Emotional First Aid Training
Increase your ability to cope with stress. This workshop blends gentle somatic practices with insight exercises to help you self-regulate through the inevitable ups and downs of life.
Many people have become familiar with the emotional and physical benefits of mindful movement practices. Increasing popularity of various approaches to yoga, tai chai, and meditation reflect the therapeutic benefits of these, and similar practices. Research has shown that bespoke yoga interventions, targeted for specific processes and utilized alongside talk therapies, can enhance individuals’ ability to process non-verbal experiences such as complex emotions, and subsequently enhance cognitive, linguistic processing. The primary focus of this workshop is to provide participants with simple, practical tools for nervous system regulation that can be self-facilitated in their daily life and used as healthy, sustainable coping strategies across the lifecycle. These techniques will be introduced and practiced in a group therapy context. Approximately 50% of the workshop will focus on group discussion and reflection processes, with the remainder devoted to experiential practices including thought, emotion, and body awareness, as well as invitation to explore organic movement and restfulness.
What to Expect
This workshop offers a unique opportunity to process emotions through both sensation and cognition. Participants will learn stress management practices that utilize controlled breathing, physical postures, and gentle movements. After each practice is introduced and experienced, participants will be invited to share their experiences. Through this process, reflexive emotions are encountered as sensations, and automatic thoughts are welcomed as keys to understanding and managing your unique reactions to the world around you. Because the experience of stress is unavoidable, and yet often socially isolating, this workshop offers an accepting space to process emotions without judgement or the pressure to perform the roles and responsibilities of our daily lives. The facilitator will strive to maintain a physically and emotionally safe space for participants throughout the workshop, and confidentiality will be honoured in order to make this experience as productive as possible for all.
Practical considerations: Each participant will be provided with an exercise mat, chair, and pen for written exercises and personal notes. You are welcome to bring your own items of this nature. Wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing, and bring a warm outer clothing layer or blanket for warmth. Water and herbal tea will be provided.
This workshop is suitable for adults and mature teens. All physical components of this program can be adapted to accommodate varying abilities, and are suitable for individuals with limited mobility.
Reasons to join
Participants will increase their emotional resilience, awareness of the mind-body connection, and confidence in their capacity to tolerate discomfort and change. We will explore how to identify and befriend the emotional, mental, and physical information in the present moment, and use it as a road map that allows us to make choices that align with our desired results. While this process can be valuable to individuals experiencing a wide range of stressors, it can be particularly helpful if you:
The practices you will learn in this workshop are simple to learn, easy to do in many environments, and are intended to be used as emotional first aid.
Getting the Most out of Your Experience
It can be daunting to participate in an introspective process in group of new people – and yet, this can be extremely rewarding. It’s perfectly normal to feel a little nervous to talk about yourself in a group, or that you’ll say the “wrong thing,” or that you’ll be judged for your perspective. On the other hand, you may be concerned that you won’t benefit from participating. While all of these concerns are valid, there are some things that you can do to ensure you’ll get the most out of your time during this workshop:
This workshop offers a unique opportunity to process emotions through both sensation and cognition. Participants will learn stress management practices that utilize controlled breathing, physical postures, and gentle movements. After each practice is introduced and experienced, participants will be invited to share their experiences. Through this process, reflexive emotions are encountered as sensations, and automatic thoughts are welcomed as keys to understanding and managing your unique reactions to the world around you. Because the experience of stress is unavoidable, and yet often socially isolating, this workshop offers an accepting space to process emotions without judgement or the pressure to perform the roles and responsibilities of our daily lives. The facilitator will strive to maintain a physically and emotionally safe space for participants throughout the workshop, and confidentiality will be honoured in order to make this experience as productive as possible for all.
Practical considerations: Each participant will be provided with an exercise mat, chair, and pen for written exercises and personal notes. You are welcome to bring your own items of this nature. Wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing, and bring a warm outer clothing layer or blanket for warmth. Water and herbal tea will be provided.
This workshop is suitable for adults and mature teens. All physical components of this program can be adapted to accommodate varying abilities, and are suitable for individuals with limited mobility.
Reasons to join
Participants will increase their emotional resilience, awareness of the mind-body connection, and confidence in their capacity to tolerate discomfort and change. We will explore how to identify and befriend the emotional, mental, and physical information in the present moment, and use it as a road map that allows us to make choices that align with our desired results. While this process can be valuable to individuals experiencing a wide range of stressors, it can be particularly helpful if you:
- Are experiencing stress that is interfering with your desired self-care activities
- Get stiff or sore muscles alongside emotional stress
- Are processing grief, loss, or a major life transition
- Are currently feeling stuck in talk therapy
- Feel “spikes” of emotion when you increase your heart rate or breathe deeply
The practices you will learn in this workshop are simple to learn, easy to do in many environments, and are intended to be used as emotional first aid.
Getting the Most out of Your Experience
It can be daunting to participate in an introspective process in group of new people – and yet, this can be extremely rewarding. It’s perfectly normal to feel a little nervous to talk about yourself in a group, or that you’ll say the “wrong thing,” or that you’ll be judged for your perspective. On the other hand, you may be concerned that you won’t benefit from participating. While all of these concerns are valid, there are some things that you can do to ensure you’ll get the most out of your time during this workshop:
- Respect your own boundaries. You don’t need to share more than what you’re comfortable with.
- Be curious. The thoughts and emotions that come up for you might reveal aspects of yourself that you haven’t considered deeply before. The processes of other participants may also inspire new insights for you.
- Communicate your discomfort. The facilitator is there to assist you with your best interests in mind.
- Be willing to share. The more that participants share their stories and experiences with the group, the greater the possibility exists for a warm and supportive community experience to form.