Kindred’s editor, Lisa Reagan, talks with Isa Gucciardi, PhD, about the seven life initiations needed to move into our full state of wholeness and our full potential for thriving – and what happens when these initiations are broken, interrupted, or culturally unacknowledged. Isa shares her considerable insight into how we are thwarted from completing our seven initiations, and how we can reclaim, and even heal, our innate paths to flourishing.

LINK TO POST: https://www.kindredmedia.org/2022/02/seven-life-initiations-for-human-transformation-and-how-to-reclaim-them/

Editor’s Note: Below are the seven initiations excerpted from Chapter 4: The Seven Initiatory Stages, from Isa’s book, The New Return to the Great Mother. This excerpt is edited for brevity. The complete chapter includes stories from women Isa has worked with over many years as they travel through each stage. We hope you will purchase and enjoy these rich, intimate stories.

Seven Life Initiations For Human Transformation: And How To Reclaim Them, with Isa Gucciardi, PhD

Lisa Reagan, Kindred's editor, talks with the authors of the book, Attached at the Heart. Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson share their insights from the third editor of their beloved and classic parenting book.

Read more about the interview and watch the video version here: https://kindredmedia.org/2024/01/normalizing-nurturing-a-discussion-with-the-authors-of-attached-at-the-heart/

Read the foreword to the book, by Darcia Narvaez, here: https://kindredmedia.org/2024/01/attached-at-the-heart-the-foreword-by-darcia-narvaez/

Learn more about the book here: https://kindredmedia.org/2024/01/35730/

“Our book encourages the nurturing care and emotional connections necessary to build strong, resilient brains for optimal mental and emotional health. It’s revolutionary because the information in this book isn’t found in most parenting books. It counters popular parenting advice in order to empower parents to listen to their babies and young children. These early years are critical to the development of trust and empathy, the necessary ingredients for developing a secure attachment,” said co-author Barbara Nicholson, MEd, CEIM.

Attached at the Heart is endorsed by parenting experts, pediatricians and luminary moms such as Alanis Morissette and Mayim Bialik, PhD.

“When we co-founded Attachment Parenting International, now known as Nurturings, nearly 30 years ago, we knew that new parents needed evidence-informed education and practical information about how best to nurture their babies. That’s how Attached at the Heart came about – as a guidebook for new parents to help them lean into their caregiving instincts and set their children up for success,” said co-author Lysa Parker, MS, CFLE, CEIM.

Attached at the Heart has been a key resource for the attachment parenting movement, encouraging parents to trust their instincts and provide responsive care for their children.

“Research has proven that early nurturing experiences transform lives. The Eight Principles of Parenting that are detailed in our book are supported by research and rooted in attachment theory. Attached at the Heart provides science and evidence-backed recommendations to guide new parents in their loving journey,” said Nicholson.

The 3rd edition provides new recommendations regarding infant sleep, how to help children and their parents maintain a secure attachment, and how parents can learn to be more emotionally self-aware in order to teach their children emotional regulation strategies.

Normalizing Nurturing: An Interview with Authors of Attached at the Heart

DESCRIPTION: Self-Actualized people have many of the same characteristics and lifestyles. Learn what these are how you can begin implementing them in your own life to further your self-actualization.

Listen to award-winning neuroscience researcher, Darcia Narvaez, PhD, share foundational insights into the Evolved Nest.

Visit the nonprofit initiative at www.EvolvedNest.org.

About Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Darcia Narvaez is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Her prior careers include professional musician, classroom music teacher, business owner, seminarian and middle school Spanish teacher. Dr. Narvaez’s current research explores how early life experience influences societal culture, wellbeing and sociomoral character in children and adults. She integrates neurobiological, clinical, developmental and education sciences in her theories and research about human nature and human development.

She publishes extensively on moral development, parenting and education. Recently she has been studying the Evolved Nest and how it influences wellbeing, sociality and morality.

She hosts interdisciplinary conferences at the University of Notre Dame regarding early experience and human development (the talks and/or powerpoints are available online). In 2016, she organized a conference on Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing (talks available online).

She is the author or editor of numerous books and articles. Read her bio and blogs here: kindredmedia.org/author/darcia-narvaez-phd/

About the Evolved Nest

Every animal has a nest for its young that matches up with the maturational schedule of the offspring (Gottlieb, 1997). Humans too! The Evolved Nest (or Evolved Developmental Niche; EDN) refers to the nest for young children that humans inherit from their ancestors. It's one of our adaptations, meaning that it helped our ancestors survive. Most characteristics of the evolved nest emerged with social mammals more than 30 million years ago.

Humans are distinctive in that babies are born highly immature (only 25% of adult-sized brain at full-term birth) and should be in the womb another 18 months to even resemble newborns of other species! As a result, the brain/body of a child is highly influenced by early life experience.

Multiple epigenetic effects occur in the first months and years based on the timing and type of early experience. Humanity's evolved nest was first identified by Melvin Konner (2005) as the "hunter-gatherer childhood model" and includes breastfeeding 2-5 years, nearly constant touch, responsiveness to baby's needs, multiple responsive adult caregivers, free play with multiple-aged playmates, positive social support for mom and baby.

Calling these components the Evolved Nest or Evolved Developmental Niche, Narvaez and colleagues add to the list soothing perinatal experience (before, during, after birth) and a positive, welcoming social climate. All these are characteristic of the type of environment in which the human genus lived for 99% of its existence. Below are publications and a powerpoint about the evolved nest.

Why does the evolved nest matter? Early years are when virtually all neurobiological systems are completing their development. They form the foundation for the rest of life, incl

22. Basic Needs, Part 2; Evolved Nest with Darcia Narvaez, PhD

DESCRIPTION: Are humans naturally violent and sex-crazed? Dr. Narvaez explains why this mythology isn't true about our species.

Visit the nonprofit initiative at www.EvolvedNest.org.

About Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Darcia Narvaez is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Her prior careers include professional musician, classroom music teacher, business owner, seminarian and middle school Spanish teacher. Dr. Narvaez’s current research explores how early life experience influences societal culture, wellbeing and sociomoral character in children and adults. She integrates neurobiological, clinical, developmental and education sciences in her theories and research about human nature and human development.

She publishes extensively on moral development, parenting and education. Recently she has been studying the Evolved Nest and how it influences wellbeing, sociality and morality.

She hosts interdisciplinary conferences at the University of Notre Dame regarding early experience and human development (the talks and/or powerpoints are available online). In 2016, she organized a conference on Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing (talks available online).

She is the author or editor of numerous books and articles. Read her bio and blogs here: kindredmedia.org/author/darcia-narvaez-phd/

About the Evolved Nest

Every animal has a nest for its young that matches up with the maturational schedule of the offspring (Gottlieb, 1997). Humans too! The Evolved Nest (or Evolved Developmental Niche; EDN) refers to the nest for young children that humans inherit from their ancestors. It's one of our adaptations, meaning that it helped our ancestors survive. Most characteristics of the evolved nest emerged with social mammals more than 30 million years ago.

Humans are distinctive in that babies are born highly immature (only 25% of adult-sized brain at full-term birth) and should be in the womb another 18 months to even resemble newborns of other species! As a result, the brain/body of a child is highly influenced by early life experience.

Multiple epigenetic effects occur in the first months and years based on the timing and type of early experience. Humanity's evolved nest was first identified by Melvin Konner (2005) as the "hunter-gatherer childhood model" and includes breastfeeding 2-5 years, nearly constant touch, responsiveness to baby's needs, multiple responsive adult caregivers, free play with multiple-aged playmates, positive social support for mom and baby.

Calling these components the Evolved Nest or Evolved Developmental Niche, Narvaez and colleagues add to the list soothing perinatal experience (before, during, after birth) and a positive, welcoming social climate. All these are characteristic of the type of environment in which the human genus lived for 99% of its existence. Below are publications and a powerpoint about the evolved nest.

Why does the evolved nest matter? Early years are when virtually all neurobiological systems are completing their development. They form the foundation for the rest of life, including getting along with others, sociality and morality.

24. Are Humans Naturally Violent And Sex - Crazed? Evolved Nest with Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Visit The Evolved Nest at www.evolvednest.org 

Welcome to Evolved Nest.org book reviews! My name Dr. Darcia Narvaez and I’m here with Mary Tarsha. We are both at the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Psychology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

In these book review podcasts, we discuss books aimed at parents and how they align or not with humanity’s evolved nest and with child thriving. First a quick review of the evolved nest. 

Humans evolved to be nested. Humanity’s nest for young children helps optimize children's development, fostering thriving, flourishing and resilience capacities in children of all ages.  The evolved nest includes soothing gestation and birth, on-request extensive breastfeeding and positive moving touch (no negative touch), a welcoming social climate, self-directed play with multiple aged mates, warmly responsive nurturing from mother and others, Nature immersion and connection, and healing practices to repair miscommunication or hurts.  

Child thriving includes Physical health; Happiness and wellbeing, Self-acceptance and appreciation; Self control; Emotional Intelligence; Sociality & social skills; Empathy; Perspective taking; Kindness; and Active curiosity.

Science Of Parenting: A Book Review

Darcia Narvaez and Mary Tarsha review The Continuum Concept: In Search of Happiness Lost, a classic conscious parenting book. You can read her article that accompanies this review here: https://www.kindredmedia.org/2020/07/natives-foster-happy-people-without-overthinking/

The Continuum Concept: A Book Review by Darcia Narvaez and Mary Tarsha

What does empathic parenting look like in the first few years? Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker show us in their book, Attached at the Heart: Eight Proven Parenting Principles for Raising Connected and Compassionate Children. It’s a conversational compendium of research, stories, and personal accounts aimed at parents of young children, but its principles extend to the lifespan of the parent-child relationship.

Empathic parenting is what peaceful cultures provide where optimal child development is the norm. It may also help parents heal from their own childhood wounds, educating them about child needs and positive parenting, and guiding them in providing the support they themselves may not have received.

Read the blog post here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/moral-landscapes/202008/the-hows-and-whys-attachment-parenting

Attached at the Heart Book Review, with Darcia Narvaez & Mary Tarsha

Evolved Nest Explained gives information about evolved nest components and why they are important for child and adult health, wellbeing and sociomorality.
 
We have identified nine components of humanity’s evolved nest for young children. They include soothing gestation and birth, on-request extensive breastfeeding and positive moving touch (no negative touch), a welcoming social climate, self-directed play with multiple aged mates, warmly responsive nurturing from mother and others, Nature immersion and connection, and healing practices to repair miscommunication or hurts.  Many of these components are important (apart from birth and breastfeeding) for maintaining wellbeing throughout life.

For more information, see EvolvedNest.org.

The Evolve Nest Explained: BREASTFEEDING

Restoring Humanity's Promise: Nestedness and Indigenous Wisdom

Description: Narvaez and Tarsha discuss humanity's heritages of evolved nest provision, the indigenous worldview and how to return to the sustainable wisdom our ancestors practiced.

Presented at the United Kingdom's annual Wonderland Festival (online this year) for 2020's Solstice Celebration: www.wonderlandfestival.org

Learn more at the www.EvolvedNest.org

Darcia Narvaez, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. One of her recent books, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom won the 2015 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association and the 2017 Expanded Reason Award. She writes a popular blog for Psychology Today (“Moral Landscapes”) and hosts the webpage EvolvedNest.org.

Mary S. Tarsha, MEd, is a doctoral student in the Kroc International Institute for Peace Studies and the Department of Psychology at University of Notre Dame. She investigates the neurobiology of moral development, including peaceableness, cooperation, and prosocial/antisocial morality with a particular focus on how early life facilitates (or not) the biosocial construction of wellbeing and sociomorality, specifically the mechanisms of action by which the Evolved Developmental Niche (or Evolved Nest) promotes human flourishing and peaceable children, families and societies.

Restoring Humanity's Promise: Nestedness and Indigenous Wisdom

POSITIVE TOUCH like carrying and rocking promote neurobiological health.

What to do:

•  Carry, hold, rock your baby as much as possible. 
•  Stay physically close 24/7.
•  Practice skin-to-skin contact as much as you can.
•  For older children, play with them in whole body ways. Cuddles and roughhouse!

Why?

Human babies are much more social and malleable than are other animals where most studies of touch have taken place. Animal studies show:

•  Losing contact with the parent is distressing. 
•  Even a few minutes of separation in rat babies causes lifelong changes in stress response (Levine, 2005), which when mild and graded can help the offspring cope with the stress of separation (Katz et al., 2009). 
•  Multiple systems are regulated by the presence of the mother and quickly become dysregulated when she is physically absent (Hofer, 1994). 
•  Physical separation activates painful emotions (Ladd, Owens, & Nemeroff, 1996; Panksepp, 2003; Sanchez, Ladd, & Plotsky, 2001) 
•  Monkeys isolated from adults when babies spend their lives with deficits of 5-HIAA, a main metabolite of serotonin (critical for intelligence and happiness, social behavior) (e.g., Kalin, 1999; Suomi, 2006).

Resources

See The Evolved Nest's Resource page: https://evolvednest.org/evolved-nest-resources

Evolved NestExplained: TOUCH

Darcia Narvaez and Mary Tarsha review Brain-Based Parenting: The Neuroscience of Caregiving for Healthy Attachment

Visit the www.EvolvedNest.org for more science and resources

In this groundbreaking exploration of the brain mechanisms behind healthy caregiving, attachment specialist Daniel A. Hughes and veteran clinical psychologist Jonathan Baylin guide readers through the intricate web of neuronal processes, hormones, and chemicals that drive―and sometimes thwart―our caregiving impulses, uncovering the mysteries of the parental brain.

The biggest challenge to parents, Hughes and Baylin explain, is learning how to regulate emotions that arise―feeling them deeply and honestly while staying grounded and aware enough to preserve the parent–child relationship. Stress, which can lead to “blocked” or dysfunctional care, can impede our brain’s inherent caregiving processes and negatively impact our ability to do this. While the parent–child relationship can generate deep empathy and the intense motivation to care for our children, it can also trigger self-defensive feelings rooted in our early attachment relationships, and give rise to “unparental” impulses.

Brain - Based Parenting: A Book Review

Kindred is a nonprofit initiative and alternative media platform for exploring how/if our species is going to survive.

Normalizing Nurturing: An Interview with Authors of Attached at the Heart

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