Prerna has been in the early childhood sector for 39 years and is now a keynote speaker, behaviour coach, and NAEYC consultant. She’s had a global career from Scotland to Hawaii to Texas. Prerna started Together We Grow to support those in the Early Years to find joy and be more connected to the children and families in their care.
Prerna identifies common sources of stress in Early Years workplaces, including challenging behaviour from children and time constraints for educators. She warns that failing to address stress in the sector could lead to a generation lacking essential life skills and brain development.
Prerna advises leaders to look for signs of stress in their teams, such as adults speaking at children rather than with them, and a general atmosphere of rush and overwhelm. She notes that sound is often used to dominate and control when adults are under stress, suggesting that leaders should be aware of the overall auditory environment in their settings.
"Are you hearing more grown-up voices in your building as you walk up and down?" asks Prerna, "If you're a leader of early childhood, do you hear more teachers talking at the kids, not with the kids? Are you hearing crying, yelling, screaming from the kids and the adults reacting? Or are you hearing, soothing laughter and calm and exploration?"
Prerna discusses how stress manifests in two ways: either coming out as reactive behaviour or being suppressed internally. She introduces the concept of "flow writing" as a coping technique to release stress by writing thoughts without judgment.
Know your own triggers
Prerna emphasises the importance of leaders understanding their own triggers and helping staff identify theirs to create a more supportive environment.
"What I've learned about helping somebody else is you got to help yourself first," explains Prerna, "So if you're a leader, you need to know your own triggers first. This is one of the things that we do in the coaching work on our triggers. So you got to make a list of your triggers."
Stop, Breath, Anchor
Prerna introduces the concept of becoming a "breathing program" and shares insights on the effectiveness of standing while taking deep breaths. She explains the SBA (Stop, Breathe, Anchor) approach, which involves pausing for 90 seconds to prevent reactive responses to emotional triggers.
Change your words to change your mind
Prerna emphasises the power of changing vocabulary from "have to" to "want to" or "get to" to reduce stress and create a sense of choice. She discusses the importance of replacing complaining and comparing with gratitude to shift from stress to joy. She emphasises the power of positive self-talk and how the brain believes whatever it is told, highlighting the need to choose words carefully.
"What I have learned is that when you use the word 'have to', it somehow makes your brain feel like a burden," says Prerna, "It somehow already stresses your brain out. 'I have to do the dishes, I have to cook. I have to clean.' You've got to trick your brain into changing the vocabulary from 'have to', to 'want to', to 'get to'. I want to make the dinner, I want to do the dishes, I want to clean. It somehow feels like there's a choice, and I'm wanting this. So there's some magic there with shifting vocabulary"
Prerna emphasises the importance of having grace and patience with yourself, moving away from perfectionism to reduce stress and pressure. She introduces the concept of naming your inner critic, sharing that she calls hers "Edith" and has even visualized her, which helps to reduce the critic's power.
"The self talk that we have is really powerful" explains Prerna, "And if you want children to grow up resilient with positive self talk, you got a role model that. So I'm applying what I'm telling somebody else to do on myself."
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