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  • Our Work
    • Cambridge OST Coalition
    • Communities of Practice
    • Elementary Network >
      • Elementary Network Guiding Principles
      • Elementary Network Activate Partners!
      • Elementary Network Pods
      • Elementary Network Coordinator
    • Quality Improvement System
    • Training >
      • Training On Your Own Time
    • OST Symposium
    • Middle School Network
    • OST-School Partnerships
    • Stories of Family Partnership
  • News & Events
    • Upcoming Training
    • Upcoming Communities of Practice
    • MSN Updates
    • Newsletters
    • Events Calendar
  • Stories of Family Partnership
    • Common Ground
    • Parent Voices
    • Showing Them that They Matter
    • Showing us What they Know
    • Empathizing with Parents
    • Building Dialogue
    • Creating a Welcoming Culture
    • Celebrating Families
  • Resources
    • OST FAQ & COVID-19 Resources
    • 5 Key Elements for Successful Virtual OST Programming
    • Blog
    • How to Write a Blog Post for AFCOST
    • Publications
    • Professional Development Reports
    • Find It Cambridge
    • STEAM@Home
  • About Us
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    • Who we are
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Learning & Teaching

BLOG

Why is Everything So Hard?

4/23/2020

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Alice Cohen shares her infinite wisdom to help us understand what is happening in our brains and bodies during this historic pandemic.  She helps us understand more about our how our feelings of disenfranchised grief are being processed by our limbic system. She explains why we're so distracted and anxious and how our executive functioning is impaired.  ​
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Watch the video! Alice answers the questions: 
Why do things feel so hard?  And what do we need to get through this challenging time? 
  • We need connection.
  • We need mindfulness. 
  • We need to slow down and breathe.  
  • We need to treat the impact of social isolation in our homes and in our communities. 
  • We need self-compassion!
  • We have to let go sometimes.
  • We need to self-soothe regularly.  We're going to "lose it."  And that's ok.  We can regroup when we can't cope. We're modeling that for young people.  
  • We need to play and laugh.
  • Do things that make you feel good in your body. ​

​Remember, things feel hard, because they are! 
Be Well!   
And thank you, Alice!

If you'd like to share resources with your colleagues,  tell us how you are coping and healing, and helping the youth and families that you work with to heal, and continuing to find joy while we are physically apart,  please submit a blog post by emailing.  Here are some tips to help get you started. ​​

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Socially Connected,  Movement from a Distance

4/8/2020

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by Marlees West, Program Director, Frisoli Youth Center
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As an extrovert, movement has long been my only solitary activity. Long runs help me center myself and  release some of my excess energy before I connect with others. In the last year, pilates has helped me to get ready for a day of: connecting to staff and young people and families; talking and learning, and teaching and thinking. By myself, at the end of the day, pilates helps me process everything that I learned, heard, and felt.

Like all of us, physical distancing has rocked my world.
I no longer have all those in-person social interactions to feed my extroverted soul. So, I created “Socially Distant Pilates People." I made my daily exercise routine a social time, initially with just a small group of 4. Over the last few weeks, our community has now grown to include more than 20 people. We 'FaceTime' ten minutes a day, once a day, every day, to do pilates together. That’s it! But that short ten minutes (followed by a virtual dance party) has felt really good. It’s kept me connected to my own identity as a teacher and facilitator (and now as an amateur pilates instructor!) and to my friends and family and friends of friends. It’s quickly become the best part of my day, lifting my mood and energy, and jump starting my creativity. I feel connected.


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Collectively Grieving What We Have Lost

4/2/2020

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By Mercedes Soto, Impact Evaluation Advisor, Agenda for Children OST
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Yesterday, when I was walking and listening to a podcast, in the April Fool's Day early morning snow flurry, I saw this colorful child's drawing zip tied to a tree.  The message "We are in this fight together so we must remember to be kind to each other." brought me to tears.  I was overcome by this wave of grief for all of the people and the ways of life we've lost and the people and ways of life we are losing.     

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