The Hidden Struggles Kids Face Today | Bianca Hannon

In this episode of Chasing Heritage, Chase Hardin sits down with Bianca Hannon, therapist, medical health professional, and content creator, for a powerful conversation on mental health, identity, and the challenges children and teens face today.

Bianca shares her experience working with youth from ages 5 to 21, offering practical insights into how mental health issues often show up as behavior, including acting out, isolation, or communication difficulties. She explains how parents can recognize early warning signs and when to seek professional support.

The conversation explores the growing impact of social media, sleep disruption, and overstimulation on children’s emotional well-being, and why many young people today are struggling with anxiety and identity.

Bianca also shares her personal story of overcoming a childhood speech delay, and how that experience shaped her mission to help others find their voice and confidence.

Together, Chase and Bianca discuss the importance of building trust between parents and children, creating open communication, and developing healthy routines that support emotional and mental well-being.

This episode provides valuable tools for parents, educators, and leaders who want to better understand, support, and guide the next generation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Like my daughter doesn't have a cell phone. Oh, and she's not going to have a cell phone until she's driving a car. She's not that far away.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

What's happening in the world, right, affects them. Well, us, right? Everybody. Right.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Welcome back, everybody, to another exciting episode of Chasing Heritage. Today we have the pleasure of interviewing somebody who's taken her voice and transformed it into her life mission. Bianca Hannon is an Atlanta-based medical health professional, content creator, and she's also an entrepreneur leading and helping individuals deal with burnout, identity, and life transitions. Bianca, thank you for joining us today on Chasing Heritage.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Yes, ma'am. So in just kind of getting to know you and doing research on your platform, you know, you you are a medical health professional. And so anyone who's out there like serving and giving back their lives to others with mental health is really up on my list. So just share a little bit to our listeners, you know, why mental health is important to you and you know and why it's something that you really get out there and you fight for every day.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Sure. So mental health is something that has always been um right important to me. Um it started out when I was in in college, that is when I um I majored in um majored in psychology.

SPEAKER_04 1:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

And um that's when I had started to really think about and um reflect on my own um mental health struggles as a kid.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

And so with that, you know, I have always um had a passion of working with youth.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Um and so pairing, you know, mental health and and youth, that was the perfect um segue into becoming a therapist.

SPEAKER_04 2:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Um, right, and so now I um I do work part-time um as a th at a therapist for youth, um, starting at age five. Amazing. Um, yeah, so age uh five all the way to uh to age 21.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Okay, beautiful. And you know, our our early years really do impact right a lot, a lot of what we do in in life. You know, I I know for me having a large family, um having a mother that was always serving and always being an educator, you know, really impacted me to go in my journey uh to continue. Um so just share a little bit, you know, about what you talked about, you know, with your early years and some of the impacts that that had, or difficulties or challenges. Um, just share that with us.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Yeah, so I too come from a large family. Um and that family also has a lot of personalities.

SPEAKER_04 3:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Right? And so um navigating um that with um conflict and just sh um allowing that to shape who I am while also making sure to have my own voice, you know, and my own um and my own uh what I want to say, identity outside of that. Um, right? I have a a mom who would give the the shirt off of her back to a stranger for sure. Um and so I have seen her serve and um and help right others um even when she does not have much. And so that does speak to a lot of my um a lot of my personality and uh and to my giving um spirit as well. Yes. Um and so when I show up right as a um as a therapist, I do like to just um sit back and just listen first.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Um, you know, and just make sure that that my client knows um that they are the um expert uh in their life. Yeah you know.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

And then we will, you know, navigate that.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Yes. That's great and for for sharing that. And you know, what really connects with me is how you said you have to look up to your mother, you know, and and how amazing it is, right, to have somebody directly in our family, you know, to really strive and be out there serving, you know, in the community. Um, with mental health and young children, like what are some of the things that you look for, like the signs that may come up, you know, in a five to eight-year-old or five to ten year old, you know, what what would you be looking for for signs in in somebody or a child who may be struggling with mental health?

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah, so at that young age, it will normally show up as um behavior, right? And and so acting out, um fighting or screaming or um right, acting out um in school or home. Um, you know, and so that's how uh right it will normally show up because they don't have the words, you know, to say I am feeling this because of this, right?

SPEAKER_04 6:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

They don't know.

SPEAKER_04 6:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Um, and so my job is to break down the um right uh behaviors and um and get them to a point where they do have those words.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

So so you say kind of like acting out, right? Kind of like fighting, screaming, yelling. But like every kid, you know, if you have like an active boy, like maybe he does that, right? So like definitely identify, you know, is it patterns, is it repetition, is this something that you know you would kind of see every day in your kid? Like give a little bit more, you know, to so that people can go, okay, well, I think that's normal. Yeah. But yeah, no, it's really not.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Yeah, so as the mother of a very active um toddler, I get it. Um, right, I have a toddler who will uh jump off the couch and like run around and you know. Um however, when it comes to a mental health issue, again, it just really depends on on the um on the child. Because yes, they can act out. However, some kids might just be silent, right? And they um and they don't want to talk and they will um right isolate too. So I I mean it just really depends.

SPEAKER_04 7:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

You know your kids, right, right? You know what is what is normal for them. And so once that normalcy becomes um abnormal, you know, that's when you want to start right asking those questions.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

So in in my experience here, you know, with the school and and working with a lot of families and and children, uh, verbal communication cues is is probably one of the biggest signs that there, you know, may be some type of developmental delay, speech delay, um maybe an emotional um challenge or a sensory issue. And like more specifically, you know, if your child is not formulating complete sentences that are articulative to their emotions by the age of five or six, then there's probably some type of you know difficulty and and challenge with that. So if you saw, you know, a five-year-old who throws fits, meaning screaming, yelling, hitting, biting, right? Does not give eye contact when they're speaking to adults, is unable to formulate three or four word sentences that are tied to emotions, what what recommendation would you have? Like who would they go see?

SPEAKER_00 9:23

Yeah. What would that be? So what I would do is I would um first, right, take them to their um to their doctor, right? Let them know, you know, let them um right, assess.

SPEAKER_04 9:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Then that doctor, they will normally um provide a um a recommendation, right? Whether to a therapist, you know, to a speech um therapist or um or a mental health therapist or both. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 10:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

And so then um following up with that will be extremely um right, important.

SPEAKER_04 10:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Um me, me personally, um, I do have a stutter. And and that does come from my um my own speech uh right delay as a kid. And so I right, I I did not speak un until I was four um right, years old.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

To the point where my mom was um was uh teaching me um sign uh language because I was not speaking.

SPEAKER_04 10:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Right? And so I was in speech um therapy for for years, right? Up until I was like 14 years old. Yeah. Um, you know, and so following up with that at that young age, that does not mean something is is it is wrong or right or um right, as a parent, yeah, you know, you did something wrong. No. Right. Um you are simply getting the help you need for um right, your kid.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

You know.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

And and and thank you for sharing that. It's really powerful, you know, and you're helping somebody right now, you know, encouraging them and lifting them. Because talking to you, you know, no one can tell, right? There's this, you know, the no one can tell, right? And you know, another thing that I'll add to that is in monastery education, one of the key things we focus on is the development of the brain. And so our brains develop in a very unique way from birth to the age of three, and then from three to six. And we're developing the foundation in our communication skills, in the muscle dexterity, in our hands. We're also developing all of our sensory skills, right? And then all of these three things combined really help us see the world in ourselves. So for individuals who receive help, medical professional help in these areas during that developmental period, it makes a my, you know, an amazing difference in their development. Because once a child turns seven years old, your brain stops developing that way. And essentially it kind of you know irons out into like this solid framework or foundation, which you can go back and work on it, but again, your brain is not building neurons and developing in that same way. So it becomes in increasingly you know more difficult. Um another thing that I would say to, you know, like if your mom was here and she came to the school, she's like, hey, Mr. Chase, I'm worried. What I would communicate to her is the best thing that you can do is take action, right? Because if you pass up and you don't take that opportunity and you're not active and you don't get the help, you'll turn around one day when your child's 13, 14, and 15 and kind of say, Well, you're out of luck. Honestly. You're gonna be 18 in you know, five, six more years, and you know, it's gonna be up to you to decide. So your mother was very brave, right, in in reaching out and and getting help. Um, you know, with you kind of dealing with that, you know, growing up, like did you have any, you know, did you identify with that? Like, did you know? Did you recognize? Like, were you aware? Like, share a little bit about of your feelings in your journey in kind of being that child and then growing into to someone who helps individuals today.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Yeah, I honestly, okay, so as a child, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_04 14:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Right? As a child, I mean, I was just, you know, a normal kid. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Loving, playing on the playground, yeah, enjoying life. Yeah, right. Playing, right. I I had friends, I I did really well in a school, you know. It wasn't until I moved to Georgia and I realized that I was speaking at a slower pace than the other kids.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Um, and then one student, you know, pointed that out.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

And I felt embarrassed, you know. And that's when my fear of um fear of public speaking started.

SPEAKER_04 15:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

And I did not like to to um do like speeches or like right um present anything. Like I I just hated it. That's when I did become a little more shy.

SPEAKER_04 15:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Um and then when I started working with kids in uh right, in college, I didn't want them to feel that.

SPEAKER_04 15:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

And so I wanted to, you know, build up their like uh, excuse me, build up their um that their confidence and just make sure, you know, that they feel like they can do, you know, anything. Um even though on the inside, I still didn't feel that, right?

SPEAKER_04 16:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

And so even now, um, you know, in the past two years, that is when I I started to really branch out and to embrace uh right. I do have a stutter, however, I have something to say.

SPEAKER_04 16:29

Exactly. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

And I mean that yes, and like I have been on um, I've been on podcasts, you know, I have done guest um guest uh lectures, you know, I have even spoken at um right conferences and such. So I have been doing these things in spite of uh right what I felt as a child. Yeah. And so um even now, you know, in like having my own um kid, right, I just want him to feel um right, empowered to do what whatever. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

And and that, you know, I think, you know, every parent out there, right, wants, you know, wants their child, one, to avoid the struggles that they went through. Um but secondly, when they do face those struggles, they want them to deal with them differently than the way we dealt with them.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

And so it's really incredible how our early life, right, allows us to grow and transition and help and be a leader in that exact area. Um, your your story is really powerful because you didn't let you know some kid in school destroy who you are and and what you were set out to be. In fact, you kind of took that and you built that into your catalyst, right? You know, for me, being this educator and helping lead people. When I was a young person in my early years, um I was kind of lost, right? Like I didn't really have an identity, I didn't really feel like I was seen. I I didn't know any of my gifts, um, although I have many of them. Um I actually thought I was stupid in in school. I didn't think I was very smart. Oh wow. And like even though I could read my homework or the book on the way to school and like take the test, I always crush tests. I got 90s and A's.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

But I failed most of my classes because I wouldn't do homework. I was just not into it. I didn't feel connected or motivated with the material. So my performance on the test combined with my failure and my scores really made me look around the room and go, why am I different? Why am I not like these other kids who I perceive to be very intelligent, but like they do their homework and they seem happy in the chair and they seem like they're paying attention. Where, like for me, I'm like bored and I'm done. Yeah, and I don't want to be connected with that. So I've taken that early experience that I've had and I pour it passionately into what I get to do here as an educator. Um, and the one key component that I feel like was really missing in my pathway was the connectivity from the school to me to my family. You know, it was almost like I got sent to this uh kid prison, let's call it a kid prison. And we checked in and we checked off boxes and then I went home. Right. And there was no connectivity that that kind of went on there. And so here at the Montessori School, like it really drives me to make sure that I'm connecting emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually with my families.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

So that I can take that connectivity and bring it into the classroom.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Because you're pouring into your child every day, every evening, you know, all the time, 24-7. Yep. And if we're not building off of that, we're at a minimum taking that into consideration. We're missing everything that is being put into your child before they come here.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

Um so let's circle that kind of like into mental health. Yeah. And and like being healthy, right? So like at what share a story, I guess, of of somebody, you know, who you've helped, right? Some situation where there was either like trauma or or maybe even something minor, but you were able to walk them through that kind of experience.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Sure thing. So my favorite thing is to uh work with um groups of um groups of teen girls, right? I feel like teen girls go through a whole bunch, they have so many questions, they just don't know what they don't know.

SPEAKER_04 21:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Right? Yes. And so there was uh one group, right, where the topic was about um excuse me. Um where the topic was um about navigating um right, relationships, right? And not just Like boyfriend and girl. No. But like friends and like family and you know what does that even look like? You know? And there was one um there was one girl in the um in the group who she was having issues, you know, with her mother. Yeah. And she was in a place where she didn't know how to be fully herself, you know, and she didn't want to like argue or or right. Yeah, be disrespectful, be combative. Right, right. Yeah. At the same time though, she was still doing that. Yeah. Because she didn't know where else to place her um right, her feelings. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And so that was that was the only way they would come out. And so um from that group, that had turned into family um therapy with uh she and her mom. And then we had, you know, worked through through that and like, you know, found the right underlying root um causes and just like talked through, you know, we did uh some um homework, you know, we did like role play and things, you know, a lot of things just to make sure that was a safe space.

SPEAKER_04 23:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Um right for them. And so even now, you know, years, right, um uh later, um, she would reach out um and right and just say, you know, you have really helped me and right, my mom.

SPEAKER_04 24:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

And I mean, that is touching because like sometimes, right, mother-daughter, or right, father-son, or like, you know, some of those uh right relationships are very difficult, and that's because the parents have trauma, you know, and then and then the kids have trauma, and then nobody is here, you know, talking, right? Yeah, and then yeah, it's just a lot.

SPEAKER_03 24:48

Yeah. And so I I really connect with that. And so, you know, in me getting to work with a lot of people, you know, when when you get into the conversations with a family, you know, one of my gifts is I I really have the ability to like see into people's lives, right? So if you like, you share with me your career, yeah, you share with me like what you're doing nine to five, what your aspirations, what your goals are, I can kind of see into your situation and into your family. And I can see your fears, and I can see your inhibitions, and I can see your great desires, right? And as a parent, we will overcompensate, generally speaking, um, in in an unhealthy way in most situations. Um, you know, for example, you know, a kid is bullied in school, right? Uh for whatever it may be. So anytime that there is a minor issue, like, hey, a kid, you know, gave my son a hug and he didn't like it, they go into this huge giant. I can't believe you let that happen to my son. I'm coming up there, you know, I want to meet the other parent. And it's like, oh, hold on, they're four.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

They're four.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

And so what four-year-old understands personal boundaries in space? They do not. This is not a skill that they've mastered. And so, in that moment, you can really see, right, whatever that pain and that and that difficulty and trauma is. Another thing you really touched on, which is like super important in our day and age, is those teen developmental years. And social media and what our children deal with when they reach to that age, um, is really terrible. It's really damaging to mental health, to um individualism, to identifying who you are and who you want to be.

SPEAKER_04 26:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

And so when you brought up like teen girl, you know, like I have a daughter, you know, she's turning 16 this year. But because I was so hyper-aware of those social dynamics when I was in school, at public school here in Georgia, yeah, like my daughter doesn't have a cell phone. Okay. And she's not going to have a cell phone until she's driving a car. So it's not that far away, right? But that external influence that exists in social media is is really, really damaging. Can you add to that or share a little bit? Like, have you seen, you know, like what have you seen, you know, from people with trauma and issues with because of social media? Or does that even exist?

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Of course it does. But these kids, they will be on social media, they will be on their game, they will they will be glued to their cell phones all day, every day, no matter what.

SPEAKER_04 27:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Um they will be up all night, you know, playing the game or like talking to their friend, you know.

SPEAKER_04 28:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

And so then they don't get um, right, a good night's rest.

SPEAKER_04 28:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

And so then the next day they're all, you know, cranky and you know, all of that, and then they bring that to school, and then it is just a cycle. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 28:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

However, um, as a content creator, uh, right, I do like to share, you know, positive things, um, right, on there because the kids are gonna scroll anyway, right? And so I would rather put the positive um content out there.

SPEAKER_04 28:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Right. Um, as somebody who is trained in um in trauma, right? I feel like a lot of it does does go um unnoticed, right? A lot of people don't really know what to look for.

SPEAKER_04 29:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Um, right. It's true. Like, right, with those um signs. Like, okay, a lot of things might be triggers that you don't know, right? Everything from like from the color um right of a shirt or to the smell, right, in a room.

SPEAKER_04 29:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Okay, those might bring back some like memories, you know, that were um right, that were suppressed. Yeah. And then that is when, right, that's when you seek help.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

Okay. So, you know, and and you don't just work with kids, you also work with adults. But but one of the reasons why I feel like it's so important to address our children is because that's what turns into our adults. We're gonna have other children. And it really is cyclic in in some ways with some of these trauma cycles, right? Where it happens to mom or dad, and the kid gets caught up in X, Y, Z, and all of a sudden it turns right back around. So for parents out there, like you can be the fighting force for your child. You can protect them, you can implement strategies, you can create, you know, a healthy routine, right, that that's really you know preventative. So, like what would be some things, again, that you would like we talked about a younger child, like triggers or things that maybe you would be looking for. But like let's say you have a 13-year-old. What are some things that you could be looking for? And then if the teenager has a phone, is it okay for the parent to go through that phone? Like what's your what's your opinion on that? Because I know that that is you know can be conflicting between moms and parents and this trust factor and all this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Yeah. So two answers as a parent and as a therapist.

SPEAKER_04 31:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

So for the phone, um as a parent, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Go through it.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

Up in that mud.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

That is yeah, that's what you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 31:33

I mean, I got girls, so I'm not playing with that.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Girls, girls, boys, whoever, because that's your kid.

SPEAKER_04 31:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

And plus, your kid won't won't always tell you what's happening, right? You can ask all day.

SPEAKER_04 31:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

That don't mean they'll ask. I mean they will um right, tell you. Now, if you ask their friend, their friend's gonna tell you everything.

SPEAKER_04 32:02

The phone and the brain.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Exactly. Um, but right, as a therapist, children do have a certain a certain right to privacy. That is what I do believe. And and so it is very important to have that open, open and honest um, right, communication with with you and um uh and your child.

SPEAKER_04 32:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Right. Um, if you find something in the phone, ask them, right?

SPEAKER_04 32:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

If they aren't ready to tell you, do not force it though, right?

SPEAKER_04 32:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Because then that'll put a strain in the um, right uh in the relationship to where they won't really tell you much else, right? So you want to really create that uh trust and that um honesty. Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_03 33:08

A nice bridge. Right. You want to be able to go back and forth.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Right. But you also want to know what's happening in your kids' life, trust me, I know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

So So in in today's age and like kind of what you're seeing out there in in you know in in in what you're doing, yeah. Like what's probably the biggest, like one or two things that you're seeing kids, you know, or young adults come in and and be struggling with anxiety. Anxiety, oh, you nailed that. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Anxiety is a big one. Um anxious about a lot of things, you know, and what's happening in the world, right, affects them. Yeah. Well, us, right? Everybody. Right. And so sometimes it is difficult to navigate a world, you know, where I mean systems aren't uh right for you, or like, you know, you don't know where you fit in, or right. Or you might say right, or you might say the wrong thing, right? Right. Or or um right, adults, they they might feel stuck, right? They don't know um what else that they could do, um, right, with work or with families, or you know, and they just feel just so, they just feel overwhelmed and just, you know, they just don't know.

SPEAKER_04 34:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

You know?

SPEAKER_04 34:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

And I mean, you know, a lot of things are um, right, therapeutic, and so um things like uh taking um right, a walk, right? Um, right, working out, or you know, listening to music or or just sleeping. Sometimes we just need a good night's rest. You know, we just need to turn off our brains and just rest, you know. Um, but that's a big one. That's a huge one for sure.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

So it's definitely something that, you know, I I I don't see so much here, right, with students that attend the Montessori school. That's good. But I also feel like when you talk about something like anxiety, it really all those things that you said have major impacts in body function.

SPEAKER_04 35:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Right, and and mental health and mental acuity. And so, you know, one resting in who you are. And so if you've never taken time to identify who you are, meaning you're not spending time in the mirror and you don't have a self-assessment protocol, that is really the first place that I'm gonna say that you need to start. Yeah. Um I agree. The second thing that I would say would be really important is what are you putting into your body? So this is food, right? This is this is literally what you're eating. Because if you're doing only processed foods, only high you know sugar content, hard carbohydrate content, you know, already you're not putting in the right things for your body to be able to function. And no water. Um, that is something that is going up and up and up, right? The amount of water that Americans consume has fallen off dramatically over the past 30 years. Um one, because it's not it's not everywhere anymore. You know, you used to be able to go and there's a water fountain and it was encouraged. And in the school and in the classroom, you'd be able to walk down the hall and get water. In traditional schools, they don't let your kids leave the room.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

You know, they and in some cases they don't let you bring anything in the room.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Right.

SPEAKER_03 37:17

So you can't hydrate. So what you're putting into your body, what you're consuming, and that also includes digitally what you're taking in, right? If you're, I mean, you know, like one thing we used to do as kids is like, hey, if you watch a scary movie at night, then you're gonna have nightmares.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

That is still true. For me, that is still true. I can't watch scary movies.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

I really highlight that though, because that was like the one case where it's like, no, we don't want you to watch scary things because you're gonna have a nightmare. In this day and age, we let our kids have access to YouTube and all of these other things, and there's stuff that is built into these algorithms and built into these games, you know, that are intentionally pushing your children towards ideologies or identity issues or identity questions. So we live in this saturated market where our children can't identify because there's no direct one clear voice. Where it's like where I grew up in my time, there was a direct clear voice. Doesn't mean that it was always healthy or right, right. But it was direct and it was very, very clear.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

It wasn't 50 to a million to a thousand different types of you know ideas coming at me, you know, with an intentionality to kind of, you know, to kind of take me over. And then the third thing that I feel like every single person really needs to find the key of joy and success is their spirituality, right? And and I am a very Christian man, I love the Lord, I pray, I read, you know, I put myself around people who love God the same way that I do. At the same time, I also encourage people who don't know and don't have and don't experience that they should, right? To to really identify that. Um so like you know, one of the reasons why I love what you do so much is because you're on you're on the front lines, right? Like you're you're fighting with or or digging into a culmination of all that I just communicated pouring out of somebody, you know, in the way the only way that we know how, effectively, is with our words or with our bodies or or with our emotions. So what you know, what is like a normal recommendation that you give to someone who doesn't have those things into alignment, right? Is it you know, is it regular meetings, conversations, is it, is it medication, you know, like what what is it that generally you end up prescribing people to to manage these things?

SPEAKER_00 40:04

Yeah, so at first I always want to know what is going on and what really brought you here, right? And let us dig deep right into that. Before meds, right, before anything else, let me allow you to tell me, you know, what is really happening. From there, right, um we can work on like strategies. Excuse me. Um, yes, we can uh work on um strategies, right? So like we can work on things you like, right? And so if you like to go right outside in like nature, do that, right? Carve out 20 minutes out of your 24 hour day and and just you know, take a walk, right? A walk, a hike, a jog, a bike ride, something. Right. Also, um I like to do yoga um in my um um uh in my sessions, and so I found that moving the body um right during these um sessions, yeah specifically with um clients who have trauma, um, because that trauma it um right, it is stored in the body, um, right? Um right, in your joints, in your hips, you know, and so moving that and um and like making sure you are like um stretching that out. Sometimes I don't have to say words, right? Um through that movement though, you will have some things released. And so there might be times, you know, after the yoga, you're crying.

SPEAKER_04 42:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

Right? Yeah, and and it's like nobody said anything, but that trauma that was stored, it is finally released. And so just that, you know, movement, it is very, very um right, important. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

Yeah. So Yeah, and you nailed something right there, right, which is you know, release. Um, you know, we can consume and consume and consume to death lots of things. It can be salt, it can be water, it can be Cheetos, it can be emotions, right? It can be really terrible things. But our bodies are designed to consume. So there's not a way to not do that. So releasing that I is is the only way to for our body to do it in a healthy way. And you know, we do it naturally, physically, right? When we eat things, our body breaks it down, does what it needs to, divides up the nutrients, passes it through our entire system, and then we release what our body doesn't need.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 43:51

But emotionally, this is not a skill that we learn how to do, right? That we really Understand the power of one taking control of what we're taking in, but two, identifying what we have we don't want to carry. You know, we weren't meant to carry what happened to us when we were three, four, five, eight years old. Not an emotional baggage way. So releasing, I think, is something super powerful that you shared, you know, with people today.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

Definitely.

SPEAKER_03 44:28

Another amazing thing that you have done in your journey and your time is you wrote a children's book, which you which you brought with us today.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

I did, I did.

SPEAKER_03 44:38

So tell us about this awesome children's book and what it is and what the story is about.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

Sure. So my book, um, it is called The Sound of Me. Um and so this was inspired by both my niece and my son, who both love music so much, and they also have a way of connecting music with their feelings, right? And so my son, um, I'm not sure how, but when he excuse me, when he um right, gets the um remote, he somehow always turns it to jazz. I have no idea how, I have no clue how he knows where to go, but he knows. And he likes his his jazz music. Yeah, you know? Um, and he loves um dancing and you know, and that just makes him very happy. Um same thing with my my niece, right? She loves music, she will listen to all kinds of music. Um, and she loves it. Like from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed, she is listening to music. Um, and so this book um right, connects um um music with um feelings and and um explores, you know, how they go um hand in hand.

SPEAKER_04 46:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

And then right at the end, um the main um the main character um she does end up writing uh right uh writing her um own song and um right embracing all of the um right emotions she felt in the book.

SPEAKER_03 47:03

So it's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. And like I've always loved music um as well. Um I remember being a little kid, probably like you know, six, seven years old, and like turning on the radio, like as loud as it could be, and like laying down in front of it, like right in front of it, and like falling asleep.

SPEAKER_01 47:25

Oh wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

And you know, some of that has to do with like my overactive brain, yeah, was super calming, right, to have that, you know, type of response. Yep. But also as I got older and got to play the piano, and you know, as an adult, like working in kitchens, like music and having headphones in was a lot of my 20s.

SPEAKER_01 47:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:50

I probably had music 30% of the time that I was awake.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

Um, because I loved it. I loved it so much. And so for parents out there, like doing things with music is super fun.

SPEAKER_04 48:03

It is.

SPEAKER_03 48:03

I'm not with my little girls, um, dance parties, like dance parties. Like, who doesn't love a good dance party? We just like turn on the TV and everybody gets to shake and run. Um, and so the other thing about music is it's actually a language. Um, and this is something that a lot of people don't underst understand. Um, our brains interpret it and put it out the same way we do with written communication, the same we do with verbal communication, and the same way we do with math functions, because math is actually a language too.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 48:38

And so if you can encourage this in your child, music and the connectivity to other aspects of their life, yeah, what you're giving them is a foundation in all languages. It's not just music. And we can listen to music, it's the first form of communication we can understand before we enter the world.

SPEAKER_01 49:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:02

So before we're born, we can hear music.

SPEAKER_01 49:05

Indeed.

SPEAKER_03 49:05

So it can set in a tone and a standard for how we communicate in math, in verbal, written, and with our musical tendencies for the rest of our lives. Yes. Um, this is one of the reasons why, you know, studies have been done on children who listen to classical music at a younger age, outperform all of their other peers in major academic, social, emotional areas.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 49:33

And I love it so much. So this book is really powerful for me. Um we actually have it here in the school, and we read it to the students. So it's been really amazing, you know, to be able to share that.

SPEAKER_01 49:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:48

So, you, with all of your experience, um, you having a young child in your home, um, you actually made a decision to attend Heritage Montessori School. Yes. So share, we know, a little bit about why you love the Montessori method, um, you know, kind of the impact that you're seeing, you know, with your family, and you know, what that's really done for you guys.

SPEAKER_00 50:14

Yeah, so my child, um, I was home with him every day for 15 months. And in those months, he has become extremely independent.

SPEAKER_04 50:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 50:34

And so um I wanted a space to where he can um hone in on that, you know, when I'm not there. Right? You know, um, when I have work or right, I have um right other things, you know, to do. Um and so we were visiting uh schools, you know, um and in and in this school um my son gravitated towards Miss Anna and hugged her and was like bonding w with her and I said, This is it, right? Um and while here, you know, he has just ho did on his um right, independence. Excuse me, and um really has loved it here. Yeah. Um you know, he plays, you know, with his friends and he is just thriving. He really is. Yeah. Um, and I love it.

SPEAKER_03 51:57

Yeah, it's amazing. Thank you for for sharing that. Um Bianca, it's been really wonderful having you here today on Chasing Heritage. Um, really enjoyed, you know, just sharing and having this conversation. Um, why don't you just take a little bit and just kind of share with our listeners, you know, a little bit, you know, how they can contact you, any kind of updates you have upcoming, you know, for them.

SPEAKER_00 52:23

Yeah, sure. So um, yeah, you guys can um contact me uh via my um email. So that is Bianca Thanon at gmail.com. Um and uh also um you all can buy my book uh that is on um Amazon uh now. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:53

Awesome, wonderful. All right, everybody, thank you for joining us today on another great episode of Chasing Heritage. We really work hard to bring you the best people, the best interviews. Make sure you like and share our content so we can continue bringing you high level information and the greatest people for you to watch. Thank you again. We'll see you next time on Chasing Heritage.