Life Skills - Jan 27, 2014

During the session I at times, felt anxiety. The anxiety I feel is in my chest and my arms; i also feel tension in the muscles in my legs. I was having a hard time concentrating, due to my learning disability, but I got really engaged both during the ice breaker activity, the sticky note on our backs guessing game, and the name game. I was also very engaged at the end of the class when you handed out the self-care assessment and handouts, which I brought home and really enjoyed. When I began to feel anxious, I reacted by letting my mind wander and then bringing it back to focus; I allowed myself to take some notes and do some work on my iPad when appropriate, and then bringing my attention back to the session. These are things I will continue to do, next time the same emotion (anxiety) arises. I think I learnt a fair amount. I learnt a bit more about my classmates, which I really appreciated. I learnt the most from the Self Care assessment and definitions, and test. It was really fascinating to learn about compassion fatigue, as I'd never realized this is what myself and so many others suffer from. Some of the behaviours I exhibit and which I became aware of are, being hypercritical of others, feeling bored and and hopeless. I was able to set some good personal goals after reading and learning from the compassion fatigue description. I set a goal to continue to be diligent about therapy, meditation and health/fitness. All of the things I learn about my behaviours, thought pattern and the way I relate to people coupled with the goals I have set myself will factor into my anti- oppressive practice, so that I am coming from a place where I am not stuck in my own processes while working as professional life coach. There's not much I would change about the session, other than to make sure the names on the sticky note exercise were relevant to Jamaicans. I would possibly then introduce Self Care and anxiety theme and speak in the open circle style about these definitions and focuses and then go through the hand outs as we did.

Life Skills - Jan 13, 2014

Jan 13th class was great, i was really engaged, which isn't always easy for me. I felt very encouraged by the sharing about personal concerns around self disclosure. Other people shared similar concerns to my own, specially my teacher Sasha, and I felt validated about my concerns. The ted talk video is one of my very favourite. It was very poignant when she spoke about vulnerability being empowering, and that those who feel included continue to be included (paraphrased). I appreciated this class, the patience people had to listen to me, and the video especially. I went and searched for the same author/speakers interviews with Oprah after class, and enjoyed them as well. They really put into perspective the misconception around vulnerability and sharing your story.