Empowering educators to prioritise their well-being

Speaker A 00:00:22

As teachers, wherever they decide to go to teach, they have to consider the culture in which they're getting ready to walk into.

Speaker A 00:00:30

When I would read their papers, I would consider the five elementary schools that they came from as well.

Speaker A 00:00:37

So as I'm reading their papers, I'm like, oh, this came from this particular school.

Speaker A 00:00:41

Or because of the cadence and because of their writing abilities, this child probably came from this elementary school.

Speaker A 00:00:47

And we had this teacher in middle school.

Speaker A 00:00:49

And it would be so amazing that I'd asked the student, they were like, how did you know?

Speaker A 00:00:56

What happens is you have to be cognizant of how you speak to people and that plays on your health, how you think and how you communicate.

Speaker A 00:01:07

So all of that goes into your health and your wellness.

Speaker A 00:01:12

And that's one of the things that you have to keep in mind as a teacher.

Speaker A 00:01:18

And that's one of the factors.

Speaker A 00:01:19

I want to kind of start focusing on finding that time to do that pause and that breathe.

Speaker A 00:01:24

Because when we concentrate on our breath and we fill our lungs to its full capacity and breathe it out and just take a moment of silence to ourselves, then we have an opportunity to be our best selves.

Speaker A 00:01:37

I just want people to consider a five minute reset.

Speaker A 00:01:40

Even if you implement it every day, just five minutes, that will help your body with its recovery process.

Speaker A 00:01:47

The one thing that I would say is pursue whatever your dream is, regardless of what others may say is or is not your dream.

Speaker A 00:01:57

If it's within you, then you need to pursue it.

Speaker A 00:02:00

Don't wait for anyone to say it's good or bad.

Speaker A 00:02:04

As long as, with any reason, it's legal.

Speaker B 00:02:07

Hello, my name is Mark Taylor, and welcome to the Education on Far podcast, the place for creative and inspiring learning from around the world.

Speaker B 00:02:21

Listen to teachers, parents and mentors share how they are supporting children to live their best authentic life and are proving to be a guiding light to us all.

Speaker B 00:02:29

Hi, Dr.

Speaker B 00:02:30

Jewell, thank you so much for joining us here on the Education on Far podcast.

Speaker B 00:02:34

I think one of the things which is the most important thing is being able to look after yourself.

Speaker B 00:02:38

And also I think with the teacher retention issues and the fact that without any teachers, we don't have any schools.

Speaker B 00:02:44

I think making sure that those teachers who are in school and are healthy and looking after themselves is an integral part to how we're going to try and fix the problems that we seem to be going through.

Speaker B 00:02:52

So this is going to be a fantastic conversation.

Speaker B 00:02:54

Thanks so much for being here.

Speaker A 00:02:55

Well, thank you so much, Mark.

Speaker A 00:02:57

I really appreciate it.

Speaker A 00:02:59

I'm kind of excited.

Speaker A 00:03:00

Let's roll.

Speaker B 00:03:01

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:03:03

So why don't we start in that education kind of standpoint.

Speaker B 00:03:07

I know you've got a long experience as a principal and being in an education and then we'll sort of move through to what you're focusing on now.

Speaker A 00:03:14

Okay, so I was in pre K12 for a stint of period of time, a little over 20 years.

Speaker A 00:03:23

Taught English, worked as an assistant principal in elementary and middle school and alternative education.

Speaker A 00:03:31

And then I matriculated to being a principal for multiple years at a primary school and a in a 35 school.

Speaker A 00:03:43

So it was an experience because most principals get an assistant principal or a secondary individual.

Speaker A 00:03:51

And I had to really rely on my counselors.

Speaker A 00:03:55

I had to rely on my staff to just kind of help with this process.

Speaker A 00:03:59

And we worked as a team to ensure that we were meeting the needs of our students.

Speaker A 00:04:04

So the experiences and experiences has been amazing.

Speaker A 00:04:09

Even at one of the schools we had Head Start there, even though I was not their administrator, I was their administrator.

Speaker A 00:04:15

It was one of those odd things.

Speaker A 00:04:16

So if so here you will have literally babies, you know, in a right there babies, bassinets, all the good stuff, but not a bassinet per se, just to kind of rock them.

Speaker A 00:04:27

But we had cribs, we had kids in there just who are four and under who just needed to make sure that they were on a safe campus and the parents would come through and they would be just amazing.

Speaker A 00:04:41

But eventually they did move and put them in a more a different place so that all of the Head Start kids could be there.

Speaker A 00:04:48

But from my experience from being from Head Start alternative ed elementary and my alternative ed was middle and high school, I just am very grateful that I had that type of experience from the pre K12 setting and to learn more about parents, to learn more about community.

Speaker A 00:05:08

Because I was in a rural community and for some time, but I did work in a suburb community, suburban community as well when I first started.

Speaker A 00:05:16

And that was a very.

Speaker A 00:05:17

That was totally different.

Speaker A 00:05:19

And it was to the point where when I came into the rural community, they were like, she's kind of rigid.

Speaker A 00:05:24

Well, it wasn't that I was rigid.

Speaker A 00:05:26

The clientele was different.

Speaker A 00:05:27

And so the way we spoke to students was in a more formal manner as opposed to in the rule setting.

Speaker A 00:05:33

It is a more of a casual, friendly manner and it is still casual in, you know, in the suburbs, but it's a little more like you're more direct and it fit with my personality and I had to do some major changes.

Speaker A 00:05:47

And that's where it Comes with culture.

Speaker A 00:05:49

As teachers, wherever they decide to go to teach, they have to consider the culture in which they're getting ready to walk into.

Speaker B 00:05:58

I really love that because I think one of the things that we're struggling with generally across education, but learning as well, is the fact that for so long now, the idea of standardized testing, the idea of making sure you're fitting the mold, all of that kind of stuff, and what you just explained there in the most basic terms is the fact that we are all different.

Speaker B 00:06:16

Every, every community is different.

Speaker B 00:06:18

You only need to be a few miles down the road from where you are now.

Speaker B 00:06:21

And like I say, the attitudes are different or the way you're going to approach people is different.

Speaker B 00:06:24

So.

Speaker B 00:06:25

So it makes sense that even the education system from what we're learning has to sort of follow what.

Speaker B 00:06:29

In that same vein, isn't it?

Speaker A 00:06:31

Yeah, it is.

Speaker A 00:06:32

And it's kind of interesting.

Speaker A 00:06:34

When we were, when I was in the rural setting, I worked in multiple places and each place had its own culture, which was pretty interesting.

Speaker A 00:06:45

Also, as a teacher, I identified the same thing.

Speaker A 00:06:48

So let me give an example.

Speaker A 00:06:49

I was an English teacher and I would get students from our feed in schools.

Speaker A 00:06:54

We had two middle schools at the time and shows it's really small, right?

Speaker A 00:06:58

Two schools that used to feed in.

Speaker A 00:07:00

When I would read their papers, I would consider the five elementary schools that they came from as well.

Speaker A 00:07:06

So as I'm reading their papers, I'm like, oh, this came from this particular school.

Speaker A 00:07:10

Or because of the cadence and because of their writing abilities, this child probably came from this elementary school.

Speaker A 00:07:16

And we had this teacher in middle school.

Speaker A 00:07:18

And it would be so amazing that I'd ask the student, they were like, how did you know?

Speaker A 00:07:23

Oh my gosh, that's weird.

Speaker A 00:07:25

That's so weird.

Speaker A 00:07:27

And I'm like, well, because of the way that you write, it's the way that you write, it's the way that you express yourself, it's the way that you have aligned your work and how you're organized and not saying one was disorganized from the other, it was just a different way that the culture was and the different mannerisms of the way that students were taught.

Speaker B 00:07:52

So we're obviously going to be focusing about well being and that sort of thing today.

Speaker B 00:07:56

Did you notice a difference, like you say, in those two different communities or those two different cultures in terms of people's well being generally?

Speaker B 00:08:03

You know, is the, the more relaxed approach gives you more well being?

Speaker B 00:08:07

Or actually is that sort of a full sort of idea?

Speaker B 00:08:11

Because of course, it depends on how you're, how you are with yourself, don't you?

Speaker B 00:08:14

Not necessarily just the circumstances that you find yourself in.

Speaker A 00:08:18

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:08:18

When I was working in the suburbia area, I worked day school and I worked night school, and that was by choice.

Speaker A 00:08:27

I didn't have to do night, but I wanted to have that experience of night school because I heard it was very different and it was vastly different.

Speaker A 00:08:34

We won't go into the types of kids that I had, the children that I had, I don't like using kids, the types of children that I had, but it was a variance just in that.

Speaker A 00:08:43

And we were still at the same school, mind you, during the day, I had my students and it was very different in the sense that we had to be almost slightly on alert.

Speaker A 00:08:56

Okay.

Speaker A 00:08:58

Your body structure, the way you feel, your mechanisms, how you're compassionate versus how to be compassionate, whether to have empathy or whether or not to have sympathy with the student or whether you just need to make it totally neutral, make it apathetic.

Speaker A 00:09:11

So that.

Speaker A 00:09:12

Not saying you don't care, but in a.

Speaker A 00:09:15

The.

Speaker A 00:09:15

The verse in which you speak.

Speaker A 00:09:18

So it dealt with your mind, it dealt with your.

Speaker A 00:09:21

Your health, it dealt with your.

Speaker A 00:09:23

Your.

Speaker A 00:09:23

How you spoke to students, it dealt with how you even functioned.

Speaker A 00:09:27

And so in the suburbia school, you kind of like on a high alert.

Speaker A 00:09:31

And we were literally just a few minutes away.

Speaker A 00:09:33

And I mean, few minutes, we're Talking about under 30 minutes away from the nation's capital for the school that I actually taught.

Speaker A 00:09:40

So.

Speaker A 00:09:41

So we would get a lot of students who transferred from the nation's capital into our school.

Speaker A 00:09:46

And the way they thought was very different from the suburban school that we were in.

Speaker A 00:09:51

Even though many people were like, that's a really tough school that you started out on.

Speaker A 00:09:55

And I'm like, yeah, but I didn't realize because I actually went to school in this county.

Speaker A 00:10:02

And it was an eye opener for me because that county that I taught in and where I actually graduated from, I saw the differences.

Speaker A 00:10:11

I remember even as a high school student, certain students who came from XYZ school was very different from where I went to school.

Speaker A 00:10:19

And it was just because of the economic status.

Speaker A 00:10:23

Some were more affluent, some of the parent, and because they were near various governmental agencies, you had a different type of clientele that went in there.

Speaker A 00:10:34

The clientele that I was at, we used to get a lot of students who worked at a base or lived on base or were travelers because their parents were always being transferred.

Speaker A 00:10:46

Where I went to school itself, it was more Settled people lived in actual communities, and they.

Speaker A 00:10:52

It wasn't like where I taught later in the rural setting where everybody knew somebody's mom or such and such, grew up with such and such because they knew each other since birth.

Speaker A 00:11:03

And that didn't happen as frequently in that suburban school.

Speaker A 00:11:07

And so what happens is you have to be cognizant of how you speak to people, and that plays on your health, how you think and how you communicate.

Speaker A 00:11:19

So all of that goes in to your health and your wellness.

Speaker A 00:11:24

And that's one of the things that you have to keep in mind as a teacher.

Speaker A 00:11:28

You consider your health and wellness, saying, oh, I'm going to make sure that I have eight glasses of water.

Speaker A 00:11:32

I'm just saying, just a general eight glasses of water, have three square meals, which doesn't happen for teachers.

Speaker A 00:11:37

But this is a mindset that you think you're going to walk into, and you're not.

Speaker A 00:11:42

Maybe you may not be in that mode.

Speaker A 00:11:44

You may not be in that position to do that because you're trying to acclimate yourself to that culture.

Speaker A 00:11:52

And it can be a strain.

Speaker A 00:11:54

There were many nights I wanted to go home and just take a nap.

Speaker A 00:11:57

And it wasn't because I wasn't familiar with teaching, even though I was slightly new to it.

Speaker A 00:12:02

It was because it wasn't the same atmosphere in which I may have grown up in, or it wasn't the same atmosphere in which the administration had their same thoughts or the same type of culture.

Speaker A 00:12:15

So you have to be careful with that.

Speaker A 00:12:16

So one of the things you need to do is exercise or you need to come up with a hobby that you like.

Speaker A 00:12:22

I loved sewing.

Speaker A 00:12:23

I sewed a lot.

Speaker A 00:12:25

It was nothing unfamiliar with me using a sewing machine.

Speaker A 00:12:28

I used one of my sewing machines so much they couldn't fix it anymore, so my mom gave me hers.

Speaker A 00:12:32

And so I would do that just so that I could just take a break from the world, just focusing on stitching.

Speaker A 00:12:38

And that was my pastime, and that goes into health.

Speaker A 00:12:41

How can you find your pastime?

Speaker A 00:12:44

Some people like to jog, run, roller skate.

Speaker A 00:12:49

Some people like to dance, play tennis, racquetball, or do rugby.

Speaker A 00:12:55

I actually had a teacher who loved rugby, and I'll never forget him.

Speaker A 00:13:00

He was amazing.

Speaker A 00:13:02

Oh, he went at it, though.

Speaker A 00:13:03

Trust me.

Speaker A 00:13:04

He said I had to be a broken bouncer there.

Speaker A 00:13:06

But he loved rugby, and he and I would talk all the time, and he was in an admin class to learn.

Speaker A 00:13:11

And so we talked about the differences of how we kind of decompressed.

Speaker A 00:13:15

And his was Rugby.

Speaker A 00:13:16

And mine was sewing.

Speaker B 00:13:17

Yeah, I love that.

Speaker B 00:13:19

And I.

Speaker B 00:13:21

You often hear what you just said there in terms of, you know, the idea of making sure that you're eating properly, that you're getting some rest and you're drinking and all of that.

Speaker B 00:13:30

And it's very easy, like I say, to start off with that, oh, yeah, I'm doing this and I'm a month in and then, oh, I've still got another two months till the end of term or the semester or whatever.

Speaker B 00:13:37

And I was struggling already and fitting those things in.

Speaker B 00:13:39

But what I really liked about the things that I was looking at from what you're providing now is the fact you've got sort of eight areas that you kind of help people with.

Speaker B 00:13:47

And I can.

Speaker B 00:13:47

I can see how all of those different areas have a positive effect and build on each other in order to, like, say, to create that whole.

Speaker B 00:13:54

And it's really hard to do that when you're struggling to begin with.

Speaker B 00:13:57

So take us in a little bit to how that works and why you sort of put all this together.

Speaker A 00:14:03

So I focused on the eight areas of wellness for quite some time, but I'm actually going even deeper, Mark, because I realized my doctorate is in health sciences.

Speaker A 00:14:17

I pursued this before I decided to take a respite from being a principal because I needed to care for my family member.

Speaker A 00:14:27

I wanted to focus on my emotional, intellectual, spiritual, my physical.

Speaker A 00:14:33

I wanted to focus on all those in order to make sure I was meeting the needs of myself.

Speaker A 00:14:40

In that process, I realized that I needed to go deeper.

Speaker A 00:14:45

When we focus on those eight areas of wellness, we're focusing on our holistic part of our holistic self, which is very important.

Speaker A 00:14:55

But even once we get our mind right, because it is the mental capacity is the mental work, that is who we are and what we're focusing on.

Speaker A 00:15:06

Sometimes you can't do that when we don't pay attention to our body, the physical part.

Speaker A 00:15:13

And that's the part that I felt needed to have more of a focus.

Speaker A 00:15:19

So I'm currently in training right now, and you're probably like, oh, my gosh, she's training some more.

Speaker A 00:15:24

I am.

Speaker A 00:15:24

I'm currently in training because I wanted to delve deeper into those eight areas of wellness.

Speaker A 00:15:31

Not just for the coaching part, making sure we're meeting the needs of the individual, but also looking at the functional side.

Speaker A 00:15:40

We have our normal ranges of who we are and our optimal ranges of who we are.

Speaker A 00:15:45

A lot of times the stress, the brain function, and our gut can play a role in how we matriculate throughout day to day.

Speaker A 00:15:55

That's the reason why I am no longer just focusing on the eight areas of wellness.

Speaker A 00:16:00

Because finance is really huge.

Speaker A 00:16:02

Intellectual is really huge.

Speaker A 00:16:04

All that plays a role.

Speaker A 00:16:05

But if we're not physically well, then we cannot attain or even meet the needs of those eight areas of wellness.

Speaker A 00:16:15

So my goal right now is to look at root causes and to really see how our brain, our gut, and our cardiovascular system all play a role in and how we work from our eating habits.

Speaker A 00:16:28

And that's why I'm focusing on our teachers, from our eating habits to how we care for ourselves, what we put foods in our body, and to really and truly see whether or not we are looking at our whole picture.

Speaker A 00:16:41

And that's what I'm doing right now.

Speaker B 00:16:45

So I guess I'm just about to answer my own question.

Speaker B 00:16:49

But it's that.

Speaker B 00:16:51

It's that sense of.

Speaker B 00:16:52

It makes sense and you can help people with that.

Speaker B 00:16:56

But I guess my question was going to be, you know, how do you sort of introduce that when people are going to turn around and say, look, I'm already too stretched.

Speaker B 00:17:03

I don't have time to eat the three meals a day like you said, I don't that my lifestyle doesn't enable me to do that.

Speaker B 00:17:09

But is it more that you find that more and more people already know they need to do something even though they feel like they don't know how to do it, and therefore you can come and support them at that point, or is it a slightly different way of working?

Speaker A 00:17:22

One thing that I'm learning is that teachers have a stress factor.

Speaker A 00:17:28

And the stress factor in which they have are the demands in which they're receiving because of the testing that they have to do at mid or end of year.

Speaker A 00:17:37

That creates a stress factor within our bodies as well.

Speaker A 00:17:41

And they say, I'm starting to forget.

Speaker A 00:17:42

Some teachers forgetting where to put their keys, and they're young.

Speaker A 00:17:46

Some teachers are forgetting to finish certain duties and they're young.

Speaker A 00:17:51

It's not that they don't want to do these things.

Speaker A 00:17:54

They have so many things to do.

Speaker A 00:17:58

We have been learning over time that being a multitasker is not something that is beneficial to our brain functioning.

Speaker A 00:18:07

And that's according to research.

Speaker A 00:18:08

I can't give you the exact research right now, but I do have it.

Speaker A 00:18:13

But it affects our mind.

Speaker A 00:18:15

When we concentrate on one thing, then we can do better.

Speaker A 00:18:18

And our bodies and our mind can work as one.

Speaker A 00:18:23

As a teacher, we are multifaceted.

Speaker A 00:18:27

So that's where the stress factors come in.

Speaker A 00:18:29

And they're like, well, I just don't have time for this.

Speaker A 00:18:31

I just don't have time for that.

Speaker A 00:18:32

Well, that's where we can come in and look at a functional nutrition.

Speaker A 00:18:36

Looking at how you're really focusing, your body is really stressed already.

Speaker A 00:18:39

What are some calming factors that you can do?

Speaker A 00:18:41

And that's one of the things that I wanted to create was like a mini course of a five minute calm where you actually just pause and you breathe.

Speaker A 00:18:48

Teachers can't do that during the day, but guess what?

Speaker A 00:18:52

They can definitely pause and breathe when they get home.

Speaker A 00:18:55

That's one of the factors I want to kind of start focusing on finding that time to do that pause and that breathe.

Speaker A 00:19:01

Because when we concentrate on our breath and we fill our lungs to its full capacity and breathe it out and just take a moment of silence to ourselves, then we have an opportunity to, to be our best selves and then we can really focus on how our body is really functioning.

Speaker A 00:19:17

There are many teachers who I remember and even, even the business that we're in, I'm in right now.

Speaker A 00:19:23

Getting to the restroom has been very difficult because you're always on the go or eating a proper meal has been difficult because you're always on the go.

Speaker A 00:19:31

So you need to figure out what will work best.

Speaker A 00:19:33

It may be hummus and some vegetables that you may have to dip in order to get yourself through.

Speaker A 00:19:39

It may have to be a clementine that you eat just to get yourself through.

Speaker A 00:19:44

You may have to consider maybe some people can eat dairy, some people can't.

Speaker A 00:19:48

It depends on your body makeup.

Speaker A 00:19:50

And that's one of the things that people have to learn about themselves.

Speaker A 00:19:53

But you may get some, some side meat of some sort, like wrap some meat up with some cheese, eat it.

Speaker A 00:20:00

So you get some of that dairy that people need to have because of the calcium and vitamin D.

Speaker A 00:20:04

And then you may consider having some roast beef that is wrapped just to kind of give you some of that protein as well.

Speaker A 00:20:11

So you have the combo because cheese is a protein as well.

Speaker A 00:20:13

But some people need extra protein to kind of keep them going.

Speaker A 00:20:17

So consider not the big meals, but consider of the snack meals in order to get you through.

Speaker A 00:20:21

And sometimes we need to think outside that box and that's where that coaching would come in.

Speaker B 00:20:26

It really, it really resonates with me because, I mean, I'm a musician and when we was at music college, they, this was quite a big important factor.

Speaker B 00:20:35

And we had a whole series within our course about Alexander Technique and he was a singer and he was losing his voice.

Speaker B 00:20:42

And he went to the doctors, they couldn't find any reason why.

Speaker B 00:20:45

And it was all to do with his positioning and how he was using his voice and all of that kind of thing.

Speaker B 00:20:49

And it's perfect for musicians because we do all sorts of weird and wonderful things.

Speaker B 00:20:54

But what I noticed was, was that I had a really sort of positive effect when we were doing those classes and the conversations that we had in the.

Speaker B 00:21:01

The actual technique of what that involves.

Speaker B 00:21:04

But I also realized as a percussionist, as someone who was moving around a lot and doing lots of really weird positions and lots of sitting and all of that kind of thing, I couldn't.

Speaker B 00:21:12

I could.

Speaker B 00:21:13

I could.

Speaker B 00:21:13

I could adapt some of the things that I was learning while I was playing, but I couldn't do it as much as I wanted to during the process.

Speaker B 00:21:21

But what I could do is that outside of the performance, I could find the five or ten minutes to lie on the floor, do the exercises which I knew, which then kind of reset myself.

Speaker B 00:21:30

And like I say, part of that's breathing.

Speaker B 00:21:32

Part of it's just the muscle relaxation, the awareness of, like I say, where the tension is and that kind of thing.

Speaker B 00:21:37

And I think sometimes we all want that kind of perfect scenario, that perfect environment to say, right now, I'm set.

Speaker B 00:21:43

I can do my job.

Speaker B 00:21:44

And as we said in the education world, that doesn't really exist very well at the moment.

Speaker B 00:21:49

So.

Speaker B 00:21:49

But understanding that there's a little bit of a gray area here.

Speaker B 00:21:52

There are certain things you probably can change in the.

Speaker B 00:21:54

In the heat of battle, so to speak.

Speaker B 00:21:57

But at the same time, like you explained so brilliantly, you can work around it, find ways that are going to work.

Speaker B 00:22:03

And I think each little thing that you can do, like that takes a little bit more ownership of what you want to do, putting yourself first, having that wellbeing at the front of your mind, despite all of those other things that are happening.

Speaker B 00:22:13

And I think those little things become a really big thing much quicker than people realize it does.

Speaker A 00:22:20

And you mentioned one of my faves.

Speaker A 00:22:22

I love getting on the floor and stretching.

Speaker A 00:22:25

So after I finish working and I have.

Speaker A 00:22:27

My mat is right here, but after I finish working, I normally get on that mat and I lay down and I just.

Speaker A 00:22:34

Because I'm on a truck, I'm an EMS provider.

Speaker A 00:22:37

And so when I get on that.

Speaker A 00:22:39

On that mat, I try to let.

Speaker A 00:22:41

It's kind of like, let it all go, you know, Let it go.

Speaker A 00:22:44

Just lay on that mat.

Speaker A 00:22:45

And believe it or not, when your body is relaxing, it gives your body A chance to recover.

Speaker A 00:22:50

And as you stated, the word reset, because at one point I did do something called a five day reset, where people had an opportunity to kind of get themselves together and kind of like, okay, I gotta work on myself, I gotta work on myself.

Speaker A 00:23:01

And what are some things I can do to reset myself?

Speaker A 00:23:04

And it's just the little things.

Speaker A 00:23:05

I just want people to consider a five minute reset.

Speaker A 00:23:08

Even if you implement it every day, just five minutes, that will help your body with its recovery process.

Speaker A 00:23:14

You know, when you're stressed, your gastrointestinal system is not going to work appropriately.

Speaker A 00:23:20

All right.

Speaker A 00:23:20

Because that means it's stress.

Speaker A 00:23:22

That means because it's all a play on who we are, we have our energy level that is going in there no matter what.

Speaker A 00:23:28

And so when we're stressed, it does not flow accordingly.

Speaker A 00:23:33

When we do not stretch, it doesn't flow accordingly.

Speaker A 00:23:36

When we move our bodies, it helps everything else function from our nervous system and our blood flow.

Speaker A 00:23:43

So that's the reason why we need to do those things.

Speaker A 00:23:45

And so laying down on that, on that floor with your rubber mat, or just enjoying yourself right there, that will help you.

Speaker A 00:23:51

Doing some stretches helps your muscles, helps your tendons, helps everything.

Speaker A 00:23:56

You're just doing everything to get yourself out there.

Speaker A 00:23:58

And sometimes if you hear the, that means you're really stressed, that means you need some more water.

Speaker A 00:24:03

But it helps you with that process and it helps you with your mind.

Speaker A 00:24:06

And that's one of the things that we're really focusing on when we talk about that five minute reset.

Speaker A 00:24:11

And it's important as an educator to do that.

Speaker B 00:24:15

And it's when you haven't got the five minutes is the time that you probably need to make it 10 minutes, isn't it?

Speaker B 00:24:21

Because that's when you really notice that you need to find that.

Speaker A 00:24:25

Yes, yes.

Speaker A 00:24:26

And we have five minutes to do everything else, like go to a coffee shop and drink coffee that has all the caffeine in it.

Speaker A 00:24:33

And our hearts are doing everything it can trying to process that caffeine.

Speaker A 00:24:37

But when we take that five minutes, we use five minutes for all kinds of things.

Speaker A 00:24:42

Five minutes to scroll on social media, take that, take five minutes away from that and tend to yourself.

Speaker A 00:24:48

There's so there is five minutes there.

Speaker A 00:24:50

It's the mindset of whether or not you're really willing and able and wanting to do that change.

Speaker A 00:24:56

And that's something that you have to do.

Speaker A 00:24:58

I have no problem sharing some of the things that I like to do.

Speaker A 00:25:02

We do have a vibrating plate so that it gets on it and it kind of gets your, your muscles a little bit.

Speaker A 00:25:11

It's like, it's kind of like a workout when you're on the vibration plate for like 20 minutes.

Speaker A 00:25:14

And it's like a workout for your muscles.

Speaker A 00:25:16

And it also helps with blood flow because you do want the blood flow when you don't want to be in.

Speaker A 00:25:21

That's another thing.

Speaker A 00:25:22

Teachers stand and then they walk around the room, but it's not always consistent.

Speaker A 00:25:26

So it plays a role on your legs nine times out of ten.

Speaker A 00:25:29

And you don't realize until almost after the 20 plus 30 years if you have not taken care of your body or if you don't have stretched properly or anything like that.

Speaker A 00:25:38

So vibration plate can help.

Speaker A 00:25:39

Some people do red light therapy, which is a calming state.

Speaker A 00:25:43

I'm just giving some things that are calming therapy.

Speaker A 00:25:46

Some people make an appointment with their neuromuscular masseuse.

Speaker A 00:25:49

These things that I'm stating are things that I have actually done and are still doing.

Speaker A 00:25:55

I find time to do it even if it's not every single month.

Speaker A 00:25:58

I try to do it the same thing.

Speaker A 00:26:00

Like I don't do, of course, stretching on the floor, I do constantly throughout the week.

Speaker A 00:26:04

But the vibration plate, try to do it at least once a month.

Speaker A 00:26:08

And I ended up buying my own so I can do it.

Speaker A 00:26:11

The red light therapy, I try to do it once a month.

Speaker A 00:26:14

And if I can't at least try to do it within every other month.

Speaker A 00:26:18

Trying the neuromuscular masseuse, trying to get into her.

Speaker A 00:26:20

She is so popular and so great because she understands the body system that I try to get into her at least every other month or every three months because it's very difficult to get into her.

Speaker A 00:26:31

But she is phenomenal.

Speaker A 00:26:33

So when you think about those things that you can do, you can do Pilates.

Speaker A 00:26:36

And I'm not just talking about the regular Pilates, I'm talking about the controlled Pilates with the actual machine that you actually can use it so it actually can help you with your alignment and do it properly so you're not straining or stressing yourself.

Speaker A 00:26:49

There's so many things, tools that you can use when you're stretching on the floor that can help you.

Speaker A 00:26:54

You can have also a ball, a body ball where you can kind of put yourself there like in a position so that you can stretch your body accordingly or use the ball to help you with your stomach muscles.

Speaker A 00:27:06

So those are different things that you can do.

Speaker A 00:27:08

You have to find your gym.

Speaker A 00:27:10

Your.

Speaker A 00:27:11

When I say your gym, I'm talking about the gym.

Speaker A 00:27:13

That meets your needs.

Speaker A 00:27:15

And so those are things.

Speaker A 00:27:16

And I also still have on my plate is the salt therapy, where you're floating on water and it's.

Speaker A 00:27:25

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:27:26

So it's supposed to help calm your system where the salt is so dense you float on top, and it gives you an opportunity to really relax your mind and your entire nervous system.

Speaker A 00:27:39

And the salt can be really good for your body, but you still have to be careful.

Speaker A 00:27:42

You know, do everything in moderation.

Speaker A 00:27:44

But that is one.

Speaker A 00:27:45

Or go to a salt cave.

Speaker A 00:27:47

That's also another thing that's on my to do list.

Speaker A 00:27:50

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:27:50

These are things that I just want to do because I enjoy relaxing the body when I can.

Speaker B 00:27:57

Absolutely.

Speaker B 00:27:58

The salt relaxation is something my wife has done, and she's.

Speaker B 00:28:02

She said she hasn't done it for a while actually now.

Speaker B 00:28:04

But something she really raved about is something which is an experience beyond what you think it's going to be like, you say, in that really positive manner.

Speaker A 00:28:12

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:28:12

It's the floating mechanism part of it that they say is amazing.

Speaker A 00:28:15

They say it takes almost like four settings, like four appointments until your body truly knows how to truly relax.

Speaker B 00:28:21

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:28:23

That's scary, isn't it?

Speaker B 00:28:24

Right.

Speaker B 00:28:25

How easy you get out of what it should never relax.

Speaker B 00:28:30

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:28:31

There's a whole podcast series just on each of those different ones.

Speaker B 00:28:37

Oh, dear.

Speaker B 00:28:38

I really love talking to people who have been involved in education around education learning generally.

Speaker B 00:28:44

But is there a particular teacher or is there an education experience that you remember for when you were younger that kind of influenced maybe how you were a principal or how you're now thinking when you're sort of educating and supporting teachers that they sort of had a bit of an impact on you?

Speaker A 00:28:59

Wow.

Speaker A 00:29:01

I don't know if one person has gone on to glory, but Ms.

Speaker A 00:29:06

Bouvierang, I've got a mission.

Speaker A 00:29:08

Ms.

Speaker A 00:29:08

Bouvier.

Speaker A 00:29:10

Ms.

Speaker A 00:29:10

Bouvier had a huge impact on me in elementary school.

Speaker A 00:29:17

She knew that I had some gifts and knew and learned of the difficult measures that I went through as an elementary student.

Speaker A 00:29:28

And that's a whole nother story for a whole nother podcast.

Speaker A 00:29:30

But going in elementary school, I had some ups and some really big downs.

Speaker A 00:29:46

One thing that I do want to say is Ms.

Speaker A 00:29:48

Bouvier found a gift in me and pushed me to be the best that I could be, which I was very grateful for.

Speaker A 00:29:57

Wow.

Speaker A 00:29:57

Thing.

Speaker A 00:29:59

Ms.

Speaker A 00:29:59

Bouvier met my mom and dad when I was in elementary, but met them again later in life.

Speaker A 00:30:08

She literally had an opportunity to watch me grow from.

Speaker A 00:30:13

From sixth grade, all the way until my child's birth.

Speaker A 00:30:21

So to have someone know you and learn about you during that time frame and to still see you and give you gifts of wisdom is amazing.

Speaker A 00:30:30

So, Mr.

Speaker A 00:30:31

Bouvier, Ms.

Speaker A 00:30:32

Boovy, I thank you just to show a whole gift that they could do.

Speaker A 00:30:38

But I cannot leave out Ms.

Speaker A 00:30:40

Viola Cook.

Speaker A 00:30:42

She was my high school English teacher.

Speaker A 00:30:44

She was the reason why I wanted to be a teacher just for stint.

Speaker A 00:30:49

I wanted to be a teacher for a stint.

Speaker A 00:30:51

Ended up being for 20 plus years and I'm still teaching now at a university.

Speaker A 00:30:55

But she showed the sense of compassion, she showed and demonstrated the sense of security and knowing who you are.

Speaker A 00:31:09

And she demonstrated acquiring intelligence, emotional intelligence, academic intelligence, and just caring for self.

Speaker A 00:31:20

Because she always said, students, I want you to care for yourself.

Speaker A 00:31:27

As you know, I've gone through a lot health wise, but you are amazing and I want you to know that about yourselves.

Speaker A 00:31:35

And she just, I mean she would just speak life into you.

Speaker A 00:31:41

And later on I told her I ended up being a teacher.

Speaker A 00:31:43

And then later on being a principal, she said, I told you to run.

Speaker A 00:31:50

I told you to run.

Speaker B 00:31:52

But it's amazing how these things sort of weave through your life, isn't it?

Speaker B 00:31:55

Like you say, to sort of be doing what you're doing now and helping people in such a way and like say hearing that somewhere years back, you know, sort of it gets in there somewhere, doesn't it?

Speaker B 00:32:04

And like I say, it touches and connects with you in whichever way it's amazing.

Speaker A 00:32:09

With Ms.

Speaker A 00:32:10

Bouvier and Ms.

Speaker A 00:32:10

Viola Cook, it, the two of them, they did a lot.

Speaker A 00:32:16

And to see the two of them together, you would never imagine their personalities were so different, you know, but to see them in that manner was just amazing.

Speaker A 00:32:25

And I was extremely happy to know that they played a role.

Speaker A 00:32:29

Now don't get me wrong, my very, very first teacher made such a human impact.

Speaker A 00:32:37

And they continued to teach me until their death.

Speaker A 00:32:40

And that was my mother.

Speaker A 00:32:42

And I literally mean that.

Speaker A 00:32:45

She was literally a teacher who was, she was trained as a teacher and as a youth she considered educating everyone around me and myself.

Speaker A 00:32:56

So she always had a reading lesson for all of us when we were together, when she babysat everyone else, we always did games to help with our mindset.

Speaker A 00:33:05

I wanted to learn how to type.

Speaker A 00:33:06

She used to teach kids how to type.

Speaker A 00:33:08

She taught me how to type at age 8.

Speaker A 00:33:12

And she continued to teach me throughout life about finances, about communicating with others, and about loving self.

Speaker A 00:33:22

So I.

Speaker A 00:33:22

Most people say the first teacher is their mom or their dad, but I Literally mean it.

Speaker A 00:33:27

She literally taught me as a daughter, but also as a student of life.

Speaker A 00:33:33

And I really, I thank her for it.

Speaker A 00:33:36

She's gone, but it was.

Speaker A 00:33:38

It's beautiful.

Speaker B 00:33:39

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:33:39

That's a real gift, isn't it?

Speaker B 00:33:40

Like you're saying, to be able to appreciate it and understand it and feed it in all those different ways as well.

Speaker B 00:33:45

It's quite an amazing thing.

Speaker B 00:33:48

Is that a piece of advice that you've been given or a piece of advice you might give your younger self?

Speaker B 00:33:53

Now, looking back, and I do always slightly caveat this with the fact that when we're younger we might not take it on board.

Speaker B 00:33:58

But I always think if you've never heard it, then what.

Speaker B 00:34:01

How can you take it on board and use it at some stage?

Speaker B 00:34:04

Any way.

Speaker A 00:34:07

It'S not a regret, but the one thing that I would say is pursue whatever your dream is, regardless of what others may say is or is not your dream.

Speaker A 00:34:19

If it's within you, then you need to pursue it.

Speaker A 00:34:22

Don't wait for anyone to say it's good or bad.

Speaker A 00:34:26

As long as with any reason, it's legal.

Speaker A 00:34:29

Okay, sorry, Gotta say that good caveat.

Speaker A 00:34:32

All right.

Speaker A 00:34:33

Gotta say it.

Speaker A 00:34:34

But the way I say that is because I started out as soon as I graduated from college and my mom knew that I did a lot of teaching.

Speaker A 00:34:43

I worked with special needs students.

Speaker A 00:34:45

I mean, I did a lot of that.

Speaker A 00:34:46

I was just.

Speaker A 00:34:47

It's just who I was.

Speaker A 00:34:48

I innate.

Speaker A 00:34:48

And people like, you're so good at it.

Speaker A 00:34:50

Just because you're good at it doesn't mean that's actual true gift.

Speaker A 00:34:53

You just don't know that.

Speaker A 00:34:55

And as time has moved forward, more and more studies are coming out that people have various forms of gifts.

Speaker A 00:35:01

And when you finally reach your zone of genius of knowing who you are and what you can give, then you're in that zone of giving your best self to everyone else.

Speaker A 00:35:10

I love to teach.

Speaker A 00:35:11

I love doing what I do.

Speaker A 00:35:13

However, my gift and my love had always been in medicine.

Speaker A 00:35:16

And I started out as soon as I graduated from college.

Speaker A 00:35:18

I went into medicine for six years.

Speaker A 00:35:20

And I'm telling you, when people talk about, they look at me and they're like, you really love what you do.

Speaker A 00:35:25

I say I love what I do and I enjoy teaching it.

Speaker A 00:35:28

I said, if I could had those two things at the same time, would have been great.

Speaker A 00:35:32

And I don't feel bad about saying it now.

Speaker A 00:35:34

And I can say it now.

Speaker A 00:35:35

It's nothing against anybody, anyone, any place.

Speaker A 00:35:38

I'm just going to be real.

Speaker A 00:35:39

Mom looked at me.

Speaker A 00:35:40

And she said, a couple years.

Speaker A 00:35:42

Well, she had been saying it for a long time, but she really pushed it while I was still principal.

Speaker A 00:35:46

She said, you always wanted to go back into medicine.

Speaker A 00:35:49

Why don't you take a course here and there?

Speaker A 00:35:51

And if you do deem to leave education, you have something.

Speaker A 00:35:55

I'm like, nah, I'm taking care of you and dad.

Speaker A 00:35:58

Don't worry about it.

Speaker A 00:35:59

I don't want to take another course right now.

Speaker A 00:36:00

And I was just thinking about them at the time.

Speaker A 00:36:03

But she saw something that I did not want to see, and I did not.

Speaker A 00:36:07

I wasn't sure if I was there.

Speaker A 00:36:09

Even my pastor's wife, Ms.

Speaker A 00:36:12

Harris, even said the same thing.

Speaker A 00:36:14

She's like, you know what?

Speaker A 00:36:14

I see a different gift in you.

Speaker A 00:36:16

She says, you're phenomenal as a teacher, but I also see something else in you, and I can't put it out there what it is.

Speaker A 00:36:21

I really think you need to look for something different.

Speaker A 00:36:24

Not that you're not good at what you're doing, but you're phenomenal.

Speaker A 00:36:27

People are learning, people are graduating.

Speaker A 00:36:29

People are getting their gifts from you.

Speaker A 00:36:31

However, you have something else that you can give.

Speaker A 00:36:34

I feel like there's more in you.

Speaker A 00:36:37

And I didn't take heed because of what I don't know.

Speaker A 00:36:43

It was not fear, and I hate people telling me it was fear.

Speaker A 00:36:45

Don't tell me what it is.

Speaker A 00:36:46

It actually probably was not realizing that the belief system is within and because of whatever happens in childhood, not from your mom or dad, but also other teachers who are in that matriculation of life, who may have put something within you, may have stayed with you for some time.

Speaker A 00:37:09

And that's the reason why I also say, for teachers, value counseling.

Speaker A 00:37:16

That will be my biggest gift to you.

Speaker A 00:37:18

If you feel like you can do more and you don't know where to start, it's okay to seek counseling.

Speaker A 00:37:24

They will help pull out and help you benefit.

Speaker A 00:37:28

The true factor, your true self.

Speaker A 00:37:31

And it's okay.

Speaker A 00:37:33

It doesn't mean that you're not there mentally.

Speaker A 00:37:35

It just means that you're stuck somewhere and you have more to give to others.

Speaker B 00:37:40

And it's incredible that you often say, like, you don't know what that is.

Speaker B 00:37:44

Like I say, you have to.

Speaker B 00:37:45

That's where you need the time.

Speaker B 00:37:46

It's where those five minutes will give you a feeling you're.

Speaker B 00:37:49

You're gonna tell you you're something within.

Speaker B 00:37:51

You will bring that out when it's the right time or when you get the opportunity.

Speaker B 00:37:55

So, yes, that's really Invaluable.

Speaker B 00:37:58

Now, is that a resource you'd like to share?

Speaker B 00:38:00

And this can be video, song, pod, podcast, book, film, anything.

Speaker B 00:38:05

And it can be personal or professional, but something that's had an impact.

Speaker A 00:38:09

Oh my gosh.

Speaker A 00:38:10

I have stuff in the works.

Speaker A 00:38:13

That's the issue.

Speaker A 00:38:14

I have a lot of stuff in works.

Speaker A 00:38:17

I believe in the power of our Father and.

Speaker A 00:38:22

And so I do a lot of prayer.

Speaker A 00:38:24

It's not a form of spirituality or religion, but I do a lot of prayer.

Speaker A 00:38:28

I believe in using that quiet time to just be with him and to.

Speaker A 00:38:36

To acknowledge the gifts that he's given and the thanks for things that are forthcoming.

Speaker A 00:38:42

And in 2007, I'll try to make it as short as possible.

Speaker A 00:38:46

But in 2007 met a set of women over the course of a process helping my husband with his books.

Speaker A 00:38:53

He has books like multiple books.

Speaker A 00:38:56

And he would go to these places and I meet these women who had their books or they were speaking about something about their life or being a woman.

Speaker A 00:39:05

And I ran into her again this year after all these years, almost over 20 years ago, a little under 20 years.

Speaker A 00:39:15

She and I met up again and we have decided.

Speaker A 00:39:19

She asked me would I be a part of a book.

Speaker A 00:39:21

And it's a 30 day devotional that we're going to be that we just put out that's going to be happening.

Speaker A 00:39:27

It's called.

Speaker A 00:39:29

It's a victorious book dealing with our devotional, trying to make sure that we are helping others to find who they are and they can learn more about it at www.jwhytewilliams.com where it's going to start becoming out there.

Speaker A 00:39:44

So you'll still.

Speaker A 00:39:45

Jwhywilliams.com is going to be changing where it's going to show the things that I've learned.

Speaker A 00:39:50

Where you can help expand on yourself as well.

Speaker A 00:39:53

Still have books, podcasts.

Speaker A 00:39:55

I have a podcast called Cold Press Conversations where you can learn from specialists about your body.

Speaker A 00:39:59

And I also have some educators who talk about wellness and.

Speaker A 00:40:03

But I will have that.

Speaker A 00:40:05

I'll also have a free course for somebody dealing with their pause and breathe so they can actually pause and breathe.

Speaker A 00:40:10

So it's going to be like a resource.

Speaker A 00:40:12

It's almost like a mini library that J.

Speaker A 00:40:13

White Williams is providing to you that you no longer have to feel as though you have to be everything to everybody but be everything to yourself.

Speaker B 00:40:21

Yeah, I love that.

Speaker B 00:40:21

And we'll have a mix.

Speaker B 00:40:22

We've got links in the show notes for all those things as well.

Speaker B 00:40:24

So yeah, thanks for sharing that.

Speaker B 00:40:27

And so obviously the acronym FIRE is important to us here on the show.

Speaker B 00:40:31

And by that we mean feedback, inspiration, resilience and empowerment.

Speaker B 00:40:36

What is it that strikes you when you see that?

Speaker B 00:40:38

And it might just be one word or it might be a combination.

Speaker A 00:40:42

That's who we are.

Speaker A 00:40:44

We are fire.

Speaker A 00:40:46

In order to be a true individual, a true person who believes in him or herself, we need to be critical enough to receive the feedback.

Speaker A 00:40:55

We need to find inspiration within ourselves.

Speaker A 00:40:58

We need to be resilient in regards to whatever we may come at us or whatever we're having difficulty with.

Speaker A 00:41:07

We need to find a way to be resilient, whether it is a spiritual power, a friend or.

Speaker A 00:41:12

Or a foe.

Speaker A 00:41:13

And the empowerment has to come from within.

Speaker A 00:41:16

Yes, you can get empowerment from others, but the empowerment that can't be is true self until you believe in yourself.

Speaker B 00:41:24

Amazing.

Speaker B 00:41:25

What an absolute perfect way to.

Speaker B 00:41:26

To wrap up and finish off a wonderful conversation.

Speaker B 00:41:29

Dr.

Speaker B 00:41:30

Jewel, thank you so much indeed.

Speaker B 00:41:31

Keep up the great work.

Speaker B 00:41:32

Look forward to where this journey is going to take you.

Speaker B 00:41:34

It's going to be fascinating to see and going to be helping and supportive for so many people.

Speaker B 00:41:38

So, yeah, thank you so much for being here today.

Speaker A 00:41:40

Thank you so much, Mark.

Speaker A 00:41:41

It's been a pleasure.

Speaker A 00:41:42

Hopefully I've helped others as well in this process.

Speaker B 00:41:46

Thanks for listening to the Education on Fire podcast.

Speaker B 00:41:49

For more information of each episode and to get in touch, go to educationonfire.com Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.