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ATTENDANCE POLICY

We expect participants in the Academy's cohort-based courses to attend all course sessions. These are interactive courses where sessions build on each other. Attending and contributing consistently will improve your experience and that of your peers.

Participants who attend all sessions will receive a certificate of completion. Those who miss no more than one session may receive a certificate of completion, at the Academy's discretion

DESCRIPTION

A Call to Action invites participants to examine the complexities of self-care and wellness as a birthright. We explore how the roots of our multi-layered behaviors impact our daily lives, mind, body, and spirit, both positively and negatively. Together over 4 sessions, participants will learn to recognize body, mind, and spirit disharmony and gain tools that include: ancestral connection, guided meditation, five element theory, herbal medicine, acupressure, aroma therapy, sound therapy, qi gong, and tapping – all to create an environment that fosters the practice of intentional, loving self-care and healing.

This course moves beyond typical western wellness constructs. By exploring other perspectives and traditions, we will define wellness as a birthright and provide people supportive practices that you can use to become radical self-healers and sustain the work of nourishing your communities.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Participants will:

• Call into action your birthright to radical self-care through guided meditation and deep breathing
• Identify and name some root causes of multi-layered disharmonies by examining systemic, epigenetic, and environmental drivers
• Gain a working understanding of the Five Element Theory in Chinese medicine and the five elements of self-care
• Recognize the signs and symptoms of mind, body, and spirit imbalances
• Understand and apply learned strategies for self-care, including: herbal medicine, acupressure, qi-gong, aroma-therapy, sound therapy, and tapping
• Formulate a personal wellness plan for self-care through journal writing
• Become motivated, inspired, encouraged, and empowered to live committed to wellness as a birthright by embracing at least one learned strategy from this course and communicating your preference

WHAT TO EXPECT

This is a virtual course that will be held on Zoom. Course sessions will include instruction, self-reflection, a range of ways to share and interact with your peers, and practicing self-care tools. The course will also draw from music, film, or poems. This course will be highly interactive, with time for questions throughout. In order to build community, we encourage participants to join and stay on camera.

Participants will need a computer with Zoom capability and a camera, as well as a private, quiet space to join the weekly workshops from. It is not possible to join this course from a phone. To fully participate, we ask that learners:

• Identify a secure, comfortable, private space
• Take steps to avoid or minimize interruptions, such as by adding the course sessions to your work calendar and notifying your supervisor, colleagues, or clients that you are in training
• Close email and other applications, where possible
• Use headphones in shared workspaces

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Introductions; Five Element Theory

Week 2: Herbal Medicine

Week 3: Acupressure and Aromatherapy

Week 4: Sound, qi gong, and tapping; Closing practices

ELIGIBILITY

This course is open to staff of any non-profit community organization or government agency that delivers social services in NYC. If you are interested in committing to your own ongoing care and learning about the joy and fulfillment of wellness, this course is for you.