Our Story

The vital importance of educator mental health and wellness is not a new topic in the field of education. After years of witnessing and personally experiencing educator stress and burnout, we started planning for Wellness for Educators in 2018. At that time, we wanted to keep things small and bring short wellness strategies from a variety of research-based disciplines to help educators relieve prolonged stress and heal trauma. A small team of us worked together on a shoestring budget to create the Wellness Library, which houses hundreds of free, short video-, audio-, and text-based guidance on wellness strategies from the disciplines of yoga, mindfulness, meditation, Qigong, and more. From there, we continued to grow. We created a free webinar series and a podcast, attended conferences and provided workshops and morning yoga sessions. And then the pandemic hit…

We grappled with what to do at that time, and as we saw the exponential increase of prolonged stress and trauma that educators were experiencing, we knew we had to expand what we were doing. So in December 2020, we shifted Wellness for Educators as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. While the organization is based in Maine, the team is spread out around the world and serves educators, educational organizations, schools, districts, colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and others worldwide.

With every group we work with, we have a choose-your-own-adventure-type approach that helps to personalize the experience. Each year, we add more programming to what we offer based on the continuously changing needs of the field. With a team of inspiring educators, licensed mental health professionals, and certified somatic practitioners, we provide a whole-system approach to mental health and wellbeing, giving schools, districts, and community-focused organizations research-based, trauma- and equity-informed, somatic (mind-body) education, strategies, and practices to support whole system resilience. As research shows, educator wellness is not an individual experience; rather, there are many contributing factors that are outside of educators’ control. S.W.I.M., our School-wide Wellness Implementation Model, provides a system of supports for all stakeholders. In addition to S.W.I.M., the team offers a variety of stand-alone learning opportunities, such as coaching, strategic planning, book studies, workshops, webinar series, microcourses, support and reflection circles, and more. We also have a supportive membership community for individual educators, schools, districts, and organizations.

The team loves to collaborate, so if you have some ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact us!