How rest can rekindle your passion for teaching

Key points:

Today's teachers are dealing with a wide range of tensions, a chronic student absenteeism to limitations of What you can teach and parents pressing you so that Change qualifications. It is understandable, then, that 59 percent of teachers Report feel burned.

To support the mental health and well -being of educators, a free online event called Teacher teacher Experts presented who shared processable forms so that teachers can take advantage of the power of rest, breathing work and belonging. One of the speakers was Dr. Soundra Dalton-SmithAuthor of the book Sacred rest: Recover your life, renew your energy, restore your sanity, who shared revealing ideas about the importance of rest. According to Dr. Dalton-Smith, the most energizing you can do for you and your students is to develop your resistance obtaining the rest you need. This does not simply mean sleeping anymore. In fact, Dr. Dalton-Smith presents Seven types of rest. Based on my experience in the classroom and training educators throughout the country, here there are some practical ways in which you can make time in their busy schedule to incorporate restorative practices that vigor and, ultimately, benefit their students.

How can you get the 7 types of rest

Creative rest It unlocks creativity, inspires new possibilities and is essential for problem solving. Activities such as seeing cooking programs, appreciating nature, listening to pet music and therapy can provide a restorative creative rest. You can get this type of rest anywhere: A recent study He showed that looking at images of water bodies, such as oceans, can activate the creative rest of rest of the brain, regardless of location.

Emotional rest: While you work with students, parents and classmates, you do a lot of emotional work. Activities that help recharge their “emotional batteries” include:

• Newspaper or other creative points of sale
• Maintain friends for adults who provide emotional support and do not require anything in return
• Text threads with a small group of teachers to provide a support system during challenging times
• Classroom exercises that highlight the importance of authenticity and self -care

Mental rest Deficits can make it difficult to concentrate and concentrate. Restorative practices such as Meditation or deep breathing Provide mental rest and can improve concentration. After a particularly challenging day, you can find yourself reflecting at night for stressful events or conversations. Writing these thoughts can help you free yourself from “mono brain syndrome.” Dr. Dalton-Smith also suggests escaping rabbit holes induced by anxiety through a full attention tactic that calls “Mind Cheer”, which simply focuses on a word chosen to calm his brain.

Physical rest It can take many forms. Something as simple as taking a break to stretch can improve its circulation. Adjusting the ergonomics of your monitors, chairs and desk can also make you more physically comfortable. Soft and restorative activities such as yoga, stretching and breathing work are also excellent ways to release tension and focus at the beginning or end of a class.

Sensory rest: Like most professionals, teachers depend on computers and mobile devices that make constant demands of their attention. Excessive notifications can activate Sensory overloadthat leads to irritation, agitation, anger or anger. Exitting the greatest notifications as possible can help, as well as taking breaks in silence, wearing headphones with noise cancellation or resting with closed eyes to limit sensory entry and help restore your senses.

Social rest: Teachers are surrounded by other people throughout the day. Finding the time and space to be alone and just breathe, even for a few minutes, can be enormously restorative and deliver the impulse of energy you need to pay all your attention to your students.

Spiritual rest: Many educators choose their career because it offers meaning, purpose and a feeling of contributing to the greater good. When daily tensions exhaust this feeling, you can find comfort in your personal spirituality. Dr. Dalton-Smith also recommends that, if he feels stressed, he takes the time to concentrate on areas where he feels marking the difference, as with individual students.

A first key step to obtain the rest is to reflect on its fatigue level and identify what type (or types) you need. Once you have resolved, these restoration practices offer simple but effective steps in the direction of the self -care that it deserves.