Being Kind to Yourself
These tools are a resource for you whenever you need them. You can use them now, or come back to them in moments of opportunity or challenge throughout the year. Educators are often focused on how to best support others and may forget to take time for themselves. In times of stress, we too often blame ourselves and lose sight of what we need to care for ourselves. These practices are intended to support you in showing yourself the same kindness you might share with a friend.
Write down a few intentions that can help guide you at the start of this school year, speaking to what you most want for yourself based upon your values and aspirations.
Here are some intentions that educators have shared with us:
- May we have patience and kindness for one another and ourselves during difficult times.
- May I remember to pause in moments of stress.
- May I feel times of joy and savor those moments.
Make a list of things you like or appreciate about yourself as an educator. If it is hard to think of these, reflect on what a student or colleague appreciates about you, or what brought you to teaching.
Write a kind note to yourself and put it on your desktop as a reminder to be kind to yourself. Here are some ideas of notes educators have shared with us:
- I am enough.
- I am doing the best I can right now; that’s all I can ask.
- The work I do matters, even when it is difficult and challenging. ​
When the world around you is overwhelming, it can be helpful to:
Take things one moment at a time, paying attention to sensations of:
- Breathing at the belly, chest, or nostrils, one breath at a time, inhaling and exhaling with awareness.
- Eating, one taste at a time, noticing colors, flavors, textures, aromas, and more.
- Hearing, moment by moment, listening to sounds occurring naturally around you or in music that you love.
- Connect with nature
- Step outside and feel the warm sun or cool breeze on your skin, or look out a window and notice the colors of the sky or world around you.
- Remind yourself that you are part of a larger world.
- Talk with a colleague you trust
- Ask them for time to talk.
- Share how you are feeling.
- Offer the same in return, listening with presence without offering advice or a solution.