment.  

The Highlight Pro Skydiving Team members who jumped on Saturday were Melissa Lowe, Melanie Curtis, Sara Curtis, Amy Chmelecki, Kaz Sheekey, Keri Bell,  and Karen Lewis...