Jill Cressy (MEd) delivers wellness coaching through interactive workshops and mindful trainings. Explore opportunities to connect, reflect and be inspired!
Description
Mindful Movement:
Let’s take a movement break to come into the present moment. Through gentle movement, we’ll practice bringing our attention to the here and now. Experience mind-body connection and bring awareness to each movement, focussing on the breath and the way our body feels as it moves. The practice of being present with our body in motion allows us to pay attention to the experience of movement itself, without having to think about any desired result. Moving mindfully can help us to manage stress, enhance physical & mental well-being, and train ourselves to be more mindful as we move through the day. We’ll integrate a body scan that incorporates movement and end the session with a grounding meditation.
Moving towards a Mindful Life:
Experience a movement practice that links several yoga poses together in a mindful way while integrating principles of alignment grounded in exercise science. We’ll focus on exercise safety, breath awareness, and mindfulness. Bring consciousness to each movement and learn mindful training techniques to come home to your body. Feel motivated to take the practice beyond the mat and move towards a mindful life!
Fit Mix: A Mindful Training Technique:
Learn mindful training techniques to stay motivated. Integrate a variety of movements inspired by dance, martial arts and yoga. Mix it up, move in different ways, and increase energy!
Applying the Qualities of Mindfulness:
Reflect on the variety of ways you can apply mindfulness to enhance your studies, work and life! With a physical activity lens, learn about different approaches to mindfulness and explore mindful exercises that get your body moving. Experience the difference between movement and stillness, then learn to feel a sense of stillness even when you are moving, and feel energy moving through your body even when you are sitting still. Engage in interactive conversation and learn to embody a more mindful way of being!
Integrating Mindfulness Throughout the Day:
This mindfulness practice includes a body scan, seated meditation, and gentle movement. Learn mindful exercises that you can integrate throughout the day, when you’re moving from one thing to the next. Improve focus, increase productivity, maintain curiousity, develop compassion, manage stress, and enhance your overall well-being!
Mindful Eating: Moving Beyond Nutrition
How well do you digest your food? Paying attention to our food, on purpose, moment by moment, without judgment, is an approach to food that focuses on individuals’ sensual awareness of the food and their experience of the food. It’s not just being aware of what we are eating, but how we are eating. We’ll talk about strategies to improve mindful eating throughout the day. In addition, we’ll explore mindful techniques to practice when you are unable to eat meals in a relaxing environment.
Taking Care:
Learn the key steps to “make it fit”! We’ll chat about movement, energy, nutrition, hydration, mindfulness, sleep, rest and recovery. Enjoy exercises that fit into your day, even when you are in front of your computer or other types of electronic devices. Improve your posture and develop mindful awareness when using your phone. We’ll also engage in reflective conversation regarding the importance of social connection, unplugging from electronics every so often, making time for your friends and those you care about, and continuing to find new opportunities where you can experience a sense of community and belonging. Feel motivated to practice daily self-care, improve your immune system, and have more energy to be caring and kind to others!
Exercises to Support Change:
Learn wellness tips that give us the tools to shift our energy, pivot turn when needed, manage the push and pull of life, and adjust to changing circumstances. Explore mindful exercises inspired by dance, sport, martial arts and yoga that help us be more flexible and adaptable. Also learn innovative techniques to decrease fear, increase creativity, improve resiliency, and transform challenges into opportunities!
Skills for Effective Listening & Healthy Relationships:
Be able to apply effective listening in your relationships and better understand the needs of others. Develop active listening skills from inviting information to acknowledging information. Learn techniques to encourage the speaker and clarify questions. Practice restating key points, reflecting feelings, and validating. Explore effective invitations for dialogue including listening attitudes and be able to ask questions that “ride” instead of “drive”. Learn mindful exercises to stretch your heart and experience more compassion. Also be able to apply assertiveness skills when you need to make your needs more clear.
Techniques & Tips to Enhance Speaking Skills:
Learn exercises that you can practice prior to important meetings or presentations to warm-up your voice and speak with vocal strength and stamina. Develop awareness of body language and voice tone and understand other speech components including speaking rhythm, vocal placement, inflection, pitch, speaking rate, and the significance of a “pause”. Move beyond the emphasis on voice projection; speak more softly when it’s appropriate, show up more authentically, and shift the volume of your voice with elegance and grace. Reduce unnecessary words, feel more grounded, train your brain to be more mindful when speaking, and improve the health of your voice!
Keys to Happier Living:
In this interactive wellness session, we’ll reflect on the keys to happier living based on a review of scientific research relating to happiness. We’ll also address some of the limitations of pursuing an individual approach to happiness and broaden our understanding of the term resiliency. Understand why “bounce back” doesn’t work for everyone and what we can do about it. In addition, we’ll share strategies to inspire “flourishing” – feeling good and positive functioning for sustainable well-being. Engage in reflective conversation, learn practical action steps that we can take to support happier living, and be inspired to put the science of well-being into practice.
Here at Home:
Where do you feel “at home” connected to your heart? It could be a physical place outside in nature or a space in which we dance and move. It could be defined by relationships we have. It could denote experiences such as participating in a sport or martial arts class that provides a sense of community and belonging. It could also be a virtual setting in which you feel comfortable, safe and welcome. How do you know when you feel at home? What things challenge or expand our concept of being at home? What are the potential obstacles we might face as we seek to feel at home? How can we overcome these obstacles and what can we do as a community to help others feel more at home? Explore these questions and more in this interactive group workshop. We’ll also engage in mindful practices that focus on “coming home” to the present moment.
Mental Health Training:
Learn how to identify when someone is experiencing a mental health challenge. Be able to engage them in a conversation to better understand their needs and connect them with an appropriate and helpful referral. Identify resources or services that you can refer them to and apply the key strategies to making an effective referral. We’ll also engage in mindful practices that support mental health and well-being.
If you would like to schedule a workshop or mindful training, please contact Jill to let her know your interest:
