00:00:12Welcome to Just Breathe Parenting
00:10:26Understanding Bullying and Its Impact
00:14:39A Call for Empowerment
00:22:36Addressing Difficult Conversations in Education
00:24:18Addressing Bullying in Communities
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Picture your child standing tall, brimming with confidence and equipped with the tools to deftly handle bullying. That's the promise that my guest, Suzanne Jean, delivers on in our insightful conversation today. Suzanne, a passionate advocate for empowering young minds, takes us back to the 70s, painting a stark picture of how at-risk children were stigmatized and criminalized. She then walks us through the evolution of her innovative four-pillar program that cultivates self-confidence through self-defense, with a focus on awareness, attention, avoidance, and action. Suzanne's dedication to transforming young lives shines through as she stresses the significance of being mindful, engaging in open dialogues, and educating children about the intricate workings of their brains.
Diving into compelling narratives, Suzanne shares the transformative journey of her daughter's inner-city classroom. These stories serve as a testament to the potency of self-awareness and resilience. She speaks of the profound impact of positive affirmation and the effectiveness of her program through self-defense, mindfulness, play, and breath work. These tools are instrumental in boosting confidence and teaching kids to regulate their emotions, ultimately changing their behavior and their lives for the better.
We wrap up our conversation by emphasizing the urgent need to equip our children with the knowledge and the skills to navigate the complex world of emotions. The issue of bullying prevention and youth empowerment take center stage as we explore the connection between the brain, body, and spirit. Suzanne offers valuable insights on managing anxiety, fear, and other challenging emotions. She shares her vision to train youth as leaders, introducing them to the world of martial arts and sports. Tune in for a conversation that aims to enlighten, inspire, and empower.
About our Guest:
Suzanne Jean is the Director of Fit4Defense Consulting Ltd. operating a unique anti-bullying program called PowerED. This is a holistic life program that inspires confidence in participants to be heard, safe in the community and free from abuse through assertive communication, self defense and awareness exercises. Suzanne has over fifty years of experience in the design, implementation and accreditation of community-based programs in the social service field. She possesses lifelong experience as a martial artist with a black belt in karate and an advanced tai chi practitioner. Suzanne is a recently published author of "Bullying Stops Here-Steps to Safety, Strength, Confidence and Empowerment.
Suzanne book - Bullying Stops Here - https://amzn.to/46Z4jl3
Hi, I’m Heather Hester, and I’m so glad you’re here!
Feeling uncertain or overwhelmed? Download my free guide to take you from Panic to Plan.
Join a private community with other parents and allies just like you!
Stay informed - receive my newsletter
Invite me to speak at your workshop or event
Read my book, Parenting with Pride.
Share More Human. More Kind. Please subscribe, rate, and review!
Connect heather@heatherhester.net
Watch on YouTube
Listen to *NEW* episodes every Tuesday and Friday!
At the heart of my work is a deep commitment to compassion, authenticity, and transformative allyship, especially for those navigating the complexities of parenting LGBTQ kids. Through this podcast, speaking, my writing, and the spaces I create, I help people unlearn bias, embrace their full humanity, and grow their capacity for courageous, compassionate connection.
For parents, allies, and those pioneering a way to lead with love and kindness, I’m here with true, messy, and heart-warming stories, real tools, and grounding support to help you move from fear to fierce, informed action.
Whether you’re listening in, working with me directly, or quietly taking it all in, I see you. And I’m so glad you’re part of this journey.
Takeaways:
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of self-awareness for children in addressing bullying.
- Building confidence through self-defense can empower kids to handle bullying situations effectively.
- Creating healthy, confident kids is essential to reduce bullying in schools and communities.
- Open discussions about difficult topics like suicide and abuse are crucial for youth support.
- The program includes mindfulness techniques to help children self-regulate their emotions better.
- Suzanne Jean's curriculum promotes a community approach to tackle bullying at all levels.
More Human. More Kind. formerly Just Breathe: Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen is a safe and supportive podcast in a heartfelt and empowering space where a mom and advocate offers practical guidance and education to parents and allies, fostering empathy, kindness, love, and strong boundaries while supporting LGBTQ teens and the diverse LGBTQ community—including gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, transgender, and queer individuals—through conversations about mental health, grief, gender identity, sexual orientation, human rights, social justice, parenting, parent support, and meaningful LGBTQ allyship and allyship in action.
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy
English
United States
IN THIS EPISODE
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
Heather Hester
00:00:12
Welcome to Just Breathe Parenting, your LGBTQ team, the podcast transforming the conversation around loving and raising an LGBTQ child.
Heather Hester
00:00:24
My name is Heather Hester, and I am so grateful you are here.
Heather Hester
00:00:29
I want you to take a deep breath and know that for the time we are together, you are in the safety of the Just Breathe nest.
Heather Hester
00:00:39
Whether today's show is an amazing guest or me sharing stories, resources, strategies, or lessons I've learned along our journey, I want you to feel like we're just hanging out at a coffee shop, having a cozy chat.
Heather Hester
00:00:56
Most of all, I want you to remember that wherever you are on this journey right now, in this moment in time, you are not alone.
Speaker B
00:01:13
Welcome to Just Breathe, everyone.
Speaker B
00:01:16
So happy you are here, and I'm really, really excited to just jump right in with our guest for today.
Speaker B
00:01:24
Suzanne Jean is here to talk about really, really important topic that we all can relate to, that our kids can relate to.
Speaker B
00:01:34
And I'm just really excited to learn about what she teaches, what she's learned in her research and her studies.
Speaker B
00:01:44
And so we're just going to jump right in and welcome so much to the show.
Speaker B
00:01:49
I'm so really thrilled that you're here and excited to hear your stories.
Suzanne Jean
00:01:55
Wow.
Suzanne Jean
00:01:55
Thank you, Heather.
Suzanne Jean
00:01:56
I'm really happy to be here, and I have, I feel, a very important message to get out around bullying and violence in our communities.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:06
I started this work many, many years ago.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:10
So my path was in social services, working with really at risk kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:15
And concurrently with that, I studied martial arts.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:19
And I began to see the synergy between working, building confidence through self defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:28
And it started working with very at risk kids and realizing that we were criminalizing them, we were putting them in jail because we couldn't deal with their trauma and their behaviors that came with that trauma.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:41
And at that time, I'm going back to the early 70s, there was not a lot of understanding about what trauma was.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:48
So we packed them into, you know, the jails and those systems, and it doesn't take very long for kids to really start to fall apart.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:59
Also, it was a time when there was a lot of street youth, kids living on the street.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:04
And I did a study at that time and realized within 24 hours, a kid would be involved in some type of criminal activity if they were on the street, whether it was just stealing food or, you know, selling drugs or whatever, and that we really needed to step up and intervene with these kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:21
So that's where the work began.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:23
And I began to teach women self defense and understand that absolutely we could, we could build Self confidence through this process.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:36
And so the actual program evolved over many years, but it has four pillars and those are attention, awareness, avoidance and action.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:49
So though the program is, I use it as a hook to get the self defense happening and get people interested.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:56
The real heart and soul of it is around self awareness exercises.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:00
So I start with attention and it's about like tuning into the here and now, which is very timely in terms of the interest in meditation and mindfulness.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:12
But if you think about it, kids nowadays, they're so hooked into the phones and computers and social media and the gaming and they are losing those skills to actually connect one to one with each other.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:31
And it's.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:32
So when I do discussions in the groups, they think it's like rocket science.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:37
They go, wow, that was really cool.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:39
Can we do that again?
Suzanne Jean
00:04:40
And I say, yeah, in the olden days we called it having a good discussion, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:04:44
We had a conversation.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:45
We can do lots more talking about these things.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:49
But if you think about it, if they're all in their own little silos, they're not really getting that experience that they get from, from that kind of attention.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:58
As and as we know where our attention goes, our energy flows, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:05:02
Yep.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:03
So if it's going in the tube, if it's going into social media, it's really depleting.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:11
The next area is awareness and this is the heart and soul.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:15
It's really just helping kids discover what they really truly believe, what they need, what they want, and then helping them get some skills to communicate that.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:24
And with bullying, it's about setting those boundaries.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:28
But to set the boundary, you have to know what the boundary is, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:05:31
You have to, you, you know, you need that self examination to be able to understand that.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:37
So I do a whole bunch of exercises around figuring those things out.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:43
Like, so talking about boundaries, talking about values, like what's important to me and what isn't important to me, and then being able to communicate that in a way that is, you know, enriching is very, very, very important.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:58
And getting them to love themselves and open their hearts because there's so much of that sense of unworthiness.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:06
And when you have bullying, I mean, it's a constant degradation of self.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:12
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:14
Because it's about differences.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:15
You're not good enough or you're not the way you should be in the world.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:21
So when you take them to a place where they really begin to see themselves in a different light, they can start to really love themselves.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:30
And I do a lot of providing information around the brain and how the brain works.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:37
And how we, our thoughts affect our feelings and we go into those areas.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:43
But I have to say, this program is fun.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:46
Like when I'm talking about how do you get kids to do that?
Suzanne Jean
00:06:49
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:06:50
It's really fun.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:51
Like I have all of these different ways and then I'm always debriefing through the physical.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:58
We're always moving, doing the self defense, okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:02
Doing the breathing exercises, doing the movement.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:06
And that way, you know, when, if I have to move something in a transition, I have all these different ways to do that.
Speaker B
00:07:14
That is so cool.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:15
Then we go to avoidance.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:17
How do you stay safe?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:19
How do you, you know, what steps do you take?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:21
And I don't just deal again in the physical realm.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:25
I start in a physical realm and then I talk about the emotional.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:29
How do we hold ourselves back?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:32
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:33
But then how do we really clearly enable ourselves to stay safe?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:40
So then there's the action.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:42
So it's the last resort is if in the event that you had to defend yourself, I teach them the skills to do that so that they can, I teach them defense position, I teach blocking, so in an event that they were bullied, they could actually defend themselves.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:01
But the avoidance moving into action.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:04
The action part to me too is it's all about making good choices and decisions.
Speaker B
00:08:11
Oh, yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:11
But again, you need that reflection to say, huh?
Suzanne Jean
00:08:14
You know, what is, what is a good choice.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:18
And the, the more at risk, the kids that I work with, the more difficult it is for them to understand risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:28
They don't.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:29
They don't understand risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:31
So we really kind of talk about that.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:34
I mean, an example, I was in a, I had a group of girls and we were sitting there and we were talking about this area, you know, of risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:41
And one girl looked at them and said, oh my goodness, I think I'm at risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:47
I sleep in the backseat of my mom's car while she's turning tricks.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:53
I just.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:54
And you know, I've been doing this a long time, but my jaw dropped.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:57
I didn't know what to say.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:59
I didn't know what to say.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:01
And the, but the girls picked it up.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:04
They said, that's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:07
You are at risk, you know, and maybe Suzanne can find help.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:11
You find a house.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:12
A house.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:15
I sat there with my jaw dropped.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:17
Right.
Speaker B
00:09:17
I am sure.
Speaker B
00:09:18
I mean.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:21
I mean, that's just right out of the realm.
Speaker B
00:09:24
Oh my goodness.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:26
So I started working with really at risk kids with a lot of people who suffer trauma, mental health.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:34
Because I have worked in social services, community based social services for 50 years.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:39
But as I progressed in building the curriculum.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:43
This is all written curriculum.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:45
I have it for children, I have it for youth, I have it for seniors.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:50
But as I began to develop it, you know, mainstream, like schools said, we have a problem here with bullying.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:58
We need this program in the schools.
Speaker B
00:10:00
Yes.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:01
So I started to teach more mainstream groups.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:04
And, yeah, it's been a great journey.
Speaker B
00:10:08
That is really extraordinary.
Speaker B
00:10:11
So in here you talk about how this program can be used for both one who is being bullied as well.
Heather Hester
00:10:23
As for one who bullies.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:27
Correct.
Speaker B
00:10:27
Can you talk about that a little bit?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:29
Well, it's called Power Ed, because bullying is about control and power.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:33
Any way you cut it.
Speaker B
00:10:35
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:35
And the way to avoid bullying is to create healthy, confident kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:41
One of the first exercises I do is I divide the group into three and I have three questions.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:48
What is bullying?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:49
Why do people bully?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:49
And what can you do about it?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:51
And they have all three groups write out the answers to this on these big sheets of paper and then they pass the sheets.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:59
So what happens if you understand that one in four kids is being bullied in the classroom when they present back the information to the larger group?
Suzanne Jean
00:11:11
The kids that bully for the first time in their lives see how other people perceive them as weak, as having problems of needing help, you know, of not feeling.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:28
Feeling good about themselves.
Speaker B
00:11:30
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:30
So it's a it.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:31
I, as an instructor, can see the little bulbs go off.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:35
I can see it in their faces.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:36
I can pick them out.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:37
But nobody knows.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:38
Like, it's an anonymous process.
Speaker B
00:11:40
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:41
But it's the beginning of self awareness for them.
Speaker B
00:11:44
Sure.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:45
And in my book, I have this.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:46
In my book, I have this story.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:48
My daughter's an instructor.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:50
And I went, and she had a tough class in the inner city.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:53
And she said, mom, come and teach it with me.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:55
So I went.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:55
And there was this kid that was.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:57
He was singled out as the big problem.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:00
And it was a problem, you know, but we were doing the exercise, and this exercise is in the first class.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:08
And I was in his group because I wanted to manage him.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:12
And his friends said to him, johnny, you know you're a bully, don't you?
Suzanne Jean
00:12:17
And he looked at him and I thought, here we go.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:21
He's going to escalate.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:22
He's going to get angry.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:23
I'm going to have a scene.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:24
And he looked at him and he said, but I don't want to be.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:31
My heart just went, oh, again, self awareness, that mirror understanding.
Speaker B
00:12:38
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:12:39
That.
Speaker B
00:12:40
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:41
And that kid did a 360.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:43
Like, I've never seen a child change so quickly.
Speaker B
00:12:50
Sure.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:52
And one of the amazing things is I followed up and it's that behavior sustained.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:56
He decided at that moment.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:59
And he.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:00
The nice thing was he was really good at the techniques and he was really proud of himself.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:05
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:05
And I always do demos and it's like demo, demo.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:09
And he would do his demo and other kids would say, you're really good at that.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:13
And probably the first time in his life that he had.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:17
Had gotten positive, you know, feedback.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:22
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:23
They're saying that.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:24
And that is like a little seed that just blossoms so quickly.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:29
Yeah, I am good at something.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:31
I'm worth something.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:33
I'm important.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:35
These are the messages that I am working at getting out there.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:41
And yeah, and bullying hurts, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:13:45
And bullying hurts.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:46
And when I.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:47
Because I deal with physical.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:48
They can kind of feel that pain sometimes, you know, pinch.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:52
It hurts.
Speaker B
00:13:54
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:54
So when you.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:55
And the passive aggressive bullying that.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:58
That's happening on the Internet is so gutless because the kids don't take responsibility for it, but they hurt.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:05
So they need to understand it's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:08
It's not okay to hurt people.
Speaker B
00:14:11
No, it's not.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:13
For their differences.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:15
And I know.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:16
You know, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:19
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:20
That's a little story from the book.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:22
So the book is about transformational stories.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:25
Like, I tell stories where people really grow and learn through this process, this program.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:34
And yeah, I'd love to.
Speaker B
00:14:37
Would you share one of the stories?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:39
Well, the first story is pretty interesting because it's a.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:42
It.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:44
I was teaching women self defense and I got a call and this woman said, you Suzanne?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:50
And I said, yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:51
She says, oh, the word on the street is you're okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:55
And I said, oh, well, who are you?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:57
And she said, well, my name's Rhonda.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:00
She said, I'm a sex trade worker.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:02
She said, we're having trouble.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:04
Like, there's a serial killer and he's.
Speaker B
00:15:06
He's.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:07
He's killed some of my friends with piano wire.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:10
And we need self defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:12
And we heard that you do that.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:15
So I said, well, I'm not sure I can help you, but I'd be willing to talk about it.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:19
And she said, I'll set up a meeting.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:22
2am at Fresco's on Davy street in Vancouver.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:26
The meeting was at 2 in the morning.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:29
So I thought, what have I gotten into?
Suzanne Jean
00:15:31
So I tell this story, I end up showing up.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:34
And she had reserved the back of the restaurant, and 50 women came.
Speaker B
00:16:32
Oh, my goodness.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:34
And we had a meeting and we talked about what self defense is about my conditions.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:41
And I was right.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:42
I didn't Know what I was doing?
Suzanne Jean
00:16:44
You gotta understand.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:45
I mean, this was unbelievable.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:46
But I was willing to give it a go.
Speaker B
00:16:48
Of course.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:50
But the conditions where they showed up, they weren't wasted on drugs or alcohol.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:58
But the big one was that they gave 100%.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:00
They gave me 100% of what they could do.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:03
And I worked with, I worked with this.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:04
Guess when that class was 7am when they got off work.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:10
Because Rhonda said if they went home, they'd all be getting up at different times and it wouldn't work.
Speaker B
00:17:15
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:16
So they came at 7 in the morning.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:19
And I saw what resilience is about.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:21
I, I saw what community is about.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:23
How they began, they began to look after each other, say no to getting in cars when they knew that it was dangerous.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:31
Watching each other's backs, understanding their defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:37
I mean, and in the background, I worked with my martial arts friends to, to hone techniques that, that would be helpful to them.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:46
How do you do self defense?
Suzanne Jean
00:17:47
In stilettos?
Speaker B
00:17:50
I would imagine the stiletto could be used.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:53
It's like a stabbing.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:56
But anyway, this, this was amazing experience.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:59
But I saw how they looked after each other, the sense of community and how, you know, we marginalize people so easily.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:08
We put them in those little boxes.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:11
But I'm telling you, those women taught me more.
Speaker B
00:18:16
Well, they're human beings.
Speaker B
00:18:18
Right.
Speaker B
00:18:18
I mean, they're human beings just like everyone else.
Speaker B
00:18:21
And I love that.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:22
Yeah.
Speaker B
00:18:23
And I, I love.
Speaker B
00:18:24
Thank you for sharing that story because I think that it's really important to humanize people.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:29
Absolutely.
Speaker B
00:18:30
And I mean, that is definitely a piece of bullying.
Speaker B
00:18:33
Right.
Speaker B
00:18:33
That it dehumanizes.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:35
Yeah.
Speaker B
00:18:35
And.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:36
But they develop the confidence in themselves that they could take care of themselves.
Speaker B
00:18:41
Right, right, right.
Speaker B
00:18:44
So these four pillars really transcend.
Speaker B
00:18:48
I mean, this works for anyone, anywhere.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:52
At any time, are interrelated and as I said.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:56
But the actual curriculum is.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:59
There's a, It's a lot of fun.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:01
I build in so much play.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:04
And I have been adding a lot more mindfulness and the kids love it.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:09
Like with my group today, I'll, I'll do a lot of mindfulness with them because they need, they, they need the tools to self regulate.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:17
The fastest way to self regulate is through breath.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:20
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:20
And if we can.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:21
And that's your program, just breathe.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:25
That's right.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:26
And it's the exhalation.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:30
And so I'm doing a lot more of that with them and building that into the curriculum in different places.
Speaker B
00:19:39
That's fantastic.
Speaker B
00:19:40
That's fantastic.
Speaker B
00:19:41
Well, I imagine too, with any of, you know, Any of the people that you work with, I guess.
Speaker B
00:19:48
Let me pose this as a question.
Speaker B
00:19:51
Which of your four pillars is the most surprising to people that you work with?
Speaker B
00:19:55
Where you get the most like, you know, light bulb moments or ahas, or connection?
Suzanne Jean
00:20:00
Self awareness.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:01
Yeah, self awareness.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:03
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:04
The self awareness.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:05
And, you know, through the self defense, they can deal with fear, though, in a really gut way.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:13
They have focus pads.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:14
They can hit a focus pad.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:16
They can feel physical strength.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:18
They can dissipate fear.
Speaker B
00:20:20
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:21
They can dissipate anger and those, Those.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:24
Those scary emotions.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:28
So that's also really, really helpful and working in, working with the.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:34
The stories in my book are very extreme trauma.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:38
And I use a lot of that technique of just being able to smack something, smack something hard, you know?
Suzanne Jean
00:20:47
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:47
And just have that ex.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:49
That feeling of strength and power.
Speaker B
00:20:52
Right.
Speaker B
00:20:52
And release, I imagine, as well.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:55
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:56
And guess what happens when you smack something?
Suzanne Jean
00:20:58
You exhale.
Speaker B
00:21:00
Yes, you do.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:02
And then guess what happens then you have to take a full breath in.
Speaker B
00:21:05
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:06
Then you feed all that.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:08
All those systems.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:09
So, yeah, that is.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:12
I loved it when I saw the name of your podcast.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:14
I loved it.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:16
I loved it.
Speaker B
00:21:18
Well, thank you.
Speaker B
00:21:21
We are very simpatico.
Speaker B
00:21:23
And it is definitely the, you know, the breath is a huge thing that really helped me early on because it helped me reconnect.
Speaker B
00:21:33
It helped me, you know, get.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:35
Well, it kicks you into a whole different nervous system.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:37
You know, you're in a different place completely.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:40
You're out of all, you know, fight or flight.
Speaker B
00:21:43
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:43
And this is something else to teach kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:46
They need to learn about the brain.
Speaker B
00:21:48
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:49
What's going on in our brain and the connection to our body and our spirit.
Speaker B
00:21:56
That is so.
Speaker B
00:21:57
And how everything really is connected.
Speaker B
00:21:59
Right.
Speaker B
00:22:00
And how they can care for it.
Speaker B
00:22:02
I think that so many of these pieces are left out of education for our adolescents or for children and adolescents even, that everything for them seems so like, this is over here and that's over here.
Speaker B
00:22:17
Nothing is.
Speaker B
00:22:18
They don't see the connection.
Speaker B
00:22:20
So I really love that you're teaching how everything is interconnected and how to be aware and.
Speaker B
00:22:30
And how.
Speaker B
00:22:30
I mean, this is really just such a wonderful lesson.
Speaker B
00:22:33
And not only self awareness, but empowerment.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:38
Well, and you can be in control of yourself.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:42
And it's such a scary thing not, you know, to experience anxiety and all of those heart.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:47
Heart emotions like anger and anxiety and not be in control and just to be able to be in control of yourself and like, face those fears.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:57
It's just such a positive thing.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:59
A lot of conversations in the school like they, they're not happening and they're the ones that need to be happening.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:06
And I, and I've taken them on.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:08
We talk about suicide.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:10
Good.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:10
We talk about self harm.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:12
We talk about sexual abuse.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:13
They won't talk about sexual abuse.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:16
No.
Speaker B
00:23:16
I know.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:17
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:17
So those tough subjects.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:21
And again, I, I'm doing it in a really careful way and I'm able to always debrief and always move things through physically so they're not, it's not left hanging.
Speaker B
00:23:31
Right.
Speaker B
00:23:31
Or stuck.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:33
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:33
And I also connect.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:34
When I'm doing a program anywhere, I connect to resources.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:37
If I have to refer kids, I often get, you know, a kid coming up after and saying, oh, my friend has a drinking problem and can you, you know, or my friend.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:48
This is happening to my friend.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:49
And I always know it's them.
Speaker B
00:23:50
Right, right.
Speaker B
00:23:54
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:54
Yeah.
Speaker B
00:23:55
Oh, my goodness.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:56
I just realized, you know, I just realized I need help with this.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:59
You know, my boyfriend is, is hurting me.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:02
Right, right.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:02
I mean, these things, they, they come forth with that and, and I'm not offerings to all people.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:09
So I, I connect with resources.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:12
Like, I'll connect with the counselor.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:14
Sure.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:15
I have.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:16
And I have.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:16
My instructors do that in any area.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:19
The other place that they do a resource list is sports, martial arts.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:26
Because often once kids start to move again, they say, oh, I used to do this.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:31
I feel good.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:32
You know, I'd like to dance again.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:34
I would like to.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:35
I'd like to study martial arts.
Speaker B
00:24:37
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:37
So it's really great to have those resources and be able to refer them.
Speaker B
00:24:41
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:42
When it's happening.
Speaker B
00:24:44
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:45
And I, I wanted to, I was trying to get a grant.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:48
I'd like to develop a youth navigator program to train kids as leaders, to take kids, to introduce kids to those things.
Speaker B
00:24:56
Oh, nice.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:57
Because it, you know, walking through those doors is really hard.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:00
But if you have a kid that can be a peer navigator and go to a martial arts class with a kid or go to a sports thing, it would be great.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:10
So that's something I'm working on.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:13
But the last thing I want to talk about is, you know, the book is Bullying Stops Here.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:19
And I think that as communities, we need to get programs in our schools and community centers.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:25
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:25
So the last chapter talks about that.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:28
And it is not difficult.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:31
It just takes coordination.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:33
And my company is called Fit for Defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:36
And I'm really happy to work with groups to figure out how they can get a program going in their organization and help them through the steps.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:46
So there's basically the steps are laid out in the last chapter and how to do it.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:51
But it has to be everyone.
Speaker B
00:25:53
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:54
It can't just, you know, you can't just have the teachers and not the parents.
Speaker B
00:26:00
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:00
You need the whole community.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:03
This is also happening in offices.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:05
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:05
Like workplaces.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:07
Bullying is huge because little bullies grow up to be big bullies.
Speaker B
00:26:12
Exactly.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:12
Right.
Speaker B
00:26:13
I was just gonna say, you know, it transcends age, so.
Speaker B
00:26:18
Yes.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:18
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:19
So my message is that we begin to get that message out everywhere that it's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:25
It's just not acceptable.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:28
And we have gangs murdering each other, Incidences daily.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:36
And as you know, in your area, just so much discrimination and hurt.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:43
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:26:44
Yes.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:45
That's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:46
It's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:48
That's what I'm working on.
Speaker B
00:26:49
I love that.
Speaker B
00:26:50
So do you have.
Speaker B
00:26:51
Do you work virtually with people or do you only can.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:55
Yeah, I can work virtually.
Speaker B
00:26:56
Okay.
Speaker B
00:26:57
Okay.
Speaker B
00:26:59
You had mentioned that you're.
Speaker B
00:27:00
I have.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:01
I have a train.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:01
The trainer program.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:02
So I trained instructors in different areas.
Speaker B
00:27:05
Okay, that's what I was gonna ask.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:06
So I do have instructors in other places that are very, very good and can go in and work with communities as well to do that kind of work or get a class going.
Speaker B
00:27:17
Wonderful.
Speaker B
00:27:17
That's great.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:18
And we have classes.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:19
We work with, you know, we work with sports groups, we work in community centers, we work in jails, we work in alternate schools, we work in mainstream schools.
Speaker B
00:27:29
It's incredible.
Speaker B
00:27:31
Incredible mission.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:32
And the curriculum is.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:34
Well, the full youth curriculum is 10 weeks, but it can be delivered in a lot of different ways.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:41
Because if it's in a PE class, it might be twice a week, you know, splitting the classes.
Speaker B
00:27:47
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:48
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:48
So it's very flexible.
Speaker B
00:27:52
That is fantastic.
Speaker B
00:27:54
Really great.
Speaker B
00:27:55
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker B
00:27:56
Well, I am so thrilled.
Speaker B
00:27:57
So tell everyone the name of your books here and can they get it on?
Suzanne Jean
00:28:05
And they can.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:05
They can get the book on Amazon.
Speaker B
00:28:07
Wonderful.
Speaker B
00:28:08
Well, I will have links in the show notes so it that, you know, obviously you can.
Speaker B
00:28:12
You can jump on right now, everybody and jump onto Amazon and grab it.
Speaker B
00:28:16
Otherwise there will be a link.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:18
Start your anti bullying program.
Speaker B
00:28:20
That's right.
Speaker B
00:28:20
Exactly.
Speaker B
00:28:21
Well, all of the information is in there as well, but I will also give some links to you so people can reach out directly if they would like.
Speaker B
00:28:29
If they're like, I don't need to read the book.
Speaker B
00:28:31
I just want to do this.
Speaker B
00:28:33
They can reach out to you right away.
Speaker B
00:28:35
So I am just so grateful that you came onto the show and that we were connected by a very dear mutual acquaintance and that this is just such important work that you're doing.
Speaker B
00:28:52
And I know, I am grateful, Heather.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:55
Your work is important, too.
Speaker B
00:28:57
Oh, well, thank you.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:58
And just providing that support for families and.
Suzanne Jean
00:29:02
And kids is really great.
Speaker B
00:29:06
Thank you.
Speaker B
00:29:07
Well, we definitely, like you said earlier, we are simpatico and we're simpatico.
Speaker B
00:29:12
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:29:12
So we're just going to breathe.
Speaker B
00:29:14
That's right.
Speaker B
00:29:15
Exactly.
Speaker B
00:29:16
I mean, you know, if nothing else, we have that.
Speaker B
00:29:20
That's always with us.
Speaker B
00:29:22
Right?
Speaker B
00:29:22
We always have the breath.
Speaker B
00:29:23
So, anyway, thank you.
Speaker B
00:29:25
Thank you so much for being here today.
Suzanne Jean
00:29:27
Okay, bye.
Heather Hester
00:29:28
Heather, thanks so much for joining me today.
Heather Hester
00:29:34
If you enjoyed today's episode, I would be so grateful.
Heather Hester
00:29:38
For a rating or a review, click on the link in the show notes or go to my website, chrysalismama.com to stay up to date on my latest resources, as well as to learn how you can work with me.
Heather Hester
00:29:54
Please share this podcast with anyone who needs to know that they are not alone.
Heather Hester
00:29:59
And remember to just breathe until next time.
00:00:12
Welcome to Just Breathe Parenting, your LGBTQ team, the podcast transforming the conversation around loving and raising an LGBTQ child.
Heather Hester
00:00:24
My name is Heather Hester, and I am so grateful you are here.
Heather Hester
00:00:29
I want you to take a deep breath and know that for the time we are together, you are in the safety of the Just Breathe nest.
Heather Hester
00:00:39
Whether today's show is an amazing guest or me sharing stories, resources, strategies, or lessons I've learned along our journey, I want you to feel like we're just hanging out at a coffee shop, having a cozy chat.
Heather Hester
00:00:56
Most of all, I want you to remember that wherever you are on this journey right now, in this moment in time, you are not alone.
Speaker B
00:01:13
Welcome to Just Breathe, everyone.
Speaker B
00:01:16
So happy you are here, and I'm really, really excited to just jump right in with our guest for today.
Speaker B
00:01:24
Suzanne Jean is here to talk about really, really important topic that we all can relate to, that our kids can relate to.
Speaker B
00:01:34
And I'm just really excited to learn about what she teaches, what she's learned in her research and her studies.
Speaker B
00:01:44
And so we're just going to jump right in and welcome so much to the show.
Speaker B
00:01:49
I'm so really thrilled that you're here and excited to hear your stories.
Suzanne Jean
00:01:55
Wow.
Suzanne Jean
00:01:55
Thank you, Heather.
Suzanne Jean
00:01:56
I'm really happy to be here, and I have, I feel, a very important message to get out around bullying and violence in our communities.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:06
I started this work many, many years ago.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:10
So my path was in social services, working with really at risk kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:15
And concurrently with that, I studied martial arts.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:19
And I began to see the synergy between working, building confidence through self defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:28
And it started working with very at risk kids and realizing that we were criminalizing them, we were putting them in jail because we couldn't deal with their trauma and their behaviors that came with that trauma.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:41
And at that time, I'm going back to the early 70s, there was not a lot of understanding about what trauma was.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:48
So we packed them into, you know, the jails and those systems, and it doesn't take very long for kids to really start to fall apart.
Suzanne Jean
00:02:59
Also, it was a time when there was a lot of street youth, kids living on the street.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:04
And I did a study at that time and realized within 24 hours, a kid would be involved in some type of criminal activity if they were on the street, whether it was just stealing food or, you know, selling drugs or whatever, and that we really needed to step up and intervene with these kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:21
So that's where the work began.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:23
And I began to teach women self defense and understand that absolutely we could, we could build Self confidence through this process.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:36
And so the actual program evolved over many years, but it has four pillars and those are attention, awareness, avoidance and action.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:49
So though the program is, I use it as a hook to get the self defense happening and get people interested.
Suzanne Jean
00:03:56
The real heart and soul of it is around self awareness exercises.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:00
So I start with attention and it's about like tuning into the here and now, which is very timely in terms of the interest in meditation and mindfulness.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:12
But if you think about it, kids nowadays, they're so hooked into the phones and computers and social media and the gaming and they are losing those skills to actually connect one to one with each other.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:31
And it's.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:32
So when I do discussions in the groups, they think it's like rocket science.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:37
They go, wow, that was really cool.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:39
Can we do that again?
Suzanne Jean
00:04:40
And I say, yeah, in the olden days we called it having a good discussion, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:04:44
We had a conversation.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:45
We can do lots more talking about these things.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:49
But if you think about it, if they're all in their own little silos, they're not really getting that experience that they get from, from that kind of attention.
Suzanne Jean
00:04:58
As and as we know where our attention goes, our energy flows, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:05:02
Yep.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:03
So if it's going in the tube, if it's going into social media, it's really depleting.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:11
The next area is awareness and this is the heart and soul.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:15
It's really just helping kids discover what they really truly believe, what they need, what they want, and then helping them get some skills to communicate that.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:24
And with bullying, it's about setting those boundaries.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:28
But to set the boundary, you have to know what the boundary is, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:05:31
You have to, you, you know, you need that self examination to be able to understand that.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:37
So I do a whole bunch of exercises around figuring those things out.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:43
Like, so talking about boundaries, talking about values, like what's important to me and what isn't important to me, and then being able to communicate that in a way that is, you know, enriching is very, very, very important.
Suzanne Jean
00:05:58
And getting them to love themselves and open their hearts because there's so much of that sense of unworthiness.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:06
And when you have bullying, I mean, it's a constant degradation of self.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:12
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:14
Because it's about differences.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:15
You're not good enough or you're not the way you should be in the world.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:21
So when you take them to a place where they really begin to see themselves in a different light, they can start to really love themselves.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:30
And I do a lot of providing information around the brain and how the brain works.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:37
And how we, our thoughts affect our feelings and we go into those areas.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:43
But I have to say, this program is fun.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:46
Like when I'm talking about how do you get kids to do that?
Suzanne Jean
00:06:49
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:06:50
It's really fun.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:51
Like I have all of these different ways and then I'm always debriefing through the physical.
Suzanne Jean
00:06:58
We're always moving, doing the self defense, okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:02
Doing the breathing exercises, doing the movement.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:06
And that way, you know, when, if I have to move something in a transition, I have all these different ways to do that.
Speaker B
00:07:14
That is so cool.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:15
Then we go to avoidance.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:17
How do you stay safe?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:19
How do you, you know, what steps do you take?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:21
And I don't just deal again in the physical realm.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:25
I start in a physical realm and then I talk about the emotional.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:29
How do we hold ourselves back?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:32
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:33
But then how do we really clearly enable ourselves to stay safe?
Suzanne Jean
00:07:40
So then there's the action.
Suzanne Jean
00:07:42
So it's the last resort is if in the event that you had to defend yourself, I teach them the skills to do that so that they can, I teach them defense position, I teach blocking, so in an event that they were bullied, they could actually defend themselves.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:01
But the avoidance moving into action.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:04
The action part to me too is it's all about making good choices and decisions.
Speaker B
00:08:11
Oh, yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:11
But again, you need that reflection to say, huh?
Suzanne Jean
00:08:14
You know, what is, what is a good choice.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:18
And the, the more at risk, the kids that I work with, the more difficult it is for them to understand risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:28
They don't.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:29
They don't understand risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:31
So we really kind of talk about that.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:34
I mean, an example, I was in a, I had a group of girls and we were sitting there and we were talking about this area, you know, of risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:41
And one girl looked at them and said, oh my goodness, I think I'm at risk.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:47
I sleep in the backseat of my mom's car while she's turning tricks.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:53
I just.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:54
And you know, I've been doing this a long time, but my jaw dropped.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:57
I didn't know what to say.
Suzanne Jean
00:08:59
I didn't know what to say.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:01
And the, but the girls picked it up.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:04
They said, that's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:07
You are at risk, you know, and maybe Suzanne can find help.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:11
You find a house.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:12
A house.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:15
I sat there with my jaw dropped.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:17
Right.
Speaker B
00:09:17
I am sure.
Speaker B
00:09:18
I mean.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:21
I mean, that's just right out of the realm.
Speaker B
00:09:24
Oh my goodness.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:26
So I started working with really at risk kids with a lot of people who suffer trauma, mental health.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:34
Because I have worked in social services, community based social services for 50 years.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:39
But as I progressed in building the curriculum.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:43
This is all written curriculum.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:45
I have it for children, I have it for youth, I have it for seniors.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:50
But as I began to develop it, you know, mainstream, like schools said, we have a problem here with bullying.
Suzanne Jean
00:09:58
We need this program in the schools.
Speaker B
00:10:00
Yes.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:01
So I started to teach more mainstream groups.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:04
And, yeah, it's been a great journey.
Speaker B
00:10:08
That is really extraordinary.
Speaker B
00:10:11
So in here you talk about how this program can be used for both one who is being bullied as well.
Heather Hester
00:10:23
As for one who bullies.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:27
Correct.
Speaker B
00:10:27
Can you talk about that a little bit?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:29
Well, it's called Power Ed, because bullying is about control and power.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:33
Any way you cut it.
Speaker B
00:10:35
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:35
And the way to avoid bullying is to create healthy, confident kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:41
One of the first exercises I do is I divide the group into three and I have three questions.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:48
What is bullying?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:49
Why do people bully?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:49
And what can you do about it?
Suzanne Jean
00:10:51
And they have all three groups write out the answers to this on these big sheets of paper and then they pass the sheets.
Suzanne Jean
00:10:59
So what happens if you understand that one in four kids is being bullied in the classroom when they present back the information to the larger group?
Suzanne Jean
00:11:11
The kids that bully for the first time in their lives see how other people perceive them as weak, as having problems of needing help, you know, of not feeling.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:28
Feeling good about themselves.
Speaker B
00:11:30
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:30
So it's a it.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:31
I, as an instructor, can see the little bulbs go off.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:35
I can see it in their faces.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:36
I can pick them out.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:37
But nobody knows.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:38
Like, it's an anonymous process.
Speaker B
00:11:40
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:41
But it's the beginning of self awareness for them.
Speaker B
00:11:44
Sure.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:45
And in my book, I have this.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:46
In my book, I have this story.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:48
My daughter's an instructor.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:50
And I went, and she had a tough class in the inner city.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:53
And she said, mom, come and teach it with me.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:55
So I went.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:55
And there was this kid that was.
Suzanne Jean
00:11:57
He was singled out as the big problem.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:00
And it was a problem, you know, but we were doing the exercise, and this exercise is in the first class.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:08
And I was in his group because I wanted to manage him.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:12
And his friends said to him, johnny, you know you're a bully, don't you?
Suzanne Jean
00:12:17
And he looked at him and I thought, here we go.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:21
He's going to escalate.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:22
He's going to get angry.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:23
I'm going to have a scene.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:24
And he looked at him and he said, but I don't want to be.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:31
My heart just went, oh, again, self awareness, that mirror understanding.
Speaker B
00:12:38
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:12:39
That.
Speaker B
00:12:40
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:41
And that kid did a 360.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:43
Like, I've never seen a child change so quickly.
Speaker B
00:12:50
Sure.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:52
And one of the amazing things is I followed up and it's that behavior sustained.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:56
He decided at that moment.
Suzanne Jean
00:12:59
And he.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:00
The nice thing was he was really good at the techniques and he was really proud of himself.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:05
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:05
And I always do demos and it's like demo, demo.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:09
And he would do his demo and other kids would say, you're really good at that.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:13
And probably the first time in his life that he had.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:17
Had gotten positive, you know, feedback.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:22
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:23
They're saying that.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:24
And that is like a little seed that just blossoms so quickly.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:29
Yeah, I am good at something.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:31
I'm worth something.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:33
I'm important.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:35
These are the messages that I am working at getting out there.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:41
And yeah, and bullying hurts, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:13:45
And bullying hurts.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:46
And when I.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:47
Because I deal with physical.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:48
They can kind of feel that pain sometimes, you know, pinch.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:52
It hurts.
Speaker B
00:13:54
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:54
So when you.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:55
And the passive aggressive bullying that.
Suzanne Jean
00:13:58
That's happening on the Internet is so gutless because the kids don't take responsibility for it, but they hurt.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:05
So they need to understand it's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:08
It's not okay to hurt people.
Speaker B
00:14:11
No, it's not.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:13
For their differences.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:15
And I know.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:16
You know, right?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:19
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:20
That's a little story from the book.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:22
So the book is about transformational stories.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:25
Like, I tell stories where people really grow and learn through this process, this program.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:34
And yeah, I'd love to.
Speaker B
00:14:37
Would you share one of the stories?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:39
Well, the first story is pretty interesting because it's a.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:42
It.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:44
I was teaching women self defense and I got a call and this woman said, you Suzanne?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:50
And I said, yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:51
She says, oh, the word on the street is you're okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:14:55
And I said, oh, well, who are you?
Suzanne Jean
00:14:57
And she said, well, my name's Rhonda.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:00
She said, I'm a sex trade worker.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:02
She said, we're having trouble.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:04
Like, there's a serial killer and he's.
Speaker B
00:15:06
He's.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:07
He's killed some of my friends with piano wire.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:10
And we need self defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:12
And we heard that you do that.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:15
So I said, well, I'm not sure I can help you, but I'd be willing to talk about it.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:19
And she said, I'll set up a meeting.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:22
2am at Fresco's on Davy street in Vancouver.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:26
The meeting was at 2 in the morning.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:29
So I thought, what have I gotten into?
Suzanne Jean
00:15:31
So I tell this story, I end up showing up.
Suzanne Jean
00:15:34
And she had reserved the back of the restaurant, and 50 women came.
Speaker B
00:16:32
Oh, my goodness.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:34
And we had a meeting and we talked about what self defense is about my conditions.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:41
And I was right.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:42
I didn't Know what I was doing?
Suzanne Jean
00:16:44
You gotta understand.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:45
I mean, this was unbelievable.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:46
But I was willing to give it a go.
Speaker B
00:16:48
Of course.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:50
But the conditions where they showed up, they weren't wasted on drugs or alcohol.
Suzanne Jean
00:16:58
But the big one was that they gave 100%.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:00
They gave me 100% of what they could do.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:03
And I worked with, I worked with this.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:04
Guess when that class was 7am when they got off work.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:10
Because Rhonda said if they went home, they'd all be getting up at different times and it wouldn't work.
Speaker B
00:17:15
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:16
So they came at 7 in the morning.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:19
And I saw what resilience is about.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:21
I, I saw what community is about.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:23
How they began, they began to look after each other, say no to getting in cars when they knew that it was dangerous.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:31
Watching each other's backs, understanding their defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:37
I mean, and in the background, I worked with my martial arts friends to, to hone techniques that, that would be helpful to them.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:46
How do you do self defense?
Suzanne Jean
00:17:47
In stilettos?
Speaker B
00:17:50
I would imagine the stiletto could be used.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:53
It's like a stabbing.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:56
But anyway, this, this was amazing experience.
Suzanne Jean
00:17:59
But I saw how they looked after each other, the sense of community and how, you know, we marginalize people so easily.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:08
We put them in those little boxes.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:11
But I'm telling you, those women taught me more.
Speaker B
00:18:16
Well, they're human beings.
Speaker B
00:18:18
Right.
Speaker B
00:18:18
I mean, they're human beings just like everyone else.
Speaker B
00:18:21
And I love that.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:22
Yeah.
Speaker B
00:18:23
And I, I love.
Speaker B
00:18:24
Thank you for sharing that story because I think that it's really important to humanize people.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:29
Absolutely.
Speaker B
00:18:30
And I mean, that is definitely a piece of bullying.
Speaker B
00:18:33
Right.
Speaker B
00:18:33
That it dehumanizes.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:35
Yeah.
Speaker B
00:18:35
And.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:36
But they develop the confidence in themselves that they could take care of themselves.
Speaker B
00:18:41
Right, right, right.
Speaker B
00:18:44
So these four pillars really transcend.
Speaker B
00:18:48
I mean, this works for anyone, anywhere.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:52
At any time, are interrelated and as I said.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:56
But the actual curriculum is.
Suzanne Jean
00:18:59
There's a, It's a lot of fun.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:01
I build in so much play.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:04
And I have been adding a lot more mindfulness and the kids love it.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:09
Like with my group today, I'll, I'll do a lot of mindfulness with them because they need, they, they need the tools to self regulate.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:17
The fastest way to self regulate is through breath.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:20
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:20
And if we can.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:21
And that's your program, just breathe.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:25
That's right.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:26
And it's the exhalation.
Suzanne Jean
00:19:30
And so I'm doing a lot more of that with them and building that into the curriculum in different places.
Speaker B
00:19:39
That's fantastic.
Speaker B
00:19:40
That's fantastic.
Speaker B
00:19:41
Well, I imagine too, with any of, you know, Any of the people that you work with, I guess.
Speaker B
00:19:48
Let me pose this as a question.
Speaker B
00:19:51
Which of your four pillars is the most surprising to people that you work with?
Speaker B
00:19:55
Where you get the most like, you know, light bulb moments or ahas, or connection?
Suzanne Jean
00:20:00
Self awareness.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:01
Yeah, self awareness.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:03
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:04
The self awareness.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:05
And, you know, through the self defense, they can deal with fear, though, in a really gut way.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:13
They have focus pads.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:14
They can hit a focus pad.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:16
They can feel physical strength.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:18
They can dissipate fear.
Speaker B
00:20:20
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:21
They can dissipate anger and those, Those.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:24
Those scary emotions.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:28
So that's also really, really helpful and working in, working with the.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:34
The stories in my book are very extreme trauma.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:38
And I use a lot of that technique of just being able to smack something, smack something hard, you know?
Suzanne Jean
00:20:47
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:47
And just have that ex.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:49
That feeling of strength and power.
Speaker B
00:20:52
Right.
Speaker B
00:20:52
And release, I imagine, as well.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:55
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:20:56
And guess what happens when you smack something?
Suzanne Jean
00:20:58
You exhale.
Speaker B
00:21:00
Yes, you do.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:02
And then guess what happens then you have to take a full breath in.
Speaker B
00:21:05
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:06
Then you feed all that.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:08
All those systems.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:09
So, yeah, that is.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:12
I loved it when I saw the name of your podcast.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:14
I loved it.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:16
I loved it.
Speaker B
00:21:18
Well, thank you.
Speaker B
00:21:21
We are very simpatico.
Speaker B
00:21:23
And it is definitely the, you know, the breath is a huge thing that really helped me early on because it helped me reconnect.
Speaker B
00:21:33
It helped me, you know, get.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:35
Well, it kicks you into a whole different nervous system.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:37
You know, you're in a different place completely.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:40
You're out of all, you know, fight or flight.
Speaker B
00:21:43
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:43
And this is something else to teach kids.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:46
They need to learn about the brain.
Speaker B
00:21:48
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:21:49
What's going on in our brain and the connection to our body and our spirit.
Speaker B
00:21:56
That is so.
Speaker B
00:21:57
And how everything really is connected.
Speaker B
00:21:59
Right.
Speaker B
00:22:00
And how they can care for it.
Speaker B
00:22:02
I think that so many of these pieces are left out of education for our adolescents or for children and adolescents even, that everything for them seems so like, this is over here and that's over here.
Speaker B
00:22:17
Nothing is.
Speaker B
00:22:18
They don't see the connection.
Speaker B
00:22:20
So I really love that you're teaching how everything is interconnected and how to be aware and.
Speaker B
00:22:30
And how.
Speaker B
00:22:30
I mean, this is really just such a wonderful lesson.
Speaker B
00:22:33
And not only self awareness, but empowerment.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:38
Well, and you can be in control of yourself.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:42
And it's such a scary thing not, you know, to experience anxiety and all of those heart.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:47
Heart emotions like anger and anxiety and not be in control and just to be able to be in control of yourself and like, face those fears.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:57
It's just such a positive thing.
Suzanne Jean
00:22:59
A lot of conversations in the school like they, they're not happening and they're the ones that need to be happening.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:06
And I, and I've taken them on.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:08
We talk about suicide.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:10
Good.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:10
We talk about self harm.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:12
We talk about sexual abuse.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:13
They won't talk about sexual abuse.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:16
No.
Speaker B
00:23:16
I know.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:17
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:17
So those tough subjects.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:21
And again, I, I'm doing it in a really careful way and I'm able to always debrief and always move things through physically so they're not, it's not left hanging.
Speaker B
00:23:31
Right.
Speaker B
00:23:31
Or stuck.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:33
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:33
And I also connect.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:34
When I'm doing a program anywhere, I connect to resources.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:37
If I have to refer kids, I often get, you know, a kid coming up after and saying, oh, my friend has a drinking problem and can you, you know, or my friend.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:48
This is happening to my friend.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:49
And I always know it's them.
Speaker B
00:23:50
Right, right.
Speaker B
00:23:54
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:54
Yeah.
Speaker B
00:23:55
Oh, my goodness.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:56
I just realized, you know, I just realized I need help with this.
Suzanne Jean
00:23:59
You know, my boyfriend is, is hurting me.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:02
Right, right.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:02
I mean, these things, they, they come forth with that and, and I'm not offerings to all people.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:09
So I, I connect with resources.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:12
Like, I'll connect with the counselor.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:14
Sure.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:15
I have.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:16
And I have.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:16
My instructors do that in any area.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:19
The other place that they do a resource list is sports, martial arts.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:26
Because often once kids start to move again, they say, oh, I used to do this.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:31
I feel good.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:32
You know, I'd like to dance again.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:34
I would like to.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:35
I'd like to study martial arts.
Speaker B
00:24:37
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:37
So it's really great to have those resources and be able to refer them.
Speaker B
00:24:41
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:42
When it's happening.
Speaker B
00:24:44
Absolutely.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:45
And I, I wanted to, I was trying to get a grant.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:48
I'd like to develop a youth navigator program to train kids as leaders, to take kids, to introduce kids to those things.
Speaker B
00:24:56
Oh, nice.
Suzanne Jean
00:24:57
Because it, you know, walking through those doors is really hard.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:00
But if you have a kid that can be a peer navigator and go to a martial arts class with a kid or go to a sports thing, it would be great.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:10
So that's something I'm working on.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:13
But the last thing I want to talk about is, you know, the book is Bullying Stops Here.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:19
And I think that as communities, we need to get programs in our schools and community centers.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:25
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:25
So the last chapter talks about that.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:28
And it is not difficult.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:31
It just takes coordination.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:33
And my company is called Fit for Defense.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:36
And I'm really happy to work with groups to figure out how they can get a program going in their organization and help them through the steps.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:46
So there's basically the steps are laid out in the last chapter and how to do it.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:51
But it has to be everyone.
Speaker B
00:25:53
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:25:54
It can't just, you know, you can't just have the teachers and not the parents.
Speaker B
00:26:00
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:00
You need the whole community.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:03
This is also happening in offices.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:05
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:05
Like workplaces.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:07
Bullying is huge because little bullies grow up to be big bullies.
Speaker B
00:26:12
Exactly.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:12
Right.
Speaker B
00:26:13
I was just gonna say, you know, it transcends age, so.
Speaker B
00:26:18
Yes.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:18
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:19
So my message is that we begin to get that message out everywhere that it's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:25
It's just not acceptable.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:28
And we have gangs murdering each other, Incidences daily.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:36
And as you know, in your area, just so much discrimination and hurt.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:43
Right?
Suzanne Jean
00:26:44
Yes.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:45
That's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:46
It's not okay.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:48
That's what I'm working on.
Speaker B
00:26:49
I love that.
Speaker B
00:26:50
So do you have.
Speaker B
00:26:51
Do you work virtually with people or do you only can.
Suzanne Jean
00:26:55
Yeah, I can work virtually.
Speaker B
00:26:56
Okay.
Speaker B
00:26:57
Okay.
Speaker B
00:26:59
You had mentioned that you're.
Speaker B
00:27:00
I have.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:01
I have a train.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:01
The trainer program.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:02
So I trained instructors in different areas.
Speaker B
00:27:05
Okay, that's what I was gonna ask.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:06
So I do have instructors in other places that are very, very good and can go in and work with communities as well to do that kind of work or get a class going.
Speaker B
00:27:17
Wonderful.
Speaker B
00:27:17
That's great.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:18
And we have classes.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:19
We work with, you know, we work with sports groups, we work in community centers, we work in jails, we work in alternate schools, we work in mainstream schools.
Speaker B
00:27:29
It's incredible.
Speaker B
00:27:31
Incredible mission.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:32
And the curriculum is.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:34
Well, the full youth curriculum is 10 weeks, but it can be delivered in a lot of different ways.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:41
Because if it's in a PE class, it might be twice a week, you know, splitting the classes.
Speaker B
00:27:47
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:48
Yeah.
Suzanne Jean
00:27:48
So it's very flexible.
Speaker B
00:27:52
That is fantastic.
Speaker B
00:27:54
Really great.
Speaker B
00:27:55
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker B
00:27:56
Well, I am so thrilled.
Speaker B
00:27:57
So tell everyone the name of your books here and can they get it on?
Suzanne Jean
00:28:05
And they can.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:05
They can get the book on Amazon.
Speaker B
00:28:07
Wonderful.
Speaker B
00:28:08
Well, I will have links in the show notes so it that, you know, obviously you can.
Speaker B
00:28:12
You can jump on right now, everybody and jump onto Amazon and grab it.
Speaker B
00:28:16
Otherwise there will be a link.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:18
Start your anti bullying program.
Speaker B
00:28:20
That's right.
Speaker B
00:28:20
Exactly.
Speaker B
00:28:21
Well, all of the information is in there as well, but I will also give some links to you so people can reach out directly if they would like.
Speaker B
00:28:29
If they're like, I don't need to read the book.
Speaker B
00:28:31
I just want to do this.
Speaker B
00:28:33
They can reach out to you right away.
Speaker B
00:28:35
So I am just so grateful that you came onto the show and that we were connected by a very dear mutual acquaintance and that this is just such important work that you're doing.
Speaker B
00:28:52
And I know, I am grateful, Heather.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:55
Your work is important, too.
Speaker B
00:28:57
Oh, well, thank you.
Suzanne Jean
00:28:58
And just providing that support for families and.
Suzanne Jean
00:29:02
And kids is really great.
Speaker B
00:29:06
Thank you.
Speaker B
00:29:07
Well, we definitely, like you said earlier, we are simpatico and we're simpatico.
Speaker B
00:29:12
Right.
Suzanne Jean
00:29:12
So we're just going to breathe.
Speaker B
00:29:14
That's right.
Speaker B
00:29:15
Exactly.
Speaker B
00:29:16
I mean, you know, if nothing else, we have that.
Speaker B
00:29:20
That's always with us.
Speaker B
00:29:22
Right?
Speaker B
00:29:22
We always have the breath.
Speaker B
00:29:23
So, anyway, thank you.
Speaker B
00:29:25
Thank you so much for being here today.
Suzanne Jean
00:29:27
Okay, bye.
Heather Hester
00:29:28
Heather, thanks so much for joining me today.
Heather Hester
00:29:34
If you enjoyed today's episode, I would be so grateful.
Heather Hester
00:29:38
For a rating or a review, click on the link in the show notes or go to my website, chrysalismama.com to stay up to date on my latest resources, as well as to learn how you can work with me.
Heather Hester
00:29:54
Please share this podcast with anyone who needs to know that they are not alone.
Heather Hester
00:29:59
And remember to just breathe until next time.
SEARCH PAST EPISODES
Search past episodes of More Human. More Kind. | Parenting LGBTQ Kids, Unlearning Fear, Becoming More Human.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Heather Hester | Advocate for Parents of LGBTQ Teens, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
EDIT
Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date.
