Course Outline

An Evidence-Informed Journey: Minimizing Stress and Maximizing Thriving

Description

This journey centers on developing the core assets that enable thriving and that buffers us from stressors endemic in our caregiving roles and in our places of work. The two core resilience factors are sense of coherence and congruence. These developmental assets are the roots that ground us, mitigating stress and enabling an ability to ‘live our calling.’ Thriving happens as we learn to ground in the inner world, while navigating the outer world. As a result, external stimuli feel less threatening, we experience less stress, have a lower risk of a variety of mental and physical conditions, better coworker relations, improved job satisfaction, and are less likely to use substances to cope.

Sense of coherence (SOC) centres on our orientation to life, our ability to reframe and resource with confidence and optimism. Our degree of SOC informs our sense of agency, meaning making, comprehension / predictability, and confidence / self-efficacy. Mindful reframing practices are key for developing our sense of coherence.

Congruence centres on our orientation and connection to self and others. It is the aligning of our 'real' (actual) and 'ideal' (potential) self. Authentic expression and deepening self-compassion are key for developing congruence.

When combined, congruence and sense of coherence enable us to thrive. They deeply root us in personal authenticity, enabling us to connect inwardly and outwardly, fueled with purpose, joy, courage, and compassion.

Core Practices

Through awareness, regulation, heartfulness, and aligning, it becomes possible to cnnect to, and then transform the personal and collective consciousness.

By engaging with the four core practices (awareness, regulation, heartfulness, and aligning) you strengthen sense of coherence and congruence. As a result, you are developing and strengthening your roots, buffering you from stress and promoting a greater ability to thrive. To do this work, we will:

• Co-create a ‘container,’ where we practice providing and receiving unconditional positive regard.
• Expand our awareness of who we are and how we relate to our inner and outer world.
• Practice self and other compassion, strengthening our ability to connect to and express our ‘real’ selves.
• Self-regulate and self-soothe through moments of suffering (stress).
• Practice settling our biology, enabling us to drop in, connecting heartfully.
• Soften into the heart, promoting a greater ability to re-connect and resource inwardly and outwardly.
• Align with our essence, providing an opportunity to live our calling.

Concepts

Sense of coherence: orientation to our world and our culture.

• Acknowledging and building on our resources.
• Science of mindfulness
• Physiology of stress response, effects of prolonged stress (e.g. shame, trauma, moral
• distress)
• Understanding the cultural (colonial) elements of healthcare, unspoken rules, the water we
• swim in and the weather we endure.
• Connection and expression of the emotional and desiring self
• Connection to others
• Connection to nature; the beauty of chaos and order
• Cultivating Gratitude
• Cultivating Optimism

Congruence: orientation to the self - Authenticity and wholeness.

• Expanding our definition of self. What enables us to thrive?
• Examining how the mind works and the power of thoughts (neuropathways, biochemical reactions, creating our reality, neuroplasticity).
• What are our patterns of dealing with difficulty? Stressors and soothing with substances/activities.
• Addressing negative thought programming with loving kindness practices.
• Cultivating self-compassion
• Cultivating forgiveness

Personal and Professional Alignment

• Living a Calling
• Living as leaders

Outcomes

This curriculum is intended to facilitate alignment between our most compassionate and authentic self, our professional identity, and our relationships. Upon successful completion of the journey, participants will be able to be and do:

• Expand awareness to gain an objective view of the self (non-attachment), conditioning/thought programs and patterns.
• Work with the biological impacts of stress. You will use stress management tools to facilitate the ability to manage internal and external stimuli and to gain the confidence to continue working through past adversities.
• Practice loving kindness exercises, continuing to immerse and develop self-compassion. Self-soothing effectively.
• Distinguish signal from noise: helpful practices versus prescribed practices.
• Live into your identity as a leader, forging relationships and contributing to communities of unconditional positive regard personally and professionally.
• Take actions that align with one’s calling and vision.

Practices are not Prescriptions. There are many suggestions and exercises included in this curriculum; these are not intended as magic bullets, but to enhance self-awareness through exploration, experimentation, and critical reflection on how each practice may or may not resonate with our unique needs and desires.

Journey Preparation: Pre-session virtual meeting to prepare participants for the journey.

References

Antonovsky, A. (1979). Health, Stress and Coping. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Rogers, C. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships as developed in the client-centered framework. In (ed.) S. Koch, Psychology: A study of a science. Vol. 3: Formulations of the person and the social context. New York: McGraw Hill.