Hello & Bienvenue!
My name is Vanessa Hutchinson-Szekely
and I founded Big Belly Breathing in 2022.
As a California maman of two daughters, with French roots in Haute Savoie (La Yaute!), and as an urban public school educator (20+ years in LA & SF), I created the BBB program as a response to an obvious need that only intensified during the pandemic.
Drawing on my extensive French cultural foundation and California living as well as my experience in education & health and as a mom, I am proposing a holistic program to teach kids to prioritize their health by adopting daily routines and rituals.
The program is based on teaching kids how to meditate with a mantra, and then listening to the Big Belly Breathing podcast. The podcast is a collection of guided meditations, stories and mini health lessons primarily for kids.
By establishing daily rituals, routines and habits of mindfulness, where kids learn to meditate and practice tools and techniques learned in the podcast, they increase their health and joy.
Healthy Habits = Happy Kids!
Guiding Principles:
ALL children deserve and benefit from learning a robust health education at an early age.
Everyone is welcome here; inclusion is our way.
Physical, mental and emotional health is acquired through
habits & self-discipline.
When these routines & rituals are established young, they lead to
happier and healthier adults.
Think of it like this: kids learn practices like brushing their teeth from a young age, and this prevents tooth decay and gum disease.
With this same thinking, kids learn to meditate and create habits on BBB that help them: prevent, minimize or handle things better like anxiety, depression, lack of concentration, sleep, mood changes, self-esteem issues…to name a few .
It’s optimal to equip children with nuggets of knowledge on
nutrition & exercise as well as a multitude of tools to:
grow stronger
expand their creativity
process their emotions
self-regulate and soothe themselves
improve their skills to relate and connect with others
Are you nodding your head to all of this?
Want to know more?
Lemons to lemonade:
In 2009, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, and around that time also became trained in Transcendental Meditation and started a regular yoga practice.
Managing stress and understanding what works best for my body regarding nutrition & exercise are the main points I attribute with keeping my colitis, stress and sanity in check.
With my extensive background in education and personal experience in these spheres, I want to share my learnings with kids. They are our future, n’est-ce pas?
Best to plant seeds early to live fully.
Credentials:
Certified Holistic Health & Wellness Coach through AFPA
Yoga teacher & Social Emotional Learning facilitator through Breathe For Change
Physical Education and Multiple Subjects teacher in California since 2001
Mom to 2 kids since 2013
You can also find my profile on The Elles Collective, a Francophone woman networking group. Oh la la!
By joining the BBB journey, you’re investing in your kids’ health & future.
In addition to non stop
health talk,
check out my publications:
Past publications include several articles about public education,
as well as a current San Francisco advice column “THE CITY Counselor”.
I am also seeking to publish the first of a series of children’s books:
“Zucchini Pals & Big Belly Breathing”.
If you’re an interested literary agent, please DM me.
