May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but for many teens, stress, anxiety and emotional noise are a daily reality. In response, 2025 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year and certified mindfulness and trauma-informed resilience trainer Stefanie Lachenauer is helping young people build the skills they need to navigate those challenges year-round.
Her book, Let the Glitter Settle: Mindfulness for Teens, offers simple, accessible practices that help teens pause, reset and regain a sense of control when emotions feel overwhelming. Rooted in nearly two decades of classroom experience and neuroscience-informed practices, Lachenauer’s approach meets students where they are — providing relatable, teen-friendly practices that build resilience, support emotional regulation and create space for calm.
“While May is Mental Health Awareness Month, mental health is something we need to care for year-round,” Lachenauer said. “Teens need tools they can actually use in their everyday lives — small ways to pause, breathe and come back to themselves, even when everything feels like too much.”
In Let the Glitter Settle, readers will: ● Learn to regulate emotions when everything feels like “too much” ● Try easy practices that support breathing, focus and staying present ● Explore what works for them personally — and confidently set aside what doesn’t ● Understand their emotions without shame, confusion or judgment
Part journal, part guidebook, part quiet companion, Let the Glitter Settle offers reassurance to any teen who feels like their mind is a shaken jar of glitter — swirling, overwhelming, impossible to settle. Through gentle, practical mindfulness exercises, Lachenauer gives young people the tools to pause, breathe and let that glitter slowly drift to the bottom.
“Whether you’re an educator, parent, counselor or someone who simply cares about the well-being of teens, this book is for you as much as it is for them,” Lachenauer said. “Let’s notice the good, savor the small moments and let the glitter settle together.”