Category: Elena’s Blog

Racism isn’t personal

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

Racism hurts—it hurts bodies, minds, and spirits. Racism kills people—it provides a justification for dehumanization. Racism has shattered families, communities, and continents. Racism exists because of the ideology of white supremacy—the belief that white people are superior. This ideology began as a way to justify the transatlantic slave trade and has been institutionalized for over 500 years in the United States and in white settler societies. It manifests in a myriad of forms and impacts everyone in the world in innumerable ways. […]

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A breakthrough that rocked my understanding

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

Do you think of yourself as a curious person? 

Recently I’ve been having insights into curiosity that have rocked my understanding of this state of being. I realized there have been times when I thought I was curious, but I wasn’t. […]

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Who do you want to be? Who are you being?

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

It’s almost officially spring and a great time to start new habits. I hope you’ve heard me say this many times: Transformational Coaching starts with you paying attention to you. You working on yourself. You developing your self-awareness and skills. I can teach you lots of coaching sentence stems and strategies, but when you sit down for that coaching session, you are who you are. Who do you want to be? Who are you being?  […]

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“Resilience” can be used to oppress

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

Like most concepts, “resilience” can be used to oppress. I’ve heard messages that shift the burden of ending systemic injustice onto marginalized people, such as If you were more resilient, then racism wouldn’t really bother you. People wielding these types of messages have corrupted a powerful tool. One that educators, in particular, are in need of. […]

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Excavating my beliefs about emotions

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

I’m often surprised by how many limiting beliefs I operate from, in spite of having done a lot to surface and shift beliefs. But the limiting ones are masters at camouflaging themselves. That’s how they survive. I’ve recently been excavating my beliefs about emotions and realizing that some that aren’t helpful. These include the beliefs […]

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Learn the skills to invite others to heal

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

I’ve been learning about how my response to other people’s strong emotions has to do with my comfort with experiencing those emotions. Self-development is foundational for being a Transformational Coach and I encourage you to find support to explore your emotions.  I want to bring this idea into the classroom. Chaz (a pseudonym) was a […]

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Are you working with someone who is struggling?

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

Many educators are returning from the break feeling refreshed, empowered, and energized. You can continue cultivating and coaching those joyful emotions. This will help.  Some educators are returning from the break feeling stressed, sad, or fearful. You might be tempted to smother those feelings by exuding positivity and repeating sentiments like, “it’s all going to […]

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Intentions and Goals for the New Year

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

If you want to identify intentions or goals for 2023, try this: Write yourself a letter from December 31, 2023. Do it on paper if you’re able – the old-fashioned way. Write, Dear [and your name]. And then describe the year that has ended. Describe how you felt during the year. Describe some highlights from […]

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Are you actively designing your life?

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

“How much of what you did today was simply due to inertia?Never get so busy that you forget to actively design your life.” – Steph Smith via Twitter Are you actively designing your life? Or are you stuck on the inertia train? Here are 5 ideas of how you can actively design your life today:1. […]

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2022 Holiday Gift Guide

Posted on by Jess Levasseur

I love to help people select gifts for people they love, so here’s a gift guide that the Bright Morning team put together for 2022. I hope you find some ideas on here for yourself or for others! This gift guide contains several affiliate links (on the books and products recommended through Amazon) where, if […]

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