Teacher retreat
Fall 2017
Contemplative One-Day Retreat for Educators
Mindfulness, Lovingkindness, Movement and Yoga
no experience in meditation or yoga necessary
Watch for registration announcement
Location TBA
Cost: $75 includes catered lunch
An awful lot is asked of teachers these days...Beyond just conveying the course material, teachers are supposed to provide a nurturing learning environment, be responsive to students, parents and colleagues and administrators, juggle the demands of standardized testing, coach students through conflicts with peers, be exemplars of emotion regulation, handle disruptive behavior and generally be great role models;...the problem is we teachers rarely receive training or resources for any of this.
Given these stresses, it is essential that teachers learn to care for themselves. Learning to balance the emotional demands of teaching with other professional and personal pressures is central to the teacher’s art, and vital to professional longevity.
The practices introduced in this retreat cultivate capacities central to all of education—focused attention,
greater kindness and compassion, and enhanced contemplative inquiry and insight.
Mindfulness, Lovingkindness, Movement and Yoga
no experience in meditation or yoga necessary
Watch for registration announcement
Location TBA
Cost: $75 includes catered lunch
An awful lot is asked of teachers these days...Beyond just conveying the course material, teachers are supposed to provide a nurturing learning environment, be responsive to students, parents and colleagues and administrators, juggle the demands of standardized testing, coach students through conflicts with peers, be exemplars of emotion regulation, handle disruptive behavior and generally be great role models;...the problem is we teachers rarely receive training or resources for any of this.
Given these stresses, it is essential that teachers learn to care for themselves. Learning to balance the emotional demands of teaching with other professional and personal pressures is central to the teacher’s art, and vital to professional longevity.
The practices introduced in this retreat cultivate capacities central to all of education—focused attention,
greater kindness and compassion, and enhanced contemplative inquiry and insight.
The curriculum is made up of the following components to enhance:
- Personal practice. The retreat space allows us to enter into a deeper understanding of the principals and instructions of the mindfulness traditions. It supports our exploration of ourselves, and our lives, and provides the foundation for being an embodied and authentic mindfulness teacher. It also synchronizes our use of language, as well as our understanding of core techniques and principles.
- Facilitation. The retreat time allows us the space for significant experimentation, group exercises, role-plays, demonstrations, and inquiry. This part of the training will feel as much like a performing arts or improv workshop as a mindfulness retreat. It is an essential component of good mindfulness teaching.
- A community of contemplative educators and youth service providers.
- You will be encouraged to maintain a daily personal practice. What this looks like will vary from person to person. Guidance around personal practice will be offered.
- TAKING UP SPACE IN THE ROOM – using your physical presence as an “anchor” for the attention of your students
- CONTEMPLATIVE OBSERVATION - developing the skill to see the situation with fresh eyes, using mindfulness, and checking in with oneself
- THE VOICE – skillfully using voice projection, modulation and intonation in groups of youth; the importance of voice in regulating the nervous system.
- SPONTANEITY, HUMOR & HUMANNESS – the tension between curriculum pivot points and the need to spontaneously “go off script”; exercises for developing and accessing spontaneity in teaching.
- JOINING & ATTUNEMENT – meeting youth where they are and taking them where you want them to go; “joining” with youth without reinforcing negativity and judgment; uncontrived methods for nurturing the positive. The goal of the workshop is for participants to leave with a variety of practical “exercises” and “experiments” that they can integrate immediately into their mindfulness work with youth, regardless of what curriculum, manual or program they have chosen to implement.
- Reduce stress and increase coping skills
- Cultivate empathy for yourself and others
- Learn the science behind mindfulness
- Build up a personal mindfulness practice