Our studio values, the pillars upon which we do everything, are joy, connection, growth, family, and heart.
Let’s talk about JOY!
Our first studio value, this one comes so easily with children. Give a child a safe environment where they feel cared for and the joy naturally follows.
Did you know that you can actually manufacture joy in your life? You can hack your neurotransmitters, in a way, in order to produce more joy in your life.
When joy is felt there are naturally occurring chemicals released in the body. They are: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. When these hormones are present in the body your immune function receives a boost, stress and cortisol are reduced, and even pain is reduced. There are real physiological benefits to the experience of joy.
So how does this play into Kindermusik? There are several elements in a Kindermusik class that boosts our production of these feel-good hormones, or as we like to call it, “Joy Juice.”
Oxytocin is naturally released when we engage in safe physical touch. In our Little Learner classes this happens during our I Love You Rituals and our Cuddle Time. In our Little Music Makers classes it occurs during Sharing Time when you reconnect with your child and as we “breathe it all in . . . and love it all out.”
Serotonin production can be boosted when engaged in movement and socializing. Every Kindermusik class incorporates plenty of creative and free movement, and of course the whole experience is social as well.
Dopamine is released when you experience something pleasurable or fun. Anything you enjoy can trigger this part of the brain. Kindermusik is fun! Maybe your child loves the puppets the most. Or maybe you love watching them try a new instrument. Simply enjoying class on your own terms helps boost your mood.
Humans need joy, and in this stressful modern world, we need to look for it and indulge in it wherever and whenever we can. Kindermusik helps with that!
Did you know that we call our studio staff the “JOY Team?” We hope you and your child find joy at Song of the Heart Studios. Know that everyone on our JOY Team is honored to help boost your joy levels every week. We even get our own “joy juice” production up when we make music with you and your child each week. Win, win!
Our Little Learner classes ALWAYS include some cuddle time, with dimmed lights, and colorful “stars” on the ceiling. It’s a beautiful time to slow down and focus on the connection you’ve built with your child over the previous 30 minutes or so.
The benefits of cuddle time include giving both you and your child a flood of feel-good hormones, what Conscious Discipline calls “Joy Juice.” This hormonal cocktail is what calms your brain & nervous system, promotes bonding, and just makes you feel good.
Oxytocin is the “love” hormone, and it is produced when you engage in safe and loving touch with a loved one. It can be hugging, rocking, breast feeding, butterfly kisses, an I Love You Ritual, or our musical cuddle time. Any time you focus on and touch someone lovingly you this hormone bathes your brain. This love hormone also measurably decreases stress and cortisol levels in your body. It also has been proven to decrease the perception of physical pain.
Who doesn’t need more of that in their life?
This beautiful moment is often a favorite but can also be stressful for some parents. Maybe your child doesn’t calm easily. Maybe they are roaming about the room and vocalizing in loud tones. Maybe they don’t want to lie down, be held, and rocked gently to the music.
That’s okay too! Just by modeling relaxation for your child, they will receive benefit from this activity. Relaxation is a learned skill, and not one that always comes naturally to a toddler. So as you relax, breathe deeply, and calm your nervous system, so too can your child learn to as well.
So next time you come to a Little Learner class, lean in to this moment. Don’t let cuddle time just pass by without thinking about its intention and benefit. Engage in the I Love You Ritual that precedes cuddle time. Help establish a sense of calm and rest in the class by participating in the deep breathing and creating a “hush”. These cues will come to trigger a calm response in both yourself and your child. Then you can fully connect and enjoy the two minutes you have to simply be with your child.
Ahh, Springtime. It’s finally here! The forsythia and daffodils are blooming. The weather is maddeningly unpredictable. We’re shrugging off the winter blues and producing more Vitamin D. You’d think it would be all sunshine and flowers . . . but the modern parent knows better.
Spring also ushers in just the next busy phase of a parent’s life. You know what I’m talking about: Easter baskets, teacher appreciation week, planning your family’s summer schedule, supporting your students through standardized testing, finding the perfect Mother’s Day gift, getting the yard in order before the weeds take over . . . . All this on top of our regularly scheduled programming? It never ends.
Even here at Song of the Heart we’re feeling the crunch! We are continuing to provide you with stellar classroom experiences, but are also managing t-shirt orders and trying to provide you with your Heart’s Desire for classes next season. Lots of logistical things happening all. the. time.
So if you’re anything like us, you’re feeling a bit stressed. Well guess what? Kindermusik helps with that!
Did you know that music therapy studies with critically ill adults and children have shown that music can reduce stress, anxiety, and even physical pain by as much as 50%?
FIFTY PERCENT!
That’s right, every time you snuggle up for some musical cuddle time under the “stars”, your brain is getting a dose of oxytocin, the CONNECTION hormone. Every time you engage in creative movement around the room with your little one you are getting a shot of serotonin, the feel-good hormone. Every time you see your child make a friend, put away that scarf, or master a new movement, you are getting a shot of dopamine, the JOY hormone. Kindermusik brings it all!
Here’s some ideas to musically battle the stress and helps your kiddos cope too:
KEEP THOSE ROUTINES IN PLACE. Sing that bedtime song. Keep coming to your Kindermusik class. Children thrive on routine and feel safe with predictability. It gives them a sense of security.
THROW IN A DANCE PARTY. Turn on a family favorite tune and dance with your kiddos for 3 minutes. The blood will pump, bathing your brain in oxygen and oxytocin. Cortisol levels will dip. You’ll all feel refreshed.
I LOVE YOU RITUALS: Sing that Twinkle Twinkle ritual we’ve been working on all year. Use it at diaper changes. Use it at bathtime. Use it before mealtime. Use it at bedtime. Take the time to slow down, intentionally touch, make eye contact, be playful, and connect with your little one through a simple song.
USE YOUR KINDERMUSIK AT HOME MATERIALS. Maybe you use them regularly. Maybe you’ve never looked at them. Open up your Kindermusik account and see what golden nuggets are there. It only takes 5 minutes, but it is the perfect way to connect with your child and reinforce their musical learning at home.
STREAM YOUR FAVORITE KINDERMUSIK PLAYLIST IN YOUR CAR. By now you have the whole year’s worth of albums in your app’s library. Which was your child’s favorite? Turn it on while you run errands and let them jam out and relive their favorite Kindermusik unit. Or maybe put on a playlist of your favorite music and educate your kids on popular music from your generation.
We hope you can integrate music into your daily lives in a way that is fun, joyful, and stress free.
Have you started using I Love You Rituals at home yet? Or perhaps come up with your own? The reason we like to incorporate I Love You Rituals in class and encourage you to use them regularly at home is that doing so gives you and your child a shot of JOY JUICE.
What is Joy Juice? It is a hormonal cocktail that your body releases and bathes your brain in when you engage in a moment of connection with a loved one. It is comprised of dopamine, endorphins, and other natural hormones. It can have an equivalent effect on a child’s brain as a dose of Ritalin. But completely natural! And you have access to it ANY TIME YOU WANT.
Dr. Becky Baily of Conscious Discipline teaches “Joy Juice is a combination of positive brain chemicals that create joyful feelings literally wiring the brain for impulse control and willingness.”
Looking to add more joy to your family’s life and help transform challenging behavior? Add some Joy Juice!
The key elements to accessing your and your child’s body’s Joy Juice production and distribution facility are:
Eye contact: Getting down on your child’s level, looking them in the eye, and using their name, is essential to building the connection needed for the release of these hormones.
Touch: Placing your hand on your child’s shoulder or head, a gentle tickle, or a hug, signals to the child that they are safe. It readies them for connection and cooperation.
Presence: Being fully present in the moment and with your child indicates empathy and comfort. It’s a way of signaling to them that they matter to you and that you are a safe place for them.
Playfulness: A playful situation gives the brain a little break and primes it for more learning. A playful game can put us in a state called “relaxed alertness” which is optimal for learning and readiness.
The connections we build with others on the outside builds neural connections on the inside and give us this Joy Juice.
So when you’re in a challenging moment with your child, get down on their level, place your hand on their shoulder, use their name and say “Find my eyes.” Then be present and playful with them. It only takes a moment to connect, prime the brain, and promote connection and cooperation.
We’re often terribly frustrated when we try to get our children to cooperate. Many of us get so fed up with our inability to control our kids that we give up. We just pick up the toys or clear the table ourselves, but resentment builds over time, creating distance between ourselves and our children. We feel inadequate.
Our lack of confidence makes our children’s world feel shakier.
Others of us get so triggered by lack of cooperation that we might yell, shame, blame, or punish until the deed is done by force. Here, too, we feel badly. Anger and frustration reign. Our children can’t help but internalize the message that they are not good enough, which hinders their ability to learn and make friends.
There’s another way.
In seeking cooperation, we must think of our children as partners in a relationship. Paying attention to connection before asking a child to cooperate is like greeting a neighbor and chatting a bit before mentioning that the fence between your yards needs repair. You honor the relationship, since it is the foundation for any positive action to follow.
Bring to mind the familiar scenario of telling your child to hurry up and get on their shoes so you won’t be late for an event. Your request is met with silence, as your child ignores your imploring and continues to play with their toys. You beg. You cajole. You bribe. Your child continues to defy you and picks up a piece of lint on the floor as if it is the most important thing in the world. Eventually, you find yourself yelling and they are crying and you are delayed and inevitably you are late once more.
Next time, try this: instead of begging, bribing, or threatening to take away a privilege, try connecting with them. Get down on the floor with them, and engage in play. It only takes a moment to bond and remind your child of your relationship. Once the feel seen and loved and valued, then inform them it’s time to leave and to get their shoes on.
Set yourself up for success by connecting first. When children feel connected to their parents and truly seen, cooperation comes naturally. Rather than preparing for a showdown with an uncooperative child, remember Conscious Discipline’s I Love You Ritual components: eye contact, intentional touch, presence, and playfulness.
We parents often feel urgent about getting things done right now, a feeling that tends to arise when we feel burdened and alone. We want to feel better, so we try to get the kids to sit down to lunch now, or get the bedroom cleaned up now, or get them piled into the car now. And there are times to force cooperation immediately. When your child is darting out onto a busy street, you’ve got to scoop him up right away, no matter how insulted he may feel! But otherwise, to win cooperation, you need to allow a bit of time for connection between the two of you.
This is what Kindermusik is all about. One of the primary functions of a Kindermusik class is to provide a culture that fosters a climate of connection between you and your child. We give you the tools. We give you the rituals. You partner with your child and forge the bond in class. Then it is up to you to take those tools home and use them. So when you’re feeling frustrated and burdened with parenting, remember that Joy Juice and how you get it. Both you and your child will feel closer, happier, less stressed, and more cooperative. You are a team! Partner with your child in play, and watch their cooperation naturally follow.
Have you started using I Love You Rituals at home yet? Or perhaps come up with your own? The reason we like to incorporate I Love You Rituals in class and encourage you to use them regularly at home is that doing so gives you and your child a shot of JOY JUICE.
What is Joy Juice? It is a hormonal cocktail that your body releases and bathes your brain in when you engage in a moment of connection with a loved one. It is comprised of dopamine, endorphins, and other natural hormones. It can have an equivalent effect on a child’s brain as a dose of Ritalin. But completely natural! And you have access to it ANY TIME YOU WANT.
Dr. Becky Baily of Conscious Discipline teaches “Joy Juice is a combination of positive brain chemicals that create joyful feelings literally wiring the brain for impulse control and willingness.”
Looking to add more joy to your family’s life and help transform challenging behavior? Add some Joy Juice!
The key elements to accessing your and your child’s body’s Joy Juice production and distribution facility are:
Eye contact: Getting down on your child’s level, looking them in the eye, and using their name, is essential to building the connection needed for the release of these hormones.
Touch: Placing your hand on your child’s shoulder or head, a gentle tickle, or a hug, signals to the child that they are safe. It readies them for connection and cooperation.
Presence: Being fully present in the moment and with your child indicates empathy and comfort. It’s a way of signaling to them that they matter to you and that you are a safe place for them.
Playfulness: A playful situation gives the brain a little break and primes it for more learning. A playful game can put us in a state called “relaxed alertness” which is optimal for learning and readiness.
The connections we build with others on the outside builds neural connections on the inside and give us this Joy Juice.
So when you’re in a challenging moment with your child, get down on their level, place your hand on their shoulder, use their name and say “Find my eyes.” Then be present and playful with them. It only takes a moment to connect, prime the brain, and promote connection and cooperation.
