Last week we went to a conversation hosted by Dr. Angel Acosta, healing-centered educator with Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, Zen priest and somatic social justice educator. These folx are two of our wisest teachers in mindfulness practice, which we apply to our work with children, students, and colleagues. We left the event vibrating with a sense of clarity, inspiration, and most importantly a curiosity to learn more.
Then, the next morning I (Lauren) saw a post from another teacher who was struggling to figure out their role as a teacher of children who resist adult expectations. The teacher explained – as most teachers can – that there is no funding for a support person for one of the children who needs it the most, or the other children for that matter. That they and their co-teachers are in tears at the end of the day not knowing what to do for their students. I felt frozen. It reminded me of all the stories we’ve heard from early childhood educators in recent years about lack of coverage for bathroom breaks, disequilibrium about what children (and adults) need when they offer up behaviors that we find challenging…ultimately instances like these and the absence of reverence for children and early educators’ humanity are the reasons why I asked an HR professional to come teach my practicum students about worker’s rights. The overbearing weight of the childcare industry once again brought me down for a bit. I just want for early childhood educators to have a rest. I want you to be able to do what you love without being taken advantage of for it.
It’s dark, heavy places like these that are often the most fertile…if we are open to feeling that. You know when a child lifts up a big stone and discovers the healthy, dark world living below it? There are worms, rolly pollies, ants scurrying away from the sunlight that the child has revealed to them. It’s easy to pull back quickly in reaction to the unfamiliar nature of these beings. At the talk last week Rev. Angel said, “pulling away from life leads us to cause harm.” So, we decided to move in closer to the cracks and crevices…and take this dark, fertile moment in early childhood education as an opportunity to go deeper. We are seeking stories from families, communities, centers who are currently taking or developing an approach to raising their community’s children that embodies and blends the wisdom of their ancestors with their own innovative ideas. Do you know of anyone doing this work? Are you doing this work? Please let us know by emailing us at feel.think.connect@gmail.com or making a comment on this entry on our website or FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Engage.feel.think.connect
We also want to give you the Sacred, Episode 2 Campfire Chat info & journal prompts. We had so much fun talking with preschool teacher, mom, student, and ECE advocate, Nahiomy Miller. The three of us were completely flowing together!
Have a listen to Episode 2 at any of these locations: Youtube (includes captions), Apple, Spotify, Website
Want to excavate something you heard in Episode 2? Or maybe you just want to connect with us and other educators and caregivers? Join us for the July Campfire Chat! We’ll gather by zoom on Thursday, July 27, 7:00-8:00pm ET. Register for the event here.
Want to excavate solo? We created some Episode 2 Journal Prompts for you. Contemplate the ones that call you:
- How are you feeling right now? What’s coming up for you in this moment?
- In relationship to co-regulation and how her nervous system affects the children’s, Nahiomy said, “…I need to check myself because this is flowing off of my energy…”. Where are you at in your practice with self-awareness? Can you feel your nervous system responses throughout the day, yet?
- If yes – what is that like for you? Is there a physiological cue (i.e. heart pounding, tightening somewhere, an urge to hide…) that you want to pay more attention to as it comes up, before it feels overwhelming?
- If no – then take a moment now to close your eyes and take a deep breath. Tune in to you by listening/feeling for signals from your body. You might set a timer for 30-60 seconds or you could watch or listen to this 30-second video of bees doing their thing at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens last week. It couldn’t be less important if you actually notice anything or not at this point. For now, focus your energy on the intention and practice of listening/feeling, of paying attention on purpose.
- How do you practice vulnerability with families? When you reflect on that, where do you feel it in your body? How do they practice vulnerability with you? When you reflect on that, where do you feel it in your body?
- What’s the relationship between advocacy and community-building? In your practice is this a small scale or large scale endeavor? (note: there is no need to make a hierarchy between “large” and “small” scale advocacy as they’re not linear, and they complement one another. We need advocacy on every level and each person will gravitate to the one where they feel they can make a contribution)
- What is self-care, according to you? What do you want it to be for yourself? How did you witness a child practicing self-care recently? How did you interpret that behavior at the time?
For ongoing conversation join our Sacred Conversations Group on FB and/or follow us on Instagram.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
With love and gratitude,
Lauren & Angela Carolina
A biophysicist’s description of turgor pressure: “Cell expansion and an increase in turgor pressure is due to inward diffusion of water into the cell, and turgor pressure increases due to the increasing volume of vacuolar sap. A growing root cell’s turgor pressure can be up to 0.6 MPa, which is over three times that of a car tire … As plants can operate at such high pressures, this can explain why they can grow through asphalt and other hard surfaces.”