Journaling helped Elizabeth Heller overcome her childhood trauma. Her business aims to give young people the same life raft.work

PITTSFIELD — When Elizabeth Heller was a child in California, she turned to journaling as a way to deal with abuse and trauma. “I had a very challenging upbringing,” she said. “I picked up a pen and wrote about ballet.

Now Heller says, “Journaling saved my life.”

A new business supported by the non-profit Entrepreneurship for All Berkshire County seeks to provide the same benefits to children.

Heller self-publishes “Kids Super Journal”. She describes it as a “mindfulness-based activity book” for young people aged 7 to her 12.

“Science shows that all three of these things have tremendous consequences,” she said. I wanted it to be a useful tool.”

Mindfulness, a term associated with meditation, is not an easy concept for children. Heller said he took the concept to a child’s level by making it “simple and fun”.

“For example, there’s deep breathing and abdominal breathing, where kids place a bean bag or favorite stuffing on their lower abdomen and breathe in to raise it,” she said. We just make a profit.”

A certified children’s yoga teacher, Heller used breathing, movement, and journaling as techniques while teaching the practice to children in Boston, where she lived before moving to Pittsfield last fall. I lost my job two years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Heller was looking for a way to keep working when he came up with the idea of ​​what would become the “Kids Super Journal.”

Through her company, Pig and Whale LLC, she started with podcasts. Heller holds a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University.

After moving to Pittsfield last October, Heller was a member of a class held by All Berkshire County’s Entrepreneurship to develop ideas for a “Kids Super Journal” and help entrepreneurs develop business plans.

Heller received $3,500 from EforAll. This is the highest award given to a member of the class graduating in June and was won for the ‘Kids Super Journal’. That funding, plus an additional $4,917 raised by Heller through a Kickstarter campaign, allowed her to finance the first edition of her book at Dalton’s Studley Press.

“It’s so great to have that support,” Heller said.

The book will soon be available for purchase at kidssuperjournal.com.

Heller credits the 12-week program at EforAll with giving the project purpose and direction.

“EforAll has completely transformed how I approach my business and really connect with the Berkshire community and the Pittsfield community,” she said. “I had three really great mentors, she.”