The Upper School’s Mental Wellness Day offered students an opportunity for self-care.

On October 25, with a bustling course load in progress, and fall sports, rehearsals for the school play, and other clubs and activities in full swing, the Upper School took a morning break and came to a complete stop. It was Mental Wellness Day at Sidwell Friends, which meant that instead of classes in biology and literature, the students explored mindfulness and self-care. “It’s a day that incorporates everybody,” says Upper School Counselor Patrice Copeland, who put together the programming for the day. “And everyone—no matter who they are—can take something from it.”

Headlining the event was Joanna Lohman, a performance coach and former professional soccer player, who outlined her own identity evolution from the person she thought she was supposed to be into the person she is. In Lohman’s case, this initially meant coming out as a gay woman. But it also meant coming out as her own champion and coming out on the other side of a debilitating injury and professional reckoning. “Everyone in this audience will come out,” Lohman told the Upper Schoolers. “Coming out is stepping into your own authenticity and power. Coming out is unlocking your own potential.” 

Lohman also redefined personal achievement as something more than ticking off a series of accomplishment boxes. Real achievement, she said, is discovering your true self, even if it contradicts a long-held internal narrative. “You may have to mourn the death of who you thought you would become,” Lohman said, “to be who you really are.” 

It was a poignant message for the students to take on board as they spent the rest of the morning in sessions that focused on topics like meditation, radical rest, resilience, and even a “sound bath,” a contemplative experience in which participants are “bathed” in sound waves. In addition to outside experts like Lohman, the Upper Schoolers themselves led several sessions. “They weren’t just who the program was for,” said Copeland. “They were part of the message.”