Lasára Allen » Parenting and Family-Focused http://lasaraallen.com …author, educator, activist, coach. Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:59:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Arise Then, Women of This Day – The Roots of Mother’s Day http://lasaraallen.com/articles/arise-then-women-of-this-day-the-roots-of-mothers-day/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/arise-then-women-of-this-day-the-roots-of-mothers-day/#comments Sat, 07 May 2011 20:59:55 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1601 Did you know that Mother’s Day was created as an opportunity to stand against war?

Here is the first stanza of a piece of writing called The Mothers’ Day Proclamation written by Julia Ward Howe, a feminist and abolitionist, in 1870.

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, Whether our baptism be of water

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/arise-then-women-of-this-day-the-roots-of-mothers-day/feed/ 3 Fasting Against Hunger – at elephant http://lasaraallen.com/articles/fasting-against-hunger-at-elephant/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/fasting-against-hunger-at-elephant/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:37:45 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=3067 “Day five of water-only fasting. No food at all since Friday night. And I’m not the only one. Hundreds of thousands of faith leaders, secular leaders, workers’ rights activist, and poor folks nation-wide are fasting too. I happen to fall into more than one of those categories.

And still the collective silence is deafening. Too many

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/fasting-against-hunger-at-elephant/feed/ 0 Looking Forward to 2011! http://lasaraallen.com/articles/health-and-fitness/looking-forward-to-2011/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/health-and-fitness/looking-forward-to-2011/#comments Sat, 01 Jan 2011 04:03:31 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=2905 Looking Forward to 2011!

(Instead of Resolutions, Try Dedications, Intentions, and WHY NOTs Instead.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jump into Your New Year: Mind, Body, and Spirit Renewal Program * New Year’s Coaching Sessions – Start the Year with Clarity

Dedications:

Self:

To keep working toward my best over-all health: Exercise. Diet. Rest and Relaxation. Meditation. Mental

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/health-and-fitness/looking-forward-to-2011/feed/ 1 The Answer to the Season’s Biggest Question; Yes, Santa IS Real! http://lasaraallen.com/articles/the-answer-to-the-seasons-biggest-question-yes-santa-is-real/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/the-answer-to-the-seasons-biggest-question-yes-santa-is-real/#comments Fri, 26 Nov 2010 07:00:49 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=106 When it comes to the delicate matter of belief, there are creative ways to answer our children’s questions without taking the magic out of life.

When my oldest daughter was about five, she asked whether Santa Claus was real. Her dad and I told her that Santa is real — to those who believe.

Is love real?

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/the-answer-to-the-seasons-biggest-question-yes-santa-is-real/feed/ 0 Thanks and Thanksgiving – Gratitude is a Gift, and so is Remembrance http://lasaraallen.com/articles/thanks-and-thanksgiving-gratitude-is-a-gift/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/thanks-and-thanksgiving-gratitude-is-a-gift/#comments Mon, 22 Nov 2010 02:51:26 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=2414 Most of us know something about the far-from-glorious fall-out that followed that first, mythical “Thanksgiving Day”. It’s easy enough to get attached to the negative political connotations of this holiday, and to have Thanksgiving become “Guiltfast” or “Guiltfest”.

In no way do I want to belittle the horror and carnage that followed the “founding of a

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/thanks-and-thanksgiving-gratitude-is-a-gift/feed/ 0 A Grateful A – Z — A Gratitude Game for Kids of All Ages http://lasaraallen.com/articles/articles-on-gratitude-by-lasara-allen/the-gratitude-place/a-gratitude-game-for-kids-of-all-ages/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/articles-on-gratitude-by-lasara-allen/the-gratitude-place/a-gratitude-game-for-kids-of-all-ages/#comments Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:03:44 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=2372 When I was a kid, we played alphabet games in the car to pass the time on long drives or road trips. I’ve recreated one of those games, with a gratitude theme. A Grateful A to Z includes players of all ages – from talking age up.

A Grateful A to Z is an adaptable game.

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/articles-on-gratitude-by-lasara-allen/the-gratitude-place/a-gratitude-game-for-kids-of-all-ages/feed/ 0 Sex Positive Parenting http://lasaraallen.com/articles/sex-positive-parenting/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/sex-positive-parenting/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:46:49 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1830 (Reprinted from elephant journal, June 19, 2010.)

As a child of the ‘70s, and more-over, a child of the counter-culture, I can say there is such a thing as too much permissiveness. However, sexual positivity and sexual permissiveness are not by nature the same thing.

Conscious parenting has many focuses and aspects. But

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/sex-positive-parenting/feed/ 3 To Hell With Chicken Little! http://lasaraallen.com/articles/to-hell-with-chicken-little/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/to-hell-with-chicken-little/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:08:07 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1815 A while back my ten-year-old kid came home from school and said, “Mom, is the world really going to end in 2012?”

This moment was one I hadn’t even known I had a secret dread of.

I was raised as part of the Back-to-the-Land movement. If you weren’t there, you probably don’t know that a big chunk

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/to-hell-with-chicken-little/feed/ 17 A New Generation of Fathers – A Shout-Out to the New Dad http://lasaraallen.com/articles/a-new-generation-of-fathers-a-shout-out-to-the-new-dad/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/a-new-generation-of-fathers-a-shout-out-to-the-new-dad/#comments Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:30:58 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1804 I know very few peers who were raised by both parents. I have very many peers whose fathers were at best absent, and at worst abusive. Though really, abandonment leaves scars nearly as readily as any other kind of abuse does.

Most of us lived through our parent’s divorces as kids. Divorce is as prevalent as

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/a-new-generation-of-fathers-a-shout-out-to-the-new-dad/feed/ 3 The Devotion of Presence, The Presence of Devotion http://lasaraallen.com/articles/the-devotion-of-presence-the-presence-of-devotion/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/the-devotion-of-presence-the-presence-of-devotion/#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:11:26 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1758 There was a time in my life where I so strongly desired to be in perfect Presence all the time that my desire for Presence became the greatest pain I had ever felt.

I sought absolute ego death; annihilation of self into Self, the surrender of “I” into that which is greater than

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/the-devotion-of-presence-the-presence-of-devotion/feed/ 3 Moms and Self Care; Do it For Those You Love http://lasaraallen.com/articles/moms-and-self-care-do-it-for-those-you-love/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/moms-and-self-care-do-it-for-those-you-love/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:23:31 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1555 As a mom, sometimes the most perfect intentions for self love and self care fall short of reality. You have a very full life, and it’s often a challenge to find the “extra” time to build in those moments of self-nurturing.

Resistance may be deeper than it even looks at first, too. When you first start

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/moms-and-self-care-do-it-for-those-you-love/feed/ 0 Your Family is a Living System http://lasaraallen.com/articles/your-family-is-a-living-system/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/your-family-is-a-living-system/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:01:49 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1354 Bodies communicate, moods, good or bad, are caught and transmitted like a virus. Like ripples in a pond, what you feel radiates out. Your happiness, your ease, your joy. Or, your stress, your fear, your anger. Every moment, you are modeling the creation of the world.

And, every moment, your children are building the foundation of

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/your-family-is-a-living-system/feed/ 1 How to be Transparent in Parenting by Lasara Allen http://lasaraallen.com/articles/how-to-be-transparent-in-parenting-without-really-trying/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/how-to-be-transparent-in-parenting-without-really-trying/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:09:48 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1293 Modeling is always the strongest message. You want your kids to be honest? How about you be honest, too?

What is transparency? The definition I like the most is; the quality that allows light to pass through, undisturbed. As a parenting metaphor, this is a great image; we’re transparent when there’s nothing clouding our interactions with

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/how-to-be-transparent-in-parenting-without-really-trying/feed/ 0 Mess or No Mess? That is the Question. http://lasaraallen.com/articles/mess-or-no-mess-that-is-the-question/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/mess-or-no-mess-that-is-the-question/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:07:46 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1145 Each of us has a desired level of clean. Or in the case of my daughters and I, a desired level of comfortable mess. The desire for “comfortable mess” on the part of the ladies and the desire for an orderly point within the chaos that is life on the part of my husband sometimes

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]]> http://lasaraallen.com/articles/mess-or-no-mess-that-is-the-question/feed/ 1 How To Stop the Spread of a Bad Mood http://lasaraallen.com/articles/how-to-stop-the-viral-spread-of-a-bad-mood/ http://lasaraallen.com/articles/how-to-stop-the-viral-spread-of-a-bad-mood/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:07:48 +0000 Lasára Allen http://lasaraallen.com/?p=1111 It’s happened to all of us; you wake up in a great mood. The sun is shinning, and the first thought you had when you opened your eyes was, “Ah, I’m so lucky to have this life!”

You happily hum your way into the kitchen, and begin getting ready for another full and fabulous day. You’re

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