The first episode of A Work of Heart is a foundational conversation for anyone who believes that the future of education starts with the human beings in the classroom. Dr. Ilana Nankin and Michael Fenchel dive into the first layer of the Human Intelligence Framework to explore how we can reclaim our agency in a world that feels increasingly driven by data and artificial intelligence. They move beyond the outdated models of memorization to show how focusing on our internal well-being actually enhances our professional practice.

If you are navigating the pressure of standardized testing while trying to stay connected to your students, this conversation offers a way forward. We explore how to turn AI from a replacement brain into a thought partner and how the simple act of reclaiming your focus can transform a chaotic classroom into a space of shared creativity. Dr. Ilana Nankin and Michael Fenchel remind us that while the education system is in a period of intense change, the skills that technology cannot replicate such as empathy, presence, and collective innovation are exactly what our schools need most right now.

Here are some of the best moments from the episode:

• Why human intelligence is the essential partner to artificial intelligence in the modern classroom
• How to navigate the cognitive overload of the current education system without burning out
• The shift from treating AI as a replacement brain to using it as a collaborative thought partner
• Why focus is the necessary foundation for all forms of learning and student engagement
• How critical thinking helps us find truth within the information overload students face daily
• The power of agency and how our mindsets dictate the quality of our daily decisions
• Why intelligence is collective rather than individual and how to foster collaboration
• The origin story of Breathe for Change and the poem that sparked a movement
• How innovation serves as the ultimate expression of cognitive intelligence and professional action
• A practical Attention with Intention practice to help you stay present when the day feels overwhelming

Listen to this episode of A Work of Heart and try taking the Attention with Intention practice into your classroom this week to see how it shifts the energy for you and your students. Thank you for the vital work you do every day. When teachers come alive, students do too.

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Teaching is the most burned out profession in America. And Beth Schreiber lived that statistic for two decades before finding her way back.

Beth is a 20-year classroom teacher, Master's degree graduate of Breathe for Change's inaugural cohort, and now Director of Curriculum for her entire district in Montana. She walked into her career with her whole heart and spent years pouring everything she had into her students, until the year she finally had nothing left. In this warm and deeply honest conversation, Beth shares how discovering Breathe for Change in her hardest year transformed not just her classroom, but her entire relationship with herself, her colleagues, and the work she was always meant to do.

Ilana met Beth in 2022 during her very first Breathe for Change training, and has had the privilege of watching her go from depleted classroom teacher to keynote speaker at the Montana State Administrative Conference, to faculty in the Master's program she once graduated from. Along the way, Beth conducted original research that showed how just six weeks of simple wellness practices dramatically reduced stress and reignited job satisfaction in the educators at her school.

This episode is a deeply human exploration of what it means to practice Human Intelligence as an educator:

• Somatic intelligence to finally listen to what your body needs
• Emotional intelligence to name what you feel and stop running from it
• Social intelligence to find community when isolation is making everything harder
• Universal intelligence to reconnect with the purpose that pulled you into teaching in the first place

You will learn:

• Why Beth was ready to leave after 20 years and what changed everything in just six weeks
• The research data that showed stress and job satisfaction can completely flip in a single semester
• How bringing simple wellness practices to her colleagues transformed the culture of her entire school
• What the "itty bitty shitty committee" is and how to stop letting it run the show
• Why student apathy is not a student problem, and what happens when we ask them what they care about
• How Beth went from one classroom to keynoting her state's administrative conference
• The three practices you can start using tomorrow that take under five minutes each
• Why filling your own cup first is the most generous thing you can do for your students

If you have ever felt like you were running on empty and wondered how much longer you could keep going, this episode will make you feel seen, validated, and ready to give something back to yourself. 💜

Check out the full episode, then share it with an educator in your life who needs permission to fill their cup first.

Public education is under pressure. And Dr. Alex Marrero is leading right in the center of the storm.

Dr. Marrero is the first Latino superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Colorado’s largest district, and he’s not here to “win every moment.” He’s here to make decisions he can live with indefinitely. In this conversation, Alex takes us inside the real job of leadership: the backlash, the weight, the loneliness, the moral math, and the courage required to stay anchored in what he calls the “best interest of students.”

Ilana met Alex five years ago during a leadership development program at the height of Covid, when Ilana was guiding him through breathing practices and mindful movement in one-on-one sessions. Since then, Alex has stepped into a superintendent role he says he “did not know what he was signing up for,” inherited a “district of schools,” and helped move Denver toward coherence, shared expectations, and record graduation rates.

This episode is a masterclass in Human Intelligence for educators and leaders:- Cognitive intelligence to think clearly through noise

- Emotional intelligence to stay grounded under attack

- Somatic intelligence to regulate the body before making high-stakes calls

- Social intelligence to build trust and real community power

- Universal intelligence to stay anchored in purpose when it gets hardYou’ll learn- The mindset shift Alex uses to survive criticism: “I have to live with my decisions indefinitely”

- How he thinks about community power, choice, and why families can “make or break” a district

- The difference between community engagement, involvement, and real empowerment

- What it means to “relinquish power” without losing leadership

- How Denver moved from a “district of schools” to a real school district with coherence and shared expectations

- Why he keeps “Fire Marrero” signs as motivation (and what it taught him about leadership)

- How to stay true to yourself when pressure, privilege, and politics try to bend you

- The quiet-time practices and trusted colleagues that help him make better decisions

- The origin story behind community hubs that became a lifeline for families, including thousands of new arrivals

If you lead a classroom, a school, or a district, this episode will make you feel seen and give you language for the moments when doing the right thing is unpopular.

Check out the full episode, then share it with a leader in education who needs a little more courage right now.

What if cynicism and optimism are actually two sides of the same broken coin? Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith (clinical psychologist, trauma expert, Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, and co-architect of Breathe For Change's Human Intelligence framework) joins Sam and Ilana for a conversation that might just change how you show up in your classroom tomorrow.

Allison defines cynicism not as pessimism, but as 100% certainty that everything will be terrible: a definition that reveals something surprising. It requires exactly zero action on your part. Just like toxic optimism. Both strip you of agency. Both move you toward learned helplessness. And both are spreading fast through schools right now.

The antidote is curiosity. It can be used as a daily practice for educators: asking "what happened?" instead of "what's wrong?", wondering instead of knowing, and building the muscle of hopeful skepticism one degree at a time.

Sam and Allison also dig into co-regulation, resilience, the difference between protection and preparation, why kids always assume your bad mood is their fault, and what it looks like to show up as a fully human educator (without oversharing or shutting down).

If you've ever felt burned out, jaded, or like your best days in the classroom are behind you, this one's for you.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 — Cynicism is 100% surety everything will be terrible

7:20 — How the system accelerates teacher burnout

14:30 — Curiosity as the antidote: hopeful skepticism in practice

21:40 — Trauma-informed care: asking "what happened?" not "what's wrong?"

28:00 — Co-regulation, mirror neurons, and how educators' emotions travel

35:10 — When should educators share how they're really feeling?

41:00 — Resilience: the difference between a shield and a bounce-back

47:30 — Why boredom is a skill we've stopped teaching

52:00 — Three steps back from burnout: awareness, inventory, curiosity

56:15 — Resilience stories as resistance: finding hope in a heavy moment

What happens when a superintendent watches her teachers burn out and decides to get 200-hour certified in yoga instead of handing them another curriculum?

Dr. Barbara Malkas, the 2024 Massachusetts Superintendent of the Year, transformed the post-pandemic education crisis. And her secret wasn't stricter policies, better test prep, or a new academic program. It was three deep breaths.

When Barbara saw her educators completely fried in 2021, she made a radical choice: she trained with Breathe For Change, opened up her school library on Friday afternoons, and invited her staff to join her on the mat. What started with 10 teachers doing yoga together turned into a district-wide movement that changed everything.

The results were remarkable: an 11% drop in chronic absenteeism, a Golden Basketball Award from the Boston Celtics for ranking in the top 10 for attendance statewide, and a fourth-grade classroom that went an entire year with zero disciplinary referrals. Perhaps most powerful? Third-graders started asking each other, "Are you angry or frustrated right now?”

The data tells a clear story: when we invest in human intelligence, emotional regulation, self-awareness, empathy, and connection, schools transform in measurable ways.

In this episode, Barbara breaks down why educator wellness is a must-have, how to implement SEL practices district-wide (even with pushback), the difference between human intelligence and artificial intelligence in education, and what it really means to regulate before you educate.

If you're an educator feeling the weight of burnout, a parent worried about your child's engagement, or a leader wondering how to create real, lasting change: this conversation is for you.

You can't pour from an empty cup. But you CAN fill it back up. And Barbara shows you exactly how.

Episode Timestamps

0:00 - Intro: The Golden Basketball & what mindfulness did for attendance

1:57 - How it all started

8:30 - Leading Friday yoga in the library

13:47 - From a small pilot to 46 certified teachers districtwide

15:16 - Caring for the whole educator, not just the whole child

19:00 - The data: fewer office referrals, faster de-escalation, better attendance

26:00 - How to get buy-in from teachers, parents & school boards

32:57 - Handling skeptics & navigating the controversy around yoga in schools

43:30 - Human intelligence vs. AI

48:55 - Barbara's legacy & what's next after 36 years in education

What if we’ve misunderstood intelligence all along? In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Ilana Nankin sits down with Dr. Michael Jacob, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist at UCSF and her cousin, to explore what it really means to be human in the age of AI.

Michael has spent his career studying how the brain, heart, and body communicate and how meaning, emotion, and creativity shape our minds. Together they unpack why the brain isn’t a machine, how heart-brain coherence changes the way we experience stress and learning, and why connection and belonging are as vital to cognition as logic or memory.

Along the way, you’ll learn:

- Why test scores and IQ barely scratch the surface of *real* intelligence

- The science behind how breathing and awareness can rewire your nervous system

- What distinguishes human intelligence from artificial intelligence

- How art, music, and story awaken the brain’s creative potential

- Practical ways educators can nurture emotional and somatic awareness in the classroomThis is a love letter to humanity and how educators can transform their roles in their students’ lives from the inside out. Because as Michael reminds us: our brains don’t just compute… they create.

Parker J. Palmer is a legend in education. He’s the author of The Courage to Teach, Let Your Life Speak, and Healing the Heart of Democracy, founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal, mentor to generations of educators, and now in his mid-80s, he remains one of the clearest voices reminding us that teaching begins with who we are. He had essentially stopped doing interviews. He said yes to this conversation because he loves teachers and believes what we are doing together at Breathe for Change matters.

If you teach, this hour is for you. We talk about classrooms that breathe, why student stories belong at the center, how vulnerability can strengthen authority, and the simple practices that rebuild relational trust when a day is running on fumes. Parker also offers a blessing every educator deserves to hear: you are valued, you are treasured, you are loved.

Here are some of the best moments from the episode:- Why “we teach who we are” is not philosophy, it is practice you can feel

- How to stop “phoning it in” and re-enter the room with presence in 60 seconds

- A definition of truth that turns lessons into living conversations

- How student stories “warm up” the big ideas so learning sticks

- What appropriate vulnerability looks like, and how it builds authority

- The link between educator well-being and student outcomes, and what to do when you are depleted

- Somatic tools that regulate nervous systems before you teach (three breaths, longer exhale)

- Two-way teaching: why great mentors learn from their students

- How to move from rows to circles and make belonging the baseline for rigor

- A communal view of legacy: the change we co-create and carry forward togetherListen to this episode of “A Work of Heart” with Parker Palmer and try taking one practice into your classroom this week, and tell us what changed. Thank you for the work you do every day. When teachers come alive, students do too.Episode Timestamps

00:00 — Not at Home in Academia

00:26 — Failing Organic Chemistry → Finding Purpose

00:53 — The Power of Vulnerability in Teaching

01:43 — Ilana’s Dream Guest Becomes Reality

03:38 — Education as a Communal Act

08:57 — Parker’s Definition of Truth

11:18 — Learning in Circles, Not Rows

13:54 — From College Circles to Pre-K Classrooms

15:15 — Self-Care as Stewardship

17:42 — Teaching with Your True Self

22:53 — The Story of Failure Every Student Needs to Hear

26:44 — Turning Pain Into Presence

29:49 — The Sacred Space of Being Heard

33:34 — Carrying Parker’s Legacy Forward

37:20 — All Good Work Is Relational

43:43 — Students See Who We Are

46:13 — Teachers as First Responders of the Soul

48:07 — The Art of Self-Care and Small Steps

53:37 — Parker’s Final Message to Educators

57:58 — “Keep Breathing. Keep Loving. Keep Teaching.”

A few months ago, Ilana nearly died. Eight days later, we hit record.

After a 44-foot rock-climbing fall that should have ended in tragedy, Ilana sits with co-host and co-founder Michael to share what happened in the air, in the ER, and inside her body. The accident made something very clear. We teach Human Intelligence for a reason. When life gets loud, we need tools that bring us back to center. Regulate first. Then learn.

This launch episode sets the tone for the series. We explore the five layers of Human Intelligence and how they live in real classrooms and real lives. Cognitive for clarity. Emotional for awareness. Somatic for breath and body. Social for belonging. Universal for meaning and purpose. You will hear the story behind why this show has been ten years in the making and how a second shot at life made it urgent.

Coming up this season: legendary educator Parker J. Palmer on the inner life of teaching, neurologist Michael Jacob, MD PhD, on what stress does to learning, and superintendents from across the country on building cultures that heal and help students thrive.

You’ll hear:

• The moment Ilana realized she was falling and what happened next
• How three breaths with a longer exhale shifted her nervous system in the ambulance
• Why secondhand trauma shows up in families and classrooms and how to name it
• The gratitude practice that quieted the inner critic after crisis
• What Universal Intelligence means when it is not theoretical
• The five layers of Human Intelligence and how to translate them into school
• Three simple regulation practices any teacher can use tomorrow

Episode Timestamps

00:00 — Cold open and intention

05:10 — “Last week, I nearly died”

11:54 — Michael’s reaction and his own brush with danger

12:50 — The fall, the rope, and the ER’s disbelief

16:43 — How high is 44 feet and what that means for the body

17:28 — The unexpected hip change

18:30 — In the gurney, back to breath with a longer exhale

21:59 — Four days of calm and a tidal wave of community

23:22 — Gratitude and the quieting of the inner critic

25:44 — Universal Intelligence lands as a lived experience

29:09 — A new anchor for perspective and presence

30:40 — Trauma in the body and parenting after the fall

34:03 — Secondhand trauma for families and for teachers

35:47 — The case for well-being first in school

37:22 — The tool: three breaths, then respond from awareness

41:11 — Origin flashback and why this movement exists

45:39 — Call to action and what comes next

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Listen now to the launch episode of A Work of Heart and subscribe for weekly episodes that give you tools you can use to reinvent education.