TEEN ANXIETY
Remember when you were a teen? Remember when you didn't know that your bf was hanging out with someone else? Your enemy? And if you did know, you didn't SEE the juicy details in real time of what you were missing? You might have been upset, but you had hope. You could make up stories. Denial was your friend. You could go to your bedroom and blast music in the safety of ignorance. You had a sanctuary.
SOCIAL APPS
This was all before the onslaught of social apps. Teens finding refuge in the safety of not knowing hasn't been true in over a decade. Snaps and Insta stories show the fake snippets of what they are missing out on. The lies of "I am just staying home" is exposed. And it hurts. It hurts a lot because there is no safe place to go. Not even their own bedroom. These images follow teens wherever they go.
FOMO
The anxiety that FOMO is causing from social media is real. It is the hot topic amongst teen girls. The data and the surgeon general agree. Having had ongoing global teen zoom gatherings since the start of the pandemic, this is a topic that gets brought up a lot. Especially amongst teen girls. At a time when peer connection is more important than family, building authentic friendships feels dangerous. Who can they trust? They must learn to trust themselves first, now more than ever before. How do they learn?
WHAT TO DO: CREATE BOUNDARIES
Teen girls must learn to create boundaries without imprisoning themselves. They need space to listen to their intuitive knowing in order to explore and discover who they are. As teens rapidly develop, creating an internal place to slow things down is a non negotiable in building self-trust. The more self trust, the less anxiety. Talk to them about how to create boundaries and practice with them. We all need healthy boundaries! Here are three ways to start right now.
3 WAYS TO CREATE BOUNDARIES
ZIP YOURSELF UP IN YOU (TEENS FAVE)
Every morning, imagine stepping into a full stretchy body suit and zip yourself up.
Choose an empowering color that comes to you. Put twinkly lights all around you. Add a reflective mirror so that as you walk out into the world, you feel protected. Energy coming at you, bounces right off. You are protected. You are safe.
CHOOSE WHAT YOU LET IN
Over digestion of information makes us sick. Just like eating too much. Review your social feed and unfollow any account that isn't serving your peace of mind.
DELETE YOUR SOCIAL APPS. Start with Snapchat. Limit time if you just can't delete yet. Make a pact with your friends to deactivate. Having a buddy helps.
Re- evaluate who are the top people you talk to. Who's in your environment? When you say their name does your body relax or tense up?
Relax is a yes, and a contraction means no. Limit time with the no's. Trust your body. Protect your peace.
SPEND TIME IN NATURE
Go outside. Surround yourself in the nurturing safety of nature herself. Feel your connection to Life. Have faith in something bigger than yourself.
Take a break! Sit, Walk, Run, Dance.
Give yourself permission to be still. Self-compassion is key.
REJECTION IS REDIRECTION
If you remember nothing else, remind the teen in your life and the teen in you, that if we are being rejected we are always being redirected to where we are meant to be!
All is well.