Inspiring Women Every Wednesday: Prakriti Prasad

Prakriti Prasad is a Parenting Coach, Author & Wellness Mentor.

Over the last five years she has conducted over 300 sessions for parents, teachers, children, young adults and corporate professionals across different cities.

Her ‘Nurture a Strong Seed’ Workshops for Parents are a big draw as she equips them with her unique tools of positive dynamic parenting.
The ‘Ace Your Game’ workshops for youngsters on issues like Internet Safety, Identifying Predators, Dealing with Exam Stress, being Anger Smart or Gadgets Judicious are designed to train and equip children with key life skills and wisdom to find themselves on a sound footing in life.

In this age of growing alienation between children and parents, her book ParenTEEN: How to Nurture Adolescents in Modern Times (by Rupa Publications) aims at bridging the communication barriers with wisdom, sensitivity and positive handling.

In this age of growing alienation between parents and children there is an urgent need to bridge the gulf between them. Parenteen: How to Nurture Your Adolescents in Modern Times is a handbook which focuses on decoding the insecurities, dilemmas and interests of youngsters to help parents understand their children better.

It addresses a range of teenage issues pertaining to peer pressure, gadget addiction, underage drinking, anger, exam stress and obsession with social media, to name some.

The Book aims at helping you raise not just happy, confident and humane children but friends for life. It has practical pieces of advice, examples and real life anecdotes pertaining to specific issues in each chapter which can help both parents and wards navigate through the rough waters of teenhood.

‘Parenteen’ is an outcome of my sincere desire to create awareness about positive parenting, role modelling and spiritual grounding. As sensible adults each of us should be committed towards bringing up a generation of youngsters who are not just well qualified, highly educated and talented but rock sturdy from inside to be able to handle the ups and downs of life.

An avid lover of music, Prakriti is trained in Hindustani Classical & folk music, sitar and Kathak.

Let’s Get Inspired

In Conversation with Prakriti Prasad
– Preeti Juneja

Q. When you began writing your book PARENTEEN, what profile of a parent you had in mind and who you think would benefit most from reading this book?

I wanted this book to be a perfect handbook for Indian parents struggling with their daily challenges while raising their adolescent children- the anger outbursts, peer pressure, screen addictions, crushes and heartbreaks. The idea was to help all parents, be it working moms, single parents or multi-tasking homemakers understand the importance of role modelling, spiritual grounding and above all, positive communication with their children.

Q. Working as a full-time journalist, and raising emotionally strong children. Were there any regrets or setbacks that prompted you to shift gears and become a catalyst in supporting other mothers on their parenting journey?

As a conscious mother wanting to understand and connect with my teen better, I started on this journey of reading, researching and attending workshops on positive parenting. Besides, being a journalist I had this growing sense of unease about the rising incidence of violence and aggression in children even in India, something which was a reality only in the Western world earlier.

I observed our children’s minds were evolving at break-neck speed but so were their stress levels. I realised most parents are rushing to provide the best of everything to their children – in terms of the best education, branded clothing, gourmet meals, top-notch toys and gadgets for recreation. But we are missing out on connecting with them.

So I began writing a column for the Times of India on positive parenting, then followed it up with my book- ParenTEEN: How To Nurture Your Adolescents in Modern Times. For, I wanted parents to realise we do not just need to focus on raising well-educated and multi-talented children but also those who are emotionally strong- to be able to handle setbacks and failures in life without becoming aggressive or depressive.

Q. Transforming the perception of parents to see a positive impact on their children, requires considerable time, patience, guidance and deep understanding of family history. What is the process you follow in planning for one-on-one coaching sessions?

Yes, you’re right it certainly does require keen observation, understanding, objectivity and consistent effort to convince parents to change their past patterns of behaviour to bring about the desired transformation.

So basically, I follow a simple 3-step formula in my one-on-one coaching:

Challenge Assessment- first understanding the key challenges of the coachee
Offering Customized Solutions- after zeroing down on the root of the problem
Hand-holding for effective implementation of the tools and strategies that I share.

Q. “The trick is to follow your gut, remain communicative and be ready to evolve with time”. This is excellent advice for parents navigating the challenges of raising teenagers. However, there often exists a discord in understanding and addressing issues, with each party pointing fingers at the other. Living up to parental expectations can become a daunting task for teenagers. In such cases, is counselling for children also necessary? What would you advise children?

Yes, the root cause of most parent-child conflict is unmet expectations- with each blaming the other. It is important for parents of teenage children to understand we need to alter our supervisory role as parents to now act more as facilitators. Lowering down our expectations and being a little more forgiving goes a long way even as we lay down certain firm and flexible rules of behaviour to be followed by our children.

Meanwhile, training and counselling children to help them come to terms with their raging hormones, tone down their stress levels, practising internet safety, handling peer pressure or using social media more judiciously is equally crucial. My ‘Ace Your Game’ sessions for children are designed to empower children on how to lead happier, stress-free lives

Q. Which five teenage issues do you believe can be managed well and quickly?

Handling every teenage issue requires considerable empathy, patience and persistence. These are the five challenges that can be managed well with a positive outcome when dealt with systematically by parents:

Aggression
Reluctance to talk/share
Technology and social media fixation
Lying or fibbing
Low self-discipline

Rapid-Fire:

How do you define today’s generation of adolescents? Restless & anxious
What is the right age to send children to boarding school? It varies. But preferably not before 10 yrs.
How to stay optimistic and motivated? Bringing in gratitude & service in life.
How do you tackle and overcome stereotypical behaviours in parents? By using real life examples and analogies
My next big move: Create a Movement around raising emotionally strong children

One-Liners:

A loving home is one where: The day begins and ends with a hug
The biggest need today is: Dynamic Parenting.
Children can be friends for life if: You focus more on listening than telling
An accomplished parent is when: your grown up child remember their childhood with a smile

About Author

Prakriti Prasad

A former journalist and columnist, Prakriti Prasad has worked with several leading publications of India, including The Times of India, Business Standard, Indian Express and The Himalayan Times in Kathmandu. She has written and edited coffee table books for Dainik Jagran and The Times of India.

Prakriti is on her mission to help nurture a generation of healthy, happy and emotionally strong children and partners with schools, colleges, NGOs and corporates towards this end.

As a wellness mentor Prakriti conducts exclusive transformative sessions for children, young adults & working professionals on handling their daily challenges, improving self worth and productivity.

Over the last five years she has conducted over 300 sessions for parents, teachers, children, young adults and corporate professionals across different cities.