WORKSHOPS + BOOKS DESIGNED TO EMPOWER

that beauty, strength, and kindness come from their own heart and mind!

by Margot L. Denommé, JD + Loraine Burt, BA, RYT

Empowerment Workshops: Self-esteem, Self-image, Confidence,

Kindness, Mindfulness

Book Talks include: Awesome Inside + Out!, Mommy, and I pretty?, and Unicorn Caitie:

Finding your Mindful Superpowers

Mindfulness + Movement

Children’s Empowerment + Mental Wellness

half-day and full-day workshops available

As a criminal lawyer, I see the devastating effects and dire consequences of poor choices made by children with low self-esteem and damaged self-con-fidence every day. As a mother of two young daugh-ters, I am struck by the unrealistic and distorted images of “beauty” perpetuated by the mainstream and social media. A generation of children is actively comparing themselves to digitally-altered images of people that don’t actually exist.

Given the clear link between damaged self-worth, bullying, mental health issues and a troubled future, I committed myself to writing children’s stories with a clear counter-message—beauty comes from with-in, and from the depths of one’s heart. The books Mommy, am I pretty? and Awesome Inside + Out! help children develop their inner strength, and to empower them with their own definition of beauty.

The books led to the speaking tour, Celebrate You! I have since spoken at over 100 schools to date.

The presentation has 3 components:

First, I speak to students about the dangers of com-paring themselves to photoshopped actors and ac-tresses. With visual support I demonstrate that these people don’t actually exist and discuss how compar-ing ourselves negatively affects our self-esteem, body image and the general way we feel about ourselves.

Second, I read the books with the children and together we discuss the qualities that make a person beautiful from within. We celebrate our uniqueness and the im-portance of being kind, strong, inclusive and developing a passion. We discuss how to combat the challenges by developing ourselves from the inside out!

Finally, I explain to the children what’s involved in writing and publishing a book, and show them early prototypes of the books we just shared. In this lesson I emphasize the importance of writing papers and proj-ects more than once, that it can take several rounds before you get to your best work and final version, and that anything can be achieved with commitment, hard work, making mistakes and learning from them, and putting your heart into whatever you do.

Parents, teachers, and caregivers have never played a more vital role in the development of a child’s self-image.

Margot Denomme JD has practiced criminal law for over 20 years in Toronto, Ontario where she lives with her two daughters. As a mother, she is keenly aware of the media influences on growing children. She wrote these books to encourage dialogue between parents, grand-parents, caregivers, teachers and young children with a view to teaching them that true beauty lies within each and every one of them.

Mindfulness + MovementJoin us in an mindful exploration of body, breath, senses and feelings through our workshops on Mindfulness + Movement. Tailored to suit each grade, from kinder to high school, the outcomes of our workshops include some of the following learnings for students: by exploring self regulation students become more aware of their own bodies and their reaction to stress, through the practice of paying attention students dis-cover the capacity to pause before taking action, by exploring the senses students experience positive shifts in moods. Scientific research has now proven the positive health benefits of mindfulness based practices and the ability to change the brain structure.

FINDING YOUR MINDFUL SUPER POWERSUnicorn Caitie

Loraine Burt, BA, RYTLori is a certified Hatha yoga instructor trained in mind, body and breath awareness through the Esther Myers Yoga Studio and in restorative yoga with Judith Lasater. Lori’s approach to teaching yoga and mindful movement with breath awareness is to encour- age participants to explore the body and the breath, slowly and mindfully, in order to find greater ease of movement in the body and a more quiet and calm state of mind.

After spending over 20 years working in a rewarding career in the employee benefits industry Lori is now grateful to be given the opportunity to share with others the gifts that mindful yoga brought to her own life. Lori is a warm and caring teacher who thoroughly enjoys spending time with others to explore the body, mind and breath, and she approaches the practice safely and thoughtfully, always with compassion and a sense of humour.