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A Staff Wellness Action Plan (SWAP) allows your program to be intentional and thoughtful about creating a workplace that values staff wellness, mental health, and physical health.

Why create a SWAP?

If your program is just beginning to incorporate staff wellness activities, the SWAP can be a useful tool for planning. If your program already has a staff wellness plan, you may find the SWAP a useful tool for prioritizing goals and strategizing how to implement initiatives. Unexpected events, such as a public health emergency or another type of event that adds strain to the local community, are also appropriate times for revising your program's staff wellness plan - looking with fresh eyes and establishing new goals that place wellness at the forefront.

A great resource to help you focus on the well-being of your team is ACF-IM-HS-21-05 Supporting the Wellness of All Staff in the Head Start Workforce. This Information Memoranda includes staff wellness requirements and many suggestions for activities to improve your program's efforts.

The SWAP template has four sections. Each section is outlined below. You can also create your own version of this SWAP to best meet the needs of your program.

Section 1: Identifying the Team

What to do: List the team members who will develop your SWAP. Include a wide variety of roles and perspectives.

Why is this important? Including a wide variety of voices on the team ensures your SWAP incorporates the perspective of everyone who will participate in the activities that you propose and of program leaders responsible for implementing your plan.

How to get started: You might include staff members such as:

Teaching staff

Site directors

Family engagement staff

Home visitors

Content area managers

Program leaders

Program finance and benefits administrators

Head Start agency representatives if your program is part of a larger recipient

Head Start families

External team members might include:

Infant and early childhood mental health consultants

Child care health consultants

Health Services Advisory Committee members

Representatives from local businesses

Nonprofit organizations

Public health agencies

Health insurance carriers

Universities and community colleges

Section 2: Collecting Data About Our Program's Wellness Interests and Needs

What to do: List the data sources you are using to inform your SWAP. Record the information they provide. Then use the space in the final column to identify some of the specific areas your program may want to address based on the information you learned from your data collection and analysis.

Why is this important? By defining your program's strengths and identifying any gaps, you can create a plan that builds on your assets, addresses challenges, and helps you define and accomplish goals more effectively. Be sure the information you collect specifically explores the staff's interests and also provides a variety of types of activities for staff's consideration.

How to get started: Below are some of the many options for data sources.

Listening sessions

Focus groups

Motivational interviews

Surveys and questionnaires

Polls

Research studies on wellness in the workplace and "stay surveys" focused on why staff members stay in their positions over time

Identify your program's existing strengths around staff wellness. Then consider how you can build on or enhance what is already working well.
Some considerations for the team to discuss include:

How have you gathered data in the past?

How do you gather information about staff wellness needs?

How much staff interest exists already around staff wellness action planning?

Can you expand or improve an existing programs to address these interests and needs?

Are there gaps in your resources or current staff wellness programming?

What community assets may help you overcome existing challenges or barriers?

How much administrative and community support do you have?

What funding and resources are available to create and implement the staff wellness program?

Section 3: Creating Our Staff Wellness Goals

What to do: Set one or more overarching goals for your program. Then, list several objectives that will help your program achieve these goals. Remember to write objectives that are SMARTIE: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic/Relevant, Time-bound, Inclusive, and Equitable. List your desired outcomes. Outcomes describe the results of your actions. This information will help you to know if you have been successful.

Why is this important? Determining your goals and objectives will help your team define and prioritize the work ahead. SMARTIE objectives bring specificity to your goals and help your team communicate the intent of your SWAP effectively to staff.

How to get started: Consider these questions when creating your objectives.

Specific: What does your program want to accomplish?
Measurable: How will you know when you have been successful?
Actionable: Are these tasks concrete and will lead to action steps?
Realistic: Is this objective realistic? Will working toward this objective bring meaningful change?
Time-bound: When will this happen? What are the timeframe and due dates?
Inclusive: How will you include all staff and all voices in processes, activities, and decision-making?
E quitable: How will you ensure each objective is beneficial to everyone in your program?

Example:

Goal: Expand our staff wellness program.

Objective: Expand our staff wellness program into three new counties by the end of June.

SMARTIE Objective: Expand our staff wellness program into three new counties by the end of June, with volunteers who are representative of the communities in age, gender, race, and other characteristics informing the expansion.

Section 4: Putting Our Ideas into Action

What to do: For each objective, list the action steps you will take to be successful. Identify who will lead the work, others who can support the work, and resources needed. Set a timeline for your action step and monitor your progress.

Why is this important? One of the most challenging components of the action planning process is moving from identifying strategies and goals toward implementation. Describing each action step helps to put your objectives into action.

How to get started: Consider these guidelines to move your plans to action.

Start by focusing on relationships - with staff, colleagues, administrators, families, and leaders. Seek, build, and maintain strong partnerships.

Be engaged, responsive, and flexible.

Communicate, share information, and meet often and regularly. Celebrate work accomplished to promote engagement.

Brainstorm possible solutions to barriers.

Keep solutions that worked and use them in the future.

Discuss and record strategies that did not work this time. These may work in another context. Reflect continually on whether your approach promotes equity and fosters inclusion.

Identify training and technical assistance opportunities to learn more about topics such as staff wellness interventions, stress reduction, reflective supervision, motivational interviewing, coaching, employee assistance programs, and other strategies.

Learn about continuous quality improvement and how to implement plan-do-study-act cycles. Develop a system to measure progress through data collection and feedback to guide your improvement efforts.

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Creating a Staff Wellness Action Plan (SWAP) | ECLKC

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A Staff Wellness Action Plan (SWAP) allows your program to be intentional about creating a workplace that values staff wellness, mental health, and physical health. This resource will help you develop your own SWAP.

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OCDE Continuity of Learning Website Self-Care Page

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OCDE Continuity of Learning Website Self-Care Page

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Self-Care and Mind-Body Health: Instructional Continuity

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The Devereux Center for Resilient Children (DCRC) team often speaks about the importance of the "Resilience Cascade" or the "Resilience Connection." These notions highlight the point that promoting resilience in children requires that we also pay close attention to our own social and emotional well-being, as well as the overall resilience of our team members and work environments.

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'The Big Seven’-Strategies for Healthy Emotion Regulation in Uncertain Times

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Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

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Based at UC Berkeley, Greater Good reports on groundbreaking research into the roots of compassion, happiness, and altruism.

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Be Calm_Resources for Adults & Youth_Version 2.pdf

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Taking Care of Ourselves: Stress and Relaxation

Stress is natural and can be inevitable. But stress can take a toll on your health and effectiveness as an early childhood educator or parent. It impacts the quality of care that you can give. When you are too stressed it is difficult to offer the praise, nurturance, and structure your children need.

Please use the resources below to help reduce your stress:

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Stress is natural and can be inevitable. But stress can take a toll on your health and effectiveness as an early childhood educator or parent. It impacts the quality of care that you can give. When you are too stressed it is difficult to offer the praise, nurturance, and structure your children need.

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With this easy-to-use app, you can practice mindfulness meditation anywhere, anytime with the guidance of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. Scientific research shows mindfulness can help manage stress-related physical conditions, reduce anxiety and depression, cultivate positive emotions, and help improve overall physical health and well-being.

Mindfulness is the practice of training the mind to be present through moment-to-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, body sensations and environment. Mindfulness promotes an attitude of openness, curiosity, and a willingness to be with our experience. Through regular practice, taught through this app, you can develop a meditation practice and learn to bring more mindfulness into your daily life.
This app offers:

Basic Meditations for getting started, in both English and Spanish

Wellness Meditations for people suffering from challenging health conditions

Informative videos exploring how to get started, supportive meditation postures, and the science of mindfulness

Weekly podcasts from UCLA's Hammer Museum-- a 30 minute meditation on different themes you can search for and bookmark

A timer to meditate on your own

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With this easy-to-use app, you can practice mindfulness meditation anywhere, anytime with the guidance of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. Scientific research shows mindfulness can help manage stress-related physical conditions, reduce anxiety and depression, cultivate positive emotions, and help improve overall physical health and well-being.

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You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life... more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You're dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale--the most popular class in the university's 300-year history--Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness. For an even deeper dive into the research we talk about in the show and to sign up to our newsletter visit: happinesslab.fm
iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life... more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You're dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale--the most popular class in the university's 300-year history--Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness. For an even deeper dive into the research we talk about in the show and to sign up to our newsletter visit: happinesslab.fm
iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Super inspiring! Thank you!

Dear Dr. Santos and The Happiness Lab Team, wow, wow, wow, wow! Every show is so good! I'm a social work student in grad school, currently interning at an addiction treatment center where I sometimes facilitate groups, and am on the hut for evidenced based interventions that might feel approachable and useful to the folks I'm working with. While listening to your show I've consistently thought, "Oh my goodness, this would be so good to introduce to the folks at my treatment center!" Thank you for all the inspiration!!!

How to

I loved the episode of he how to with Charles D
It was the best of all. It was the greatest.

Thank you!

This is so helpful.
Thank you for taking the time to share the happiness

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the happiness lab with dr. laurie santos

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‎The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos on Apple Podcasts

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‎You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life... more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You're dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better.

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Take a minute to slow down and get back on track.

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In early March of 2020, when it became clear we were facing a global crisis unlike anything in our lifetime, our community began to shelter in place. Our physical professional home, Boulder Journey School, closed to contribute to physical distancing recommendations, and we immediately began to grieve what was lost. In addition to missing children and families, we also missed our professional dialogues developed through study tours and other initiatives through which we invite the community into our daily learning and interactions.

Simultaneously, our teachers found themselves navigating uncharted territory: Developing digital learning experiences with very young children, and partnering with families across greater physical distance than ever before. As this phase commenced in mid-March, we began to see outpourings of collaboration and mutual support happening on social media. It seemed as though everyone was looking for ideas, and everyone had a few to share. So while we didn't have the answers about how to "do" digital learning for young children the "right" way, we knew we had many professional connections and a propensity for thinking about digital humanity. So we began to offer a series of virtual dialogues, free and open to any educators who wanted to join. The idea was that we would establish the time and virtual space, and lend our voices as facilitators, enabling the participants to feel supported in messing about with ideas. We were blown away by the response, hearing from hundreds of interested educators in just a few short days after the idea was launched. Week after week, the virtual rooms filled, and our treasured extended community of early childhood educators inspired, supported, and collaborated with one another professionally and personally.

As the weeks of quarantine, school closures, and physical distancing have continued, we have begun to understand these virtual dialogues as acts of self-care both for the participants, and for us as facilitators. In a time when we can't see, touch, or hear others in person, the act of sitting in a virtual room with other like-minded and deeply caring individuals provides an incredibly safe and supportive space. So as the weeks have continued, and everyone's feelings have continued to become more complex, we wanted to think more deeply about the ways in which the mental health and emotional wellness of our early childhood education community was being supported.

We had an idea to invite a panel of mental health professionals to sit in the virtual dialogue space with us, and share new perspectives on the emotional side of what we are all dealing with amidst this pandemic. Much to our surprise and delight, in little over a week, an incredible panel of experts in the areas of adult mental health, early childhood mental health, teacher self-care, and parent coaching was assembled. On April 26, for two sweet hours, we witnessed these six remarkable individuals sharing stories, reflections, and meditations from their lives and their work, speaking to questions and challenges posed by early childhood educators. The time was a gift, and the virtual space we held that day was celebratory of the highly skilled work of educators and carers of the very young and their families. Our community was seen.

At the beginning and end of the dialogue, we invited the audience to type one word into the chat box, expressing how they were feeling. We compiled these into word clouds, using size to indicate frequency. We invite you to watch and use the entire video in any way that will support your personal and/or professional journey at this time. As a preview, we offer the word clouds here, because we feel they are representative of not only the individuals present to witness the virtual dialogue, but we think they represent some important trends in our field right now.

Word Cloud #1: How the participants felt upon initially settling into the Virtual Dialogue room
We think this compilation reflects a realistic window into the complexities we are all facing. We are tired, anxious, and overwhelmed, but also hopeful about the work we are all doing and the possibilities that lie ahead. It represents what is so inspiring about the early childhood education field as a whole. We face hard realities in acknowledgement of both the struggles and the beauty.

Word Cloud #2: How the participants felt after the event was over
We think this compilation reflects the space the panelists held for the complexities, the inspiration and guidance they provided, and the reverence for early childhood educators that was so clearly expressed throughout the dialogue. It represents the ways we support each other and the ways we beam when our larger society sees us and values us.

This experience led us to reflect on gifts. You, our treasured community, are gifts! You openly give of yourself to children, to families, and to your entire communities. In return you deserve to be seen and valued, to have this energy gifted back to you. At the beginning of our time during this panel, Dr. Lewin shared a meditation, in which you, in quiet contemplation, hold space for someone in your life who deserves some extra love right now. Then, after meditating on this, you turn that energy back toward inward and hold that space for yourself. We think this is a perfect meditation for teachers, as it is representative of what comes naturally to us in extending our caring gifts outward. And it is also representative of what we all deserve, to hold space for self-love.

We offer you this recording as a gift, and encourage you to share it with anyone in your life who might benefit. And we also find ourselves reflecting on the meaning of community care. To truly care for others, we also have to seek and accept care for ourselves. As educators and community leaders, we all have the opportunity to model what it means to offer gifts of love to each other, and ourselves, in an intricate dance.

So we leave you with a question upon which we can all reflect:
If we all commit ourselves to embracing the complexities of community care, how can we emerge from this current crisis stronger and more connected than ever before?

Thank you to all of our panelists, and they all shared an openness to you reaching out to them for any reason:

​Daniel S. Lewin, Ph.D., D.ABSM, CBSM
Lewin.sleep@gmail.com

Dr. Lewin is a pediatric psychologist, sleep specialist, licensed clinical psychologist, and certified yoga teacher. He is Board Certified in Sleep Medicine and Behavioral Sleep Medicine and Associate Director of the Pediatric Sleep Medicine and Director of the Pulmonary Behavioral Medicine Program at Children's National Medical Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Lewin has conducted NIH funded research over the last two decades. He provides supervision of doctoral trainees, psychotherapy for parents and patients of all ages, and teaches mindfulness and meditation sessions.

Julia McGarey, MA
partneredpath.com
partneredpathparenting@gmail.com

Julia has been working with children of all ages since 1998 and has a master's degree in Human Development and Education. She became a mother in 2015, and through her own journey, realized the best way to provide long-term support to children was to support their parents. Her years of professional experience combined with being a parent herself has given her insight into the many challenges parents face, especially parents of sensitive and spirited children. Through one-on-one coaching, she helps parents drop their reactive patterns, minimize power struggles and challenging behaviors, and find more joy and ease in their relationships with their children.

Julie Zabolio, MA, LPC, IMH-E®
health.solutions.com
juliez@health.solutions.com
Office: 719.545.2746
Cell: 719.225.9215

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and have worked with children and families is a variety of settings - outpatient, residential, foster care, private practice - since 1996. I have been in my current position as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist since 2012. In my current role, I provide Mental Health Consultation to parents, early childhood educators, and childcare providers. I am able to provide services in the community in both early childhood education settings and in children's homes. I received my Colorado Association of Infant Mental Health endorsement in 2016.

Laura Conley
lauraconley.com
laura@lauraconley.com
IG: @lauraconleycoaching
FB: join the Yummy Mummy Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/457071331716187/

Laura Conley is a certified Life + Weight Loss Coach and a Certified Yoga and Meditation Teacher. She is obsessed with helping her clients feel like themselves once and for all. She specializes in working with her clients to create the best mindset ever so that they can free themselves from anxiety, stress, bad habits, food + body drama and weigh their dream come true weight - forever. She makes the deep work of becoming the best version of yourself permanent, sustainable and FUN.

Michele Starr Beach, MA
michele@thepatchworkschool.com

Michele Beach has thirteen years of experience working with families as the founder and Executive Director of The Patchwork School, a non-profit school for young children. She is also a Registered Psychotherapist, with an MA in Educational Psychology, and is completing her third year in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling at Naropa University. She also has offered Parent, Family and Couples Counseling at the Louisville Family Center since 2017. In addition, she is a mother of three children, and she feels her children have been both her greatest joy and best teachers.

Theresa Melito-Conners, PhD (Dr. MC)
drmcselfcare.com
drmcselfcare@gmail.com
P: (781) 816-7352

Dr. Theresa Melito-Conners (Dr. MC), is the founder of "Dr. MC's Self-Care Cabaret" as well as a public school administrator in the Greater Boston area. Inspired by her doctoral research, Theresa loves to help others practice better self-care and she is deeply passionate about this mission. Theresa is a recent graduate from Lesley University's PhD in Educational Leadership program in Cambridge, MA. Theresa understands the challenges of balancing all of life's responsibilities and the importance of making time for yourself. With a B.A. in Theatre Studies from Emerson College and an M.Ed. in School Counseling from Salem State University, Theresa has a variety of experiences from counseling special education adolescents with various mental health needs to choreographing professional musicals. Theresa has been presenting at different conferences in New England and she has two book chapters in the works. Please visit her website www.drmcselfcare.com for more information, to subscribe to her blog and find a link to her growing Facebook community @drmcselfcare.

​​

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In early March of 2020, when it became clear we were facing a global crisis unlike anything in our lifetime, our community began to shelter in place. Our physical professional home, Boulder Journey School, closed to contribute to physical distancing recommendations, and we immediately began to grieve what was lost.

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Join us every weekday morning to take a few moments to step out of the internal chatter and external noise. We'll pause and reflect to consider what brings us together in this shared human condition and how we can live a life that best reflects our limitless potential.

Join us every weekday morning to take a few moments to step out of the internal chatter and external noise. We'll pause and reflect to consider what brings us together in this shared human condition and how we can live a life that best reflects our limitless potential.

Sincere and meaningful podcast

Headspace has the kindest, most sincere team. They share their stories here in this podcast, which are most memorable. You'll remember them!

Forever Grateful

There is so much wisdom to be found in these short and sweet episodes.

Enjoyable

This podcast will give you excellent tips and ideas to improve your life. I was going to give it 5 stars but for one thing.

The app has the Wake Up which is another mini podcast. However why can't this podcast also be listed on the app

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Join us every weekday morning to take a few moments to step out of the internal chatter and external noise. We'll pause and reflect to consider what brings us together in this shared human condition and how we can live a life that best reflects our limitless potential.

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Managing Anxiety Around COVID-19: Tips for You and Your School Community

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Mindful meditations and mindfulness practices, and conversations for modern conscious living.

Mindful meditations and mindfulness practices, and conversations for modern conscious living.

Episode 16

I know it's a pandemic but pay attention to sound quality. Sounded like the speaker was moving in and out of his car? Too distracting to listen to

Thank you !!!

During this time I need something that would center me , ground me and bring back to being present. Peace xx

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Mindful meditations and mindfulness practices, and conversations for modern conscious living. Mindful meditations and mindfulness practices, and conversations for modern conscious living. I know it's a pandemic but pay attention to sound quality. Sounded like the speaker was moving in and out of his car?

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A gift of self awareness for yourself, and for others. Based on decades of research from Yale. Tell your Mood Meter mobile app how you feel and build emotional intelligence that lasts a lifetime.

Expand your emotional vocabulary Discover the nuances in your feelings.

Gain insights about your inner life Learn what's causing your feelings over time.

Regulate your feelings Use strategies to regulate your feelings: enhance how you manage your life.

Remember to check in with yourself Use reminders to check-in on your feelings throughout the day.

View your report Learn how your feelings are affecting your decisions, relationships, and performance.

Over time, you'll develop emotional intelligence skills that can help you in all areas of life.

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A gift of self awareness for yourself, and for others. Based on decades of research from Yale. Tell your Mood Meter mobile app how you feel and build emotional intelligence that lasts a lifetime. Expand your emotional vocabulary Discover the nuances in your feelings.

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At the end of March, our team at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, along with our colleagues at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), launched a survey to unpack the emotional lives of teachers during the COVID-19 crisis.

In the span of just three days, over 5,000 U.S. teachers responded to the survey. We asked them to describe, in their own words, the three most frequent emotions they felt each day.

The five most-mentioned feelings among all teachers were anxious, fearful, worried, overwhelmed, and sad. Anxiety, by far, was the most frequently mentioned emotion.

The reasons educators gave for these stress-related feelings could be divided into two buckets. The first is mostly personal, including a general fear that they or someone in their family would contract COVID-19, the new coronavirus. The second pertains to their stress around managing their own and their families' needs while simultaneously working full-time from home and adapting to new technologies for teaching.

Once distance learning had gone into effect, we heard from one educator who shared:

My vision of finally having someone else take care of my own kids' education, even virtually, was smashed to smithereens. This requires 100 percent parent involvement, actually 200 percent because my kids are in two different grades!

Given the unexpected new demands our educators are facing, we might assume that how teachers are feeling now is entirely different from the emotions they were experiencing before the pandemic. But is it?

In 2017, our center conducted a similar survey on teachers' emotions. A national sample of over 5,000 educators answered the same questions about how they were feeling.

Back then, the top five emotions were frustrated, overwhelmed, stressed, tired, and happy. The primary source of their frustration and stress pertained to not feeling supported by their administration around challenges related to meeting all of their students' learning needs, high-stakes testing, an ever-changing curriculum, and work-life balance.

Our research findings are echoed across a growing body of research on teachers' stress and burnout.

In one study, 85 percent of teachers reported that work-life imbalance was affecting their ability to teach. Other research has shown that at least 30 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first five years of teaching. Like our research, these studies found that the general causes of teacher stress and burnout are related to a lack of strong leadership and a negative climate, as well as increased job demands, especially around testing, addressing challenging student behaviors, a lack of autonomy and decision-making power, and limited to no training in social and emotional learning (SEL) to support educators' and students' emotional needs.

So, before the pandemic, America's teachers were already burning out. Add in new expectations of becoming distance-learning experts to support uninterrupted learning for all their students and caring for the ever-evolving demands of their families, and it's no surprise that 95 percent of the feelings they reported recently are rooted in anxiety.

We can't control what is happening to us and around us, but we can control how we respond to it.

Emotions matter

An anonymous teacher who filled out our most recent survey described the balancing act like this:

There is this huge dissonance right now between the messages such as "be well" and "take care of yourself" at the end of emails, and "in this time of uncertainty." Yet we have to partake in multiple seminars, read links related to online instruction, legal requirements in special ed, due process, timelines, etc. Everyone needs to be reminded again about how the brain works.

At the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, we study how emotions drive effective teaching and learning, the decisions educators make, classroom and school climate, and educator well-being. We assert that educators' emotions matter for five primary reasons:

Emotions matter for attention, memory, and learning. Positive emotions like joy and curiosity harness attention and promote greater engagement. Emotions like anxiety and fear, especially when prolonged, disrupt concentration and interfere with thinking. Chronic stress, especially when poorly managed, can result in the persistent activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the release of stress hormones like cortisol. Prolonged release of this and other neurochemicals impacts brain structures associated with executive functioning and memory, diminishing our ability to be effective educators and undermining student learning.

Emotions matter for decision making. When we're overwhelmed and feeling scared and stressed, the areas of our brains responsible for wise decision making also can become "hijacked." In contrast, the experience of more positive states like joy and interest tend to help people evaluate individuals, places, and events more favorably compared to people experiencing more unpleasant emotions. Pleasant emotions also have been shown to enhance mental flexibility and creativity, which are key to navigating the novel and evolving demands of living through a pandemic.

Emotions matter for relationships. How we feel and how we interpret the feelings of others send signals for other people to either approach or avoid us. Teachers who express anxiety or frustration (for example, in their facial expressions, body language, vocal tone, or behavior) are likely to alienate students, which can impact students' sense of safety in the classroom-and likely at home in a virtual learning environment-thereby having a negative influence on learning. Further, dysregulated emotions can undermine healthy relationships between teachers and parents. For most students, a successful distance-learning experience will require a solid partnership between teachers and families.

Emotions matter for health and well-being. How we feel influences our bodies, including physical and mental health. Stress is associated with increased levels of cortisol, which has been shown to lead to both physical and mental health challenges, including depression and weight gain. Both the ability to regulate unpleasant emotions and the experience of more pleasant emotions have been shown to have health benefits, including fostering greater resilience during and after traumatic events.

Emotions matter for performance. Chronic stress among teachers is linked to decreases in teacher motivation and engagement, both of which lead to burnout. Teachers who are burned out have poorer relationships with students and are also less likely to be positive role models for healthy self-regulation-for their students and their families. It's no surprise that teachers who are burned out are more likely to leave the profession, which impacts student learning and puts a huge drain on schools. You get the picture: When educators answer the question about how they feel at school-or, in our most recent study, as an at-home educator-we learn they spend a big part of their workday in a pretty dark place.

Research we and others have conducted has shown two possible protective factors for teachers' emotional well-being. First, teachers with more developed emotion skills tend to report less burnout and greater job satisfaction. These skills include the ability to recognize emotions accurately, understand their causes and consequences, label them precisely, express them comfortably, and regulate them effectively. But the challenge is that most teachers have not received a formal education in emotion skills.

Second, teachers who work in a school with an administrator with more developed emotion skills tend to experience fewer negative emotions and more positive emotions. These teachers also are likely to have better-quality relationships with their students. When students have stronger connections with their teachers, they, in turn, are more engaged and committed to learning; they're also more willing to take risks and persist in the face of difficulty.

We need a greater focus on teachers' health and well-being now, so they can thrive through this pandemic and be psychologically ready to return to school after this has passed.

Supporting educators' well-being

We know how anxious teachers (and, really, everyone else) are feeling right now. But have we thought about how we want to feel?

Previously, we asked teachers how they want to feel at school, and they answered loud and clear. A few of the top hoped-for emotions were happy, inspired, valued, supported, effective, and respected.

The more sensitive we can be to our educators' emotional needs today, the better we'll be able to support them now and when schools reopen. The space between how we feel and how we want to feel presents an opportunity to work together to improve the emotional climate of our homes and schools. The emotional climate is the feelings and emotions a learning space evokes; that space includes both the physical one and the learning climate that is evoked through the interactions between and among educators and students. This can be applied to traditional school settings and to virtual ones.

We need to understand how our teachers want to feel, again, and then support them with what they'll need to experience these feelings.

In the same survey we conducted at the end of March, we asked teachers to share some reflections about what they need to have greater emotional balance. Responses included time to adjust to the new normal of online learning and ways to make virtual learning fun and engaging. Teachers also expressed a strong need for honesty, respect, kindness, flexibility, and patience from their school administrators. Further, they requested more realistic expectations, including boundaries around working around the clock. Among the top requests were strategies to support their own and their students' wellness and resilience.

Building a charter

Putting our emotional needs in writing has a way of making them real for everyone. It acts as a reminder for those times when we might feel anxious or frustrated or any other uncomfortable feeling. It also serves as a contract between ourselves and our colleagues (and even students and families) to help during moments when we are anything but calm and considerate.

As part of RULER, our center's approach to SEL, thousands of schools across the nation have gone through the process of creating an "Emotional Intelligence Charter" with their faculty and staff with positive results.

The process of building a charter or agreement requires us to be vulnerable, and that can be hard, especially in times like these. And some educators are somewhat self-conscious and apprehensive about the process of asking colleagues how they want to feel. It can be scary. Often, how we want to feel is an indicator of what hasn't been working at our schools. But we've found that when schools have the courage to ask, the benefits outweigh the risks.

Specifically, a charter reflects the agreed-upon feelings and behaviors of the members of a learning community. Here, we describe the process of building a faculty and staff charter. The same process can be applied to the classroom or home environment.

It starts with a deceptively simple question: How do we want to feel as a faculty/staff? A principal or group of teachers can pose the question to the faculty and staff at their school. Once everyone shares their top three or four hoped-for feelings, the goal is to narrow them all down to a "top five" list reflective of the entire faculty.

The second question is: What do we need to do for everyone to feel this way? Here, faculty and staff share specific ideas that would support them in experiencing each of the feelings. The goal is to come up with two or three observable behaviors that are realistic and attainable for each feeling. For example, in order for teachers to feel supported around distance learning, what exactly will everyone agree to do differently so everyone feels supported? If teachers want to feel more valued, what are the specific things schools can do? Perhaps everyone can agree to respond to virtual inquiries in a timely manner.

Once the five feelings and related behaviors are compiled, the charter can be created and distributed to each member of the faculty and staff. In this virtual world of education, be creative about ways to disseminate it to everyone. If your school or district uses a learning management system, perhaps the charter can be "public" there.

Importantly, the charter should be a living document-it will evolve as your learning community does throughout the pandemic. Consider weekly reflections and opportunities for teachers to share ideas based on their hoped-for feelings. For example, if teachers want to feel more engaged, perhaps create opportunities for them to share their best virtual lesson of the week and why it worked so well. Even weekly quotations that remind everyone about the desired feelings can help to sustain a positive climate. And when we are all finally able to return to our schools, it will be important to revisit the charter. How we want to feel and what we need to support our health and well-being is fluid.

We are living through a pandemic that most of us could never have imagined. And, as we've shared, our educators are not in the best emotional shape. Today's teachers, counselors, and school leaders are experiencing greater anxiety, stress, and burnout than ever before. If we just hope for the best, more and more educators will fall by the wayside. Fortunately, an increasing number of schools are seeing the benefits of SEL, not just for students, but for educators' own skill development.

The time has come for all schools to address the missing link in what will help educators' thrive-a greater focus on all adults' health and well-being. If we want our educators to be successful-both personally and professionally-schools must be places that bring out the best in them.
This article was originally published on EdSurge as part of the guide Navigating Uncertain Times: How Schools Can Cope With Coronavirus. Read the original article.
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How to Support Teachers' Emotional Needs Right Now

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At the end of March, our team at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, along with our colleagues at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), launched a survey to unpack the emotional lives of teachers during the COVID-19 crisis. In the span of just three days, over 5,000 U.S.

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Download a handout packet for the 1-Hour Building Your Bounce: Strategies to Promote Resilience in Adults who Care for Children (Part 2) ~ July 25, 2013

Download a copy of the Devereux Adult Resilience Survey (DARS)

Learn more about Building Your Bounce: Simple Strategies for a More Resilient You

*This 2 part webinar series are brought to you in partnership by the National Head Start Association and the Devereux Center for Resilient Children.

Additional resources from the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development

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Building Your Bounce Webinars - Devereux

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Download a handout packet for the 1-Hour Building Your Bounce: Strategies to Promote Resilience in Adults who Care for Children (Part 2) ~ July 25, 2013 Download a copy of the Devereux Adult Resilience Survey (DARS) Learn more about Building Your Bounce: Simple Strategies for a More Resilient You *This 2 part webinar series are ...

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Webinar: Simple Steps to Self-Care for Educators

What are your current self-care practices? Do you take time to look inward to see what's driving your outer responses to what's happening around you? What can you do to balance yourself when the world around us seems out of control?

For many educators, burnout is at an all-time high and self-care is painfully absent.

We spend quite a bit of time thinking about how we'll raise the next generation to be better than we've been. It seems in today's time we see more challenge, more addiction, more children struggling, and more heartbreak. When we can better understand what's happening inside of us, we can better understand what's happening with the children in our classrooms. We can then use this knowledge and practice to create classroom cultures and climates that allow space for children to learn to do the same.

Join Conscious Discipline Master Instructor Amy Speidel as she explores what our current practices of self-care look like, how we respond to thoughts and emotions and how to move toward healthy self-care and self-regulation practices.

Webinar Outline

00:22 Why has self-care become so complicated

02:55 Commitment for the webinar

03:46 Overview picture of today's topic

05:41 What is self-care

07:45 "Hazard light" for the body

09:51 Ideas for fueling with food

11:06 Improving sleep and exercise

12:50 "Hazard lights" for mind and emotions

14:22 Why we turn to stuff when emotions arise

17:49 How to move from distractions to noticing and acknowledging our feelings

22:00 When flood moments arise

23:24 Is it a distraction/addiction or not?

27:04 What is it when emotions show up all around us?

29:55 Learning the language of our emotions

30:50 "Hazard lights" for our spirit

33:44 Shifting from judgment to noticing

35:46 Example of living out our values

37:55 How we take this information into our teaching experience

42:37 Taking a look at how we build classroom culture and climate

46:59 Resources for building the culture and climate we want vs. the one we inherited

49:15 Summary of what's been shared

53:02 Steps toward beginning healthy self-care

Resource Mentions

Helpful Next Steps

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Webinar: Simple Steps to Self-Care for Educators | Conscious Discipline

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What are your current self-care practices? Do you take time to look inward to see what's driving your outer responses to what's happening around you? What can you do to balance yourself when the world around us seems out of control?

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In our over-stressed world, many health care providers, social workers, and caregivers are suffering from slow yet painful burnout. Many of the rest of us, working long hours and raising families, seem to be approaching burnout, too. Sometimes we may feel that we're too exhausted to keep giving to others, even though giving is a primary source of happiness in our lives.

So how can we keep giving without burning out? We're told that self-care is the answer: Give yourself a treat; you deserve it. Take some time for yourself. Say no.

Indeed, a research review found that psychologists in training who practice more self-care report feeling less distressed and stressed and more satisfied with life. The question is: What does self-care look like, and how much of it do we need?

As it turns out, the trick is to be other-focused and kind, but to balance that with taking care of yourself as well. Here are some practices to help you do that.

1. Self-compassion

One particularly potent form of self-care involves transforming our relationship with ourselves-in particular, practicing self-compassion.

Self-compassion is treating yourself as you would a friend-with kindness rather than self-judgment-especially at times when you fail. Self-compassion is remembering that we all make mistakes, instead of beating ourselves up. And it means being mindful of emotions and thoughts without getting overly immersed in them. Self-compassion doesn't mean being indulgent or letting yourself off the hook, but it also doesn't mean being overly self-critical and harsh.

Elaine Beaumont at the University of Salford has conducted numerous studies looking at the impact of self-compassion on burnout and compassion fatigue. In a study of 100 student midwives-who routinely see both the miracle of new life and the tragedies that can accompany childbirth-Beaumont and her team found that midwives who had higher levels of self-compassion also showed less burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms. The opposite was true of midwives who were highly self-critical. She repeated this study with different caretaker professions and found similar results in nurses and students training to be counselors and psychotherapists.

In addition to being protected against burnout, people who are more self-compassionate tend to report feeling less stress and negative emotions. They're also more optimistic and feel more happiness and other positive emotions, among other benefits.

To practice self-compassion, try some of the exercises that pioneering self-compassion researcher Kristin Neff has studied and written about in her book on self-compassion, such as writing a Self-Compassionate Letter, taking a Self-Compassion Break, or asking yourself: How Would I Treat a Friend?

2. Social connection

Caring for ourselves also means seeking social connections, who can provide practical and emotional support to us when we're struggling. A study of nurses found that belonging to a more cohesive group at work helps prevent burnout and compassion fatigue, reducing the effects of stress and trauma.

This should come as no surprise: Social connection, from birth to old age, is one of our greatest human needs. Social connection leads to lower rates of anxiety and depression, strengthens our immune system, and can even lengthen our life.

Researchers agree that social connection has less to do with the number of friends you have than with how connected you feel on the inside, subjectively. In other words, you don't have to be a social butterfly to reap the benefits; just aim to cultivate an internal sense of belonging with those around you.

How? The tricky part is that stress is linked to self-focus; our stressed minds turn towards me, myself, and I-making us even more miserable and disconnected from others. Meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, and walks in nature, as well as curbing caffeine, can all help us calm down and feel ready to reach out to others. A study we conducted at Stanford showed that loving-kindness meditation can be a quick way to nurture a sense of connection. Better yet, try meditating with a partner!

3. Empathy and compassion

It might seem counterintuitive that empathy-which includes attending to others' struggles-would help us with our own, particularly for caregivers. But research in social workers shows that having more empathy can also prevent burnout. Brain-imaging research by Tania Singer suggests that compassion training can actually make you better at coping with other people's suffering-helping you help others without paying the cost yourself.

One potential explanation for this finding is that, by developing feelings like compassion and empathy, we are protected from feeling distressed or overwhelmed in the face of suffering. When you truly connect with another person who is suffering, you can actually feel empowered and energized because you are inspired to uplift that person.

We've all had the experience of having a friend ask for help during a time of emergency. In these moments, we are usually capable of so much more than we imagined-we seem to find hidden reserves of energy. Afterward, we end up feeling much better than we did before.

Again, loving-kindness meditation is one way to start to cultivate empathy. When you speak with someone who is suffering, practicing active listening can help you provide comfort and support to them without having to solve their problems.

The benefits of giving

If we can figure out how to continue giving to others without suffering from burnout, we can expect to reap many benefits.

For example, volunteering can have a positive impact on health, with benefits for obesity, blood glucose, blood pressure, and longevity. Older volunteers can derive a great feeling of purpose and self-esteem from volunteering; research shows that it makes them feel happier, more connected to others, and more confident of their self-worth. The benefits of volunteering for well-being seem to be universal, holding across cultures as well as generations.

Other studies have found that we're happier when we spend money on others, and that we experience more positive emotions when we engage in acts of kindness for others, rather than ourselves.

If you are shy or introverted or even have social anxiety, giving to others can actually still increase your happiness. Although giving tends to feel better when we connect with beneficiaries, for the truly shy or those who don't have time, even kind acts conducted over the computer can increase well-being.

Self-compassion, social connection, and empathy are powerful forms of self-care-but that doesn't mean that traditional self-care activities have no place in our lives. Keeping your spirits up with exercise, sleeping in, and making room for fun activities like movies or shopping are important. These pleasures give us short bursts of happiness that can help fuel us and keep us playful in life. To complement these more physical pleasures, giving and connecting with others in positive ways will bring us long-lasting feelings of joy that come from a life of purpose and meaning. The balance between the two is a ripe recipe for a happy, long, and fulfilling life.

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How to Give to Others without Burning Out

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In our over-stressed world, many health care providers, social workers, and caregivers are suffering from slow yet painful burnout. Many of the rest of us, working long hours and raising families, seem to be approaching burnout, too. Sometimes we may feel that we're too exhausted to keep giving to others, even though giving is a primary source of happiness in our lives.

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Worrying about masks and COVID. Talking to students about TikTok challenges. Trying to get things back to normal, when we are still far from it. For many, this is teaching in 2021. And yes, writing "teachers can virtually do anything" with icing and putting it on a cake in the teacher's lounge is . Hearing, "we are all in this together," is . Staff Shout-Outs on Fridays celebrating all the hard and extra work teachers are doing is nice. But you know what's nicer? Adequate prep time during contract hours to plan. Salaries that allow you to focus on one job instead of looking for a second to supplement. And how about school cultures that don't center on toxic positivity, but teachers' physical and mental health?

What do we mean by toxic positivity?

When someone says to you, "it could be worse" or "look on the bright side," they might mean well, but what they are saying is an example of toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is when we focus on the positive and reject, deny, or displace the negative. In theory, it sounds like being optimistic, but in reality, pushing aside our unpleasant emotions only make them bigger.

In schools, toxic positivity may look like administrators urging teachers to take time for "self care," but then loading them down with extra meetings and responsibilities. It may look like someone hanging a "teacher strong" banner in the hallway, but not paying for enough soap for the bathroom. It may look like conversations that encourage teachers to "stay positive" while not digging deeper into the issues that really matter, whether it's a panemic, equity, or school culture.

Toxic positivity has got to go: it starts with us

Let's stop telling teachers to do yoga and take baths (unless that's what they want and choose to do). Let's start advocating for teachers and working towards systemic change so teachers are treated like professionals (many with masters degrees) who are experts in their content and doing the important work of teaching our children.

And now I am going to say something that might ruffle a few feathers. In order for things to change, it has to start with us, the teachers.

Let's stop wearing our stress like a badge of honor and start getting real

While it may feel tempting to blame our admin or our district or the Department of Education or our society, that's not going to make anything better. Instead, let's stop buying into toxic positivity ("we can do this!" and "I only cried once today!") and start being real ("no, I can't do that because it isn't in my contract and I am not going to work all night and every weekend because it isn't in my contract").

It's time to shift the culture from "I can do it all and more" to "I can do what I was hired to do." Here are the five things I wish I had done when I was teaching.

1. Stop showing up early and staying late

I have experienced this in every school I taught at. There was a passive-aggressive competition over who worked longer and, therefore, harder. It was a badge of honor to be the teacher who was the first to pull into the parking lot. Let's just stop this. If you want to get to school early because that's when you are most productive and you can, then great. But if you are waking up, rushing your morning, and speeding to school because you think you have to, stop. And as for staying late, many of us have families and friends and pets and reasons to get home (even if that reason is Netflix).

2. Stop taking work with you everywhere you go

In my first year of teaching, I graded essays on Christmas Eve. I kept student papers in my bag so that if I waited in line at the grocery store or the coffee shop, I could pull them out and get some grading done. What a way to live. I still get chills when I look in the closet and see the pink tote bag that I carried everywhere. Grade smarter, not harder. Not everything needs a grade. Chances are your kids aren't even reading the nine hundred comments that you spent your Saturday writing.

3. Stop saying yes to more work because you feel like you should

I am trying really hard to eliminate the word "should" from my vocabulary. Should I only sleep four hours at night so I have a beautifully crafted lesson plan every morning? I don't know. I do know that I don't want to. The more you give into the "shoulds," the more resentment builds up, and I believe resentment is the reason why many teachers leave the classroom. Yes, we are caretakers. Yes, we love our kids. Yes, we went into this profession because we care deeply about teaching and learning. That doesn't mean that we should sacrifice ourselves in order to do more for others. It's OK to say no. In fact, it's exactly what we need to start doing in order to be OK.

4. Rewrite the story: the teacher martyr work 24/7 narrative has got to go

How many faculty meetings have started with a colleague sharing, "I was working all weekend to get ready for this week!" or "I barely slept last night because I had so much to do!" Sigh. This isn't a badge of honor, and sharing that you don't have boundaries and work all weekend contributes to a teaching narrative that fails to serve you and anyone else. What if we started to say, "I spent the weekend napping and reading" instead of "I had to do seven loads of laundry and grade papers." Or how about "I didn't think about school at all this weekend?"

5. At the end of the day, teaching is a job, and it's OK to see it that way

The years that I taught in a classroom are some of the years that I am most proud of. But when I look back on my teaching self and see her working 24-7 and crying in her car on the way home and missing her kids' parent-teacher conferences because she didn't have the guts to end her own on time, I feel sad. I was part of the narrative too. I was the "yes" teacher and the "should" teacher, and maybe I should have said no and done some yoga because I wanted to. The truth is I saw teaching as a calling, not a job. You can care about your kids and love teaching and still leave school when school ends. If I had, I might still be teaching.

We'd love to hear about your experiences with toxic positivity in schools. Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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Are Teachers OK? No, and Toxic Positivity Isn't Helping

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Worrying about masks and COVID. Talking to students about TikTok challenges. Trying to get things back to normal, when we are still far from it. For many, this is teaching in 2021. And yes, writing "teachers can virtually do anything" with icing and putting it on a cake in the teacher's lounge is .

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How will our actions today plant the seeds for a better world tomorrow?

Join us for a week-long series of online events with lively conversation, well-being tips and the opportunity to hear from mental health experts and special guests, including a recorded dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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The World We Make 2020 Virtual Gathering

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How will our actions today plant the seeds for a better world tomorrow? Join us for a week-long series of online events with lively conversation, well-being tips and the opportunity to hear from mental health experts and special guests, including a recorded dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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CASEL CARES: Helping Children and Families Manage Stress & Build Resilience with Dr. Bruce Perry

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Managing Emotions Through Self Care & Building Resilience

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** Best of 2018 Award Winner ** - Apple

** 2017 App of the Year ** - Apple

** Happiest App in the World ** - Center for Humane Technology

Calm is the #1 app for Sleep, Meditation and Relaxation. Sleep better, relieve stress, lower anxiety and refocus your attention. Explore an extensive library of guided meditations, Sleep Stories, breathwork, exclusive music and stretching exercises.

Invest in your mental health and choose a guided meditation session that fits within your busy schedule. Add Calm to your daily routine and join the millions experiencing the life-changing benefits of practicing mindfulness. Beginners, intermediate and advanced users can all find their home in Calm.

Let relaxing music and calming sounds help you meditate, focus and sleep better. Sleep Stories are bedtime stories that are guaranteed to lull you into a deep and restful slumber. Pick from 100+ exclusive Sleep Stories, featuring well-known talent such as Matthew McConaughey, Stephen Fry, Rosé, Jerome Flynn and P!nk.

Calm is recommended by top psychologists, therapists and mental health experts. Take a deep breath and find your Calm.

CALM FEATURES

MEDITATION & MINDFULNESS
* Meditate with seasoned experts, regardless of your experience level
* Introduce mindfulness into your daily routine and learn to calm your mind
* Mindfulness topics include Deep Sleep, Calming Anxiety, Managing Stress, Focus and Concentration, Breaking Habits, Happiness, Self-Esteem and so much more

SLEEP STORIES
* Sleep soundly listening to bedtime stories for adults and children alike
* Wonder - Join Matthew McConaughey on a dreamy story about the mysteries of the universe
* Blue Gold - Journey through the sleepy village of Provence with master storyteller Stephen Fry
* The Nordland Night Train - Travel up the scenic coast of Norway aboard a remote railway
* Happy Little Zzzs - Drift off to the soothing brush strokes of beloved painter Bob Ross

RELAXATION & STRESS RELIEF
* Learn to relax and lower stress with daily meditation and breathing exercises
* Focus on a goal with Dailies - Reduce anxiety with daily 10-minute original programs like the Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt, the Daily Trip with Jeff Warren, or the Daily Jay with Jay Shetty
* Shift your thinking and find your calm through inspiring stories with Wisdom
* Daily Move: Mindful stretching and movement to relax your body during the day

ALSO FEATURING
* Daily Streaks & Mindful Minutes: Track and celebrate your progress
* 7 and 21 day mindfulness programs for both beginner and advanced users
* Music: Exclusive music engineered to help you focus, relax or sleep
* Soundscapes to sleep: Ocean waves, Heavy Rain, Camp Fire, Babbling Brook and more

Calm saves your meditation and sleep sessions to your Apple Health app.

Subscription pricing and terms:
Calm offers an auto-renewing monthly subscription at $14.99/month and an auto-renewing yearly subscription at $69.99/year to provide you with unlimited access to the Calm Collection while you maintain an active subscription. Calm also offers a Lifetime subscription for $399.99 which is paid for by a one-off upfront payment with unlimited access to the Calm Collection forever.

Payment will be charged to the credit card connected to your iTunes Account when you confirm the initial subscription purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and the cost of the renewal will be identified. You may manage your subscription and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after the purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable.

Read more about our terms and conditions here:
Terms of service: https://www.calm.com/terms
Privacy policy: https://www.calm.com/privacy

Calm is the #1 app for sleep and meditation. Discover a happier, healthier you through our meditations, Sleep Stories, music, and more.

Calm is for anyone, whether you're brand new to meditation or a seasoned expert. It's also for anyone who needs a mental break, a soothing sound, or a peaceful night's rest. Our guided meditations are available in lengths of 3 to 25 minutes, so you can choose the perfect length to fit your schedule.

We offer a new 10-minute Daily Calm every day, Sleep Stories narrated by well-known voices like Matthew McConaughey, a music library with exclusive tracks from top artists like Keith Urban and Disney, short videos with mindful movement and gentle stretching for every body type, Masterclasses taught by world-renowned experts in the field of mindfulness, soundscapes and nature sounds to use during meditation or to help you sleep, breathing exercises to help you relax, and more.

With over 100 million users worldwide, we're having a positive effect on more and more people each day. Take a moment to prioritize yourself today, and enjoy the app.

Editors' Choice

Take a deep breath. That phrase greets you whenever you open Calm. It's both a call to action and a defining feature of the app's approach to meditation: You're going to get through this, and all you need to start is a moment. In the increasingly crowded field of apps for meditation and mindfulness, Calm stands out for its ease of use and attention to (soothing) detail.

Has become better with years

Calm has always been a good app. As they grew, so did frustrating tech issues but they seem to have solved those and have added to their programs. It's as if they have beautifully sculpted the app with time. I really appreciate the choices given when I open Calm. Sometimes I need a moving meditation. Sometimes I need the wisdom Sometimes a little humor and sometimes only Tamara's calming voice will do. I really appreciate the meditating sounds of soft rain or a washing machine or waves ebbing & flowing. But my very tough Working K9 will only calm when going through his annual vet visit with blood tests and shots and such to Baby Shhh and it works every time. So I guess if Calms me and my dog, I have to give it five stars. I love the breathing part. I use it almost daily. Not a fan of the music but the sleep stories are the best and I love that I can use the search bar and find one of my favorites I may be in the mood for such as a dream over Paris or the history of the Library at Oxford or the train stories. Also the narrators offer excellent choices and their are certain ones whom I just need to hear at hard times because their soft melodic gift of storytelling puts me right out. I really appreciate the variety. I have had the Calm app I believe since not long after it launched and as others have come and gone and Calm has had its own growing pains, it's the one with which I remain. So, thanks Calm, from my Tough Dog and I both.

So sorry for the trouble you've experienced! Please try leaving the app open on the loading screen, as this should allow the app to fully load. Upon subsequent app launches, the app should then load normally without any delay on the "take a deep breath" screen. If you are experiencing issues on an older version of the iOS app, please update to the latest version, then follow the steps above if you experience any loading issues.

𝔸 𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕕

Felix has a stunning, soothing, and low pitched voice. He should be added because a lot of people love his voice. And it could amplify the app's popularity among stays. It's a good idea. But it's not necessary. If your app is a voice-over, then you should use the same pitch as the voice, or even a lower one. The same goes for the text. A Felix has a stunning, soothing, and low pitched voice. He should be added because a lot of people love his voice. And it could amplify the app's popularity. Felix gets a load of support. If Felix's voice can help a 10 year old with autism calm down, it can help your users too. So it's good to have him. You can even add a Felix to your text messages if it helps your customers. This is an excellent idea and one that I've seen in a few places. I like this idea, because Felix has a stunning, soothing, and low pitched voice. He should be added because a lot of people love his voice. And it could amplify the app's popularity. Felix gets a load of support. If Felix's voice can help a 10 year old with autism calm down, it can help your users too. We have a ton of users that love Felix. His voice is amazing. That's why we'll be adding him to the list. Maybe you want to add Felix because he has this video series that is intended for people who can't sleep.

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

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‎** Best of 2018 Award Winner ** - Apple ** 2017 App of the Year ** - Apple ** Happiest App in the World ** - Center for Humane Technology Calm is the #1 app for Sleep, Meditation and Relaxation. Sleep better, relieve stress, lower anxiety and refocus your attention.

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Life throws chaos at us on a regular basis-whether it's our finances, our relationships, or our health. In the work world, around 50 percent of people are burned out in industries like health care, banking, and nonprofits, and employers spend $300 billion per year on workplace-related stress.

In response, we just keep on pushing through, surviving on adrenaline. We overschedule ourselves; we drink another coffee; we respond to one more email. If we stay amped up all the time, we think, we'll eventually be able to get things done.

But all that does is burn us out, drain our productivity, and lead to exhaustion.

There's another way-a calmer way. Cultivating a more restful, relaxed state of mind doesn't mean we'll drown under all our responsibilities. Instead, research suggests it will bring us greater attention, energy, and creativity to tackle them. And science also points to simple ways we can tap into that calm state of mind to be more resilient in our chaotic lives.

A stressed mind vs. a calm mind

Stress was never meant to be a 24/7 experience. As Stanford professor Robert Sapolsky explains, you're really only supposed to feel stressed in the five minutes right before you die. When you are being chased in the savanna by a wild animal, your stress response is supposed to save your life-it mobilizes your attention, muscles, and immune system to get you quickly out of danger. When animals escape, they come right out of fight-or-flight mode and into "rest-and-digest" mode, where the parasympathetic nervous system is working to replenish their resources.

That stress response is supposed to be short-lived because it wears down your body, your health, and your energy. It also impacts things like your emotional intelligence and your decision making. When you're tightly wound up, you are more likely to react to situations than to respond with reason.

You also perceive the world differently. Stress makes us narrowly focused, preventing us from seeing the bigger picture. When we're calmer, our attention becomes broader. In fact, we literally see more things. In one study, participants went through a three-month meditation training. They then engaged in something called the attentional blink task, in which you watch images appear rapidly one after another. Usually when people do this exercise, their attention doesn't pick up all of the target images. But after that mindfulness training, participants were able to pick up more of the target images than pre-retreat-suggesting that their state of mind had become more attentive.

Being able to attend more means that you notice more things about other people and you're able to communicate with them in more powerful ways. High stress and anxiety (or any kind of negative emotion) make us self-focused, for an evolutionary reason: When our ancestors were stressed, it was because they were in a survival situation. It was good to be focused on yourself so you could save your life.

When we're stressed, we're less likely to notice if a colleague looks burned out or sad and more likely to get irritated if they don't perform as we expect. However, when you're in a calmer and happier place, that's probably the day when you will have more empathy: You'll notice your colleague and take the time to reach out and ask if there's anything you can do to support them.

When you're calm, you also manage your energy because you're not burning yourself up constantly, spending your days with your sympathetic nervous system in overdrive. Calm helps you focus on what you need to do and get it done much more quickly.

Calmness can also impact your creativity. Research suggests that our most creative ideas come in moments when we're not actively focused or stressed. We are most creative when our brain is in alpha wave mode, which is a relaxed state of mind-like when you're in the shower or taking a walk in nature. Indeed, people who go on an immersive nature retreat for four days come back with 50 percent increased creativity.

If you want to get the most out of yourself in terms of your productivity, creativity, and innovation-making progress at work or just solving the basic problems of life that you're faced with-calm is the key.

How to cultivate a calm state of mind

We know how to become stressed. Most of us are really good at activating our adrenal system and getting wound up. The question becomes, then, how do you wind down? Research suggests several practices that not only feel good but also put us into a calmer, more relaxed state-a state from which we can cope better with whatever life throws at us.

1. Breathing. Jake, who appears in my book The Happiness Track, was a U.S. Marine officer in charge of a Humvee on a convoy across Afghanistan, when his vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device. After the explosion, he looked down and saw that his legs were severely fractured below the knee. In that moment of shock, terror, and pain, he remembered a breathing exercise that he had read about for extreme wartime situations.

It allowed him to do his duty, which was to check on everyone else in the vehicle. It gave him the presence of mind to give orders to call for help, and to then tourniquet his own legs and prop them up before he fell unconscious-which saved his life.

Our breathing is a powerful way for us to regulate our emotions, and it is something we take for granted. Through your breath, you can activate your parasympathetic nervous system-the calming response in your body.

That's why we turned to breathing to help veterans-50 percent of whom don't see any improvement in their trauma symptoms from therapy or medication. The veterans were skeptical, but we began teaching them different breathing exercises. Within a couple of days, some of them started sleeping without medication; after the week-long program, many of them didn't qualify as having post-traumatic stress anymore, and that persisted up to a year later.

Using your breath, you can change how you feel. In another study, researchers observed people feeling different emotions and found that there was a different pattern of breath for each one. Then, they gave other people the different breathing patterns to perform and asked them, "How do you feel?" It turned out that doing those breathing exercises actually evoked the emotions.

One of the most calming breathing exercises you can do is to breathe in (e.g., to a count of four), hold, and then breathe out for up to twice as long (e.g., to a count of six or eight). You can gently constrict your throat, making a sound like the ocean, which is used in deep relaxation breathing. As you're doing this, especially thanks to those long exhales, you're activating the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing your heart rate and blood pressure.

2. Self-compassion. Often we are our worst critic. We think that being self-critical will help us be more self-aware and make us work harder, but that's a myth. In fact, according to a good deal of research, self-criticism destroys our resilience. We're less able to learn from our mistakes when we beat ourselves up. Self-critical people tend to have greater anxiety and depression, and an inability to bounce back from struggles.

Imagine someone running a marathon for the very first time in their life, and they trip and fall. Someone on the sidelines says, "You're a loser, you're so not a runner. What are you doing here? Go home." That person is our internal, self-critical voice. Self-compassion is somebody on the other side, who says, "Everybody falls, this is normal. You are so awesome, you're totally killing this."

Self-compassion is the ability to be mindful of your emotions-aware of the emotions that are going on inside whenever you fail at something. It doesn't mean you identify with them; you can just observe and notice them, without feeding the fire. Self-compassion also involves understanding that everyone makes mistakes and that it's part of being human. And it is the ability to speak to yourself the way you would speak to a friend who just failed, warmly and kindly.

When we adopt this attitude, research suggests, we are calmer-we have less feelings of stress as well as lower cortisol levels. We're also more resilient: We're less afraid of failure, and more motivated to improve ourselves.

3. Connection. How often are we actually present for another person 100 percent? When was the last time somebody was 100 percent present with you, even your spouse?

There's a loneliness epidemic in the United States and across the world. We know that those feelings of loneliness are extremely destructive to our body and mind, leading to worse health and even earlier death. And the stress and lack of calm in today's world may contribute to this loneliness because of the way that it tends to make us self-focused.

Our greatest human need, after food and shelter, is to connect with other people in a positive way. From the moment we're born until our last day, we have a deep and profound longing to belong to one another. And when we fulfill that need, it brings us more calm: The oxytocin and natural opioids that we release when we connect may exert a calming influence on our bodies, and the knowledge that we have the support of others can soothe our minds. When we face adversity, research suggests that our relationships and community have an important role to play in our resilience.

So how do we create a state of mind where we feel more connected?

The good news is that by taking care of yourself and your own well-being with practices like breathing and self-compassion, you are able to turn more attention outward to feel more connected, as well. Positive emotions like calm naturally make us feel closer to other people. You can try specific practices that research has found to boost your sense of connection, as well.

4. Compassion for others. Imagine a day when things aren't going well for you-you spilled your coffee on yourself, and it's raining. And then a friend calls who's having a true emergency in their life, and you jump up and go help them immediately. What happens to your state of mind in that moment?

All of a sudden you have high energy; you're completely at their service. That is what practicing altruism, service, and compassion does to your life.

It increases your well-being tremendously, as many of us have experienced when we perform little acts of kindness. When we feel compassion, our heart rate goes down and our parasympathetic nervous system is more activated.

Kindness and compassion can also help protect us from adversity. In one of my favorite studies, researchers found that people who had been through traumatic life situations had a shorter lifespan. But among these participants, there was a small group of people who just seemed to keep on living. What was going on with these people?

When the researchers dug a little deeper, they found that they were all engaged in helping friends and family in their life-from assisting with transportation or shopping to housework and child care. Service is one of the most profound ways to nourish the community around you, but also to nourish, inspire, and energize yourself. It's like that children's book-when you fill someone's bucket, it also fills yours.

Cultivating calm isn't about avoiding every kind of stressful emotion. In fact, when we make time to breathe, connect, and care, some of the negative feelings we've been running from might catch up with us. But that's the time for self-compassion; it's okay to feel bad. Resilience doesn't mean that we'll be happy all the time, but it does mean we have the energy, the mindset, and the support from others to help us weather the storm.
The talk this essay is based on is part of the Positive Links Speaker Series by the University of Michigan's Center for Positive Organizations. The Center is dedicated to building a better world by pioneering the science of thriving organizations.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Four Ways to Calm Your Mind in Stressful Times

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Life throws chaos at us on a regular basis-whether it's our finances, our relationships, or our health. In the work world, around 50 percent of people are burned out in industries like health care, banking, and nonprofits, and employers spend $300 billion per year on workplace-related stress.

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Try these quick and easy ways to build resilience and relieve stress.

By this point in the school year, you're tired and don't need another long list of self-care strategies. At the same time, perhaps you're worried about burnout and are experiencing the negative effects of stress. Perhaps you'd also like to do something to boost your reserves of energy so that you can make it through the year, and even experience joy.

I've been studying resilience in educators for a long time-for my own sake and to support the educators I coach. The following are small ways to assist with managing the daily stresses of teaching. When I take action and do any of these, l know that I'll feel better emotionally and physically and also that I'm filling my reserves of resilience.

Strategies for Managing Daily Stress

Sing a song. Perhaps during your morning shower or while you're driving to school, belt out a high-energy song that you find empowering. My latest favorite is Pink's " I Am Here." This tactic works because it makes you use your full lung capacity, and breathing deep is energizing-and there's research on the positive impact of listening to music. Time needed: four minutes.

Eat a handful of almonds or a high-quality protein like a protein bar. Around mid-morning, our blood sugar drops and we can start feeling physically tired. Protein helps to level out our emotions. Time needed: two minutes.

Take 10 deep, slow breaths. Close your eyes, sit with your feet planted on the ground, and focus on the sensation of air going in and out of your nose. Say to yourself, "Breathing in, breathing out." Make your exhale longer than your inhale. Breathe at recess or lunch time, or before school. Just one minute of mindful breathing will help you feel calmer and more grounded. Time needed: one minute.

Describe three good things. Record a voice memo at the end of the day in which you describe three good things that happened and your role in making them happen. This will remind you of your power to influence your life. Burnout is often a symptom of feeling deeply disempowered-remind yourself of your ability to make choices every day. Time needed: three minutes.

Make yourself smile. Try putting a pencil between your teeth and hold it there for 20 seconds. Smiling releases endorphins, and doing this exercise will make it more likely that you'll smile at others during the day. Time needed: one minute.

Have a short interaction with someone at school that you don't usually talk to. The person can be a student, parent, colleague, or other staff member-lunch servers, custodians, crossing guards. This will strengthen and widen your social circles, and community is critical for resilience. And yes, do this every day. Time needed: five minutes.

Notice and name three emotions you experience during the day. Say to yourself, "I'm experiencing sadness (or anger, or joy)." Here's a list of emotions to print out and reference. Circle the emotion when you notice it and note the date. You don't need to dig into the emotion-just notice it. Time needed: five minutes.

Write down something for which you're grateful. It can be just one thing, or more if you find yourself on a roll. But one thing is enough. You can do this at any time of the day. Just do it every day. Time needed: five minutes.

We know there's a difference between feeling stressed or a little burned out and depression. Many educators deal with depression, so if you have any concerns about your mental well-being, please speak to a professional right away.

Resilience is built one thought and one action at a time. It's the slow and steady strengthening of our resilience habits that makes it easier for us to manage challenges and rebound after setbacks.

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Simple Tips for Boosting Teacher Resilience

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Try these quick and easy ways to build resilience and relieve stress. By this point in the school year, you're tired and don't need another long list of self-care strategies. At the same time, perhaps you're worried about burnout and are experiencing the negative effects of stress.

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The app is like having a little personal action coach in your pocket who:

Gives you friendly 'nudges' with an action idea each day

Sends you inspiring messages to give you a boost

Helps you connect & share ideas with like-minded people

People are finding it really helpful and inspiring; for example, Jane said:
"I love it. The fact I get daily messages prompting me with the day's happiness challenge and reminding me of good things is perfect"
The Action for Happiness app is based on the themes and actions from our popular monthly calendars and aims to give users a couple of friendly "nudges" each day - firstly that day's action in the morning and secondly an inspiring message towards the end of the day.
** Please note that the push notifications are currently timed for UK use so may not arrive at the ideal time of day in other time zones!
The app was developed in partnership with Disciple Media, using their innovative app platform which helps communities to thrive.

We'd love your support in helping to spread the word about the app so please do let your friends and colleagues know about it. And we'd love your feedback about the app too :)

> Download the app for iOS & Android

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The app is like having a little personal action coach in your pocket who: Gives you friendly 'nudges' with an action idea each day Sends you inspiring messages to give you a boost Helps you connect & share ideas with like-minded people People are finding it really helpful and inspiring; for example, Jane said: "I love it.

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I believe this might very well be one of the first years where teachers enter the school year tired, weary, and burned out. The last third of the 2019-2020 school year included educational, medical, and societal challenges that none of us have seen before . Through the summer, educators have been gearing up for back to school that may include social distancing, online learning or both . I can assure you teachers are thinking, planning, preparing, and worrying about the first days of school. For this reason, I am advocating for a strong self-care initiative for teachers, either created individually for yourself or developed by a school building or district.

To assist with your self-care pla n , I've curated six of my favorite videos from our Educator Wellness courses and added a sprinkling of other resources as well . It is my sincere hope that you will find strategies, inspiration, and hope as you view the videos and consider the content for your self-care plan.

Did you accept the challenge? How did your level of happiness change after completing the gratitude experiment? How could you use this with your colleagues, students, or friends? Need another activity to increase happiness and gratitude? Check out this blog with a fun downloadable activity . New Happiness Course, Plus Bingo!

"You're gonna make it through this," one of those teachers said. It was true your first year, and it is true now. You have the resilience , power, skills, and will to get through this. And not only are you going to get through it, but you can THRIVE. One additional strategy that can be helpful as you work your way toward thriving in the classroom is mindfulness. Check out our .

"The people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they are worthy of love and belonging," Dr. Brown explains. You, as an educator, as an individual, as a human being, are worthy of love and belonging. Feeling love and belong i ng can decrease the likelihood of teacher burnout and increase resilience . Connection works. Reach out to a colleague, chat with a friend, or have a coffee with your sibling. Connect , because you are worthy.

Is there a way to use color, abundance, or curves to add moments of joy to your life, your classroom, your school, or your community ? Where do your students find joy? How can you model joy for your learners?

Even if you are tired, it is "worth it ." What makes being tired "worth it" for you? Write these things down , and put them in your "bad day file," so you can reread them as a reminder of why you became a teacher . It will re-energize you and wake you up.

This mantra was probably meant for students, but teachers can create their own mantras , too! Take a moment to think about what you would want your mantra to be. Consider sharing your mantra with your teaching team.

Learners Edge Offers 100+ Self-Paced, Online,
Graduate Credit Continuing Education Courses for Teachers

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I believe this might very well be one of the first years where teachers enter the school year tired, weary, and burned out. The last third of the 2019-2020 school year included educational, medical, and societal challenges that none of us have seen before .

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My career began with mental healthcare and shifted into an eight-year run as a special education teacher. In mental healthcare settings, I taught self-care strategies to clients receiving individual therapy or participating in community-based stress management classes. As a special educator, regardless of subjects or setting, I taught self-care strategies to students. It's safe to say I'm well-versed in self-care. Despite my professional training and expertise, I personally experienced burnout at least once each school year.

In the mainstream, self-care's popularity has spiked in recent years. Consumption of self-care related products and services has made it a thriving commercial industry. This trend reflects surging levels of stress and burnout across all American workers.

For educators, these aren't new concepts, but the packaging is. Mindfulness, yoga, and other school-based initiatives targeting educators have gained prominence. There are now even conferences dedicated to this cause. As an education professor whose research and professional development focuses on educator empowerment and well-being, I'm excited to see increased ridership on the self-care train. However, this topic has been misconstrued and needs clarification. In particular, three self-care misconceptions perpetuate unfair expectations of educators.

1. Limiting the definition of self-care: The term seems self-explanatory, but what exactly does it mean? There is no universal definition. Exercise is often a recommended form of self-care, as are mindfulness meditation and relaxation techniques. Some report soaking in warm baths, reading for pleasure, and snuggling puppies. Regardless, my point is that self-care is often defined as specific health-promoting activities or products.

To be clear, self-care doesn't always need to be overtly healthy. Some educators have told me their self-care includes self-soothing behaviors like binging on brownies or sipping on spirits. Others push back with suggestions that self-care must be healthy-otherwise, it is self-damage.

Recently, I attended a conference and heard an engaging speaker declare that self-care is not bringing M&Ms or other chocolates into the workplace to share with co-workers. So, the next day, I brought Almond Joys to share. As these contain two superfoods-almonds and coconut-that meant I was promoting self-care, right? All joking aside, my humble opinion is that self-care may not always constitute a health-promoting behavior. If small indulgences generate positive mental and emotional gains, why frown upon them? The catch, though, is knowing the line between beneficial indulgence and detrimental debauchery. This varies individually and is not universally defined.

Self-care is also not limited to specific activities. In our focus on evidence-based practices, we have greatly underestimated the intangible aspects of our well-being. For example, another form of self-care is setting boundaries on our time and availability. By ending our workday at a certain hour and including downtime on our agenda, we promote a work-life balance necessary for our health.

We also can care for ourselves by being choosy with our commitments. Saying "yes" to everything invites more expectation and less appreciation.

In addition to boundaries, the benefits of positive reciprocal human connections need no explanation. Do the people in your life enhance it or drain it? How about vice versa, and how you treat others? Self-care works in conjunction with-not in isolation from-community care. Overall, we need social networks that support the best versions of ourselves and therefore, the best we offer others.

2. Blaming burnout on educators: The self-care literature often concludes by proclaiming the benefits of self-care and ways to do it. Some use this to argue that educators who burn out did not care for themselves adequately. Don't get me wrong-educators have an ethical duty to maintain their capacity to perform. Though overlooked and underprioritized, self-care and effective coping are necessary skillsets of an educator and requisite to effective instruction and behavior management. Nevertheless, the ethical responsibility of educator self-care does not diminish the importance of effective school leadership, parental involvement, reasonable salaries and benefits, and most notably student accountability.

We all have a shared responsibility in education. Administrators, parents/families, and policymakers cannot continue holding teachers responsible for students' entire existence while compensating them so poorly that they either must marry into a decent standard of living or struggle to pay basic bills. We can't expect educators to save the world under such conditions through the miracle of self-care alone. It is merely a piece of a complex puzzle that involves other integral conditions, including excellent leadership, positive collegial relationships, access to adequate resources, parent and family involvement, and especially student participation.

3. Expecting a super-human educator: You often hear stories about someone's second-cousin's best friend's third-cousin's ex-spouse who was a teacher. That person taught classes of 40 or more students, all of whom had disabilities and experienced childhood trauma. Thanks to this amazing teacher, the students excelled on their standardized assessments, exhibited exemplary behavior, and all went on to become physicians, engineers, and CEOs. In addition to amazing teacher abilities, super-teacher was a hardworking single parent (clearly without the third-cousin's involvement-how convenient), with no financial support or family members. Said teacher was always happy, never complained, and never needed self-care, instead finding joy in self-sacrifice and devotion to others.

Critics will constantly compare us to these beyond-human educators they allegedly know, and we will inevitably fall short. Please also understand these stories are either immense exaggerations or outright lies. Educators are human beings, and we all have our strengths and challenges. Yes, self-care makes a difference and is a necessary practice for a healthy and happy life-let alone an effective educator. However, it is not another weapon to use against us, to blame us for education's (and society's) problems, or to justify super-human expectations.

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3 Misconceptions About Educator Self-Care (Opinion)

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My career began with mental healthcare and shifted into an eight-year run as a special education teacher. In mental healthcare settings, I taught self-care strategies to clients receiving individual therapy or participating in community-based stress management classes. As a special educator, regardless of subjects or setting, I taught self-care strategies to students.

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Finding ways to process the challenges of this year will be critical for teachers.

Educators this year are faced with a multitude of decisions and reflexive reactions as schools and communities try to create the safest plans for the return to school, and the chronic unpredictability of this situation wears on our nervous systems.

Why is this? Our brains and bodies are being flooded with millions of bits of sensory information every day, but with an increase of anxiety and worry, these sensations can trigger our stress response systems, causing our bodies and brains to move into a survival state where we find ourselves feeling chronically unsafe, dysregulated, and stressed.

These feelings can show up in the body as tightness, tense muscles, headaches, nausea, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, or a variety of other sensations. If we do not metabolize and process how we are experiencing these sensations and emotions, our immune systems can become compromised and we find ourselves living day after day in a fight, flight, or freeze response. Unprocessed negative emotions can be expressed in our bodies, and we can feel a knot in our stomach or a lump in our throat, or we may become choked up and teary. We may feel hot and sweaty, or experience a pounding in our ears or heads.

When we're aware of these sensations and feelings, we can begin to address our mental and physical well-being. Below are practices and strategies that address nervous system regulation and can be implemented in just a minute or two each day.

A calm brain can calm another brain. When we find our inner balance and feel grounded, we're able to share this with our students and colleagues. Emotions, negative or positive, are contagious, and when we prioritize the health of our nervous systems, we can share that health and well-being with all those around us.

5 Simple Ways to Find Calm

1. Take some belly breaths: A few long, deep belly breaths coupled with calming sounds provide rhythmic healing to a worn-out nervous system. Before you go to sleep or first thing when you awaken, step outside and just listen to the night or morning sounds. Sit comfortably, and for two or three minutes take a few deep breaths, exhaling a few seconds longer than you inhale. Listen to the rhythm of the crickets, katydids, or morning birds.

2. Try a yoga pose: There is growing research on the benefits of certain yoga poses to relieve anxiety and calm the nervous system. One of the most powerful ways to feel immediate relief from the overwhelming sensations of the day is to lie on your back with your legs straight up at a 90-degree angle against a wall. You can place a pillow under your head, but with your legs elevated, take a few minutes and breathe all the way down to your belly, feeling it rise and fall with each inhale and exhale. This pose produces a release of anxiety in the body.

3. Talk to yourself: Talking out loud to yourself, especially in the third person, can be extremely helpful in stressful moments. If you're by yourself, say what you need to say about a problem and then talk about options or outcomes. Validate and soothe yourself. If you're not alone, take a minute to write down your concerns and challenges until you can speak them aloud later. Try adding soothing and comforting words you need to hear, and say those out loud whenever you need them.

4. Control what you can control: When we're feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and worried, we can lose perspective on what is realistic and in our control, so it can be helpful to create a short list of the experiences, events, or situations that we can control and those we cannot. Sometimes when we're feeling dysregulated, we forget to pause, step back, and try to find a deeper perspective. As educators, we tend to want to fix problems, soothe troubled student feelings, and quickly find a solution. Often, we need to let go and observe, allowing the experience to unfold. Follow the quiet. Allow the quiet of contemplation to enter, and to leave when its work is completed.

5. Hum or sing: Humming and singing activate the vagus nerve, a critical nerve that flows from the brain stem throughout most of our body. It is associated with functions of the body that are automatic, like swallowing, digesting, and the heart's beating, and it relays signals to the brain that all is well or not. Activating this nerve basically tells your brain that you are calm and relaxed, while stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system to slow your heart rate and respiration and lower your blood pressure.

Our voice box is connected to the vagus nerve, so when we hum or sing, we activate this nerve and initiate a calm nervous system response in the brain and body. The music choices below are ones that I associate with a calm, pleasant emotional experience as I hum or sing along:

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5 Simple Ways to Manage Stress This Year

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Finding ways to process the challenges of this year will be critical for teachers. Educators this year are faced with a multitude of decisions and reflexive reactions as schools and communities try to create the safest plans for the return to school, and the chronic unpredictability of this situation wears on our nervous systems. Why is this?

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I'm sure we have all heard a flight attendant tell us at the beginning of a flight that if the oxygen masks fall from the compartment, put the mask on yourself before helping someone else put his/hers on. The obvious lesson is you won't be much help to others if you can't breathe, so take care of you first and then worry about others.

Albeit trite, these important instructions extend in usefulness way beyond the flight scenario. As educators, we have an enormous capacity to care for our students. Some would say helping children is their calling, their passion. It's all they've ever known and what they feel compelled to do. This seems like a very noble cause: to give and give and give. But here's the problem...what happens when you have no more to give? What happens when you're tapped out? What happens when you have nothing more to give? What happens to anything if there is only output, but no input?

In all cases, it results in an imbalance. For teachers, this giving, giving, giving often results in irritability, a sense of depletion, overwhelm, anxiety, and in extreme cases burnout which could result in leaving a beloved profession because of exhaustion or complete shutdown.
It doesn't have to be this way...
Many teachers I talk to (and myself included for many years) believe that this foreboding need to take care of students coupled with less time and more expectations is the recipe that must be followed to be considered a good teacher. These feelings of busyness and overwhelm are often equated to doing meaningful work. It's what we are accustomed to. We believe it's what's expected of us. Our jobs, we imagine, couldn't be done any other way.

I want you to consider just for a moment that your job could be done another way. It is simple, but it probably is not going to be easy. There's no simpler way to say it: you've got to put the oxygen mask on yourself first. You've got to let go of expectations of perfection and meeting each student's needs 100% of the time. You've got to try practicing some self-compassion.
What is self-compassion?
Self-compassion is extending the same care you would give to someone else, to yourself. Most people would agree that teachers have the capacity to be very compassionate to his/her students. Self-compassion is extending that same understanding to ourselves. According to Dr. Kristin Neff, "Instead of mercilessly judging and criticizing yourself for various inadequacies or shortcomings, self-compassion means you are kind and understanding when confronted with personal failings - after all, who ever said you were supposed to be perfect?" Self-compassion is not letting yourself off the hook for less than ideal behavior, but rather accepting your humanness in spite of things not being perfect. When we accept life on life's terms we can stop living in the past and emerge with our feet planted in the present ready to create a different future. But we can only do that when we accept ourselves just as we are.
Why can self-compassion practice benefit educators?
Many teachers have a tendency to put pressure on themselves to do everything perfectly, be able to help every student, think there is something inadequate about them if they can't reach every student or harbor immense feelings of blame when the lesson (or school year) doesn't go as expected. These expectations can be premeditated resentments. Simply put if we have expectations of ourselves, our students, our classrooms and our school year, we may create unintended hostility and resentment when things don't turn out as we planned. In some cases, this resentment can become cyclical and we can become cynical, stressed, depressed and eventually, burnout.

This is why self-compassion can be so helpful. It can benefit teachers by helping us reaffirm our humanness...simply put, we are not perfect (surprise...nobody is!) and when we stop putting so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect we may feel less resentful. When things happen and don't go as planned, we can practice self-compassion and let go of our expectations more easily. This may result in less cumulative stress, anxiety, and ultimately burnout. Sounds good, doesn't it?
What are easy ways to practice self-compassion into a school day?
Just as we've talked about mindfulness practice being simple, but not easy. Self-compassion holds the same distinction. They are simple practices but the benefits will really start to occur over time. This means that if you want the best results, you need a plan of how you're going to try to implement the practices into your school day.

Here are some suggestions....
TIP #1 GROUNDING
If you notice an intense feeling, overwhelming emotion, or your getting swept away with your thinking, try to focus on feeling your feet firmly planted on the ground. Focus on those sensations for a few moments and take some deep breaths. You can pair this with the soothing touch exercise below or just focus on grounding yourself to stay out of getting swept away.
TIP #2 SOOTHING TOUCH
When you notice an intense feeling, overwhelming emotion or getting swept away with your thinking, try putting your hand on your heart, your abdomen or gently rubbing your neck. In the moment, this gesture of caring for you can help bring awareness to this moment of unease reminding yourself to be gentle. t
TIP #3 SELF-COMPASSION BREAK
This practice was created by Dr. Kristin Neff. Set aside a few moments in your day OR do this practice when needed. This mindfulness practice is designed to acknowledge the difficult situation you are experiencing and help you work to bring some compassion to your circumstance.

Simply repeat the following self-compassion phrases : this is a moment of suffering, suffering is a part of life, may I be kind to myself.

Click here for a "Self-Compassion Break" guide OR for an MP3 download you can listen anywhere, click here.
TIP #4 JOURNALING
Keep a self-compassion journal recording any time you experience difficult emotions throughout your day. Write down the incident, difficult emotion or inadequacy. Then write a few sentences to yourself from the perspective of a caring and compassionate friend. What would this caring friend say about this perceived inadequacy?

So if you are ever feeling a little overwhelmed, anxious or stressed, try adding some self-compassion exercises to your daily routine. They take only a bit of time but their benefits are far reaching. Modeling these kinds of practices will not only help you but also demonstrate healthy behaviors for our students. It's a win-win for everyone!

If you want some support creating a self-care routine (that can include a little self-compassion), check out Teaching Well's Free Course "4 Simple Stress Solutions the Reduce Teacher Burnout and Increase Self-Care in Only Five Minutes a Day." This guide will provide you with support to create a daily self-care routine.

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4 Tips for Self-Compassion for Teachers * Teaching Well

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I'm sure we have all heard a flight attendant tell us at the beginning of a flight that if the oxygen masks fall from the compartment, put the mask on yourself before helping someone else put his/hers on. The obvious lesson is you won't be much help to others if you can't breathe, so take ...

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Unfortunately our society really doesn't support the idea of self-compassion. So hopefully we can change the adults and the teachers and everyone else around them to help support the concept. Most people are afraid that self-compassion is gonna lead to self-pity, or undermine your motivation, or it's self indulgent, or it's gonna do away with your sense of responsibility, or that it's weak. These are all common cultural myths, which luckily research has disproven all of them. None of them are true, it's actually the exact opposite but common culture hasn't really learned that yet. So there's a lot of blocks to self-compassion.

The Importance of Self-Compassion

We need self-compassion, first of all, just for ourselves to cope with the difficulty of life, right, and the more we give ourselves compassion, especially in a care giving context, whether we're parents or teachers, or just working maybe with your older elderly parents or maybe you're a therapist. Any time you work with someone or care for someone who is in pain, you are actually experiencing their pain in your own brain through the process of Empathetic Resonance, right, so we're built to feel what other people are feeling. In addition to giving ourselves compassion for our own pain outside of the caregiving context, when you're with someone who's struggling, in the moment, not off the job, not later on, in the moment you need to recognize this is hard for me right now. I'm feeling this person's pain. Sometimes it can be overwhelming when we're in the presence of someone who is really struggling. So in the moment we need to consciously and actively give ourselves compassion as well as give the other person compassion. But we need to have the lens of compassion flow both ways.

Otherwise what happens is we just focus on helping others and we don't include ourselves in the circle of compassion. We become overwhelmed and burned out, and that's a problem for a couple reasons. One is obviously it's hard to care for someone when you're overwhelmed and burned out. You know we lose tons of people in the medical profession and education because of that burn out, but it's really important to recognize how the brain works, this process of Empathetic Resonance.

So your neurons are firing, reading the pain of the person you're working with, but the person you're working with or students, or whoever it is, their neurons are also firing with you. So when you're burned out and exhausted and frustrated. You may think you aren't showing it, but people can read your feelings at a pre-verbal level because the way that brains are designed. If you're feeling frustrated and burned out, every single person you come in contact with is picking up on these feelings of frustration and overwhelm. But if you're actively giving yourself compassion, you're actively saying, " This is really hard for me right now. I need to be here to support myself, I need to care for myself in this moment. If your own mind if filled with compassion then everyone you actually work with, they're resonating with your compassion. So our emotions aren't really separate from other people. Our emotions are co-generated, so to just focus on others and not yourself is, I really think a huge mistake not only because you're burned out but because you also can't give the person the benefit of interacting with someone who is full of compassion.

Turning Compassion Inward

If you just focus on other people, you can maybe have empathy for them or even compassion for them, but if you aren't compassionate internally. The reason you have empathy fatigue is because your mirror neurons are resonating with the pain of others and you got burned out. So you need to, in the moment, not self-care. Self-care is great but self-care happens off the job. You can leave a classroom and say, " I'm burned out, I'm gonna go get a massage. Kids see you later." That's not gonna go over very well.

You need to in the moment, turn your lens of compassion inward first of all. This is the mindfulness, validate, this is really hard for me. I'm feeling overwhelmed, I'm feeling burned out, I'm feeling confused, I can't handle this. All of those feelings that come up, we need to mindfully acknowledge them in the moment, and people think we're just supposed to be focusing on it outwardly. No, you need to focus inwardly. This is really hard for me right now, and then I actually use a lot of physical gestures of compassion, touch, and it's just like, " I'm so sorry sweetheart. This is so hard, you're feeling so overwhelmed. You're doing the best you can, I'm here for you," however you wanna talk to yourself to convey that sense of parent connectedness.

Lastly the feeling of connection. Yes of course anyone will feel overwhelmed in this situation. There are millions of teachers all around the world who are feeling like this. It's not like you're doing it wrong, that somehow you're a bad teacher or that you can't do it. This is part of what it means to be a teacher. So it's not just me, de-personalize it with the common humanity, you give yourself the warmth, and you recognize acknowledge your own feelings of being overwhelmed while you're within the classroom, or while you're with the therapy patient, or while you're with your kid who's having a tantrum. We actually teach a practice, and I maybe can teach this on at the end where you breathe compassion in for yourself in. Then out for the other. In for yourself out for the other.

What happens normally is people just breathe out. They just give compassion out, they exclude themselves, and then they burn out, and then they get frustrated, and then the people they work with start resonating with their frustration and actually aren't being helped to the same level they would be if you were full of loving connected presence in the classroom and in therapy with your kids, if you were embodying loving connective presence because you are acknowledging your own pain and giving yourself compassion, the people you work with are directly benefiting from it through their mirror neurons.

That's why I'm such an evangelist about this stuff because I'm the parent of an autistic kid as many of your listeners may know, and I can tell you when I didn't give myself compassion when he was really having horrible tantrums. When I just focused on trying to help him and I didn't attend to what I was feeling in the moment, he would ramp up. Then whenever I could remember, " Oh, that's right, okay turn my lens inward." This is really hard. I'm feeling so overwhelmed. What do I need to support and care for myself, and remembering this is part of being human. Then he would calm down. He was like a mirror for me. I saw it over and over and over again. It makes me so sad that people think that self-compassion is selfish. It is actually the kindest thing that you can do for any other person you come in contact who is resonating with your mental state. That's in addition to the fact that it gives you more emotional resources to care for others.

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Why Self-Compassion is Crucial for Teachers - Mindful Educators Community

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Unfortunately our society really doesn't support the idea of self-compassion. So hopefully we can change the adults and the teachers and everyone else around them to help support the concept. Most people are afraid that self-compassion is gonna lead to self-pity, or undermine your motivation, or it's self indulgent, or it's gonna do away with [...]

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Discover the power of self-compassion with Kristin Neff. Join our community and explore the benefits of practicing self-compassion together.

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Managing Anxiety Around COVID-19: Tips for You and Your School Community

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CASEL CARES: Permission To Feel for Adults with Marc Brackett

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Webinar: Simple Steps to Self-Care for Educators

What are your current self-care practices? Do you take time to look inward to see what's driving your outer responses to what's happening around you? What can you do to balance yourself when the world around us seems out of control?

For many educators, burnout is at an all-time high and self-care is painfully absent.

We spend quite a bit of time thinking about how we'll raise the next generation to be better than we've been. It seems in today's time we see more challenge, more addiction, more children struggling, and more heartbreak. When we can better understand what's happening inside of us, we can better understand what's happening with the children in our classrooms. We can then use this knowledge and practice to create classroom cultures and climates that allow space for children to learn to do the same.

Join Conscious Discipline Master Instructor Amy Speidel as she explores what our current practices of self-care look like, how we respond to thoughts and emotions and how to move toward healthy self-care and self-regulation practices.

Webinar Outline

00:22 Why has self-care become so complicated

02:55 Commitment for the webinar

03:46 Overview picture of today's topic

05:41 What is self-care

07:45 "Hazard light" for the body

09:51 Ideas for fueling with food

11:06 Improving sleep and exercise

12:50 "Hazard lights" for mind and emotions

14:22 Why we turn to stuff when emotions arise

17:49 How to move from distractions to noticing and acknowledging our feelings

22:00 When flood moments arise

23:24 Is it a distraction/addiction or not?

27:04 What is it when emotions show up all around us?

29:55 Learning the language of our emotions

30:50 "Hazard lights" for our spirit

33:44 Shifting from judgment to noticing

35:46 Example of living out our values

37:55 How we take this information into our teaching experience

42:37 Taking a look at how we build classroom culture and climate

46:59 Resources for building the culture and climate we want vs. the one we inherited

49:15 Summary of what's been shared

53:02 Steps toward beginning healthy self-care

Resource Mentions

Helpful Next Steps

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Webinar: Simple Steps to Self-Care for Educators | Conscious Discipline

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What are your current self-care practices? Do you take time to look inward to see what's driving your outer responses to what's happening around you? What can you do to balance yourself when the world around us seems out of control?

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CA Collaborative for Educational Excellence

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Educating our youth is a calling that draws some of the most hard-working and dedicated people. Teachers are also prone to burnout-in fact, last year, public school teachers

their jobs at the highest rate on record. Educators, it's time to start showing yourself care and compassion, right now.
We enter this field with our eyes wide open that the pay is low and the work hours are long. Most of us also understand that educating our students will take all the love, attention, and energy we can spare. Education is a calling because, despite all these things, we do it anyway.

While educators are incredibly giving towards their students, we don't treat ourselves with the same level of care. Overwork is a badge of honor that many of us wear proudly. We tend to equate the number of hours we put in as a measure of our (and our peer's) dedication to our students.

The thing is, this kind of logic just doesn't make sense. In a job where the physical, mental, and emotional demands are so high, how can we possibly continue to give our all every day if we have not spent time taking care of ourselves? If we imagine our reserves of energy like a bucket, we cannot continue to give from that bucket without refilling it. Many of us, however, empty our buckets and continue pushing forward without taking the time to rest and rejuvenate. We shouldn't be surprised, then, that we are prone to burnout and often leave the profession just a few years after entering it.

It's time that educators start filling their buckets by embracing self-care and self-compassion. Self-care means caring for oneself. Examples of self-care include getting enough rest, exercise, and healthy foods. Self-compassion means treating oneself with patience, kindness, and understanding. When we practice self-compassion, we use our mistakes as opportunities to soften and be vulnerable. Instead of beating ourselves up, we show ourselves heaps of love.

Additionally, research conducted by Juliana Breines and Serena Chen (2012) has shown that when we show ourselves compassion after a setback, we are more likely to take action towards improving in the future. In short, self-compassion helps us to feel better, rebound from our challenges, and fuels us to keep going down the path of self-improvement.
You might try these guided mindfulness practices:

Megan Sweet, EdD is the Director of Training at Mindful Schools. She brings more than two decades of experience as a school teacher, school and district administrator, and a leader in school transformation. She's an experienced Network Lead with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Her doctoral degree focused on Educational Leadership and Administration and she is skilled in Educational Consulting, Lesson Planning, Educational Technology, Instructional Design, and Curriculum Development. Megan is also a published author of An Educator's Guide to Using Your 3 Eyes: How to Apply Intellect, Insight and Intuition to Promote Personal and School-Wide Transformation. Guided 12-minute Practice for Self-Kindness
Guided 12-minute Practice for Stress
How can you start showing yourself care and compassion, right now?

1. Pay attention to your inner voice. Notice your self-talk and ask: Would I say this to my best friend? If the answer is no (and it probably is) then start giving yourself a bit more love and curb the negative self-talk. It's not helping!

2. Make a list of ten things that bring you joy. Examples include exercise, reading a book, or watching a favorite TV show. Try to fit at least one of these activities into your life consistently.

3. Prioritize how you spend your time. Make a list of all of the things you are doing each week. Break them into Must-Do and May-Do categories. See if you can replace some of those May-Do's with things from your joy list.

4. Take a break. Educators are notorious for working all-the-time. The problem is, the work never ends unless you choose to step away. If you are not refreshed, you are not working at your best anyway, so start reclaiming some of those nights and weekends.

5. Start a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness means being present in the moment, and meditation is a great mindfulness tool. Just meditating 10 minutes a day will make a significant difference in how you feel. Don't have 10 minutes in a row? That's okay, break it into two 5-minute blocks, do some conscious breathing on your walk to and from your car, breathe slowly and deeply at red lights. Notice how good it feels to take even one conscious breath.

In the end, learning to take better care of ourselves will enable us to continue to do what we love-educating kids! If we don't, then we will continue to burn ourselves out, and the churn of teacher and leader turnover will maintain the revolving door of people in and out of our students' lives. Our kids suffer when they experience persistent changes in teachers and teacher quality. Schools cannot maintain strong academic programs if the leadership changes year after year. If we really want to stay in our calling and educate our youth, we must learn to take care of ourselves first. Our students will thank us for it.

Breines, J. & Chen, S. (2012). "Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 38(9) 1133-1143.

Neff, K. (2013). "Resilience and self-compassion" [ lecture]. Empathy and Compassion in Society. Retrieved June 25, 2018.

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Educators: You Have Permission to Take Care of Yourself, Right Now - Mindful Schools

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Educating our youth is a calling that draws some of the most hard-working and dedicated people. Teachers are also prone to burnout-in fact, last year, public school teachers quit their jobs at the highest rate on record. Educators, it's time to start showing yourself care and compassion, right now.

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Learn to imagine ways to make your day better with this calming mindfulness exercise.

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Focus your breathing and settle your swirling thoughts in this calming mindfulness exercise.

Keep Moving With GoNoodle

GoNoodle is free for teachers, parents, and kids! Get moving with 300+ dance videos, mindfulness activities, and more engaging videos for kids!

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Focus your breathing and settle your swirling thoughts in this calming mindfulness exercise. GoNoodle is free for teachers, parents, and kids! Get moving with 300+ dance videos, mindfulness activities, and more engaging videos for kids!

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Self-Compassionate Letter for Adults | Greater Good In Education

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A practice where teachers write a kind and self-compassionate letter to themselves about a challenge they are facing.

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Instructions

Getting Started

Find a quiet place where you can sit, stand, or lie down, whichever is most comfortable.

Close your eyes (or keep them open), whichever you prefer.

Play the following audio recording:

MP3 Link: https://soundcloud.com/user-877205336-555180076/meditation-for-self-compassion

The Practice

This meditation is a self-compassion meditation of revealing loving presence.

You can do this practice sitting, lying down, or even standing.
We'll begin by simply settling into the breath and the body.

As you inhale, notice sensations of breath throughout the entire body, and as you exhale, relax and release that attention.
Inhale, noticing sensations in the body.
Exhale, relaxing and releasing.

Continue this pattern of noticing through the inhale, and relaxing through the exhale, on the rhythm of your own breath.

When the mind slips away-caught up by some idea, memory, or image-no problem at all.
Simply relax; release whatever has captured your attention, and return-for just a bit longer-to settling into the breath and the body.
Noticing through the inhale, relaxing and releasing though the exhale.

[PAUSE]

We'll now shift and focus our attention away from the breath and the body and into our practice of self-compassion.
In this practice, we're going to focus on the subtlety of compassion for ourselves-that's already here.

We begin this by simply noticing right now, right here.
Is there a sense of care, kindness, and compassion for ourselves?
The very basic human condition is one in which we are seeking to be okay.

Noticing this basic human desire to care for ourselves, see if you can feel that as a presence.
Noticing whether in the body this sense of caring or kindness can be experienced just through the simple breath.
Inhale, noticing a caring presence.
Exhale, noticing a caring presence.

This may feel hard or abstract. You can reflect on the simple ways that you take care of yourself...

Listening to this meditation.
Taking care of your body through bathing, feeding.
Think of the simple ways that you try to avoid difficulty and discomfort.
For example, shifting or moving the body if you're uncomfortable.
Putting on a warm sweater if you're cold.
Just notice these simple ways we're already kind to ourselves-caring about our well-being.

Instead of having to generate or construct self-compassion, feel or imagine simply revealing the self-compassion which is already here-our desire to alleviate our own suffering.

Continuing again through the inhale and exhale-
Inhale, considering this loving presence that's already here.
And exhaling extending a wish of compassion to our self.
Inhale, noticing the loving presence already here.
And exhale, extending that loving presence and compassion to ourselves.

[BRIEF PAUSE]

This may feel hard or hokey at first-no problem at all.
Setting our mind and intention towards this caring way of being can create a natural form of relaxation and resilience, so keep steadying the mind here.
Noticing a caring loving presence, extending a caring loving presence-for ourselves.

[PAUSE]

Consider continuing this feeling of loving presence throughout the rest of our day and evening.
No need to shift anything, simply bringing this practice to a close.

Source

Eve Ekman, PhD

Senior Fellow at the Greater Good Science Center

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Mindful Self-Compassion for Adults | Greater Good In Education

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Getting Started Find a quiet place where you can sit, stand, or lie down, whichever is most comfortable. Close your eyes (or keep them open), whichever you prefer. Play the following audio recording: MP3 Link: https://soundcloud.com/user-877205336-555180076/meditation-for-self-compassion The Practice This meditation is a self-compassion meditation of revealing loving presence.

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Mindfulness is both a practice and a way of relating to life.

Researchers define it as the awareness that arises when we intentionally pay attention in a kind, open, and discerning way. When we are mindful, we focus on the present moment non-judgmentally.

A teacher practicing mindfulness in the middle of a school day might take a break between classes to close her eyes and focus on the sounds she can hear outside of her classroom (e.g., children playing at recess, singing in the halls, etc.). If her mind wanders away from those sounds to the past ("Oh, I can't believe my colleague said that to me?!") or the future ("My lesson plan isn't ready. I'm going to be up for hours preparing for class tomorrow!"), she observes the thought or feeling with quiet curiosity as it moves through her mind, and then she gently redirects her focus back to the present moment and the immediate sounds she hears.

Mindfulness, as a practice, features two different types of attention: focused attention and open awareness.

When we focus our attention, we concentrate on a specific target.

Before a staff meeting, a principal anchors her attention on the sound of a chime or the feel of the air entering her nostrils as she breathes.

During open awareness (also called "open monitoring"), we simply notice things-like thoughts, feelings, or sounds-as they come and go.

To calm himself after a difficult interaction with a parent, a teacher practices open awareness by observing a body sensation, such as a chill or a sneeze passing through him, and then by noticing a loud car drive by his classroom.

The practice of mindfulness also helps us to become more mindful in our daily lives by cultivating these three key life skills.

Equanimity is the ability to allow sensory experiences to come and go without suppressing or avoiding them. Equanimity also helps us not to over-identify with an event, thought, or feeling (or make it too personal).

A teacher whose student has just insulted him in the middle of class says to himself, "Okay, I'm really angry right now. I'm feeling the anger move through my body; I'm not going to fight it, but I'm not going to be swept up in my it either."

Concentration is the ability to focus on what we consider to be relevant at a given time.

An educator who regularly practices mindfulness finds herself more capable of focusing on one student's question in a given moment -rather than being distracted by all the administrative tasks piling up on her desk, the phone ringing, and the 25 other things competing for her attention. (One thing at a time!)

Sensory clarity is the ability to keep track of what we're actually experiencing in the moment.

A school psychologist with a regular practice of mindfulness whose job involves counseling anxious teens has become more aware of the bodily sensations she feels when she experiences challenging vicarious emotions such as anger or fear-like the pace of her heartbeat as it intensifies and then dissipates and eventually returns normal.

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Mindfulness for Adults | Greater Good In Education

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Mindfulness is both a practice and a way of relating to life. Researchers define it as the awareness that arises when we intentionally pay attention in a kind, open, and discerning way. When we are mindful, we focus on the present moment non-judgmentally.

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A 60-second meditation tool to help clear your mind

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A 60-second meditation tool to help clear your mind

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Our monthly Happiness Calendar is a day-by-day guide to well-being. This month, we hope it helps you nurture your relationships each day.

To open the clickable calendar, click on the image below. (Please note: If you are having trouble clicking on calendar links with the Chrome browser, try these tips to fix the issue or try a different browser.)

Subscribe to our Monthly Happiness Calendar

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Our monthly Happiness Calendar is a day-by-day guide to well-being. This month, we hope it helps you nurture your relationships each day. To open the clickable calendar, click on the image below. (Please note: If you are having trouble clicking on calendar links with the Chrome browser, try these tips to fix the issue or try a different browser.)

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Mindfulness for Adults | Greater Good In Education

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Practices for cultivating the social, emotional, and ethical well-being of school staff members

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Play for Adults - National Institute for Play

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Adults don’t get into a play state as easily as little kids, but play is just as important for us. You can get back that joy.

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Adults Need Playtime Too. Here's 5 Ways To Play.

This post was originally a newsletter sent before MAED had launched, the feedback was so overwhelmingly positive that I knew I wanted to share it again in a more permanent way.
Most of us hear self-care and think of scheduling "me time," getting that extra hour of sleep or a much-needed massage - all great forms of self-care. There is, however, one form of self-care that can be overlooked.

Focused on our commitments and goals, our days are filled with our jobs, partners, family and friends. The doctor's appointments, trying to get to the gym several times a week, the trips to the grocery store and the never-empty inbox. With so much on our minds, it's no wonder we hardly think about the next time we're going to play.

Play? Yup! That's what I said... Play.

Think about it. When was the last time you had pure, intentional fun? I'm not sure when I stopped playing, but I do know that having my daughter has reminded me that play is self-nurturing and healthy.

Play has mental, emotional and physical benefits. Challenging games like puzzles or scrabble can improve your memory and brain function. Play can cheer you up and relieve stress. It can stimulate your imagination and encourage creativity. Playing with someone you care about can strengthen your connection. Just like children, we develop social skills, team-playing skills and healthy habits when we play.

Experiencing more play time is a game changer, but how can adults create more opportunities for play?

1. Schedule it in.

We schedule everything else in, so it makes sense that we should schedule in our play. Plan a monthly game night with friends. Dedicate every Saturday afternoon to playing volleyball with the kids. Whatever it is, make a plan and stick to it.

2. Engage your senses.

Build a sandcastle or have a water fight. Take a tequila taste-test, blindfolded! Go barefoot and play tag on the beach.

3. Explore new experiences.

Try that karaoke bar down the street. Go horseback riding. Take up tango lessons.

4. Indulge your childhood memories.

Remember how fun double dutch was? Dust off those rollerblades and hit the streets. Have a sleepover with your girlfriends and play dress up.

5. Laugh.

Call that one friend who always has the most ridiculous things to say. Have a pillow fight. Bring on the duck lips and all your other silly faces and shamelessly selfie away. Laughing at yourself counts too!

This fall, try rotating play into your current self-care routine. It may not look like hide-and-seek at the park, or maybe it does! Either way, PLAY AWAY.

Story Details

Photography - Lauren Alexandra

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Adults Need Playtime Too. Here's 5 Ways To Play.

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This post was originally a newsletter sent before MAED had launched, the feedback was so overwhelmingly positive that I knew I wanted to share it again in a more permanent way. Most of us hear self-care and think of scheduling "me time," getting that extra hour of sleep or a much-needed massage - all great forms of self-care .

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The Benefits of Play for Adults - HelpGuide.org

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Play is not just for kids. Learn how play can improve your relationships, creativity, and productivity.

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21 Mindfulness Exercises & Activities For Adults (+ PDF)

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Mindfulness exercises for adults and practitioners to learn more about it.

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This free printable mood tracker is designed for you to be mindful of your daily mood and help you do more of what you love while limiting activities that lower your mood.

I personally created this mood tracker for myself to help me identify activities that make me feel good. I am trying small habit changes every week to see how it impacts my mood for the better.

So far, the results have been really positive. Since tracking my mood daily I feel more uplifted and have less low days. I am, therefore, really excited to share this small habit with you 🙂
Related: I have now published a beautiful mood tracking journal you can purchase on Amazon. Scroll down to get the details!
What is the Purpose of a Mood Tracker?

A mood tracker is used to track your mood every day so you can be mindful of your mental health.

It can be hard to remember how you feel on a daily basis so logging your moods can help you see how life is treating you right now.

Want to be more mindful of your feelings so you can do more of what you love? Download my free printable mood trackers to help you love yourself a little more. #moodtracker #MentalHealthMatters Click To Tweet

2 Mood Tracker Printables For You
This post contains affiliate links. Disclosure here.
Weekly Printable Mood Tracker Worksheet

The weekly mood tracker is designed to take note of your mood at 5 specific times a day - early morning, morning, afternoon, evening and night.

Add the moods you'd like to track and assign a colour to each mood (These are the glitter gel pens I use and love!)

On a daily basis record your activity (in a couple of words) with your corresponding mood

Mood recommendations to track are included or choose your own

Yearly Printable Mood Tracker Worksheet

Just like the weekly tracker, you will assign colours to the moods you'd like to track. This tracker is perfect to show your overall feeling for the whole day.

To complete, simply colour in the box in the mood colour for each day of the year.

Example of How I Fill Out The Mood Tracker...

For the weekly mood tracker, you can see that I add the main activity for a specific time of day and below I colour the mood I'm feeling during that time.

For the yearly mood tracker, I track my overall feeling for the day. This is a great way to see how your mood is shifting over time.

If You'd Rather Have a "Done for You" Mood Tracker...

I'm excited to announce that I have published a mood tracking guided journal which is now available on Amazon.
Today I Choose Joy: Mood Tracker
You can learn more about the background of WHY I created this journal, in this Instagram post.

It's a 12-week mood tracking journal which will help you connect the dots between your moods and activities.

This way you can identify triggers, understand what makes you feel good, and be mindful of how you can create more joy in your life.

This beautiful mood journal offers:

12 weeks of daily mood tracking and journaling - record your mood and activities in the morning, afternoon, and evening

Daily inspirational quotes - to offer support and motivation

Weekly self-reflection prompts - what made you feel good, what made you feel bad, activities you plan to do more of the following week, and what you plan to avoid

Pretty designs to color throughout

3 full month mood trackers to customize and color

Lined sheets for more journaling and self-reflection

Have You Tracked Your Mood Before?

If yes, share in the comments what your experience has been like.

Related Articles About Self Care & Mental Health:

For more inspiration and to get the latest post from Put The Kettle On, let's connect!

Yolanda xo

-PIN ME-

Thanks! I appreciate every single share 🙂

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Free Printable Mood Tracker (Weekly & Yearly PDF Worksheets)

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This free printable mood tracker is designed for you to be mindful of your daily mood and help you do more of what you love while limiting activities that lower your mood. I personally created this mood tracker for myself to help me identify activities that make me feel good.

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Daily Check-in Journal page- fillable PDF

A journaling page to help you check in with yourself each day, and write down positive things about the day, like what made you smile and what you accomplished, as well as daily gratitude. Check in and see how you're feeling, what went well, what could have gone better and what you're looking forward to tomorrow.

There's also a space for a brief summary of the day and a notes and thoughts section for anything else you want to write down.

In the top right corner you can write down the date.

Also available as a GoodNotes PDF in Blue: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1393790907/, Rainbow: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1379788180/, and Neutral: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1380188132/

This is a fillable PDF file which means you can fill out all the form fields in the PDF using Adobe Reader. Please note that you cannot change any of the text or colour that is part of the design.

Comes in three colours; Coral, Gold and Teal - all included

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IMPORTANT

" This printable is available in LETTER size (8.5 x 11 inches) and A4 size (21 x 29 cm).
" All text fields are fillable. Text that is part of the design is NOT editable.
" Font is auto sized and the text colour is black.
" You can still print this out blank without typing into the fields.
" This is a digital product. No physical product will be sent to you.

When you add text to a fillable document you want to save your original document for future use. File > Save as.. will let you save a copy of your original file with a new name.

Once payment is confirmed you will receive an e-mail from Etsy with a link to download your product. You can also find your downloads by going to: Your Account > Purchases & Reviews

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TERMS OF USE

" Personal Use. You may print the files as many times as you like for your own personal use.
" Reselling or sharing these templates is not allowed.
" All sales are final due to the nature of digital products.
" Copyright © Neat & Tidy Design. Copyright does not transfer with sale.

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Daily Check-in Journal Page Fillable Printable PDF - Etsy

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Daily Check-in Journal page- fillable PDF A journaling page to help you check in with yourself each day, and write down positive things about the day, like what made you smile and what you accomplished, as well as daily gratitude.

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About this Course

NEW TEEN VERSION AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being-for-teens

In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life. THE SCIENCE OF WELL BEING WAS PRODUCED IN PART DUE TO THE GENEROUS FUNDING OF THE DAVID F. SWENSEN FUND FOR INNOVATION IN TEACHING.

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Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Approx. 19 hours to complete

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Ukrainian, Portuguese (European), Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Vietnamese, Korean, German, Russian, English, Spanish, Persian

Skills you will gain

Gratitude

Happiness

Meditation

Savoring

13%

started a new career after completing these courses

19%

got a tangible career benefit from this course

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Approx. 19 hours to complete

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Ukrainian, Portuguese (European), Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Vietnamese, Korean, German, Russian, English, Spanish, Persian

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Yale University

For more than 300 years, Yale University has inspired the minds that inspire the world. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale brings people and ideas together for positive impact around the globe. A research university that focuses on students and encourages learning as an essential way of life, Yale is a place for connection, creativity, and innovation among cultures and across disciplines.

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4,399,492 already enrolled NEW TEEN VERSION AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being-for-teens In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change.

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Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty & Stress

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Offered by Yale University. Developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty & Stress will ... Enroll for free.