Blog
Resources and information about resiliency, self-care and mindful self-compassion .
Walk out, walk on.
Seeking to understand how to create sustainable changes in work environments. Courageously choosing to leave behind restrictions to "walk on" and explore new ideas, people, and practices that enable you to discover fresh possibilities. Margaret Wheatley's...
10 Reasons Why You Should Join the Year-Long Online Mindfulness and Compassion Program
10 Reasons to Join the Year-Long Online Mindfulness and Compassion Program Our yearlong program is designed for educators, caregivers, counsellors, and leaders who are passionate about transforming their workplaces and skillfully growing the impact of mindfulness in...
Dr. Chris Willard on Mindfulness and Compassion
Understanding How to Be Trauma-Informed While Teaching Mindfulness Educators are ready to practice mindfulness and compassion within their classrooms in trauma-informed ways to better support students. Sitting down with my friend, Dr. Chris Willard, to talk about the...
Mindfulness for Educators: Why is it important?
We hear this word all over these days: mindfulness Be mindful of how you eat. Be mindful while you drive, brush your teeth, have a shower, walk up the stairs. Our whole life is supposed to be lived in this mindful bliss. Big corporations, hospitals and — more...
Laurie McIntosh on the Joy of Teaching
Teacher/author Laurie McIntosh shares ways to bring joy back into teaching through practices of authenticity and connection. My top takeaways from Laurie & the joy of teaching: Change is inevitable in education but how you relate to it is essential Weariness is...
Chip Baker and Sharing Our Teacher Successes
This conversation on "Teacher Talk" with Chip Baker centered around the importance of celebrating successes and learning from our challenges. Chip Baker is a fourth-generation educator, a speaker, host of the Success Chronicles Podcast, host of the Radio 111.7 Show, a...
Dr. Kristin Neff and Being Authentically Fierce
A couple of weeks ago I sat down with the leading researcher of self-compassion, and author, Dr. Kristin Neff. We talked about why the practice of self-compassion is so essential for our educators in schools right now. My top takeaways from Dr. Kristin Neff:...
![Carl Honoré on slowing yourself down [interview]](https://lisabaylis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/slowing-yourself-down-400x250.jpg)
Carl Honoré on slowing yourself down [interview]
Are you stuck in roadrunner mode and realizing the tremendous toll it is taking on you? Do you feel like you can’t keep going at the pace that is being placed upon you right now? I recently had the opportunity to sit down and interview Carl Honoré, Canadian...
Courage to Slow Down
Finding the courage to slow down: One of my favourite thinkers, writers, and leaders is Susan David. Last week she posted, “Show up to yourself with courage, curiosity, and self-compassion.” It’s often easy to read these words and nod, but very different to embody and...
Love and Light in October
Hello Dear Ones, and Happy October! As L.M Montgomery said, "I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." And I don't know about you, but September happened like a hurricane - literally across our world. As so many people were struggling with the storms of...
Self-Compassion Gifts for Edcuators
Self-Compassion Gifts for Educators Self-compassion is an essential practice for educators, especially during a difficult school year. Self-compassion reminds us that it's okay when things are hard. It invites awareness to what we are feeling with kindness and a...
Permission to Fall Apart and Start Again
Dear Friends April is here and so is spring and most importantly YOU. You continue to give yourself permission through 2021 and your growth game is amazing. Perhaps, if like me, some days are hard to see how far you've come then take a moment...
Permission to know your thoughts.
Dear friends. March is here and so are you. You officially made it through the first two months of 2021. It's time to take a pause to reflect, turn inward, and remind yourself that this month - this moment - is a new opportunity to begin again. I invite you to take a...
Permission to love yourself!
Dear Friends How are you? Did you manage to get through the 732 days of January with some semblance of feeling grounded and connected? In January, I invited you to give yourself some permission to show up just as you are, how did that feel? Showing up as yourself...
Permission to show up as you are.
Dear FriendsI haven’t written lately because I didn't know what to say. All the leaders in business and community building say the most important thing is to consistently show up. To ensure your community knows that you will be there for them. This makes so much sense...
Permission to Pause
We need to let go of the expectation that we can do it all. We can’t. We can only do one or two things well at a given time. To improve our well-being, we need to learn to set boundaries, realize that “less is more,” and practice “going slow to move forward.” In...
Giving and Receiving Compassion
As educators, during challenging times, we often forgo our own well-being to support others. This leads to added stress, overwhelm and illness. The most important practice we can remember is that we need to find a way to care for ourselves so we can care for others....
Gratitude Meditation
This is a year like no other. In a recent article by the CBC, they share that “Teachers say return to school this fall has left them with overwhelming stress and a never-ending workload” and whether living in hot spots or areas with few cases, teachers are all...
Heart-Warming Breathing
Taking a few minutes every day to pause, and to create space for growing our personal awareness, can have a huge impact on supporting our well-being. The practice below is a heart-warming, affectionate breathing practice. (If paying attention to your breath doesn't...
Self-Compassion Break
Our days can be full of challenges and stressors. Self-compassion supports the fact that everyone struggles and suffers as a component of being a human being. It is unavoidable at times. Sometimes we forget that this is a human condition, and we fall into the trap of...
Quieting the inner critic
This weekend I was on a writing retreat, working hard on editing the manuscript for the book I want to put into the world. I'm so excited about this work, but throughout the weekend I was filled with doubts. My inner-critic was strong and I was being very hard on...
Priorities
This week I did something new. I decided to go LIVE on Instagram to share a mindfulness and compassion practice. I was so nervous. Brene Brown calls these first-time experiences the FFT (fucking first times). They are terrifying, awkward and vulnerable. She shares...
Pandemic Pendulum
"Nothing about living day-to-day in a pandemic feels normal – but we can choose to meet our suffering, worry and grief with compassion, kindness, and love" This is a new world we are existing in right now. As an educator, counsellor, and parent, nothing about living...
AWE Method: Anchoring our Awareness
Educators are realizing that their wellbeing is important. They are starting to prioritize self-care as a means of professional and personal development. The ultimate act of self-care is a self-compassion practice, where we as educators learn to treat ourselves...
Educator Wellbeing: Self-Compassion as the ultimate act of self-care.
Teaching in our current school system is hard work. There has never been a time when educators are expected to take on so many roles, with more expectations and less support. Teachers are exhausted and regularly facing burnout. Why? Because teachers care, and they...
Educator Resiliency
Educator Resiliency: My story September is almost over. How quickly we forget that we’ve had two months to recharge as we fall back into the daily routine in schools. The summertime seemed to have slipped out the door when we reentered our classrooms. It’s amazing...
First Day Back to School
Did you make it through that first long day of school? I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted, my kids are exhausted and it already feels like we’ve hit the ground running. My son came home from school today and asked, “could just do something fun this evening,...
Five Back to School Practices for Educators and Parents
Back to school is a busy time for educators and parents. And, if you’re like me and live both of these roles the busyness can sometimes feel overwhelming and anxious. For educators this time is full of planning lessons, setting up classrooms, organizing schedules and...
Connection in a time of missed connections.
I missed my flight home today. It almost broke me. I stood at the counter as the lady rebooked me for a later flight home which would stop me from being able to see my kids tonight, and then charged me full price for another ticket, with tears streaming down my...
March, time for a break.
How to feel rested and recharged during Spring Break! A unique way to recharge this Spring Break– self-compassion!Read along to learn how self-compassion is your key to feeling rested and recharged. Hi friends Hooray, it’s March! And it's spring break for Educators....
Awaken Wellbeing Educator Weekend Retreat
by: Karley Alleyn AWE’s first weekend retreat provided a beautiful opportunity to nourish my body, mind and soul as I relaxed in the sea and sun soaked environment at Weir’s Beach Lodge in Metchosin, BC. The location alone was certainly a highlight for me, but...
A Weekend on Wasan
I recently spent a weekend in the Muskoka Lakes district on a beautiful Island called Wasan. Wasan Island is situated on Lake Rosseau in the heart of the Muskoka Lakes in Ontario, Canada. Wasan is a privately owned and operated island by the Breuninger Foundation, a...
Getting Across the June Finish Line
Today when I got home I realized my underwear were on backwards- BACKWARDS... I wore them the wrong way all day long and was just too tired to realize. As we are coming to the end of another school year, I am noticing that June is filled with bleary-eyed educators,...
AWE retreats – a day in April…
(all images - Photography by Angela McConnell) AWE was created this year to support the wellbeing of educators. We believe when teachers are happy, students will learn better. AWE works with educators who believe in heart-centred learning. Ones who want to take the...
“Shoulding” on myself
It’s Sunday - a day of rest, a day to find stillness and calm, and a chance to be with my family. My day should be full of joy and contentment, but I’m tired, anxious and feeling like there is never enough time in the day to do all the things I need to complete, and...
Sawubona
I recently watched Susan David’s TEDWomen Talk from 2017. She speaks clearly and passionately about emotional agility and how learning to radically accept of all our emotions - even the messy and hard ones - which is the cornerstone to resiliency, thriving, and true...
Awaken Wellbeing of Educators
Educators are tired . Back in October a colleague asked me how my summer went, and I looked blankly at her confused by her question. The rush of back-to-school and a quick-paced Fall had thrown me into such a busy state that I had forgotten just a few short months...
Mindfulness for Educators
Why should we talk about mindfulness for educators? We hear this word all over these days: mindfulness Be mindful of how you eat. Be mindful while you drive, brush your teeth, have a shower, walk up the stairs. Our whole life is supposed to be lived in this...
AWEsome Wellbeing Retreat
At the end of September AWE hosted the first ever AWEsome Wellbeing Retreat for Educators. It was met with amazing reviews and participants left feeling calm, connected and collected - ready to take on the world that was waiting for them. This retreat was hosted at...
AWEsome Wellbeing Educator Retreat
The AWEsome Wellbeing Educator Retreat is happening on September 30th in Victoria, BC. September is a busy month for educators. We often fill our days with time for everyone else but too often forget to look after ourselves. We can't be in a school in our fullest...
Running for wellness
This past school year was a tough year for me, and the worst part was nothing really bad happened. I came back to work last September tired and weary and said yes to everything - the wants, the shoulds, the “have to’s” which left me feeling resentful. I was...
Creating time and space
It's July... and I don't know about the rest of you but all of a sudden my mind and body turned to mush and suddenly nothing got accomplished. As educators, we live in busy days and work hard for that well-deserved summer holiday. My thoughts this summer are all about...
Collapsing at the Finish Line in June
As we are coming to the end of another school year, I am noticing that June is filled with bleary eyed educators collapsing at the finish line. We end up looking more like the owl on the right than we expect. What is it about a full school year that leaves everyone —...
Advice for our Grads
When I was a new mom the best piece of advice I ever got was, “the days are long but the years are short” and now, in June, as my baby girl is finishing Kindergarten, I wonder where all the time has gone. As educators, during this time of year, we are...
2×10 with WellAhead
WellAhead is a philanthropic initiative of the J.W. McConnell family Foundation that aims to improve child and youth mental health...
What are you missing?
This weekend I had the privilege of sitting in silence with twenty five educators from the Greater Victoria School District. We have all embarked on an 8-week mindfulness journey where we meet once a week for two hours to meditate and learn about mindful living....
5 Simple Tools to Enhance Well-being in the Classroom
I wrote this article last September for The Tale of Two Teachers. I've been grateful for the opportunity to get to know both Karley and Meaghan throughout this year. Thanks you two for the inspiration to get writing again! Congratulations! You have made it through...
What is Positive Education?
What is “Positive Education”? I like to tout myself as a ‘positive educator.’ But what does that mean, really? Aren’t all educators positive and supportive. Shouldn’t all educators encourage their students to learn in a positive and creative way? Positive...
My Why…
My Why Two years ago BC teachers were getting ready to go on strike. We were fighting together for better class composition, smaller class size and increased pay. Teachers were unhappy, overwhelmed and underappreciated. During this time, I went looking for what...