
It is international day for families on Friday 15 May 2015 and the purpose of the day is to highlight the importance of a healthy and well balanced family. “Families are the core of our society and some of the most important, informative years of our lives are spent growing up with our families. This period is where we gain our values that drive us and beliefs that motivate and sculpt the decisions and choices we make in life, whether they are good or bad. So it is important to have happy and healthy relationships with our families, if we are lucky enough to have them, or at least learn how to best deal with them and manage our own emotional attachment to them.”
Life is busy so it is vital to spend as much time as possible with those you love and let them know how much you love and appreciate them. Love, including cuddles, makes our body produce the hormone ‘oxytocin’ which has several health benefits such as lowering blood pressure, protecting our heart and even helps repair damaged blood vessels.(1)
It’s too easy for everyone to be doing different things at different times and often in different rooms in the house! Therefore you don’t always spend time together, so try one or all of these ideas to help everyone to focus on the importance of your family unit, as like most things, you have to work at family life and getting the right balance.
Family Mission Statement

Family Meetings

Putting aside 20 minutes a week to discuss:- what worked well this week; what annoyed someone and ways to put it right; and what you can all work on in the coming week? The children can also pick a reward if they achieved their goal and if they didn’t then it’s worth discussing the reasons why and how to get back on track. Great way to set good communication skills for life.
Family Meal Times

It doesn’t have to be specifically dinner time as any meal spent together is important in getting children to socialise with others, and also helps encourage better manners, healthier diets and increases confidence in children. Encouraging children to start up conversations first rather than leaving it to the adults is also good for self esteem as it is easy for the adults to do the majority of the talking! Time to listen (2)
Stress Free Parents

I also help clients to achieve stress-free relationships and life by offering a more thorough ‘Breakthrough’ package that gets to the root of the problem by removing all your negative emotions, limiting beliefs and installing positive values and beliefs aligned to being stress-free, happy and achieving your dreams, personally and as a family.
For more information check out http://www.mind-bodywellness.co.uk/family-relationships.html and if you are interested in £200 off a Premium Breakthrough Package quote IFD.
1. http://drdavidhamilton.com/7-ways-that-love-is-good-for-your-health/
2 . http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/10/how-to-have-a-happy-family/ PSC. Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
3. Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs, Ellen Galinsky, 2010