Ilana Nankin of ‘Breathe For Change’: Educator Well-Being Is the Foundation of Student Academic Success

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Ilana Nankin.

Dr. Ilana Nankin — the Founder & CEO of Breathe For Change — is an award-winning entrepreneur, teacher educator, and former Pre-K teacher committed to using wellness as a vehicle for healing and social change. Ilana earned degrees in both psychology and education at UC Berkeley, and received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at University of Wisconsin. Her dissertation revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student learning, and the positive impact that wellness and social-emotional learning can have on teachers and students’ lives. Inspired by her research, Ilana founded Breathe For Change, a movement on a mission to enhance the health and well-being of educators, students, and entire communities. Breathe For Change offers the world’s only 200-hour Wellness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training specifically for educators, and provides wellness and social-emotional learning professional development for schools, districts, and organizations. Since 2015, Breathe For Change has certified 6,000+ educators through their 200-hour training, who are now positively impacting the lives and well-being of over 1 million students around the world.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

My life’s mission is to transform lives through humanizing education. As a former Pre-K teacher in SFUSD, teacher educator, and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from UW-Madison, I know first hand how stressed, overwhelmed, and overworked teachers and students are, and how critical it is that we prioritize the WHOLE in every teacher and student, as opposed to just the holes students fill out with their #2 pencils on standardized tests. My dissertation research revealed the critical connection between teacher well-being and student social-emotional and academic learning, which inspired me, in 2015, to start Breathe For Change, an organization on a mission to enhance the health and well-being of educators, students, and entire communities.

Breathe For Change offers the world’s only 200-hour Wellness, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), and Yoga Teacher Training specifically designed for educators. Our training certifies educators as internationally recognized Yoga Teachers and Social-Emotional Learning Facilitators (SEL*F). At Breathe For Change, we tag on the “F” to SEL (SEL*F) because we believe it’s critically important for us as educators and leaders to embody the social-emotional learning competencies and mind-body wellness practices we hope to teach our children. The acronym, SEL*F stands for Social-Emotional Learning *and Facilitation* to point out that it’s not just the curriculum itself that matters; it’s how we, as educators, live, breathe, and embody the practices we teach. That’s what our training inspires educators to do; to embody the change they wish to see in the world.

What started as my vision in 2015, has since become a rapidly growing movement of thousands of educators who are committed to using wellness as a vehicle for healing and social change. In 2015 we certified 34 teachers through our 200-hour training in Madison, in 2016 we certified 185 teachers across 3 cities, in 2017 we certified 600 teachers across 6 cities, in 2018, 1100 across 11 cities, and we continued to expand our impact from there. When the pandemic hit, we transitioned our training online so that every educator, everywhere, could gain tools to take care of themselves, enhance well-being in their communities, and become a part of an inspiring community of educators and leaders. Over the past 6 years, we have grown to certify over 6,000 educators as 200-hour Breathe For Change Yoga Teachers and Social-Emotional Learning Facilitators, who are collectively enhancing the health and well-being of over 1 million students.

Educator and student well-being and mental health have always been important — and during this unprecedented time, it’s more crucial than ever that we provide educators with the resources, support, and community they need to not only survive, but thrive. That’s what Breathe For Change is doing, and we are committed to continuing to Change the World, One Teacher at a Time.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

There are so many! During my Ph.D., I had a fellowship at Sesame Workshop, which gave me the incredible opportunity to bring teachers’ voices to the forefront of the work Sesame was doing to improve children and families’ lives. In 2016, after I had started Breathe For Change, and was eager to expand our 200-hour Wellness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training for educators to New York City, I thought to myself: “How magical would it be if Breathe For Change could partner with Sesame Workshop to host our training for teachers?” Once this thought came to mind, I had a vision, and nothing stopped me from pursuing it. I reached out to the leadership and my mentors at Sesame Workshop, shared my vision, and BOOM! We made it happen! Sesame hosted our first New York City Training, and when Elmo and Big Bird showed up to meet all our teachers, I knew we were onto something big!

What this showed me early on in my career as a social impact entrepreneur is that when you dream big, anything can become possible with the support of the community. I’ve had the huge vision to Change the World, One Teacher at a Time since the start of Breathe For Change, but learned very quickly that in order to create the change I wished to see in the world, I could not do it alone. Since the beginning, I’ve worked to co-create a shared vision for Breathe For Change with incredible educators and leaders who are just as committed as I am to using wellness as a vehicle for healing and social change — and it’s been through leading with love and collaborating on this shared purpose that we’ve been able to bring this movement to life. I know that the passion and energy I’ve brought to the work has been infectious. It’s inspired so many community members to join our movement — and talented leaders to help grow it. I’ve learned that if you follow your heart, it inspires others to do the same.

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

As the Founder and CEO, I need to balance many things at once in my role, but my absolute favorite part of being in my position is living and breathing the work itself through teaching. My purpose and passion in life is to teach and create inclusive, inspiring spaces for educators to build community and create positive change together.

The biggest mistake I made in our early years of growth was thinking that in order to grow the business, I needed to stop teaching and leading our life-changing Breathe For Change trainings. I thought that I wouldn’t have time to work in the business and on the business at the same time, and held the belief that, as we grow the movement, there would be “more important things” for me to do than teach. What I realized the hard way is that when I take myself out of the one thing I care most about, I am less productive, fulfilled, and effective as a leader. It became so clear when I trained others to replace me as a facilitator, that my life’s purpose and heart’s work is in facilitating transformative experiences for educators. I am born to teach — and taking myself out of it to grow the company made it all too clear that the only way we’d be successful is if I continue bringing my gift of teaching to the world, and simultaneously build an amazing team to ensure the movement can sustainably grow.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

Our 200-hour Wellness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training is life-changing for educators, and is creating massive ripple effects of well-being in their classrooms and communities. Our 6,000+ graduates are becoming leaders of wellness in and out of schools by bringing social-emotional learning practices into the classroom, launching school and district-wide mindfulness programs, starting wellness clubs for students, teaching inclusive yoga classes for educators and students, leading social-emotional learning professional development, and more. Because of our graduates, educators and students everywhere are gaining the tools and support to enhance individual and collective well-being.

Since 2015, Breathe For Change has gathered data from over 10,000 trainee surveys to measure the impact of our training. To date, these assessments indicate that Breathe For Change trainings result in the following personal and professional outcomes for educators:

— Enhanced overall well-being, physical well-being, and emotional well-being

— Increased ability to manage their emotions and overcome obstacles in their way

— Improved confidence in their ability to facilitate social-emotional learning practices

— Increased ability to create a relaxed and supportive environment for their students

— Decreased feelings of frustration and burnout due to their work

Our 2021 post-training survey results from graduates of the digital Breathe For Change 200-hour Wellness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training revealed that participants experienced significant improvements related to their health and well-being, as well as their ability to embody and teach SEL competencies.

Specifically, this is what educators who’ve graduated our 200-hour training are saying about the impact of their experience:

— 100% = I have improved my mental, physical, and social-emotional well-being.

— 99.6% = I feel more motivated and equipped to take care of myself.

— 99.5% = I have enhanced my pedagogy/teaching skills.

— 100% = I am better equipped to manage my own stress.

— 99.6% = I am better equipped to help others manage stress.

— 93.7% = I feel less stressed and burnt out than I did before training.

— 95.4% = I have reconnected to my passion and purpose.

— 98.8% = I feel more confident integrating social-emotional learning and wellness into my — teaching.

— 100% = I have the tools to design and facilitate SEL and wellness workshops in my community.

— 98.3% = I feel prepared to teach an inclusive yoga class for my community.

— 98.4% = I have become more engaged in sharing wellness practices with my community.

— 97.9% = I feel connected to and inspired by the Breathe For Change community.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

1. Start your morning by connecting to your breath, and setting an intention for your day. Focus your intention on how you want to show up (e.g., My intention is to be focused, playful, inspired, etc.), as opposed to what you want to do (e.g., finish my homework). When we focus on the energy we want to bring to each moment, we are way more likely to accomplish the outcomes we want for ourselves. Find one or two words that represent your intention, and can serve as your anchor throughout the day.

2. Find an “Accountabili-buddy” to share your intentions with each day! This will allow you to hold each other accountable to your vision for yourself and your well-being. Everyday, my husband and I wake up and start our days sharing our intentions with each other (e.g., my intention is to be loving and kind). It has such a positive impact on our life, and on our relationship!

3. Pause, and take 3 collective breaths whenever you feel stressed — this is one of my favorite Breathe For Change SEL*F Strategies! Taking 3 breaths can radically change the way you feel. Also incorporate this practice into your daily routines. Thousands upon thousands of educators and students everywhere are using this practice both responsively (in response to stress) and proactively (as a daily, consistent practice) to community-wide enhance well-being.

4. Take on an attitude of gratitude! Meditate on what you are grateful for when you wake up, write what you are grateful for in a gratitude journal throughout your day, or share what you are grateful for with a loved one before you go to bed! My colleague and I have messaged each other 3 things we are grateful for everyday for the past 4 years, and my partner and I always end our night saying what we are grateful for. Gratitude forces us to focus on the things that are working rather than what’s not, and will fundamentally change your mindset — it’s totally worked for me!

5. Move your body! Practice yoga, dance, walk, run, bike. Do whatever feels good in your body! Movement is so healing, so find moments throughout your day to cultivate your mind-body connection!

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

That is exactly what I’ve done — and what I hope to continue to do for the rest of my life through Breathe For Change. We’ve already impacted millions of people, and my intention is to make this a worldwide movement that positively impacts the lives of educators, students, and communities everywhere.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Trust yourself. I used to always doubt myself, and it only held me back.

2. Do what you love, and find other people to do the things you don’t love. I learned that there is someone out there that loves to do the things I don’t.

3. Use your connections. People who love you want to help, so ask for it.

4. Get advisors you trust. You cannot manifest your vision into reality alone. Ask people who have built something you believe in before to offer guidance.

5. Believe that it’s possible. Never give up. Creating positive change in the world is not easy, but it’s totally worth it.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

I believe mental health is the foundation of everything. If our minds are healthy, our foundation is set. That is why I believe social-emotional learning (SEL) and mental health must be prioritized in schools. At Breathe For Change, we tag on the “F” to SEL (SEL*F) because we believe it’s critically important for us as educators and leaders to take care of ourselves the way we so naturally care for our students. When our cups are full, we expand our capacity to give to others.

What is the best way our readers can follow you online?

https://www.breatheforchange.com/

https://www.breatheforchange.com/digital-yoga-teacher-training

Thank you for these fantastic insights!