Quotes from Daniel J. Siegel

For example, research has shown that the more present we are in life, the higher the level of the enzyme telomerase in our bodies, which maintains and repairs the life-preserving ends of our chromosomes, called telomere caps.

Sit. Feast on your life.

So one extreme is chaos, where there's a total lack of control. The other extreme is rigidity, where there's too much control, leading to a lack of flexibility and adaptability.

The key to clinical attunement is to be willing to say "I don't know" and "tell me more." Your intention to help, a neural stance of positive regard likely involving the social engagement system and having a desire to connect and to assist, is woven together with an interest in supporting another with kindness and

zigzagging back and forth between the two.

Some estimate the number of firing patterns of the brain—on/off profiles of total brain activation that are possible—to be ten times ten one million times, or ten to the millionth power. The human brain is thought to be the most complex thing in the universe, artificial or natural.

mental health as our ability to remain in a "river of well-being.

El mindsight aparece cuando nuestra comunicación, con los demás y con nosotros mismos, nos ayuda a reflexionar sobre quiénes somos y sobre lo que sucede en nuestro interior.

We all move back and forth between these two banks as we go through our days—especially as we're trying to survive parenting. When we're closest to the banks of chaos or rigidity, we're farthest from mental and emotional health. The longer we can avoid either bank, the more time we spend enjoying the river of well-being.

recae en ti la responsabilidad de aprender a ofrecer tu presencia de formas que te empoderen en grado sumo a ti como progenitor y fomenten en tu hijo la resiliencia y la fortaleza. Es este poder de la presencia lo que nos permite crear una mente empoderada para nuestros hijos… incluso si metemos la pata con regularidad.

las experiencias que proporciones en el contexto de la relación con tu hijo moldearán literalmente la estructura física de su cerebro.

synthesizing the quantitative rigor of scientific discoveries with the subtlety of our subjective lives. When

This is the way we stimulate neuronal activation and growth—how we SNAG the brain toward a more vertically integrated state as we connect body to cortex with interoception. The more we focus our attention toward bodily sensations within our subjective experience in awareness, the more we activate the physical correlate of insula activation and subsequent growth. As

come up with a strategy to get Katie to willingly attend school again. That was his "survive" goal. But he also wanted to turn this difficult experience into an opportunity that would benefit Katie in both the short and the long term. That was his "thrive" goal.

When we become parents we are given an incredible opportunity to grow as individuals because we ourselves are put back into an intimate parent-child relationship, this time in a different role.

The experiential, subjective side of reality is non-objective in that you couldn't weigh it, hold it in your hand, or capture the subjective nature of such inner experiences with a camera—not even with a functional brain-imaging scanner. This

I'm with you. I've got your back. Even when you're at your worst and I don't like the way you're acting, I love you, and I'm here for you. I understand you're having a hard time, and I am here.

Your left brain loves and desires order. It is logical, literal, linguistic (it likes words), and linear

Como pronto explicaremos, las investigaciones longitudinales sobre desarrollo infantil muestran que uno de los mejores predictores para saber cómo será nuestro hijo –en cuanto a felicidad, desarrollo social y emocional, dotes de liderazgo, relaciones significativas e incluso éxito académico y profesional– es si ha adquirido seguridad por tener al menos una persona que estuviera presente para él.

Estar presentes crea por tanto en nuestros hijos vías neurales que conducen a la identidad individual, la determinación, la fortaleza y la resiliencia.

We want to believe health and youth can belong to us forever; we want to deny the reality of transience in our lives.

What do you really want for your children? What qualities do you hope they develop and take into their adult lives? Most likely you want them to be happy, independent, and successful. You want them to enjoy fulfilling relationships and live a life full of meaning and purpose. Now think about what percentage of your

It is unhelpful to pit these interdependent processes against each other in simplistic debates such as experience versus biology, or nature versus nurture. In fact, experience shapes brain structure. Experience is biology.

more directly influenced by the body and lower brain areas,