Teaching (REALLY!) is Self-Care, Part 1

“As I often tell my students, the two most important phrases in therapy, as in yoga, are “Notice that” and “What happens next?” Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts.” ― Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Kia ora, awesome snackers!

Thank you, New Zealand educators, for being the largest TEACHERS SNACKS audience in the world!

I hope that you had an amazing Summer Holiday recently, and are settling nicely into Term 2. In the US, many of us are winding our way through the last six weeks of school before Summer break. And to those of you, wherever you are, who clicked the link after reading the headline...KUDOS! I think you're in for a (series of!) treats.

I am a certified yoga instructor and have taught Yoga and Mindfulness classes to Middle/Intermediate students, so I vibe easily with Dr. van der Kolk's quote. Over the next few weeks, I will share several one-step ideas around how our jobs can help us to care for ourselves more deeply. I'll keep them short and sweet: real, not metaphorical. (deep breath) Here goes.

ONE: Set an intention.

What's an intention? In yoga and meditation circles, an intention is a stated, desired outcome of practice (I hope to improve my focus through today's balance work, for example). In the classroom, it's a learning target/outcome for the teacher...! An intention can really be anything you want to do on that day (or class period, or next 10 minutes) to move your practice and/or your classroom toward a specific goal. The most important piece is that you remember to write it down.

While anything can be an intention, some may work better than others.

"Charles, I'm just trying to get through the day!"

is a valid intention. I just worry that it may not be specific enough. The more pointed our intentions are, the easier it will be for us to feel successful around them. Try...

"I will take a deep breath before responding when I hear my students use statements that are hurtful or otherwise inappropriate."

is specific yet allows enough wiggle room to accommodate the potentiality of not doing it every single time. A fully-intended consequence of setting and focusing on intentions is that our students can and will mirror our actions. Keep an intention over a series of days or weeks, or switch it up every day or even class period...be intentional (!) about adding only slightly to your work load.

Many of us are unintentionally setting intentions in the classroom already...only they're around undesired outcomes. As soon as something we don't want to happen begins, our brains start with the "here we go agains", don't they? If we buy a red car, we'll drive along and start to notice more red cars. Where our attention goes, so goes our mood and attitude.

Find what may be the one thing that is going according to plan. Pause. Notice that. How does it feel? Sit with that feeling. Classroom behaviors can escalate quickly, but so can classroom joy. Model whatever you want your classroom to look, sound, and feel like, and, over time, your brain will start to look in a different direction.

With practice, our in-school self-care outcomes can look like:

"I finished the work day with more peace than when it started."

And, perhaps more importantly, our peace is their peace.

I wish each of you more peace, and

Happy snacking!

Chef Charles

www.teacherssnacks.com