Rollin McCraty - Transforming Stress for Teens: The HeartMath Solution for Staying Cool Under Pressure

Filled with research-proven, practical suggestions for transforming stress in teens, this insightful book can help you create clarity and calm in the face of the daily challenges of life. This is a step-by-step guide with accessible practices as well as interesting proposals about intuition and relationships, offering new ways of strengthening your mind and improving your life. Dive in and feel the power of this approach!

Daniel J. Siegel, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Brainstorm and Mind

Less stress, less drama, more true friends! Transforming Stress for Teens provides the skills and knowledge teens need to take back their power, and experience both acceptance and understanding. Fit in, be loving, and be loved, yet remain uniquely and genuinely you! A must read.

Becky A. Bailey, PhD, internationally acclaimed author and speaker, and creator of the Conscious Discipline system of self-regulation for parents, teachers, and students

Accessible and engaging, this book provides what todays teens needpractical tools to help them manage emotions, navigate their world with greater ease, and be more of who they truly are. It is a gem, and I will wholeheartedly recommend it to the teens and parents I work with.

Judy Grupenhoff, MS, MEd, youth specialist at Providence Behavioral Health Hospital

Transforming Stress for Teens sets itself apart from the large number of available books and workbooks for adolescents on managing stress, by moving beyond simple discussions of relaxation and awareness strategies, and additionally explaining and emphasizing the key role that emotional experience and emotional regulation play in truly mastering stress in all aspects of life. I find this book to be unique among self-help books for adolescents in its discussion of fascinating (and important) topics such as coherence, the heart-brain connection, intuition, and communication in very clear language with great real-life examples. The authors do an exemplary job making the chapter topics interesting and relevant for teens in their day-to-day experience, and then provide tools and techniques that are time-efficient and easy to use.

Timothy Culbert, MD, FAAP, developmental/behavioral pediatrician and medical director of the Integrative Medicine Program at PrairieCare Medical Group in Minneapolis, MN

Its a factteen life is stressful! It seems the pressure is always on to make (and keep) friends, make the grades, make the team, and, most importantly, make sure parents are pleased. Research indicates that adolescents who learn to identify and overcome everyday stressors now, are better able to navigate through tough situations, reduce stress, and remain resilient as adults. Transforming Stress for Teens is the perfect guide to help teens learn easy-to-use tools and techniques to beat stress and thrive for the rest of their lives.

Susan Alford, state director of South Carolinas Department of Social Services

For the last several years at Olympia Sports Camp, we have taught the ideas and tools found in this book to thousands of youth to help them learn how to manage their emotions instead of just reacting to life situations. With Transforming Stress for Teens, teens can become the hero of their own journey by learning the qualities of their deeper hearts while on the path of discovering who they really are. I highly recommend this book.

Dave Grace, founder and director of Olympia Sports Camp in Ontario, Canada

Young people today experience a high level of stress. This greatly affects their potential for optimal performance. I have found HeartMath techniques to be both practical and simple for their day-to-day lives. I highly recommend this book to every young person in search of a technique for coping with stress.

Jorge Calzadilla, MEd, vice president of the Division of Public Service at Florida Atlantic University, former executive director of Clemson Universitys Youth Learning Institute (YLI), and board member of The Conservation Funds National Forum on Children and Nature, Institute of HeartMath, and the National Youth Advocate Program

Transforming Stress for Teens is a wonderful resource of practical strategies and tools to help teens reduce their stress and build resilience. I love how each chapter reinforces the concepts and tools presented in previous chapters. The exercises are thoughtful, practical, easy to complete, and will help teens make healthier decisions with a renewed sense of hope and self-reliance. I am confident that thousands of teens will greatly benefit from the practical advice laid out in this book.

Jacqui Letran, NP, teen confidence expert, speaker, and author of I Would, but My Damn Mind Wont Let Me! and Five Simple Questions to Reclaim Your Happiness

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2016 by Rollin McCraty, Stephen W. Lance, Jeff Goelitz, and Sarah Moor

Instant Help Books

An Imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Acquired by Tesilya Hanauer

Edited by Jean Blomquist

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

This book is dedicated to you, the teens who are looking for a clear way to find your own self-empowerment in todays fast-paced, stressed-out world. May you find the empowerment that comes from the alignment of your mind and emotions with your hearts intuition.

Rollin McCraty, Jeff Goelitz, and Sarah MoorHeartMath Institute

Stephen LanceYouth Learning InstituteClemson University

If you are a teen or a helper for teens and have picked up this book, I applaud you. You are here seeking answers to address teen stress, and what you will find here will help you in ways you have probably never imagined. This stress solution only requires a little bit work of and commitment. These techniques and exercises are based on the hard science of our brains and bodies. They have helped other teens manage stress and find success. I know them to be truly effective because they have helped over a thousand teens in my programs.

Todays world is an increasingly stressful place for teens. Youth today are faced with immense and increasing stresses, including bullying, divorce, drugs, and even violence. The digital media world swamps us with information and can be like taking a bath in stress. Regardless of the form of stress we are facing, our brains react in a pattern that has been established over time. This book, with its Heartmath solution, offers a healthy alternative pattern to counter those established patterns and master stress.

I found HeartMaths solution to managing a stress-filled world when I had been working with extremely troubled teens, as well as high-level adolescent athletes, for about eight years. This introduction included HeartMaths techniques and its accompanying easy-to-use technology. I had never encountered a more scientifically sound yet simple way to manage stress. I began to experiment and discovered various ways to teach the information successfully to adolescents. Even the most resistant and stressed youth told me they could feel it working. In my programs, we have done this work with large groups of youth, individuals, and even families for the last eighteen years. All of this work has created the same result: mastery of ones internal world while navigating the rough seas of the adolescent stage of life.