This innovative training is designed to help educators and youth workers understand the effects of chronic stress both on themselves and the youth in their care. We’ll explore how mind-body practices can help develop emotional resilience using movement, breath, and awareness-based activities that can be done in just a few short minutes each day.
The training will:
- Address the needs of both staff and students
- Cultivate an understanding of how stress and traumatic stress affect bodies, brains, and behaviours
- Develop strategies for educators’ self-care, emotional regulation, and resilience utilizing movement, breath, and awareness (MBA) based tools
- Prepare educators to deliver short MBA practices in the classroom
Suitable for educators, social workers, CYC/Ws and other youth-service providers, and parents.
Part one covers the impacts of stress on staff wellness and supports the cultivation of a daily mindfulness practice to build mental, emotional and physical health. Participants will learn:
- How stress affects the body and brain
- The difference between regulated and unregulated stress
- Windows of tolerance
- Tools to promote staying within your window of tolerance
- Guidelines for self-practice
Part two breaks down the impact of chronic stress on the bodies, brains, and behaviours of children and youth, fostering a deeper understanding of how stress can negatively impact a young person’s ability to thrive. Staff will be supported in building short, digestible mindfulness-based activities to support the youth they serve. Participants will learn:
- Trauma’s effects on the bodies, brains and behaviours of children
- Dysregulation and learning
- How to create ‘safer’ spaces for students
- Resilience-building practices for the classroom
Participants will leave with resources including one year of access to our 7-module online Mindfulness Toolkit.
The training was created by New Leaf’s Executive Director, Laura Sygrove, RSW, and Senior Training Faculty, Julia Gibran, RSW, B.Ed.  Read their bios.
