SURREAL SELF-CARE
MY PERSONAL SELF-CARE JOURNEY
THE SURREAL SELF-CARE STORY
Keonna Knight
Founder, Self-Care Guide, & Community Catalyst
Surreal Self-Care was founded in 2018 in Oakland, CA in order to
support educators and communities in tapping into their own sufficiency and connecting deeper to their highest commitments.
While Surreal Self-Care was created out of acknowledging a high need for self-care within school communities, it does not serve only individuals and communities working within the education field. The mission of Surreal Self-Care is to support any individual or community ready to recognize and address old stories and limiting beliefs, create visions and action plans based in creativity and sufficiency, and activate their personal power or power as a community to actualize those visions and action plans.
The name Surreal Self-Care was inspired by Surrealism, a movement founded in imagination and unlocking the unconscious mind. Our self-care sessions and community-care workshops are based on this same foundation. At Surreal Self-Care, we use deep dialogue, imagination, visualization, and appreciative inquiry to support individuals and communities in building authentic and purposeful self-care plans and community action plans. The diverse offerings of Surreal Self-Care allows space for many communities and individuals to explore the power of self-care and imaginative collaboration.
Testimonials
1:1 Self-Care Sessions
"Surreal Self Care was an amazing experience. In many ways, it felt more helpful than traditional talk-therapy. I enjoyed the inquiry- and solutions-based approach that was taken; rather than focus on what was "wrong", we worked to build habits and practices to help me grow, and care for myself. I am very pleased with my Surreal Self Care experience." - Jevon Corpening
"I hardly ever take the time to sit down and reflect on myself and the why behind the things I do. Keonna’s 2nd session allowed me to discover stories and uncover things that I had unknowingly suppressed. Through this session, Keonna guided me into a space where I was able to reflect on myself and discover habits I have that are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. I left the session feeling like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders." - Nadiyah Owens
"During my time of sharing, a space was created where I could be real with my feelings with no response in return. I could hear myself and be heard..the reflection you gave in response to my words is something I will never forget and the word 'compassion' has a totally new and awakened meaning in me and..for me." - Paris Proctor
Self-Care Workshop of Educators
"I once read a statistic that claimed teachers make more decisions in a day than any profession second to air traffic controllers. With that demand, it is no wonder that teacher burnout results in thousands of teachers leaving the profession each year. That is where Surreal Self Care comes in. Keonna is an exceptional facilitator who partners with your teachers in a process of reflection to identify potential triggers before they happen and self-care strategies before they are needed. She also positions teachers to gently hold each other accountable creating a collective of self-care. I highly recommend Surreal Self Care for any and all school communities." - Ashlee Gutierrez (Founding Principal of Caliber Beta Academy, Richmond, CA)
My Take-Away: "Time to think and write- in a guided way. Reflection is key to my emotional self care, and it can be hard to find the time and space to reflect like that." - Participant (EnCompass Academy, Oakland, CA)
My Take-Away: "If I love myself, I will be able to love others. I think you're excellent at leading and I appreciate how forthcoming you were with all of us. I felt like I confronted some of my biggest doubts and found a way to deal with them better, at least as a start. And I loved using the word reservoir, wrote that down because it's a water word and I love water, the beach and all that. It may sound strange, but just that word helped me focus both inwardly and outwardly a lot...I really appreciated the length of the workshop, not too long and yet long enough to be productive. Sorry, don't really have anything else to say to improve it. I liked it a lot! Thank you for sharing with us. :)" - Participant (EnCompass Academy, Oakland, CA)
"You asked us to go deep into our own fears, worries, and negative self-talk. It was deep reflection of ourselves. You asked us to start with small changes and be consistent and I really appreciated that. I am amazed at how supportive and thoughtful you are about this work and I truly appreciate you for offering your talents and stories." - Participant (EnCompass Academy, Oakland, CA)
My Take-Away: "The transparency of the presenter reminds me that we are not alone in this amazing, yet challenging field." - Participant (Teacher Self-Care Conference, Atlanta, GA)
"I didn’t think that I would be able to discover much in the time we had, but I was amazed you were able to really make me reflect on the root of stories. I have never taken time to do that. It was a powerful exercise! I thoroughly enjoyed the session and walked away with a new sense of who I am and what I need to do." - Participant (Teacher Self-Care Conference, Atlanta, GA)
"We got to step back and appreciate our genuine selves. This honestly was one of if not the best time I had in TFA.” - Participant (Teach for America Institute, Atlanta, GA)
"I appreciated the tips on self-care; I appreciated the guidance toward my new story and I really appreciated the time to stop and take the time to reflect on myself and my well being. I appreciated Keonna being flexible and checking on me when she saw that I was struggling when I wrote the 'old story'." - Participant (Teach for America Institute, Atlanta, GA)
Community Yoga Class
"I had the pleasure of attending Keonna's yoga class this past weekend and I found it to be an excellent experience. I particularly benefited from her wonderful teaching style it helped me fine-tune some of the postures I've been doing forever but haven't really been doing in a safe and injury avoiding way. She sent an excellent tempo for the class. Keonna allowed room for growth and challenge, I had the option of pushing the edge a little bit further or staying in the lane and I think that's very important with a gentle class. She was extremely conscientious I'm preparing for the class and I look forward to seeing what she might do next at Project Yoga Richmond." - Georgine
SERVICES WE OFFER
What's available?
Self-Care and Community-Care services that are curated to meet the soul needs of individuals and communities who are doing the work to transform institutions and lives.
YOGA & MINDFULNESS PROGRAM
This offering is for any person or community interested in bringing yoga and mindfulness into their community space.
Over the span of 1 to 8 classes, participants will gain mindfulness tools to better navigate stress and practice presence in their everyday lives.
Participants will practice deep breathing, meditation, yoga, journaling, and community exercises.
All programs are designed to the specific needs of the community. Programs can be curated to communities of any age.
SURREAL SELF-CARE CONSULTING
This service is personalized to the needs of the community being served.
Offerings may include, but are not limited to:
designing and building a mindfulness space within your organization or community
facilitating workshops on self-care, community-care, and accountability
integrating mindfulness, meditation and yoga into your community routines
observing current practices within your community and facilitating a community dialogue around community needs and sustainable community practices
SELF-CARE COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
Workshop sessions are curated to the needs of the school, organization, university, or teacher residency program.
Workshop Offering #1: This workshop is focused on supporting communities in using creative visualization, appreciative inquiry, and team-building exercises to reconnect to their vision and highest commitments.
Workshop Offering #2: This workshop is focused on providing individuals within their community with self-care tools to use inside and outside of their community. The goal is to transform cultural practices around productivity and self-care within the community.
Workshop Offering #3: This workshop is tailored to teacher-preparation programs. The focus is to provide rising first-year teachers with a framework that will support them in building a sustainable self-care practice that can better prepare them for the mental, emotional, and physical demands of teacher life.
1:1 SELF-CARE SESSION
This session focuses on the specific soul needs of the client. You will have the space to share what's on your heart and mind, release feelings and stories that you may be holding on to, and imagine new ways of relating to your emotions and thoughts.
In this session, you can expect to:
be heard without interruption or judgment, be offered tools that build self-compassion, and breathe deeply.
connect to your emotional and physical body.
write, draw, or verbally share what's on your heart and mind.
develop a self-care plan that includes action steps and tools to practice.
be reminded that you have answers and power within you.
Note: Sessions are not a substitute for psychotherapy or counseling.
ACADEMIC & MINDFULNESS SUPPORT
1:1 Support Offering: This service is focused on providing self-care tools and resources for youth (ages 6-18) curated to the socio-emotional needs of the child/teen.
1:1 Support Offering: This service is focused on providing academic support with an emphasis on building confidence in academic subjects and rewriting stories about their ability and sufficiency as a learner.
Community Support Offering: This service requires the involvement of caretakers and youth. As a community, we will determine approaches that the child/teen and caretakers can take to support the holistic well-being of the child in the home and at school. I will serve as a facilitator for dialogue and planning around working collaboratively and holding each other accountable in this journey.
CONNECT WITH ME
If you would like more information about our Surreal Self-Care services or looking to book Keonna for a community-care workshop or community yoga lesson, please fill out the form below.
Further inquiries:
