TheTeachersOasis

Does our Education System Kill Creativity?

2008-12-21T21:50:54+00:00

Strip Mining our Minds

Although this video is a couple of years old it seems even more relevant in the light of what's happening to the global economy.

Our young people are the leaders of tomorrow. If they came out of school and university and entered the world of work with a more balanced perspective ie with emotional and spiritual intelligence as well as the currently accepted academic intelligences, maybe we would be in a different position now.

This means more than paying lip service or ticking a box. But we can only pass onto our youth what we value ourselves. I think 2009 is a year for re-examining our own values as educators and the curriculum we are offering.

Sir Ken Robinson puts forward a nightmarish scenario of what we're not only doing to our children but continue to inflict on ourselves. He suggests that our education system has "mined our minds in the same way we strip mine the earth for commodities...". It's compelling stuff delivered with a wry sense of humour.

Look out for the courses that I will be rolling out in 2009 that will help educators to tap into their "diverse intelligence" so that they can have happier and more "ecologically" sustainable careers with less stress.

Is What I'm Doing Too Woo Woo for Teachers?

2008-10-28T15:50:00+00:00

The Confessions of a Solopreneur

Hi there!

Why, oh why am I finding it so difficult to write regularly in my blog?

As soon as I write these thoughts I immediately know the answer and it's the same answer to the question that's about to follow: why do I find it so difficult to get myself 'out there' and let people know what I'm doing? It's all tied up with thinking I have to be perfect, fear of being seen and caring too much about what other people will think of me. I also worry whether people will think what I'm doing is too - well ... woo woo!

At the end of the day, I realise I don't have to be clever or hide but just be authentic and true to myself. When I'm being that - I'm happy. When my lovely blog was being developed I thought - there's no stopping me now. But procrastination choked me because of my refusal to step into my own power and be the person I am meant to be.

When I try to emulate others or measure what I do against what they are doing - of course again, I feel miserable. When I just think about how much I love to help and heal people I know what I've been put on this planet for, then I am naturally in my flow.

Five years ago this would have been inconceivable. The wounded person that I was then bears no relation to the person I am now. I've worked hard and purposefully - drawn forward not through my own will but from some inner propulsion that won't allow me to hide or stay quiet any longer. I am called to share my gifts with others otherwise why would I have them?.

Although I still continue to work with individuals in any walk of life, my main focus is on educational personnel of every type: teachers, managers and administrative staff. Teachers are bombarded from all sides and their emotional, mental and physical health is often forfeited at the altar of educational change. The pressure on education is immense and we need to be fit and healthy in mind, body and spirit so that we can nurture ourselves and those whose lives we touch.

So, Julia, what gifts have you developed?

Well - I have the power to heal emotions, feelings, habits and fears at a distance or remotely and this has beneficial effects on people's health. Over the last four years I've been working with individuals from all over the world by phone and face-to-face.

So, is what I'm doing too woo woo for teachers? Well, let me put it this way... the people who will be naturally drawn to connecting with me will probably already have a sense that our dependence on external change will not cut it. They may also have come to the conclusion that there isn't any such thing as external change anyway and want to work in a wholistic way on themselves.

So go ahead and read some testimonials about me on this blog or on my website www.teachersindistress.com. I will divulge more about how I work and share information about a pilot course I'm starting with a group of teachers in November in my next blog. Promise!!

Love

Julia

What Key of Life Are You Teaching In?

2008-09-25T07:30:00+01:00

For Teachers in the 'Thick Of It' - Some Help From Stevie Wonder

For some reason when I was thinking about what music I wanted to add to my blog Stevie Wonder's fabulous 'As' came instantly to mind. It's from his album Songs in the Key of Life. The original 7 minute plus version does it for me. I have a very scratched LP somewhere so the CD is definitely going on my Christmas list this year.

I can never sit still when I hear this song and I want to imagine you all groovin' along and singing the lyrics at the tops of your voices. Hah-hah-hah!

So what key of life are you teaching in this year? Happy? Inspired and looking forward to the year ahead, resigned to another year of stress or maybe somewhere inbetween? Well this should help whatever frame of mind you're in. - just click on the link below for 7 minutes of pure bliss.

Be uplifted and enjoy!

Happiness Tips - what makes you happy?

2008-08-13T18:53:53+01:00

Passion, Swings & Pink Helmets

It's old news I know, but the BBC still have their page of Happiness Tips, collated back in 2006 to coincide with their series The Science of Happiness, up on their website.

We all want to be happy and we all have different ways of finding happiness - and this group of respondents is no different.

Click through and have a read when you get a moment. For now, here are 3 that stand out for me:

"How to be happy - this advice was given to me many years ago by a man I consider to be a genius at being happy:

Cultivate a passion

Be part of something bigger than yourself

Avoid introspection

Don't resist change

Live for the moment

Audit your happiness

Play the part and be happy! "

Bob Yeldham, Wales

"I'm 49 years old and a company director with far too much to worry me. I went for a mind-clearing walk through a wood the other day and, in a clearing, I spotted a home-made swing slung from the high branches of an old oak tree. After a quick check to be sure no-one was watching, I got on board and had the best 10 minutes of fun I've had all year. I left feeling astonishingly happier. I hope it's still there this weekend!"

Neil Hardie, Scotland

"I replaced my black cycle helmet with a bright pink one. People used to look a bit scared when I cycled up to them, now the sight of a fat lady on a bike makes them smile."

Sue, Wales

I'm already doing most of the things mentioned in Bob's list, so perhaps I should invest in a swing and a pink cycle helmet! But what I really want to know, is what do you do that makes you happy? Please do share... simply click on the 'Comments' link below to leave your own happiness tips.

Stress Relief for Teachers - an 'alternative' method!

2008-08-01T16:52:00+01:00

We like to laugh here at The Teachers' Oasis - apart from anything else, it's a great way to release stress - so I just had to post this video I found in YouTube.

If you're a teacher and have any similar videos you'd like to share with other teachers, whether about stress relief for teachers or not - please email us a link!

Enjoy!

Praise indeed! - what they say about working with me...

2008-07-13T11:24:00+01:00

It's always wonderful to hear that you've 'made a difference' and I always appreciate honest and open feedback from clients. I just created a new Testimonials page where I'll store these comments and notes for others to see, but from time to time, I'm also going to post some of them along with Case Studies right here on the blog - like these two:

"I thought I was lazy and lacked self discipline and because of that and much more I will never accomplish what I want to accomplish.. Well Julia efficiently identified the real issues and barriers to my greatness and removed them elegantly leaving me in a state of joy, peace and with a sense of purpose. She is fantastic coach and I am stunned by the power of this work." Ewa (London)

"I have had several coaching sessions with Julia Porter. All of the sessions were 20-30 minutes. In that short amount of time, Julia got to the core issue that I needed help with and released it. I saved time, money, and emotional energy." Sandy (USA)

5 Benefits of Coaching

2007-03-07T14:17:00+00:00

As I get prepared for my next coaching session with Nicola my Wealth Coach, I thought I'd explain what benefits I gain from a coaching relationship ...

In fact, I now have several coaching relationships. Nicola Cairncross (just mentioned) who has helped me put my website together, Perenna Fleming who was my personal coach on my training programme and continues to coach me. There are also informal and mutual coaching relationships with colleagues who I trained with and who are now masterful coaches in their own right.

There's a coach out there for anything you care to achieve.

I am not going to go into the semantics of a coach (mentor, counsellor, facilitator, therapist etc). That really bores me. All I'm interested in is the results I personally get. You may have all sorts of descriptions for the person who helps you in your journey in life - it doesn't really matter.

Life is a journey and not a destination. We know this at heart really, don't we? Because as soon as we achieve something, we revel in it for a while, then we're onto the next thing. This is beautifully explained in the book Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

It often takes alot of effort to get moving once you've been stuck in a pattern of immobilisation for some time. This might be from stress, fear, ignorance, habit or the comfort and familiarity of your present situation. My experience in my former teaching job taught me that. However, if you have a gnawing sense of dissatisfaction about what you're currrently doing, then in order to be truely happy you will eventually have to do something about it.

5 Benefits of Coaching:

I'm held Accountable

All my coaching relationships hold me in some way to account. The sessions aren't static. They require some choices, actions, acknowledgment - depending on the area you are being coached on. This will be followed through in the next coaching session. I'm given some 'homeplay' to complete before my next session. This step by step approach works for my busy lifestyle.

This leads me nicely onto my next point ...

It's Regular & Saves Time

Once you've taken the first step and are committed to action then it's important to keep the momentum going. My sessions are on a set date and time and I don't have to leave my house. It's done over the phone, by emails and via the internet. Simple.

It Accelerates my Learning

Yes, I could do this on my own, go on a course, talk to friends and family and on occasion this is what I do. However, I also enjoy having access and learning from experts in their field using an online facility and teleseminar format. Why do it the hard way or reinvent the wheel when they've made the mistakes for you and have spent time learning their craft? That's what you're paying them for.

I Model their Behaviour

I want some of what they've got! What thinking, attitudes and behaviour made them successful? It's important that you pick a person who you trust and are comfortable with, who walks their talk and is at the place that you want to be. They don't have to be perfect by the way! I've learnt so much from people who are not. As long as they're open and honest - I'm happy.

It Works

For this I look at the evidence in my own life. I'm a coach, property investor, I've built my website, I've started to hold workshops, seminars and talking engagements about what I do. I've let go (and am still letting go) of fears, habits and beliefs that were sabotaging my chances of success.

There's still more to learn but I know I don't want to wake up in years to come and say I didn't go for my dream.

Stress Week on Teachers' TV

2007-02-13T23:57:17+00:00

I think Teachers' TV is a great resource.

Below is an extract from the Teacher Support Network newsletter advertising a series of TV programmes about stress in schools starting Monday, 19 February 2007 and continuing throughout the week. Don't miss it. Find out what stress is really doing to your body.

How stressed is your school?

Can you imagine being followed around school for a week by a team of scientists and stress experts, taking your pulse, blood pressure and measuring the levels of stress hormone in your blood? Well for one week, this is exactly what happened at Kings Langley Secondary School in Hertfordshire.

‘How stressed is your school’ is a scientific investigation into the physical and mental effects of stress encountered by teachers, captured in a real-time ‘Big Brother’ style, to convey the effect a typical school day has on teachers’ bodies.

Read more about Teachers’ TV Stress Week or seek support in dealing with stress via Teacher Support Net work .

This and a range of other programmes including, ‘Stress relief for heads’ which shows how to identify and neutralise the different negative behaviour patterns, ‘Primary middle managers – Stepping up’ examining the difficulties involved in juggling time between classroom teaching and middle leadership will be shown on Teachers’ TV as part of Stress Week February 19-26 2007.

Free NLP! Was I bovvered???

2007-02-07T13:32:18+00:00

Well it's 7.30 Sunday evening and I've just got back from Topher Morrison's The Mental Game of Money. I was up a 6 am Saturday morning and at the venue at 8 am ready for any return ticket from people who couldn't be bothered to turn up. Why was I so keen? I hadn't heard of Topher before ....

I was even more certain that I wanted to be at the seminar after one of my friends sent him a cheeky email asking if we could promote ourselves by handing out our leaflets for our Database Freedom Weekend that will be taking place 17-18 February at Waterstones in Piccadilly, London. He wrote such a graceful reply (of course he is a master of communication) that we didn't feel bad that on balance he thought it was not a good idea but we could if we wanted to!

Despite the reverse psychology that runs - if something is free then ironically we tend not to want it or value it as much - 500 other people thought it was worth it too. There was a cost as Topher pointed out - my time and energy.

Free or not, Topher wasn't messing! We started at 9 am or thereabouts until gone 6pm each day.The weather outside was chilly but beautiful and Regents Park beckoned invitingly!!

I chatted to a couple of people before the start. One was kind of suspicious that she would be submitted to a relentless sales pitch for two days and the other was a seasoned NLP'er, trainer, presenter etc and had heard it all before, was curious enough to turn up but would leave if it got too - oh you know - earnest and American!

So what did I learn?

I learnt how far I had come spiritually in the last two years. How to talk about the woo woo stuff and how to pace and engage an audience. Yes - I was modelling Topher. Most of the content wasn't new to me but I listened to it as if it was because he gave it a complete reframe. That said I will be integrating some of Topher's techniques into what I do and possibly dusting off my NLP notes from a few years ago.

I took an NLP Practitioner course almost 5 years ago but looking back now I realise I wasn't mentally or emotionally equipped to use it and therefore never applied it to my life. To me it was just a series of mechanical steps. It wasn't until I discovered Consiousness Shifting with Karen Vizer where I received coaching as part of the course that I was able to shift enough of my baggage to start seeing the wood from the trees.

To me Consiousness Shifting made sense - although not at first. It all seemed too out there but my inner self responded to it so naturally and it also seemed to answer an unspoken question that I had been unconsiously asking all my life. Now I'm a Master Consciousness Shifting Coach with Rockit Coaching Group.

Topher gave us some fabulous content - he was passionate, engaging and good looking. But I kept thinking - "Topher - you don't know what you're missing. If only you knew how to muscle check and learnt how to shift energy it would blow you away."

Let me explain. Every emotion and feeling has an energy pattern - once that emotion has been surfaced through my masterly Sherlock Holmes questioning technique and muscle checking, I can check that we have got as deep as we can go at that time. I can accurately pinpoint whether its a fear or a belief etc. I am then able to zap it and neutralise it or help you feel your way through it. I do it for clients all the time and I love it and they love it.

It's fast, it's accurate, it's magic!

My coaching is based on the premise that we are energetically all one - so I can coach people over the phone anywhere in the world. There's more that I do of course as I don't leave people hanging not knowing what to do once the negativity has been removed.

I suppose what I'm doing is applyng the teaching and theories of people like from Lynne McTaggart (The Field), Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now), Esther and Jerry Hicks (Ask & It is Given), Masaru Emoto (The Hidden Messages in Water), Wayne Dyer (The Power of Intention).Deepak Chopra, The Secret, What the Bleep etc etc in a practical and dynamic way every time I coach. And it works!!!

Stress, money, relationships - no problem. I tune into your body (with your permission) and help you to release your fear and doubt.

Who else was there? Oh yes Lynne McTaggart and Peter Thompson. The icing on the cake was that I won the raffle for CD's, DVD's and work packs from Peter Thompson that was worth a lot of money.

Thanks for a great weekend Topher. I am glad that I was bothered.

Love & Chocolate

Julia

If you would like a free laser coaching session please contact me

PS For those non-UK folk or people who don't watch TV 'Am I bovvered' is the catchphrase of one of Catherine Tate's characters. Catherine Tate is a comedienne and impersonator.

My Top 5 Achievements of 2006

2007-01-25T18:00:00+00:00

I thought January would be the perfect month to reflect on my top 5 achievements of 2006. So here goes:

Working in a part-time teaching job that I love and that allows me time to build my business. Teaching English Literacy to adults is such a joy! Why did I teach Business Studies for 14 years? It's just so easy to get stuck in a rut isn't it?
Buying two investment properties. One painlessly and effortlessly with Passive Investments! More about this in future posts.
Deciding to be mentored by the fabulous Nicola Cairncross of The Money Gym. It's sometimes making that initial first step that's the hardest thing to do but it was the best gift I could have given myself.
Building my TeachersInDistress website with Nicola's guidance. It's been a steep learning curve for an internet newbie like me but more about this in future posts.
Joining singing and dancing classes at the Horniman Museum. After all the years of living in south London, I had never visited this wonderful resource before with its beautiful gardens. I also realised how much I missed singing and being in a choir. Raise the Roof - led by the anarchic Melanie Harrold is a giggle and most of all stress releasing. All those magical musical vibrations coursing through my body must be having some calming effect.
Likewise the Nzinga Dance company's African dance lessons. We were a mixed group of ages and nationalities learning the dance moves to the fantastic drumming that accompanied us throughout. I'm not a lover of fitness gyms, so this workout had me sweating, laughing and completely switching off from the constant mind chatter. And, of course, oh my aching limbs!
Oops - I know I said 5 things but I'd forgotten that I ran the 5 km Race For Life in Hyde Park in June. My friend and I met every Sunday morning at 7.30 for running practice for three months prior to the event. This was no mean feat for me. I hadn't run like this since I was 16. I was very proud of myself. Note to self: sign up for the next running or walking challenge.

Here's to happy, energised and financially secure teachers!

Julia