May 2019 — The Life Tutor

31May 2019 by Lucy No Comments

Reconnect! Events for parents and carers

Do you sometimes feel like a stranger in your teenager’s life? The transition from primary to secondary school often sees us losing touch with our network of ‘playground parents’, and when our young people go to college, it can be impossible to find out exactly what is going on in their world. Add to this the stresses and challenges of the teenage years and it’s difficult to know how to help or where to turn. The Life Tutor has a solution! How would it feel to know that there is a group of likeminded parents who have your back? Not just a support group, but a vibrant community guided by an education professional who can give you a unique insight into that seemingly closed world? Online programmes The Life Tutor’s…

Instant mindfulness techniques to learn today

Exams, Wellbeing

Most of us have heard about mindfulness, the popular method for controlling stress, anxiety and a host of other ills, but how many of us have tried it and found “it doesn’t work”? The thing is, learning mindfulness, really learning it so that it integrates with your life and helps you cope with life’s ups and downs, takes a long time. Lots of practice of formal techniques like sitting meditation is needed before everyday mindfulness becomes part of our lives. And meditation is hard! Those feelings of boredom, frustration and wandering thoughts are real (it’s just that noticing them and bringing the awareness back is part of the practice, hell, it IS the practice!) So what if there was a way to get some of the benefits of mindfulness without…

How to thrive in Mental Health Awareness Week

Exams, Wellbeing

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week… and it’s the week my students start their exams. I’ve been all too aware of my own mental health lately (always the case when it’s a bit below par) and I figure that sharing my experience might help those wondering how they can possibly tackle the mountain of exam pressure when just living is hard enough. I first became fully aware of mental health as A Thing in 2002, when a dear friend, severely depressed, came to stay in my home. He struggled to get out of bed, to shower, to interact, to contribute to the household… almost everything seemed impossible for him and I couldn’t understand why at the time. Later, my inability to help him in a meaningful way was a huge source…