My physical state often reflects my mental state. When my life is stressed and chaotic, my body is tense, achy, and uncooperative. This past year I have found immense power in slow, deep breathing and simple stretches. I'm totally in to yoga, but these stretches can help anyone, anywhere-- even if yoga isn't their thing. These are a few of my favorite poses to target those "teacher" stress areas. Let me know if you try these and like them! 1. EAGLE ARMS I don't know about you, but when I'm stressed, tired, or simply at my computer planning or grading for too long, by neck and shoulders get knots in them. My right side is especially bad. I find myself hunching my shoulders up by my ears, drawing inward and rounding my back like Gollum from Lord of the Rings! There are many different arm poses that you could use to straighten out your upper spine and lengthen the distance between your shoulders and ears. My favorite is using garudanasana, or Eagle pose. This can easily be done seated at your desk-- you can even teach this one to your students, as it also helps increase alertness and focus by crossing the midline right over left, and left over right. Start by holding both arms out in front of you at shoulder level. Cross at the elbows (without bending) right under left. Now bend at the elbows so that your arms are vertical, the palms face away from each other. Lower your elbows down toward your ribcage and in toward your heart- you should feel the stretch in your neck and upper back! If you are super bendy, wrap your hands again so that your palms touch each other. *be careful not to crank your neck or jut out your chin. Go slow and keep these neutral!* 2. SEATED PIGEON When we sit too long, we put a lot of tension on our lower backs. Most of us sit incorrectly, with a tilted pelvis. Our disks get stiff, and our nerves pinch. I have huge problems with my sciatic nerve shooting pain down my left leg. Not only do I use an inversion table daily, and have my chiropractor on speed dial, but I also do this pose every time my hips, glutes, or hamstrings feel tight. You can do this many different ways- full out on a yoga mat, seated on the floor, lying on your back, sitting at your desk, or even leaning up against your bed. It helps reduce inflammation and sends blood to some pieces and parts that don't always get the help healing that they need. If you are doing this seated in a chair or on the floor: plant your left foot steady on the ground. Cross your right ankle on top of your left knee. Draw your left leg in toward your chest (or if you are sitting in a chair, lean your chest toward your left knee). You should feel this stretch in your "butt dimple" (totally not scientific terminology) but it's that indentation where your glute and hip join on your backside. Some people also feel this in their hamstring of the right leg. You should NOT feel this in your knees or your left leg. Be careful to keep your upper back long and straight, and don't round into it to try to force a deeper stretch. Bend from the hips. Repeat on the other side. This also is great for relieving menstrual cramps! 3. SPINAL TWIST There are seven different ways your spine can move. For the best back health, you should gently move your body to address these every day. Spinal twists are great ways to "wring out" or detoxify your insides. Plus, they just feel really really good! The key to these is to twist from your core, not your neck. If you're sitting in your desk and feeling frustrated or tired, this is a quick pick-me-up that will get your energy flowing again. Sit up straight, engaging your core by pulling your bellybutton in toward your spine. Plant your feet, and place your hands flat next to your hips. Gently press your hands into the chair to subtly lift your body without leaving your chair. Inhale, and twist your core to the right so that your chest and shoulders are more facing the right than center. Hips stay facing forward, the neck is neutral so that your gaze follows your shoulders without going beyond them. Exhale while you hold the pose and deepen into it. Release, breathe normally, and switch sides. 4. FEET UP THE WALL You might not be able to do this one in your classroom or at your desk, but it's definitely worth finding time for. Any inversion, where your hips are above your heart, reverses the blood flow direction and makes your veins stronger and clearer. This is great for varicose vein pain, sciatic pain, menstrual cramps, or any time you need a change of perspective on a problem you're contemplating. Because this is a fully supported inversion, the only thing you have to be careful about is if you have blood pressure or vertigo issues. Always listen to your body! Find an empty space on your wall. Scoot your bottom up to where the floor meets the wall. Lay down so your back is flat on the floor, and swing your feet up flush against the wall. It's okay if they aren't straight- that's not the point of this pose. Now that you're in position, you can really focus on noticing your sensations (sights and sounds around you) as well as your internal sensations (tingling, creating space, deeper breathing). I try to do this for at least two minutes, but if I'm super stressed it's hard for me to sit still that long. I also modify this into a butterfly position by bringing the soles of my feet together and bending my knees so that my heels draw closer to my pelvis. It feels good, is still in inversion, and keeps me from getting bored. 5. SUPPORTED FISH In yoga we call these "heart openers." This is another great way to straighten out that upper back, stretch your neck and shoulders, and literally open up any tension or frustration in our hearts by opening up our chest area. Because this is supported, you don't have to worry too much about your neck- just keep it comfortable and natural. I use this when I have a particularly difficult student, and I use this time to meditate on why I'm in their life at this moment and what they need from me to be happy, healthy, and free. I try to open my heart and mind to their perspective and unique story. It doesn't always work, but it's definitely worth a try! Lay down on the floor. Grab a pillow that has a substantial volume to it- no squishy flat pancake pillow. If you need to, roll your pancake pillow into a tube (seriously, how do you people sleep with those things?!) Place it lengthwise under your upper back, with your head gently hanging off so that your chin is raised more than normal. If this is uncomfortable for your neck, place a rolled towel or a smaller pillow under your head. Lay your arms out to a "T" at the shoulders. Your pillow will not support your shoulders, so they should be hanging down gently with a little gravitational pressure in the joint. Your lower back arches just slightly because of were the pillow drops off. If you can't lay flat on your back, it's okay to bend your knees with your feet flat on the floor to take pressure off your lower back. If you're doing this right, your chest should be the highest point of your body, and it should feel very open and exposed to the room. Breathe- a good breath technique here is to inhale for a count of 4, exhale slower for a count of 6 or even 8. When we slow our exhale, we flip off our "fight or flight" response and calm our nervous system down. It's so cool! (Check out this article for more on that) Bottom line, even when life sucks, your body needs you to care for it. Move it in as many different ways as possible every day. Be gentle, but persistent. The mind body connection is a real thing, and teachers need to care for themselves in order to care for others.
Namaste! May all be happy, may all be healthy, may all be free. ~The Comfortable Classroom
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7/9/2019 2 Comments Natural Stress Relief
MEDITATION AND DEEP BREATHING. Get. An. App. If you are like me and you have a "busy brain" (aka adult responsibilities + anxiety) then it is super hard to relax. There was a point in my past where I was so stressed I literally could not take a deep breath. It was bad, you guys. So I started doing deep breathing exercises and meditating with the help of two apps: Headspace and Insight Timer. I loved them both equally- Headspace has a subscription fee, Insight Timer is FREE for teachers (yay!) I have a quiet little space next to my bed that I can turn on my purifying Himalayan Salt Lamp (thanks, honey) and simply breathe, and let my mind meditate on whatever the app tells me to do. It's beautiful. Sometimes I pick a chant (like the Ganesha Mantra to overcome obstacles) and sometimes I pick a guided visualization similar to Yoga Nidra. *My favorite breath is called four-square breath: breath slowly in for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for four counts, and hold for four counts. Repeat. It's so rhythmic and predictable, and calms your central nervous system down. Try it and let me know what you think! * ESSENTIAL OILS I actually started looking into essential oils to treat my children's ADHD naturally. WE LOVE THEM. So naturally, I started geeking out about the best scents, the best kinds, and the best ways to use them. Mostly we just diffuse them and rub them on. Some people ingest them through drink or under the tongue, but I've never tried it. Below are a few of my "go to" essential oil products. I started out with this Essential Oil Set which contains the best single essential oils for those of you who want to save money and mix your own blends. I could not find anything for ADHD that gave me what I wanted, so I bought these along with the fractionated coconut oil to mix my own blends. However, I do have my few pre-mixed blends that I use all the time:
JOURNAL Finally, write down your thoughts. Language is SO powerful, and when we try to name our emotions and express our thoughts and feeling in writing, they give us this cathartic sense of clarity. I don't even know how many times I haven't been able to understand myself until I write it down. Then I read it, and I'm like "YES! THAT is what I'm thinking and feeling!" It lets the intangible become tangible, and gives us the ability to then deal with that. I'll be embarrassingly honest right now: when I was 17, my mom read my diary. It caused a HUGE blowup between us, and since then I've been a little gun-shy to write things down on paper. When I went through a really tough time a few years ago, I bought a journal and wrote down my feelings. Immediately my little gremlins found it and read it! AGH. So, now, I write things down. I let it sit (hidden, deep out of sight). Then I take it back out, re-read it. I process. I let it sink in to me, and at the same time float away from me. THEN I RIP IT OUT AND SHRED IT SO NO ONE ELSE CAN READ IT. But the point is not the longevity of the words in the journal- it's the process of finding myself along the way. Once I'm done with that, I destroy the evidence. Hopefully you have more privacy and fewer trust issues than I have, and you can keep your journal into your graying years. As you can see from this pic, I have 3 journals. One is for deeply insightful conclusions I want to teach as yoga themes; one is for teaching/lesson ideas or TpT ideas; one is for my deepest and darkest real raw human thoughts and feelings. It contains all my stress, insecurities, frustrations, anger, sadness, hopes, fears, and dreams. That's the one I rip out and destroy :) I ADORE cute journals. This Tree of Life journal is next on my wish list. Just find one that works for you and USE IT. Even the most adorable journal doesn't relieve your stress simply by being cute. USE IT. Cleanse your mind of your worries by vomiting them onto the page. Trust me-- you'll thank me for it! No matter what or how- take care of yourself. You can't pour from an empty cup. Put your oxygen mask on yourself before you help others. You deserve it.
~May you be happy~May you be healthy~May you be free Namaste *blog posts may contain affiliate links* This means if you click a link and make a purchase through that link, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. It is my promise to you that I will only link to products or services that I have personally tried or believe in. 6/10/2019 0 Comments Growth Mindset & Mantras
When the students hear you use these words time and time again, your voice becomes their internal voice. When the students see you consistently use these phrases, they start to model your behavior when talking to themselves and their peers. When the students have the language of growth mindset in their classrooms and in their minds, they can start to live out the philosophy itself. Language is a powerful tool for growth. The inner monologue of our private minds is also a powerful indicator of mental health, hope, optimism, and resilience. If we can give our students growth mindset mantras, they won’t just learn about growth mindset. They’ll start to live it. Ultimately, my goal as an educator is to create healthy humans who can do hard things, even if they’re not quite there…yet.
~May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free
The Comfortable Classroom *blog posts may contain affiliate links* This means if you click a link and make a purchase through that link, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. It is my promise to you that I will only link to products or services that I have personally tried or believe in. 5/4/2018 0 Comments True LIstening
Luckily, it was about this time that I stumbled across the concept of mindfulness—being present in the moment. Truly paying attention to all the things around you. Noticing the details. Really seeing the sights and hearing the sounds. And—listening with all your focus. I’ve made it a point of pride to work on my listening skills, on being truly present and caring about the person in front of me at that moment. Some people have said this is a gift, that not many people truly care enough about what other people say in order to listen. Yet I believe that it is the simplest, most powerful gift that we can give the people in our lives. And it is one that every single person can cultivate, practice, and prioritize in their lives. Studies have shown that trusting, close relationships can be the tipping point between mental health and mental illness. Individuals who have strong relationships with at least one other friend or family member are happier, healthier, more productive, and live longer. This goes for children as well as the elderly, and everyone in between. Yet too often, the stigma of mental illness suffocates and silences individuals. Those who feel isolated, guilty, ashamed, and outcast are the very ones who need to be supported by trusting relationships with friends, teachers, or family. I became a teacher not knowing just how powerful my position could be. I had the opportunity every day to influence 150+ students. I wanted to teach them English and Psychology, but I also wanted to teach them how to be good people, how to help one another, and how to listen. And just like multiplying fractions or doubling a recipe, every good skill needs to be taught. You can enhance your listening skills to improve relationships with all those in your life, but especially those who might be suffering from some form of mental illness. Whether it’s test anxiety or clinical OCD; general depression or suicidal ideas; isolation or schizophrenia…everyone needs someone to listen to them and show them that they matter to the world. Building relationships—with anyone—begins with feeling valued. Mindfulness tells us that the only moment that really matters is the present moment. Active listening centers you in the conversation. Too often, people “listen” in order to share their ideas. Their listening is actually waiting for their turn to talk, without taking the time to truly hear what another person is saying. As a teacher, I’ve found that a few seconds of truly focused active listening sets a stable foundation for relationships with students. Active listening includes three simple things:
Brandon Stanton is the author and creator of the wildly popular blog The Humans of New York. He has found his success from interviewing individuals on the streets of the most unique city in America. He has said that interviewing is “a very intense interest in someone’s life. They’re not used to that.” Individuals with mental illnesses are surrounded by negative stigma. People openly talk about their physical health. Yet when it comes to mental health issues, people get uncomfortable. They start making assumptions. They may blame the victim for a moral shortcoming. They may avoid them or the conversation. This only worsens the problem. By normalizing mental illness, we give a voice to the voiceless. Much like The Humans of New York, we can take that intense interest in them as a person, making them feel like they belong. In my psychology class I always stressed that we are individuals first, and that our mental state does not define us. I am an individual with depression and anxiety, but I am still an individual. I am a mom, a teacher, a wife, a friend, and a good listener. I am not just depressed. I am not just anxious. But I too need someone to listen to my hopes and fears, just like everyone else. By normalizing mental illness and talking about it as if we would the common cold or a broken leg, we can begin to build powerful relationships. We can knock down the barriers where the stigmatized can’t share their stories, and the others are afraid to hear them. Relationships are the vehicle with which mental illness can become mental health. In middle school I had a friend who was incredibly unpredictable. She was an emotional rollercoaster, was obsessed with self-harm, and opened my eyes to mental illness for the first time. In my 6th grade naiveté I wanted to save her. She swallowed me into her turbulent world, filling my free time with her worries, ruminations, and obsessions. Even when I wasn’t with her I was afraid for her. All the adults knew, yet nothing stopped. I continued to let her take over my life with her illness. Finally, I had to distance myself. I tried changing the subject, inviting other friends in, making excuses to avoid her. I didn’t know how to set up a healthy boundary. To this day, I regret so much about how that friendship progressed and ultimately ended. I wanted to save her, yet needed to save myself from her codependency. Maybe some of you have experienced the same. This friendship left me hesitant to trust and open up to someone with a mental illness. I was afraid of being taken advantage of, monopolized, obsessed. I truly believe that listening to and understanding another human being is the most important gift we can give one another. Yet that doesn’t come without boundaries. If someone is struggling, listen to them. Urge them to get help. Support their efforts, their small successes. But set a boundary between their heart and yours. Empathetic people are often the best listeners, but also have a hard time knowing where their emotions end and someone else’s begin. You may be able to help save someone from the silence of stigma, but that does not mean you have to be their entire life’s salvation. And truly, they don’t want you to be that. They want normal relationships--and normal relationships are both give and take. Share your own hopes and fears with them. Share your own stories, questions, philosophies, joys, and sorrows. Someone with depression might not be as excited for you as you want them to be, but you’ll know they still care about you. Someone with anxiety may not want to go to the basketball game or rock concert with you, but they still want to spend time with you other ways. People with mental illness are still people. They are the same people they were before you found out they had a mental illness. And their relationships are just as fulfilling and important as everyone else’s. They need a sense of love and belonging just like you do. And to build those relationships, the solid foundation to all mental health, you need to do the same things you do for all your relationships: Return their text message. Say hi in the hallway, calling them by name. Look them in the eye when you talk to them. Compliment them. Ask real questions. But most importantly, truly listen to them. ~Peace, The Comfortable Classroom
Read their writing. Knowing your students through their writing is a type of relationship I wish all teachers had. There is something so powerful in the way a student expresses his/her thoughts on paper, that nothing else can compare to. One tiny journal entry can change my perspective about the argumentative girl in 4B. One personal narrative can give me insight into why the boy in 2nd period refuses to work in groups. Unfortunately, many of our students struggle with some form or degree of mental illness. Depression, anxiety, ADHD, OCD, schizophrenia... the list goes on. Many are open enough about their struggles that they write about them. Be aware of their baggage. Make sure they are safe. Ask if they need assistance finding help, telling their parents, or talking to a counselor. Sometimes all they need from you is to know that you see them as the same person they were before you knew they had a mental illness. Many are afraid of rejection, so when they open up about it, listen without judgement and simply offer to help them find help. You don't have to become their therapist, just a resource--a caring stepping stone toward getting better. Notice them as people. They are people. They are more than a test score, more than a missing essay, more than a percentage grade, more than a checkmark on your attendance list. One of the best things that happened to me as a teacher was having my own children start school. I became more like the teacher I wanted my own kids to have... one who knows their hearts, hopes, fears, character, and state of mind. I love giving random compliments, joking around, asking non-school related questions, saying hi to students in the hallway or at lunch, giving high-fives for no reason whatsoever, and generally making them comfortable with me, each other, and ultimately themselves. One particular student was usually quiet but attentive. Suddenly one day, she left class without warning. She came back to get her things later, and opened up about having panic attacks. Because I knew her on a personal level, she felt comfortable sharing this with me, and we were able to get her help. People with mental illnesses are people first. Connect your content to things that matter. As a language arts teacher, you always get to know your students on a very real, human level. We talk about the heart of humanity, and many times the hopes and fears of their inner lives get twisted into their conversations and their writing. I share my own stories, triumphs as well as tragedies, and connect to theirs empathetically. As a psychology teacher, I can also connect our content to our everyday thoughts, relationships, behaviors, and emotions. As an educator of young humans, I strive to make every lesson have some overaching concept or theme that matters. By connecting Romeo and Juliet to choices, I can make Shakespeare teach students that sadness is impermanent and suicide is final, but it's not a solution. By connecting mindfulness to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, I can teach them how to control their own anxiety reactions through breathing techniques. But most of all, I can teach them that they matter. I care that they get something out of my class, but I care that they know that I care, more. Curriculum can be a vehicle for relationships as long as you don't let it become the sole focus of your time together. It's time well spent. I started this post with a flashback to a year ago, to a suicidal student who came to me "just to say hi." I could tell something was wrong. I knew her well enough to read her emotions. I knew her well enough to know her background and previous attempt. I knew from my training that I had to ask her the most difficult question I've ever had to ask: "Are you planning on killing yourself?" When she said yes, we cried together for a long time. Then we got her the help she needed. I never thought I'd say those words, let alone admit a student to the hospital. I never thought I'd literally save a life. But I was in the right place at the right time, with the right training and the right resources. If I had one message to leave people about mental illness and relationships, is that the relationships are the foundation to health. It's not always easy to connect with someone who is depressed. It's not easy to be around someone who's anxious. It's not easy to get to know each and every one of your students. But it is essential to do so anyway.
"The story you tell yourself is how you experience life, and you have to line up your mindset for the changes to stick." "The old mindset does not support the new habits, and the mindset is far more powerful." "Your story is the way you choose to interpret the events that happen in your life. Think of it as a framework for making meaning from the things that happen to you." "Your stories become your script for living." "Pay attention to the stories you tell other people about your day, and the way you frame events that happen...notice your own mental habits, your self-talk, and the way you internally process the day's events and your life as a whole." (From Unshakeable by Angela Watson). She's also got a great blog: https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/product/unshakeable/
So today I share with you my new narrative in hopes that verbalizing it will help make it a reality. I'm writing it into my lesson planner, my journal, and my phone. I'm putting it on my desk and beside my bed. Here it is:
Some might call these mantras, some might call them intentions. They can be named resolutions, values, or philosophies. Whatever you call them, they have the power to overtake the negative self talk that permeates so much of the climate of teaching. I'm going to pair each one with a habit, and work to make small steps toward big changes.
Because I hadn't changed my narrative, none of my habits or intentions were sticking. Now that I've had this "ah-ha" moment, I hope to start down the right path. One of my favorite quotes is this: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Thank you for joining me on this journey! If you have any suggestions for how you accomplish this cognitive restructuring, please comment and let me know! 12/16/2017 0 Comments Comfortable & Challenging: Higher Order THinking and Discussions in the classroom
The students know my favorite questions are "why?" and "how do you know?" I always teach them how to listen to each other, follow up someone else's statement, disagree respectfully, and make the conversation go deeper. We discuss what it takes to make each other feel safe during discussions, because we debate ideas, not people. Then I spend the majority of my time asking probing questions to deepen the conversation. I make them go back to the text for evidence. I don't give them the answers, I give them more questions. On a good day, we all leave feeling like our brains hurt from thinking. We love it! They always tease me that for someone who needs structure and organization, I sure do change things a lot. I use a variety of discussion strategies to get them all to have a voice in the conversation. These are some of my favorites, with links to more options for you to try as well.
Finally, I shared this great resource with my teachers about different discussion strategies. Check it out from Cult of Pedagogy! Any time you can get students talking and thinking hard about academic things and justifying and questioning ideas, it's a win/win for all. The time will pass by so quickly and they will love every minute of the struggle. Set up the class environment to be safe for taking risks, teach them how to talk academically, then throw great questions at them and let them soar!
12/13/2017 0 Comments Know your learners, know yourself
Today, I sat in a meeting. You know the kind... an expert is paid to come in and teach us what to do with our students to make them learn more than we've been able to in the past. Except... you already know everything that they are "teaching" you. Ugh. Then, we had a leadership meeting with the most amazing teachers and admin that I've had the privilege to work with. I truly love these people. We debriefed, we planned, we debated, we created. Yet, the meeting to discuss the strategy and implementation and professional development plan and goal setting...etc... went awry. We all left feeling slightly confused and totally frustrated and not quite sure if we took any steps forward, while fearing we might have actually fallen two or seven steps backwards. Do you have those kinds of meetings in your district, too? So my big take-away (expect for the solidification that I hate meetings) was that our teachers truly don't have enough time and information readily accessible to know our students and teach accordingly. High-stakes assessment scores aren't enough. A language level for our ELLs is not enough. IEP accommodation pages are not enough. We need a systemic communication system that conveys the necessary, appropriate information about our students to our teachers so that they can do their jobs.
I sit here, at my kitchen counter, feeling defeated because I don't have any answers for my colleagues. My own elementary age children are peacefully sleeping, and as a parent I pray that their teachers know their strengths and weaknesses and are working to address those. But as a secondary teacher, I worry that we don't have the data (or access to the data) to make the best instructional decisions for our students. I'd welcome any comments, suggestions, inspiration, or thought-provoking ideas to propel us forward in our thinking. We want our teachers to know themselves and be reflective. We want our teachers to know their learners and be pro-active. But what information do we need, and how do we get access to it, to make this all truly as effective as it can be? What has worked for you as a classroom teacher or a district to truly know your learners without killing your teachers with data analysis or paperwork? How do you, or how does your district system, clearly and effectively communicate needs for your learners? Please comment and share your insight so that others who might be facing the same dilemma are able to learn and grow. #teachcomfort
Fast forward to one of the worst years of teaching I've ever had. Nothing worked. We've all had those, right? The ones that make you reconsider why you became a teacher in the first place? My students were SO naughty, my colleagues were SO negative, my administration was SO unhelpful, and my home life was SUCH a mess. I was sick, exhausted, and defeated. I was burnt out. One day I realized that I had spent more time behind my desk, sitting at my computer, ignoring my students, than EVER before. I actually wasn't even sure if I had gotten up out of my desk at all. I was devastated and so disappointed in myself. I cried. Literally. Once again I did not want to be that kind of teacher! Here were these young minds, waiting to learn and grow and discuss and question. And I just wanted them to be quiet so I could answer my emails or finish grading. It was a dark, dark place that I am not proud of. So, I did some soul searching and decided two things: 1) get rid of my desk so I had nowhere to hide 2) shut my computer when students were working. (I never have my phone out during class, so this wasn't a problem for me. But for some teachers, it is. Seriously. Put the phone AWAY). If I was going to do this right, I was going to engage with my students while I was face to face with them. No matter how stressed or how tired I was, there was no sitting and grading. No matter how many leadership responsibilities I had, there would be no "just a minute guys, I'm finishing an email." None. No excuses: It. Was. Life-changing. I felt so much more connected to my students and so much more successful. They weren't (as) naughty anymore. I didn't begrudge my colleagues quite as much. I had more fun and actually felt like I had more energy even though I was resting less and moving more. It made my soul happy. Every minute with my students is precious, and I will never get that minute back to do-over. I needed to capitalize on that "face time" to bring myself out of a dark place. They are the reason I'm here, not email about the copier or even vague leadership discussions about vision or efficacy. They needed my whole attention, heart and soul. My last story is related to the emotional distance and control that mindfulness brings. Bear with me. I am a bleeding heart. I am so sensitive to other people's emotions that I can't even watch someone cry without crying. I feel other people's pain. So during times of stress and conflict, I often have a hard time separating their emotions and reactions from my own. Everyone in teaching knows that DEVOLSON (Dark Evil Vortex of Late September, October, November) can suck the life out of even the most positive teacher. Last fall our building was in turmoil from top-down decisions, stressful protocol, and time-consuming initiatives. People were so angry and frustrated and disillusioned that it was not a fun place come to every day. PLCs were more about venting than collaboration, and don't even get me started about the faculty lounge (yikes!) One particular colleague always wanted to vent to me about his frustrations. He never wanted suggestions (nor would he take them if you offered) but just wanted to spew toxic vomit on everyone he met. Soon, simply seeing him in the hallway was triggering my anxiety. What's even worse was I began to blur the lines between his concerns and my own problems. I started to believe I felt the way he did. This was not true, and it was tearing my soul to tiny little sprinkles of sadness. I had a wonderful friend tell me, "feelings are not facts." She also suggested I choose where to spend my energy. So I stated giving myself distance from his complaints, listening objectively and asking him some countering questions. I also shrugged and walked away several times, saying, "If you're not willing to change your own actions, complaining isn't going to help." I chose not to spend my energy owning his unhappiness. I walked away more often, challenged his views more often, and told him to find ways to make himself less miserable. I changed my focus and got more in control of my own emotions. Instead of feeling like a ship tossed in the stormy waters, I was "the master of my fate/... the captain of my soul." And here I am today, a little farther on my journey of mindfulness. I've researched, read, watched, studied, compared, tried, discussed, connected. I've seen how life changing mindfulness can be on a personal level, and I can see how powerfully students react when they learn about it. I believe wholeheartedly that teaching mindfulness to teachers can make each classroom even better. One study predicted teaching mindfulness to students equated to 11-20 minutes of increased teaching time. Imagine how much more class time could be saved or capitalized to deepen learning with mindful teachers at the helm? Bell-to-bell learning, with purposeful activities and focused attention in between; teachers who feel calm, in control, and successful? Powerful. I'd even dare to say, unstoppable.
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AuthorA midwest teacher in love with creating awesome opportunities for students to think, communicate, and produce. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Comfortable-Classroom
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