By Kimine Mayuzumi
Dr. Kayt Sunwood is a contingent teaching faculty member at University of Alaska after retiring from staff positions in higher education in 2017. She participated in one of the services that Being Lazy and Slowing Down offers, Slowing Down Circle (SDC), last year by driving for an hour to attain a decent internet connection and attend every single online meeting early in the morning while it was still dark and cold outside in Alaska. I have interviewed Kayt about her honest feedback and experiences of Slowing Down Circle (SDC).
Q: What made you attend SDC in the first place?
Kayt: Let me give you a bit of context of the time I got interested in SDC. In 2016, I was right in the midst of transition from a full-time administrative position at Women’s Center at University of Alaska to this adjunct teaching position. The way my transition came into place was so chaotic due to to the university’s attempted termination of me, which I contested and demanded a hearing. I won the appeal, the university’s justification for the attempted termination was deemed unfounded. For the prior two plus years my life had been thrown into turmoil, however. The win was positive, but not sufficient to mend the chaos which had rained down on my professional life.
One of the compensations that the university gave me was a teaching position. I taught three classes as an adjunct my first semester of retirement (filling holes created by last minute/second departures of faculty the university was bleeding due to economic, leadership, higher ed and government/governance crises). Three new preps at the last minute and teaching courses at a university in absolute chaos provided little of the easing into retirement, reflecting on the coming chapters of my life environment that I needed. In Fall semester I allowed 55 students to enroll in one online course. The students needed the course, and I am quick to jump in and meet a need. All that said, I do feel that teaching/facilitating learning is a calling for me. I’ve felt it my mission to do what I can to make sure that others avoid the mis-educative experiences I endured throughout my “schooling.”
Exploring Being Lazy and Slowing Down seemed the perfect way to facilitate the connecting, reflecting, and centering I needed to do, for me, at that particular point in my life. (Just think where I might be if I had been offered, and recognized this opportunity earlier in my life!)
Q: What was the format of a meeting and what did you like about it?
Kayt: Every aspect of the sessions was vitally useful and valuable! The opening meditations were a perfect way to draw us into the circle and create the space for transformative connecting conversations. The sharing of positive energies/wins provided a chance to celebrate while also checking in on how we had each done, accountability-wise, since the last session. The Spotlights were an outstanding opportunity for sharing whatever I felt I needed to talk about, work through, and/or receive help or feedback on, plus a chance to connect with others, empathize, as well as learn from others. The resources (and the creation of the Google Doc compilation of resources) is such a wonderful gift of all in one place to find just what I need when I need it! And the closing deep breathing that sends us out is a perfect gentle transition back into my daily life, keeping the circle with me as I ease back into the world. 🙂
I was so thankful for the carefully crafted Weekly Meeting Sheets which facilitate planning for and following through on weekly meetings.
Q: What kind of transformation do you think you made between before you taking SDC and after?
Kayt: Kimine’s and Soko’s (the facilitators’) calming voices, wise words of support, encouragement, and the resources shared so generously and consistently have calmed me exponentially and have helped bring me to a state of calm and flowing which facilitates slowing down, celebrating, and “being there” in ways that calm my spirit, my life, and the lives of those around me.
Q: What was a challenge to attend the meetings if any?
Kayt: For me, it was to come to town for a decent internet connection before 8:30 am in the darkness of Arctic Winter to join the members for the meetings.
Q: What was a thing you wished you had in SDC, if any?
Kayt: I always wished we had more time together, but I realize that an hour was probably the perfect amount of time. And, I was sad when the last session came but also realized that the time frame of when these sessions were scheduled was perfect as well, and that the 6 sessions was an appropriate number.
Q: Who would you recommend to participate in SDC?
Kayt: I would recommend that EVERYONE connected in any way to academia participate in the Circle! The state of academia at this point in time (as we are all probably painfully aware) is BEYOND challenging. We all can benefit from the life and soul enhancing support, resources, and SPACE to be found within the well-crafted program. I am convinced that everyone, at whatever point in their careers they find themselves, can benefit from SDC. It has transformed and enhanced my life, for which I am eternally grateful!
Thank you, Kayt, for sharing your SDC story with the details. I strongly believe that the healing space is created not only by the facilitators but also by participants as well. I appreciated your presence.
If you have any questions about SDC, please feel free to contact me at kimine@lazyslowdown.com.
Featured image by Nelly Volkovich on Unsplash