Parenting in tune with our ancestry Darcia Narvaez, PhD is a professor emerita at Notre Dame, author, and expert in morality, parenting, and neurobiology. Darcia looks to our ancestral roots as Hunter-Gatherers to inform her worldview and her approach to parenting--incorporating essential human qualities like play, cooperation, and sharing. Her work on the "Evolved Nest" can be found at Psychology Today and evolvednest.org Find her academic work on her homepage. Check out her books Neurobiology the Development of Human Morality and Restoring the Kinship Worldview (with Wahinkpe Topa) Watch the Breaking the Cycle Video (youtube) kindredmedia.org Complete topics include: James shares how he encountered Darcia’s work when his firstborn son was 6 months oldWhy Darcia hears from a lot of first-time DadsThe Evolved Nest--a set of human and animal practices with a 75 million years heritageThe 9 components of the Evolved Nest, all supported by neuroscienceThe magic of soothing perinatal experiencesthe adaptive power of breastmilk to feed a babies changing needsWhy we tend to ween our children too earlyDarcia teases her new book “The Evolved Nest: Nature’s way of raising children”how the nest “evolved” and why every species nest is a little differenthow in the last 10 000 years (or in the 1%) of our existence our development course changedThe importance of a warm social climate in Small Band Hunter Gatherers (SBHG)How Mayan’s get their teenagers to take out the trash: let them start helping at 124/7 presence of caregivers in SBHGwhy negative touch is avoided in SBHGJames Prescott study of carrying and breastfeed leading to peaceable societiesWhy the nest is for everyone throughout life, not just for babies or childrena space of play, care, nurturing, and touchimportance of self-directed play and the fostering of cooperative social skills and executive skills Why SBHG never let babies cry -The evolved nest is immersed in nature The Sun Bushman and the regularity of healing practices—scheduled weekly or as often needed Healing practices are how we rebalance and remain connected to the natural worldWhy grandparents can be more in tuned to young children then parentsWhat Rousseau got wrong: no one starts alone—it’s dyadic: mother and childHow parents’ and even grandparents’ stress can be passed on to a childHow can a emotionally disregulated populace raise emotionally regulated offspring?Brain-Based Parenting (book) (link) Playful parenting (book) (link)When parents feel upset or stressed, try to switch into a playful mode as it shifts brain systemsWhy parents should start pillow fights—play is the best thing for disregulation James shares a story about how his son guided him through “big emotions”Hawaiian idea of the spirit as a bowl of light, where unhealed wounds and trauma are like strips of velcro blocking the light examples of indigenous healing practicesRichard Katz - Boiling Energy (book) (link)healing practices as a release—getting back in tune with the greater powershow to integrate healing practices into a modern family setting importance of unstructured outdoor play and wrestling Roughhouse parenting (link book): importance of wrestling for brain development how folk song games develop the right brain and vagus nerve The challenges of creating an evolved nest in modern society, especially contemporary USAWhy parents might need to “want less” to establish an evolved nesthow to create a village feel when you don’t have extended family in townwhy Darcia think the US is “the worst place to raise a child right now”In our ancestral heritage, children were the centre of life—their needs are crucial to ancestral and primal societies, as well as other mammals like BonobosIn traditional societies, a baby’s needs are anticipated, whereas in the west a baby is expected to cry outHow British imperialism spread a culture of competition and scarcity Why abundance, not scarcity, is our ancestral heritage Why Darcia thinks we are on a “trauma inducing pathway” watch Darcia’s 6 min video at Breakingthecycle.org How Darcia stays grounded while facing these immense problems: return to naturehow are we are a intrinsically connected, cooperative organism at biological and microbial levelJames shares a story about growing to enjoy co-sleeping with his childrenWhat thriving looks like in a hunter-gatherer society: a list of traitsAncestral thriving traits provide a guide for Maslow’s process of self-actualizationAncient practices are about honouring our genetic heritageWhy greatness is about being fully human, recognizing our connection within the web of life with creativity, gratitude, and presenceHow the critical, conscious left brain gets us off trackWhat is our niche as humans? Honouring and respecting the natural worldBraiding Sweetgrass (book) (link)The “reverbatory” power of our thoughts, words, and actionsWhat to do if you weren’t properly nested ...
