Speaking
A talk for your staff
A warm, practical session on teacher wellbeing, burnout, and the small shifts that lighten a heavy week. For a staff meeting, a workshop day, or a school event. Available in Afrikaans or English.
Positive psychology and positive education for South African teachers
Helping teachers breathe again.
Small, science-backed ways to lighten an impossible load, and to help teachers, and their classrooms, move from burnout toward flourishing.
Read the blogIf this sounds like your week…
- A parent messages at 19:30, and you feel you have to reply.
- The admin and marking quietly eat another weekend.
- You try to switch off, and the guilt switches straight back on.
- You still love the teaching. It is everything around it that is wearing you down.
Then Animo is for you.
Relief first. Then flourishing.
You can't pour from an empty cup.
Animo won't tell you to be more resilient about an unreasonable load. It starts by making your actual week lighter: practical shifts, smarter systems, and permission to set things down without guilt.
Then, in the space that frees up, we build the things that help you flourish. Drawn from positive psychology and positive education, grounded in real evidence, and translated into something you can use on a Tuesday, not another thing on the to-do list.
And here's the quiet magic: a teacher who flourishes brings that into her classroom simply by being there. Positive education, lived rather than taught. No extra lesson, no extra load.
Before you read on, take a minute.
One minute, five slow rounds. It is the smallest thing on this whole site, and on a bad Tuesday it is the one that helps.
One minute. That is all this takes.
Five slow rounds. In for four, hold, out for six.
Hi, I'm Sarina.
I spent more than a decade in high-pressure newsrooms before moving into education, so I know what it is to carry a load that never quite lets up.
I hold a Master's in Positive Psychology, and I built Animo on one simple belief: that the science of wellbeing should be practical, not preachy, and that it belongs in the hands of the teachers who need it most.
This is where I share what actually helps, one small, doable idea at a time.
Work with me
I work directly with schools and the people who run them. A few ways we can do that:
Workshop
A wellbeing session or short series
A more hands-on workshop, or a few across a term, giving your teachers doable, science-backed tools for stress, boundaries, and recovery. Built around the realities of the South African classroom.
Something else?
Let's shape it together
Every school is different. If you have something specific in mind for your team, tell me what you're facing and we'll find a way to help.
Latest from the blog
Small ideas, in the language they were written in.
The wonders of touch
Touch is one of the first languages we learn, and one of the first ways we come to recognise love. So why do so many adults end up with far less of it than they want, and what does it take to reach back?
Permission to pause
In challenging situations, difficult thoughts and feelings arise, overwhelm and often disrupt. When this happens, we tend to be caught up or get “hooked” by these thoughts and feelings.
Dertig sekondes tussen twee klasse
Jy hoef nie 'n oefensessie of 'n stil kamer te hê om jou senuweestelsel te kalmeer nie. Dertig sekondes tussen twee klasse is genoeg.
Follow along
Two feeds, two languages. Pick whichever fits you.
Questions teachers and schools ask
Do you present in Afrikaans and English?
Yes, both. A session can run fully in Afrikaans, fully in English, or a comfortable mix, whatever suits your staff.
Who are your talks and workshops for?
Teaching staff and school leaders. They fit naturally into a staff meeting, a workshop day, a wellbeing morning or a school event, for a whole staff or a smaller team.
How long is a session?
It's flexible. It can be a short, focused slot inside a staff meeting, a longer hands-on workshop, or a short series across a term, shaped around the time and the outcome you have in mind.
Do you work with schools outside your area?
I'm based in Gauteng and love being in the room with a staff in person. If your school is further afield, email me and we'll find a way to make it work.
What does a talk or workshop cost?
Every school's needs and budget are different, so I quote per session rather than list a fixed price. Tell me what you have in mind and I'll send a tailored quote.
Can I write something for the blog?
Yes, please. If you have something that helps teachers breathe, in Afrikaans or English, email it to hello@animohq.co.za. I read everything.
Still wondering something? Email hello@animohq.co.za and just ask.