School wellbeing retreats

Recently, Shine From Within was asked to deliver a wellbeing workshop covering some big topics for a school. The topics they asked for were:

• Nourish your body
• Positive body image
• Friendships, forgiveness and you
• Strengths, values and social media
• Self-esteem and resilience

Firstly, in case you’re interested, we actually have lesson plans, powerpoint presentations, worksheets and scripts for a 90min class on each of these topics in our school-based curriculum, ‘Shine on the Inside.’ The curriculum is perfect if you’d like to deliver something yourself for the students in your school aged 11 – 15 who identify as girls, with a framework and all the tools you need to focus on the connection and delivery with your group of students. 

We knew it was going to be challenging to cover it all but it was an exciting challenge. We brought together our most experienced, fun facilitators who set to work in curating an entire day of activities, connection, reflections and teaching. We had Eddie Tyquin, who is a graduate of our Youth Mentor Training, a Steiner school teacher and the brightest, most colourful person you’ve ever met! Eddie lead the girls. 

And we had Tom Molloy, a performance coach and facilitator who’s had decades of experience working with adolescents in all sorts of ways (and countries!). I knew Tom’s breathwork and his foundational movement would be a wonderful base for a day of connection with the boys.

In addition, we had 2 youth mentors supporting them and also brought in a teen yoga teacher and a Nia dance teacher to add some movement and anchor into the lessons of the day. 

We weaved these broad themes and topics throughout the day, planting seeds and reinforcing what they already knew within them (as most of our parents tend to say, “You’re telling them what we’re telling them, but it’s great to hear it from somebody else!”).

This is how the school described the day: 

“The Adolescent Community had a visit from the Shine from Within team. It was a day aimed at developing some good habits to assist with the transition from adolescent to adult. The students started the session with some breathwork and yoga. They then separated into two groups and spent the rest of the day participating in several activities.

The girls worked with the metaphor of being a tree and what are the best ways to care for themselves and their community physically, mentally, and spiritually. They explored goal setting, morals and ethics, nurturing tactics, and how to give gratitude daily for the good things in life. Some drawing, vision boarding, dancing, and painting of the puzzle pieces would eventually turn into our communal tree.

The boys spent their day with two motivational speakers who taught our emerging adults how to care for and maintain their minds and bodies while transitioning into a new phase of life. They accomplished this through a variety of engaging activities and group discourse. By the end of the day, students had set individual goals, reflected on their strengths and weaknesses, and connected more closely as a group.”

 Feedback from the students was fantastic – all around 80% positive for: 

• Would recommend to a friend
• Learned something new
• Felt more motivated and inspired 
• Felt more connected to self and to their community

For our industry, where we go into a school setting without knowing anyone and deliver something to an entire cohort, and it’s compulsory to be in attendance, you can’t get better than this! I’m so proud of the day they created and the feedback from the students. 

If you’d like to chat with us about a bespoke retreat or workshop in your school, please reach out to info@shinefromwithin.com.au. No matter where you are based, chances are we’ve got some awesome youth mentors and facilitators nearby who can curate something special for you. Now that we’ve done our first one after 2 years of covid lockdowns, we’re open and ready to make some magic with you.  

And if you’d prefer to deliver a wellbeing day or a 10 week program yourself, check out our school-based curriculum Shine on the Inside here.

If you’d like to explore becoming a youth mentor yourself, here are some free resources you could get started with: 

• You can take the free quiz, ‘Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Youth Mentor?’ and discover your youth mentor archetype here. 
• You can listen to our podcast, The Youth Mentor Podcast here.
• You can download the free eBook, ‘How Working with Teens Changed Their Life and Business’ here.
• You can take the free masterclass, ‘Take Your Teen Programs Online’ here.
• You can watch the free masterclass, ‘How to support teens in 2022’ here.
• And you can register for the free mini training series here.