Last month we had the pleasure of presenting our three-hour workshop on mindfulness to educators from The Vancouver School Board.
With seventy spirited attendees, we moved through the latest information about stress and its effect on our health, followed by strategies to counter these negative effects. Throughout the workshop everyone was encouraged to try something new, to counter stress’ negative impact (poor sleep, sluggishness, depression, anxiety, lack of exuberance and poor health). We strongly support breathing strategies, yogic movement and establishing an ongoing meditation practice to counter stress’ negative effects on our health.
In addition to the breath work we had participants self-inquire, by delving inward to better understand what is really going on in their lives. They were instructed to check in with themselves to determine how they are really doing. The necessity for self-reflection is often overlooked. Yet, a profound inquiry into the life we are living and whether or not we are really honouring ourselves, can be incredibly informative. It’s not easy work but it is imperative – especially when one is working with our tumultuous student populations.
We practiced a series of breathing strategies teachers could use with their students to help build self-regulation skills and behaviour modification. Then we led them through a lovely meditation so that they would truly experience what meditation really offers us – a respite from our ongoing thought patterns and a profound sense of peace.
Teachers left rejuvenated and inspired to take the time to gift themselves some mindfulness on a regular basis. We are grateful and humbled to have served this wonderful school district and look forward to working with them in the future.
Feedback from this workshop:
“A meaningful and powerful workshop that could potentially positively transform our educational system if its teachings were to be implemented on a regular basis”,
– VSB teacher
“I’m thrilled to have been here. Such good energy! An amazing workshop. Every school should have this workshop at the beginning of the school year! Totally present!”,
– Michelle Clarelin, VSB
“Jodi has a wealthy of practical pieces of information that are relevant to each and every one of us and can be brought into our schools and help us model and use strategies to navigate ourselves through this fast paced, ever changing world”,
– Adrienne Wood, VSB
“This workshop can be life changing. It made me aware of my thoughts and actions, that I am in control. Jodi is to the point, funny and nice to listen to. I would love to attend more workshops by Jodi”,
– Linda, VSB
“Jodi is an empowered, beautiful person. She shared her life journey of mindfulness with humility, joy and passion”,
– Lisa, VSB
“Empowering awareness on the development of your soul. An excellent way to begin the start of a better life. Jodi has opened up my eyes…”,
– Fuzzyb, VSB
“Best professional development course I’ve attended in years. She has great energy and is able to connect with her audience 100%!”,
– Jo, VSB
Jodi Derkson, MEd
FOUNDER OF !MPERATIVE EDUCATION
After attending UBC and earning her degrees, Jodi taught full-time for over ten years in the public school system creating student-centered curricula to guide her students towards a more knowledgeable and loving view of themselves and others. Jodi introduced topics of bullying, discrimination, mindfulness and positive relationship habits into her classes and celebrated students’ achievements as if they were her own.
 
