Goodbye Chronic Anxiety & Stress, Hello Recharged Teacher

This week, Ali and JoDee are joined by Annamarie Fernyak, the founder and CEO of Mind Body Align, and Julie Braumberger, former educator and director of Mind Body Align At School. Together, they will discuss the benefits of practicing mindfulness in education both as the student and teacher, tailoring their program to school culture, and the importance and impact of hiring teachers into companies like Mind Body Align. 

Connect with Annamarie and Julie:
Website: https://mindbodyalign.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MBAlign
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mind-body-align-llc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindbodyalign/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mindbodyalign/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD7Lx_FCv_SuHNidRGfimWg

Connect with Ali and JoDee:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachershift
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teachershift
Teacher Shift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-shift
Ali’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisimon/
JoDee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodeescissors/

Website
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/

Episode Transcriptions
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/blog

Transcript

Ali  0:06  
Teachers are natural innovators, entertainers and problem solvers. They dream of growing old into the profession, teaching their kids kids. But sometimes career goals shift, and that makes opportunities outside of the classroom seem intangible, questioning who am I if I'm not a teacher? I'm your host, Ali Simon.

JoDee  0:28  
And I'm your co host, JoDee Scissors.

Ali  0:31  
And this is Teacher Shift.

JoDee  0:43  
Stress, anxiety and other mental health issues can be tough to manage without appropriate coping strategies. As a teacher, it can sometimes lead to burnout, or even push you out of the profession all together. Today we talk with mindfulness leaders who are tackling these issues in schools. 

Ali  1:02  
Today, we're joined by two guests. Annamarie Fernyak is the founder and CEO of Mind Body Align LLC, and the author of the Right Side of Happiness, which will be released in 2024. She's a certified life coach, mindfulness meditation teacher, artist and entrepreneur, Annamarie embraces the latest edtech instructional design and artistic talent and the creation of social and emotional learning curriculum materials, which together with experienced teachers positively impact 1000s of lives. We're also joined by Julie Braumberger, she's a K through eight elementary school teacher who developed and directs Mind Body Align At School, a social and emotional learning wellness program that enables over 90% of teachers and students to manage and reduce stress. She is a frequent speaker and thought leader on the proven science of mindfulness and its role in improving outcomes for students, and managing stress and burnout among educators. She shifted out of the classroom five years ago, because of the same challenges driving many teachers to leave the profession today. Welcome to the show today.

Julie  2:15  
Thank you.

Annamarie  2:16  
Thank you for inviting us.

JoDee  2:17  
We're so glad you're here and those bios. Wow, those are pretty incredible. You are hitting all those little points that I think that teachers will really resonate with even myself as someone that's out of the classroom now, but still work in the educational space, the science of mindfulness. So cool. So I think that just today, we have so many things we want to unpack with you all. But we're going to just start with the basics. And Annamarie I think we'll start with you. What is Mind Body Align, and how did you get it started?

Annamarie  2:50  
So Mind Body Align actually started as a networking organization for adult women. And it was mindfulness based. So the whole purpose was to bring alternative health and wellness practices, and mindfulness to more professional women. Then I was invited to teach in a middle school for one of my friends, clients, and spent a couple of days in the middle school. And that's when I had a realization of what was happening, kind of the, the level of anxiety and stress that was happening in the schools. I brought that back to my team and said, Is there something that we can do to support our local schools? I'm also really involved in community development. So any way that I can support the quality of life and our community is something that I focus my attention on. My sister coincidentally had quit her job relatively recently, at that point, and was looking for her next opportunity. And I asked her if this was something she would be interested in researching. Doing a little bit of research on whether or not mindfulness would be something that would support the schools, the teachers, the students. And if the schools would accept the work that we were doing. Because it's a little bit alternative. And she did about six months of research, she can talk more about that, and came back to me and said, Yes, I think there's an opportunity here. And now here we are.

JoDee  4:19  
That's great. Yeah, I think you're right. It is a little bit alternative because in schools, the health and wellness of teachers has never been what PD has been built around, the opportunities for teachers to be able to improve themselves. That's not really one of the options presented. But uh, you all are doing really amazing things and what I'm, what I've learned through your site, and from what I've heard is that you are locally based in Ohio, right? 

Annamarie  4:50  
Correct.

JoDee  4:51  
How do you expand your work to other people that are not local? 

Annamarie  4:56  
Well, right now we are hyperlocal. Our plan however, is to expand nationally. We're creating a new product line. We call it a curriculum in a box. Essentially, it's a curriculum that we would sell to a school district. And the teachers would then teach it in the classroom. I think what makes our program a little bit different is that we intend to support the teachers and that education, rather than just giving them a series of papers, you know, adding one more thing. We have all these different ways that we're going to support the teachers in, in both educating themselves about the mindfulness practice. So that they can then teach it, or more importantly, emulate it in the classroom. 

JoDee  5:38  
Yeah. How do you do that by not adding to their plate? Like, what's your kind of approach? Because, you know, I know when teachers every year there's, there are curriculum talks of adopting a new curriculum or piloting something. So how do you get that buy in from teachers when sometimes people are piling things on? 

Julie  6:00  
Oh, that is definitely one of our biggest challenges is teacher buy in because of the level of stress and the amount of things that they already have to teach. But in Ohio, it was mandated in 2019, that Ohio start to teach social emotional learning standards. So we came in right at the right time, where schools were needing to add social emotional learning as a subject. And we provide that tier one support for PBIS and social emotional learning. We provide that. You know, we get teacher buy in through education. We offer them a three hour PD. And we we really teach them what's going on in the body. And, and that usually is, is the hook for teachers, when we teach them the brain science. It's usually how we get them. So it's just getting them to pay attention to what this is, what we're teaching. But our our in school program, we go directly into the classroom, and we teach hands on with the students for 15 minutes, two times a week for eight weeks. So the teacher really has no responsibility. She or he is just there to participate and be present, and learn for themselves. Reap the benefits for themselves. So that when we're not in the classroom, they can continue these practices. And we really provide them with practices that take 30 seconds to one minute to do during times of transition. And we firmly believe that if they take these 30 seconds or one minute, spaced throughout the day, that they will add additional teaching minutes to their day. So setting aside a couple minutes for mindfulness training, adds teachable minutes for the teachers. So they generally really start to notice that and to feel that. 

Ali  8:01  
I can definitely see how this is relevant to education and educators today and what they're dealing with in the classroom. Something that's been happening in my own child's school is not having enough time for activities like this. Like he doesn't have PE or maybe recess. Like you know, sometimes they can't have it because of weather. Kids need that outlet. They need a way for them to be able to refocus their attention. And so maybe they can't go outside. But this is something that they can do in their classroom that helps reset them. And I love the model that you have been doing where you bring another teacher in, not the classroom teacher, to do that 15 minute lesson. I've seen that model applied a lot to the public schools in my area, because it's a complete charter system. And so they're able to bring in a lot of third parties to do activities like this, like whether it's theatre art, or maybe it's yoga, in this case, it's mindfulness. And you're giving the classroom teacher a break, right? They're not instructing actively, but they can actually participate in it. I could see a greater buy in in that model, than perhaps kind of what JoDee was alluding to. Like, Okay, now you have to do all of this. But then you get the teachers to buy in and start doing this with their class, the 30 seconds or one minute exercise. And mindfulness is something that I have worked on in my adult life. Something that I tried to incorporate. And I do feel like it makes a really big difference. And I can see it making a difference in the classroom, especially with that that model that you've been able to do thus far. I think it could be, you know, another approach that you look at as expanding outside of your hyperlocal region, you know, finding some other ways to do that. But I love, I love the model that you're using because I really think it allows the teacher just again to participate as opposed to having to be the one to always do the instruction. Sounds like a really successful model that you have created. Along with that, I'm wondering, how does practicing this type of mindfulness...How could it support us through all the different life shifts that young people would go through as well as educators? How could that help us?

Annamarie  10:16  
I've been practicing mindfulness for a long time. And mindfulness has been kind of the foundation that has gotten me through a lot of things that have happened, just normal things that happen in life. Mindfulness is a very simple practice. It really is just paying attention on purpose, and then accepting that what you see happening in the world is actually what's happening. And, and what I mean by that is that you're not filtering what's happening through your habits and beliefs. That you're allowing yourself an opportunity to see things as they are, and not has maybe things have been before, or maybe things that we might imagine them to be. So I'll give you this example, this morning, I was walking on the treadmill, and I was listening to your podcast. And I was noticing that I was getting kind of anxious about being on this call. And I allowed myself to just kind of pause for a second, look over and I noticed all of these deer were walking or kind of hopping through the undergrowth in a field that's down outside my window. And it was so engaging for a moment. I was so there watching these deer experiencing, you know, the wind kind of moving the, the grasses that I turned off your podcast, and I was really paying attention to it. And then I noticed the squirrel. So it's kind of this evolution, it kind of activated the parasympathetic nervous system, which then brought me into a state of calm again. Of course, until I got a phone call, then, you know, heightened my anxiety level again. But it's these moments in time, this little switch that happens. It could be a second, in this case, it was maybe two minutes, that allows you to shift and maybe approach life slightly differently. It's an interesting kind of simple, but not easy practice. 

Ali  12:07  
Well, and I think what's beautiful about the practice is it's something that you can teach them when to do for themselves. You don't have to solve a problem. I think, when with parenting my own kids and with seeing friends, parent, their kids and being in schools myself, we are quick, when a child is going through something. Maybe they're getting anxious about something that's happening, or even at classroom teachers getting anxious. We want to, we want to just fix everything and say, Oh, no, it's going to be okay, or you can do it. But we don't really let them experience what it is that they're feeling in that moment. And maybe be present in the moment and allow what you just explained, you know transpire, where maybe they see something else, they can kind of focus on that, calm down. And just experience the emotion, I think, for whatever reason, we've created a system that we just want to fix everything and solve it quickly. But if we can really be more in tune with, with ourselves and give young people the tools to be able to do that when they're young. They can grow up and be adults who already know how to do that. Not have to be like, I don't know, when you started studying mindfulness. But it was only a few years ago that I started even really exploring that type of, you know, experience myself. And I think, man, that could have helped me if I'd had that 10,15, 20 something years ago. 

JoDee  13:27  
Well, and also how to do it, if we're talking about teachers, how do you do that in a high stimulus environment when there are other young people around you, and vice versa? You know, a student's have a body of people around them. And I don't know where you, you know, you, I think you said you were at home when you had that moment this morning. And I had a moment like that yesterday. No one was around me. I had kind of this space. And I didn't have this a demand of attention for others to be able to kind of lean in and focus on myself for a moment. And so I think that when teachers are in those really high demand areas, and people are requiring their attention. And the same for peers, demanding the attention of other peers and teachers demanding the attention of students. We have to figure out a way to use those strategies in different environments, per se. I was thinking about, you know, when I was in the classroom, when I experienced stress, I had this like immediate bodily effect on my head. Like the back of my neck would feel warm, and then the top of my head would feel stress. Like I could feel it like right here on top. And it's the same thing that happens to me today, except when I didn't know how to manage my stress, this like stress headache right here would go on for days and days. Whereas yesterday when I had a moment like that, a little work moment, that just kind of like elevated my stress a little bit. It was maybe a half hour that it had dissipated. And I can't say that it, it happens that quickly when I obviously didn't have the strategies to do so. Or if I was just preoccupied with meeting the demands of others in the classroom. So I noticed that you know, that you guys, you you work on that. You you said that you I think it was in your your bio that 90% of teachers, and students manage and reduce stress. How do you do that? How do you do that when you're in such a stimulus environment?

Julie  15:37  
Well, I'll tell you, and I say this a lot, that if if I had the skills prior to leaving the classroom, I would still be there. I would still be teaching. It was absolutely the only thing that I ever wanted to do was to teach. But the behaviors I was seeing were very challenging. And the stress was extremely challenging. And so for my own health, I felt I needed to leave. And that's when I learned and started practicing mindfulness. Had I had these techniques and these skills prior, I would still be in the classroom. But we encourage teachers, you know, to use it throughout the day. To find those little moments. Just to notice how you're feeling, even after you ask a student a question. And you're, you're giving them a little bit of response time. You know, you're feeling your feet on the ground, and you're noticing how you feel. So taking these little bits, of time to practice it, infusing it into your, to your day is very possible for teachers. When students are lining up, and you're waiting in line at the door, you're waiting in line to go to your special, you using those moments to practice. And also, you know, to take some deep breaths, encouraging your students to do the same, modeling that kind of behavior for their students. Sharing with them, right now I'm taking some deep breaths, as I get ready to transition into my next class. You're just constantly reminding the students in in those transitional moments, wherever you can, infusing it right into the curriculum. And it doesn't have to be something extra that you do. And it just happens in those moments of downtime. 

JoDee  17:29  
Yeah. I'm thinking about just different workplaces. I worked at several different schools, and the climate and culture depended on leadership, on team dynamics. So when you go to schools, do you get a little insight on the climate or what students may be experiencing or teachers, so you can tailor your program a little bit more towards maybe the needs of something that is just unique to that school, or maybe a higher problem?

Annamarie  18:02  
We do. You we're always tweaking our curriculum based upon the classrooms that we're in, you know, what works in one classroom. We might have to shift it do a little bit differently in another, as any teacher would with any lesson plan. And we do sometimes experience you know, the cultures in schools have it maybe being a little bit more challenging. If we have, you know, a shared, shared goals with leadership, with the principal, we generally it's a trickle down. So we generally have the teachers more interested in what we're doing, if we have the principal interested in what we're doing. So there is definitely, you know, those cultural challenges when going into the schools. But we really work on finding champions. We work on finding teachers who, who support us. Who felt it. Who, you know, have experienced it. And, and then, you know, we help them to spread the word for us. So we try to find these little champions in each building that'll, you know, change the culture of the school.

Ali  19:17  
And what I really like. And it was great to hear the kind of the context of how Mind Body Align started. How it did start, Annamarie, with your work initially with women, but then you found this need in schools. But the thing that I really appreciate value is how Julie has been brought into this project as a former teacher herself, really giving that input. And I can tell that your organization values educators and values their input and their participation. A lot of times it's hard when you look at an organization and you know, the product that they're delivering looks great, sounds great, but you look at who's working there or who's who's designing this and they've never stepped foot in a classroom. And it really makes me question, Okay, well, like where's this coming from? But I know that there are checks and balances. There are, you know, former educators on your team. And I was wondering if you could talk to me a little bit about how that came to be. I mean, you told us a little bit about how you asked for help with the research initially, but now working together, how valuable is it to have an educator or educators on your team?

Annamarie  20:26  
It's essential. I mean, it's, it's part of our hiring practice. We will not hire anybody into education unless they have been an educator. Part of our philosophy is if you have been an elementary school educator, then you will teach elementary school kids. We're going to be creating a program for middle school and for high school. And I'll be hiring somebody who specializes, has been a teacher in the middle school and the high school. I mean, I can't begin to tell you anything about how the school works. The politics of schools, how to educate students. I'm an entrepreneur. And so I just hire people who know how to do that work. I don't know how to do it. And you can probably tell by some of the things I say, you know, that my skill is in the business part of a company, and the passion for the mindfulness practice and I'm and the benefits that mindfulness can bring to a person's life. But the realities of being in the educational system, that's just not my strength. It's not my skill. So I hire people that have that skill, that understanding.

Ali  21:29  
Well, that's what makes you such a great entrepreneur is that you, you know that about yourself. You know what your best assets are and qualities, and then you make sure to fill the spots that you need with people who have those skills as well. And so it's really refreshing, I think, to hear that, that honesty about... oOkay, these are the things that I have, and I have this great mission, but I need, I need a team to help me accomplish it. And it sounds like you've put together a really amazing team to help support your mission and your goals. And I loved hearing about your story, how you are an active participant in your local community. You know, you're hyper local. You, you have a lot of focus in where you are. And I think that also brings a lot of value to your organization, when people probably meet you, or they consult with you. They know that you you're doing this work because you believe in it. But also you want to support the community that you live in, which is something we don't always have. You know, there's the, I'm sure Annamarie is familiar, but like the community school model. That doesn't exist everywhere. We don't always have, you know, schools that become full community schools. And we don't always have organizations that are working in that local space. And so they're really lucky to have you in your special region of Ohio.

JoDee  22:40  
I also like hearing that, you know, your goal is to expand. And I can infer that that would mean hiring teachers. And because we know that not everybody takes the traditional path. Whether it's, you know, everybody thinks that teachers leave, because of negative reasons, but some teachers leave because they're ready for a new thing. And they, they love the job, but they're ready for whatever's next in their career. And whichever, whichever reason it is, it sounds like you all are also creating opportunities for the teacher that is shifting from the classroom but wants to stay centered in education. And I know a lot of teachers that love to teach teachers and to love to just like come in and swoop in and do a lesson for a class. So I hope that you know, you all continue to expand and, you know, keep your your applications open to teachers, because we think teachers, you know, they were all awesome hats. They're great hires. And you're you're really fulfilling a nice mission.

Annamarie  23:45  
Thank you.

Ali  23:46  
So we want to let our listeners know how they can connect with you and how they can follow along with your work. You can find Mind Body Align on Instagram at Mind Body Align, on Pinterest at Mind Body Align, and then Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. We're gonna link all of this in the show notes for you. Thank you so much for your time today, Annamarie and Julie, we really appreciate having you on the show.

Annamarie  24:11  
Thank you so much.

Julie  24:12  
Thank you.

Ali  24:22  
Are you interested in suggesting a topic for Teacher Shift? Being a guest or recommending a guest? Please see the episodes page on our website to make a submission. And if you'd like to write for us, see our blog page. If you liked Teacher Shift, give us a five star rating and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Apple podcasts, Spotify and Amazon music. Today's episode was written and recorded by me, Ali Simon and my co host, JoDee Scissors. Executive produced by Teacher Shift. Produced and edited by Emily Porter. Original music: Emoji by Tubebackr.