The Inspired Teacher; Five Actions that Healed Me is the TOCM signature retreat for Teachers of Color. This retreat serves as a launch pad to the five TOC wellness strategies that are showcased in the five following retreats. we set the foundation for sustainable work together by creating the cultural norms needed for the vulnerable work that will happen in subsequent sessions. TOCM unpacks some of the specific language needed to describe our experiences in white spaces and our classrooms including the stress cycle, trauma, and triggers. Finally, each wellness strategy is unpacked and participants are encouraged to practice the wellness strategies in real time as a cohort.

The Taming Your Inner Critic workshop is designed to help participants unpack the negative inner voice and critic that is developed as a teacher of color. We will identify and disarm your inner critic by engaging in several healing activities in addition to community conversation. Participants will leave the session with a new awareness of their inner voice, concrete steps to disempower negative thoughts, and a personalized set of affirmations.

Mood-Boosting Moves unpacks the relationship between movement and exercise, mental health, and endorphins. In this workshop session we’ll define what movement looks like for each participant, identify several key low impact movement exercises and finally develop a plan for sustainable movement over time.

Self-advocacy begins with inward reflection. The relationship we have with ourselves is the most important relationship that we can support. The Write Way to Well Being workshop session is designed to create the time and space to focus on the relationship you have with yourself through writing and journaling. We leverage the power of writing by expressing our concerns, worries, and tasks in a way that "declutters" our minds.

As people of color, often we are so focused on resisting the oppressive structures that we work and live within that we don’t give ourselves time to dream and conceptualize the kind of reality we would like to exist within. This workshop focuses on the high level vision you have for your life. Identifying your dreams and aspirations in concrete ways fosters discipline and commitment. Each participant will leave with a digital vision board as an artifact of their personal reflection and dreams.

Breath work is one of the easiest and most effective ways to calm your nervous system and disrupt the stress cycle. Breath work is easily accessible and can impact the day to day anxiety that can come up for teachers of color. The Breath and Beyond workshop focuses on strategies to incorporate breath work into our busy schedules. In this session, we revisit the stress cycle and how it manifests in our lives. The session ends with a guided meditation for empowerment.