• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Family MattersPractical Parenting Blog

  • Home
  • Series
  • About Ronit Baras
  • Books by Ronit Baras
    • Motivating Kids
    • Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers
    • Reflections
    • In the Outback with Jasmine Banks
    • The Will
    • * Your Cart
    • * Secure Checkout
  • Contact
    • Join Us

Home » motivation

motivation Tag

Posts tagged 'motivation'

Mindfulness for Kids: Teaching Children the Gift of Silence

Child practicing mindfulness for kids during a quiet moment by the window

Silence is one of the greatest gifts we can offer our kids, yet it’s also one of the rarest. In a world full of notifications, background chatter, rushing, and constant stimulation, children rarely have the space to hear their own thoughts — or their own hearts. That’s why mindfulness for kids has become such an important tool.

And at the centre of that mindfulness, sits silence.

Silence is more than the absence of noise. It’s a gentle teacher. It teaches kids to slow down, pay attention, and understand themselves. It builds self-regulation, confidence, emotional maturity, and resilience — skills that stay with them for life.

In the silence series, I covered many aspects of the importance of silence in life. In this chapter, we’ll explore mindfulness for kids, why silence is essential for children’s emotional growth, how to introduce it without force, playful ways to help kids enjoy stillness, and simple quiet rituals you can bring into your home.

Read Mindfulness for Kids: Teaching Children the Gift of Silence »

Published: March 12, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: March 6, 2026In: Kids / Children Tags: focus, stress / pressure, school, behavior / discipline, love, self confidence / self esteem / self worth, skills, health / wellbeing, men, education / learning, emotional intelligence, feeling, practical parenting / parents, how to, motivation, family matters, kids / children

Meditation with Sudoku: A Simple Way to Calm the Mind

Meditation with Sudoku

In a world that constantly pulls our attention in countless directions, meditation doesn’t always have to look like sitting still with closed eyes. Sometimes, it arrives quietly through focus.

Meditation with sudoku happens when the mind settles into the present moment, distractions fade, and thinking becomes calm rather than rushed. With each number placed, awareness deepens, the nervous system begins to slow, and the gentle rhythm of problem-solving turns into a mindful practice.

Meditation with sudoku reminds us that calm can be found not only in stillness, but also in focused, mindful engagement.

Read Meditation with Sudoku: A Simple Way to Calm the Mind »

Published: March 10, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: March 6, 2026In: Personal Development Tags: special education, school, love, skills, emotional intelligence, how to, motivation, health / wellbeing, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, mindfulness, focus

Home Silence Retreat: A Simple Guide to Restoring Calm and Clarity

Peaceful living room space set up for a home silence retreat

Silence retreats can feel magical, but you don’t need a mountain monastery, a forest lodge, or a meditation center to experience their power. You can create the same transformation right where you live. A home silence retreat works because the real shift isn’t the location, it’s the intention.

When you choose silence on purpose, even the simplest moments become restorative. The kitchen becomes a sanctuary. Your bedroom becomes a quiet nest. Your living room becomes a gentle invitation to slow down.

In 2014, psychologist Dr. Emma Seppälä studied the effects of short, structured silence periods and found that even brief retreats improved emotional regulation and reduced anxiety. Her conclusion was simple: you don’t need a long getaway—what you really need is uninterrupted quiet.

That’s the beauty of a home silence retreat.

It’s flexible, comforting, warm, familiar, and accessible to everyone in the household.

Read Home Silence Retreat: A Simple Guide to Restoring Calm and Clarity »

Published: March 5, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: March 3, 2026In: Personal Development Tags: family matters, focus, attitude, touch, stress / pressure, love, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, men, mindfulness, art, emotional intelligence, choice, change, happiness, motivation

Narcissism in Children: When Parenting Turns into a Mirror

Narcissism in children - an identity crisis

Narcissism in children rarely starts with arrogance or entitlement. More often, it begins with love—mixed with pressure.

Parents want to do well. They want their children to succeed. They want to feel proud, but when a child’s behavior starts to feel like a personal report card, something quietly shifts. The focus moves away from the child’s emotional world and toward the parent’s self-image. Children feel that shift instantly.

Most parents deeply love their children. They want them to feel confident, capable, and special. But sometimes, love quietly slips into over-praise, control, or emotional absence—and instead of growing self-worth, a child grows something else entirely.

Think of it like this: Self-worth is a strong internal spine. Narcissism is a shiny external costume.

When a child is either placed on a pedestal or left emotionally unseen, they don’t learn who they are, they learn who they’re expected to be. And if they grow up with a narcissistic parent, they often believe this dynamic is normal, even healthy.

This article explores how narcissism in children can develop through everyday parenting dynamics. How it differs from healthy self-esteem, what the research actually says, and—most importantly—how we can break the cycle and start experiencing our child as a separate human being rather than a reflection of yourself.

Read Narcissism in Children: When Parenting Turns into a Mirror »

Published: March 3, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: March 3, 2026In: Parenting Tags: love, emotional intelligence, how to, motivation, family matters, kids / children, behavior / discipline, communication, self confidence / self esteem / self worth, focus, practical parenting / parents, special education, school

The Gift of Silence in Parenting: How Pausing Helps Children Feel Seen and Safe

Happy parenting with power of silence

Parenting is often described as loud — literally and emotionally. Kids chatter, cry, argue, negotiate. Parents explain, repeat, call out, remind, negotiate back. And underneath all of that noise lies another layer: the emotional noise of stress, expectations, and daily overwhelm.

But hidden in chaos is one of the most powerful tools a parent can use: silence. Not the silent treatment. Not punishment. Not disconnecting.

But intentional quiet — the space that lets emotions settle, thoughts clarify, and hearts communicate without words. In psychology, we call it “containing,” where you become a container for your child’s feeling.

You don’t remove the feeling, not try to fix it, not try to prevent it, judge it, criticize it, or approve it but hold it with grace, while your child is processing it. You are giving your child a gift. A sacred space held in silence.

Families talk a lot. But they don’t always hear each other.

This is where silence in parenting becomes a gift. Silence helps children feel emotionally safe. It helps parents respond instead of reacting and it strengthens connection in ways talking simply cannot.

Read The Gift of Silence in Parenting: How Pausing Helps Children Feel Seen and Safe »

Published: February 12, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: February 12, 2026In: Parenting Tags: love, men, art, emotional intelligence, how to, motivation, family matters, kids / children, practical parenting / parents, communication, school

Comfort Zone: How to Overcome the Illusion

Butterfly - it lives because it had the courage to get out of the comfort zone of its cocoon

Life is not easy. From the moment we are born, we cry for every discomfort. As we grow, we keep crying, but we do it in different ways. Complaints, judgment, criticism, expressing frustration, disappointment, or anger are all forms of expressing discomfort.

Because we do it all our life, we think that comfort is the goal in life. We search for easy choices, for comfort, and dedicate all our energy to finding that zone — the comfort zone. However, the comfort zone is an illusion.

Think of the definition of “comfort.” Comfort is a state of physical and emotional ease and freedom from pain or constraint. An ease or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress.

In simple words: it is a sense of freedom from emotional or physical pain, but the comfort zone is simply an illusion. We can’t grow, we can’t evolve, we can’t progress without pain.

Read Comfort Zone: How to Overcome the Illusion »

Published: February 10, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: February 12, 2026In: Personal Development Tags: how to, choice, beliefs, change, happiness, motivation, focus, self confidence / self esteem / self worth, men, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, art, emotional intelligence, meditation

The Hidden Benefits of Silence Meditation

benefits of silence meditation peaceful quiet moment

Silence isn’t empty. It’s full of information.

Yet for many people, silence feels uncomfortable, even threatening. In a world buzzing with constant notifications, conversations, and mental clutter, sitting quietly with ourselves, feels like stepping into unfamiliar territory.

But when we explore the benefits of silence meditation, we discover something remarkable: silence isn’t absence. It’s presence. It’s connection. It’s healing.

Just like a lake that becomes clear when the water settles, silence gives the mind time to reorganize itself. And when that happens, everything in life becomes easier—our thinking, our emotional regulation, our creativity, our relationships, and even our physical wellbeing.

Read The Hidden Benefits of Silence Meditation »

Published: January 20, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: January 13, 2026In: Personal Development Tags: health / wellbeing, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, mindfulness, focus, school, love, skills, men, emotional intelligence, motivation, family matters

Fear of Silence Psychology: Why Are Quiet Moments So Scary?

Fear of silence psychology: woman sitting in a quiet moment of reflection

Most people say they want peace. Most people say they want calm. But when real quiet finally arrives—when the TV is off, the phone is face-down, the house is still, the day slows—something strange happens.

Many of us don’t feel peaceful. We feel restless. Uneasy. Pulled to distract ourselves.

Suddenly, the silence that was supposed to comfort us… makes us uncomfortable.

This is where the fear of silence psychology begins. Silence becomes a mirror, and what we see in that mirror is not always easy.

In this second chapter of the Silence benefits for emotional wellbeing, we will explore why silence triggers discomfort, what happens in the brain during quiet moments, how early experiences shape our relationship with silence, and how we can begin to feel safe in the spaces between words.

Read Fear of Silence Psychology: Why Are Quiet Moments So Scary? »

Published: January 13, 2026 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: January 16, 2026In: Health / Wellbeing Tags: focus, mindfulness, love, skills, men, emotional intelligence, happiness, motivation, self confidence / self esteem / self worth, women, health / wellbeing, communication, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement

How to Clean Away Resentment and Be Happy

Couple showing resentment towards each other

Resentment is a destructive feeling. We get it from being forced to do things we don’t want to do. It comes from feeling powerless. But we can clear away resentment.

We’re all born with the disease to please. We learn thorough our parents’ behavior, and a set of “rewards” and “punishments”. This pressure to do what’s expected of us to avoid negative consequences develops a dependency on the approval of others. Later, when we go to school, we take this need to please others to the next level and eventually dedicate our lives to it.

The problem with pleasing others is that every second we spend trying to please someone else, we step further away from ourselves. We can’t find out who we are and express ourselves authentically. Many people find it very difficult to hear that it damages our self-image.

Read How to Clean Away Resentment and Be Happy »

Published: March 9, 2021 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: March 10, 2021In: Relationships / Marriage Tags: control, happiness, motivation, relationships / marriage, anger, behavior / discipline, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, how to, choice

The Truth about Why We Send Our Kids to School

Girl looking up from school work

There is a point in every parent’s journey where you ask yourself, “Why do I send my kids to school?” Over the last 33 years, I’ve worked with many parents. And I can tell you that most of them didn’t have a good answer to this question.

Have you ever reached this point in your parenting?

What was your answer?

Read The Truth about Why We Send Our Kids to School »

Published: September 30, 2020 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: September 30, 2020In: Parenting, Education / Learning Tags: school, success, choice, motivation, society, k-12 education, education / learning, practical parenting / parents

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 43
  • Go to Next Page »

Get Happiness by Email

Sign up to receive posts by email and get my free mini-course Seven Emails with Seven Secrets for Seven Weeks to boost your personal development




    Books by Ronit Baras

    • What motivates your child? Read Motivating Kids by Ronit Baras Motivating Kids From: $9.95
    • Reflections by Ronit Baras Reflections From: $5.99
    • Be Special Be Yourself for Teenagers by Ronit Baras Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers From: $5.99
    • In the Outback with Jasmine Banks by Ronit Baras In the Outback with Jasmine Banks From: $5.99
    • The Will by Ronit Baras The Will From: $5.99

    Be Happy in LIFE logo
    Book your private life coaching with Ronit Baras and learn how to be happy in life

    Girl speaking at student leadership programLeaders are not born. They are made. Bring this Student Leadership Program to your primary school or high school and you will create a community of empowered, inspired student leaders, parents and teachers.

    You’re Reading a Top Parenting Blog

    Feespot Parenting Blogs
    Top 50 Family Blog Award Top 50 Amazing Parenting Blogs 2017

    Related Links

    • Be Happy in LIFE – Life Coaching
    • Personal Growth Web
    • Tsoof Baras – percussionist, composer and producer
    • Noff Baras – Screen Actor & Model

    Primary Sidebar

    Your Cart

    Ready to be happy?

    Happy woman holding a cup in the snow
    Be empowered and set your spirit free!

    Engage Ronit as Your Life Coach »

    Speaker Bookings

    Ronit Baras - Practical Parenting Blogger
    Book Ronit as a Speaker for Your event »

    Join Us on Social Media

    Facebook logo Twitter logo Linkedin logo Pinterest logo RSS feed icon

    Give to Receive

    Kiva - loans that change lives

    Contact Us · Subscribe · Terms of Use / Privacy Statement · Return & Refund Policy · Sitemap

    Copyright © 2026 Be Happy in LIFE · Built and powered by Get Business Online

    Secure HTTPS

    • Home
    • Series
    • About Ronit Baras
    • Books by Ronit Baras
      ▼
      • Motivating Kids
      • Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers
      • Reflections
      • In the Outback with Jasmine Banks
      • The Will
      • * Your Cart
      • * Secure Checkout
    • Contact
      ▼
      • Join Us