Wellness is Radical: Tips and Exercises to Practice Self-Care in the Classroom and Beyond
By Ashley Bryant
“What is wellness to you?” asked Dekebra Crowe, a D.C. educator and wellness consultant, to the nearly 90 participants in her virtual classroom at the 2021 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Virtual Curriculum Fair on Saturday, January 30, 2021.
The curriculum fair keynote and first round of workshops included powerful conversations about teaching resistance and oppression, global issues of restorative justice, and displacement and protest in Washington, D.C.
Dekebra’s presentation, “Mindful Moments: Radical Wellness for Black Lives” (in the second round of workshops), was a welcome and much-needed call to self-care.
Dekebra opened with a “wellness check-in” using Pear Deck, a Google Slides application that allows teachers to add interactive questions and assessments to their presentations. Using the provided link, participants indicated their stress levels on a 10-point scale — 1 for low stress and 10 for high — as a self-check on the stresses from the day that they brought to the virtual space. She followed with a gratitude circle, asking attendees to share in the chat box what they were grateful for to enhance dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain and evoke positive thinking.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to work with passion and serve my purpose,” stated one attendee.
Dekebra then led everyone through a body scan meditation, allowing her participants the opportunity to relax their bodies in a step-by-step process from the top of the head to their toes. “Mindfulness,” said Dekebra, “is to be aware and accept.”
Next, Dekebra shared the above crossword in her presentation, asking participants to write an “I am” statement with the first word they saw.
“I am flourishing on my continued path of self-discovery,” remarked one attendee.
“I am glowing in my health,” shared another.
Before her final activity, Dekebra led a release exercise where she asked attendees to write down all the worries that were currently on their mind and then rip the paper into tiny pieces. “Release things that are no longer serving you” she stated, after explaining the intricate relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
To end, Dekebra led her attendees through a goal setting exercise which she referred to as a “Daily GIG: Gratitude, Intentions, and Goals.”
Her presentation was dynamic and informative, with music and inspirational quotes tailored to each slide and activity. Within 30 minutes, Dekebra effortlessly managed to provide her audience with a handful of wellness tools to utilize in their own classrooms and workspaces.
After all, as Dekebra noted at the start of her lesson with a quote by Audre Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Ashley Bryant is a fellow with Teaching for Change for Winter/Spring 2021. She is currently working at an international education non-profit in D.C. and is a prospective master’s student in urban and social studies education.