{"id":86,"date":"2025-10-04T15:04:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T19:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/?p=86"},"modified":"2025-10-06T10:19:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T14:19:57","slug":"lets-all-be-well-beings-a-facilitators-journey-into-authentic-wellbeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/2025\/10\/04\/lets-all-be-well-beings-a-facilitators-journey-into-authentic-wellbeing\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s ALL Be Well Beings: A Facilitator’s Journey Into Authentic Wellbeing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s ALL Be Well Beings: A Facilitator’s Journey Into Authentic Wellbeing<\/h1>\n

This was day one of a new journey for me, facilitating a group of incredible educators at Cohort 21, a program that I have loved being part of for the past two seasons as a participant, then coach, and now here, Season 14, as a facilitator. Standing in that room, looking at faces both familiar and new, I felt the weight and wonder of this transition.<\/p>\n

I’ll be honest- imposter syndrome showed up big time. “How did I get this role?” But I was surrounded by such incredible support. Elissa, my co-facilitator, brought energy and leadership that helped me feel more empowered. Justin and Garth, along with my past facilitators Lisa, Lara, and Tina, and all the other motivating and inspiring people in that room, reminded me why I love this community so much.<\/p>\n

The day allowed me to reflect on my journey and wrestle with a familiar tension: How much can I do? I want to do lots, but am I doing too much? I want things done well, which might mean it’s time to start saying no more often. This isn’t just about time management; it’s about modeling the very wellbeing I’m trying to nurture in others.<\/p>\n

My own journey with wellbeing has become surprisingly central to how I show up as a facilitator. I’m bold enough to say that I seek personal therapy to help guide my thoughts, and I find it incredibly powerful. This commitment to my own growth shapes how I create spaces for others. Safety first, always. People need to feel genuinely safe to be vulnerable, to explore what authentic happiness means beyond just pretending to be happy.<\/p>\n

This reflection connects directly to how I intend to show up at Cohort 21 this year as a design thinker. It’s also deeply connected to an initiative I’m bringing to my own school, Bayview Glen, specifically the Lower School, where I will facilitate a conversation on wellbeing. What happens when learning sparks an idea that becomes a movement? For me, it started with a CAIS Learning Institute module on Nurturing Whole School Wellbeing, facilitated by Ed and Hanna Kidd from Ridley College, and deepened through an enriching conversation with Jason Rogers, Head of School at Rundle. Those moments of connection planted a seed that’s now growing into something I’m calling “Flourish: A Wellbeing Conversation Series,” a non-traditional book club focused on faculty and staff wellbeing.<\/p>\n

This isn’t your typical professional development. We’re using Martin Seligman’s Flourish<\/u> as our guide, but the real magic happens in conversation-led exploration with actual wellbeing exercises we can try together. Because here’s what I’ve learned: wellbeing isn’t a checkbox or a workshop you attend once. It’s a practice, a way of being that ripples through everything we do.<\/p>\n

The intent of these conversations is to create spaces where vulnerability is met with safety, where we can explore positive psychology and what being happy genuinely means. Not performative happiness, but authentic wellbeing that comes from understanding ourselves, supporting each other, and creating environments where people can truly flourish.<\/p>\n

My hope for my role as facilitator, whether in Cohort 21 or in our Flourish conversations, is to model the kind of authenticity and wellbeing I want to see in the world. When we’re brave enough to be vulnerable, when we create safe spaces for real conversation, we give others permission to do the same. Wellbeing isn’t individual work; it’s collective.<\/p>\n

So here’s my invitation: What would it look like if we all committed to being well beings? Not perfect beings, not endlessly productive beings, but humans who prioritize authentic wellbeing- our own and each other’s. The ripple effects might just surprise us all.<\/p>\n

I believe deeply in the power of connections. If you have ideas, initiatives, books, people, or resources related to wellbeing, design thinking, or creating authentic learning communities that you’d be willing to share, I’d love to connect with you. After all, the best journeys are the ones we take together.<\/p>\n

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Let’s ALL Be Well Beings: A Facilitator’s Journey Into Authentic Wellbeing This was day one of a new journey for me, facilitating a group of incredible educators at Cohort 21, a program that I have loved being part of for the past two seasons as a participant, then coach, and now here, Season 14, as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":87,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8,7,9],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-face-2-face-sessions","tag-authentic","tag-flourish","tag-wellbeing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions\/98"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/garethjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}