Take Care of Yourself to Reduce Stress

No one knows better than a teacher that chronic stress and anxiety can wear you out. Although you probably don’t feel like doing much of anything ‘extra’ when you’re super stressed, self-care can be a powerful remedy that restores your mind and body. YOU are a valuable resource not only to your family, but to all of those eager kiddos. Just like you must place the oxygen mask on yourself first, in the event of an emergency airplane landing, you must take care of yourself first, in order to effectively take car of others.

If you’re stressed now – or want to prevent becoming stressed and overwhelmed, here are some self-care techniques to implement immediately:

Make your health a priority. You may have stress coming from multiple directions such as work, school, family, kids, neighbors, or others. However, it’s important to establish your health as a top consideration. Find a balance between taking care of others and taking care of yourself.

Drink more water, take a 30 minute walk daily, take a technology break, enjoy morning time, make healthier diet choices.

Understand the fundamentals of self-care. Self-care is a conscious effort to put yourself first. It requires you to take time for activities that nourish and sustain your body, mind, and spirit.

When you make it a priority to take care of yourself, you build a lifestyle that focuses on healthy choices. Build self-care into your daily habits, such as eating a healthy breakfast and exercising.

Start with one healthy habit a day. If self-care isn’t a normal part of your life, it may be difficult to get used to it. However, you can start with one small habit and you’ll see positive changes.

By implementing one healthy habit each day, you’ll begin your journey of taking better care of yourself.
The habit can be a tiny change, such as eating oatmeal for breakfast or having a salad for lunch. The key is to pick something small that is easy to do. Then, you can build from this foundation and add other habits.
If you try too many activities at once, you’re likely to get overwhelmed or discouraged.
Try a 30-day challenge to implement new healthier habits.

Find your own path. It’s easy to get caught up in the self-care practices that others use. However, it’s more effective to find your own path to wellness.

Find the tips and habits that work best for your lifestyle. You may not have time to eat a healthy lunch or exercise every day. There are other ways to take care of yourself. Be willing to experiment with different ideas to figure out which self-care practices work well for you. Maybe you can only implement adding a meditation on your ride home from work each day. Begin with that and move on as you can. Start where you are, with what you have, and do it now…

Continue growing. It’s not enough to add one self-care habit and move on. Stress will continue to be a factor as long as you’re on this planet. It’s important to discover new self-care habits to alleviate your stress.

Over time, the stress may come from different directions. For example, if your job is going well, you may suddenly discover issues at home. If your family life is fine, you may be worried about getting laid off.
You may feel overwhelmed at times and as if you’re taking steps back. Nevertheless, continue forward and make self-care a top priority.
As your life changes, your self-care habits will also change. You might find that oatmeal for breakfast starts causing stomachaches, or injuries prevent you from exercising every day. Self-care can come from multiple channels. You can change things up and still find success.

Self-care has an important role in the battle against stress. It’s a vital part of staying healthy and maintaining wellness. For teachers in the classroom, self-care is essential. Make YOU a priority so you can be at your best for your classroom, yourself, and your family.

Blessings,