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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources

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Before going back to the classroom, I was a district and high school administrator who practiced self care very poorly and it affected my life in all aspects. I knew the importance of it but the demands of the role, specifically during the pandemic, took over my life completely. One of my biggest takeaways was the fact that the demands of the role can make an individual incredibly stressed, feel isolated, and feel as though you're on an island by yourself. This isolation can really affect the compassion that you have for others. I would feel, at times, that nobody checks in on me, so why should I check in on them?

A second takeaway from the articles was that a lot of resources are becoming readily available towards promoting and fostering self-care. Not simply "how to" but also this notion that we need to check in on others as well to ensure that they are seen, cared for, and supported.

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Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession

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Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession

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This role is centered around ensuring students have what they need to be successful. As educators and aspiring counselors our daily tasks are focused on ensuring that our students have the resources to be successful academically as well as emotionally. One would think that we would practice what preach but that isn't always the case. Until recently, self-care was the first thing to go when professional deadlines and other obligations needed to be met. These articles are helping me realize how necessary it is for us to be intentional about our self-care with ourselves as well as our students and fellow stakeholders that contribute to our mission.

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Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies

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Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies

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Two specific strategies that I can implement immediately and more intentionally are to focus on smarter sleep and diet habits. My wife and I have two boys (2.5 and 1.5 years old) which makes every day quite an adventure. it can be really easy to throw self-care out the window but since having children, I realized that when flight attendants say "put your oxygen mask on before you help others" they have a strong point. Being a school leader shares similar parallels with parenting; those you serve will suffer if you don't take care of yourself. My wife and I purchased Oura rings recently as a consistent and tangible way of keeping our selves accountable with diet, rest, and exercise.

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This image represents how I will specifically track and improve my sleep. The Oura ring tracks my sleep as far back as I've had the ring and it also allows my wife to see vitals specific to sleep, readiness, stress, and resilience. The ring also suggests activities to help with sleep and even suggests when to lay down and put your phone away. It may seem that I'm incredibly dependent on a small piece of technology to live a better life, be a better educator, father as well as husband, but I've been finding a lot of success with it lately.