Our Top Wellness and Self-Care Tips For Teachers
The busyness of being an educator is like no other, and we know firsthand how it's easy to forget to take a breather for yourself. Whether you're teaching in the classroom or working from home flexibly in education (or both!), we've got your back with the best self-care tips for teachers.
This week, the Educator Forever team is sharing our favorite self-care tips to make wellness for educators easier. We encourage you to take a moment to refuel and rejuvenate so you can truly thrive!
Our 11 Favorite Wellness and Self-Care Ideas for Teachers
Explore these teacher self-care tips and choose a few that you can start to incorporate into your routine right now. Don’t wait to start making yourself a priority!
Mindset Shifts for Teachers
Some of the best self-care tips for teachers can be incorporated into your daily life with very little effort. Mindset shifts are a great place to start.
Ground yourself in gratitude - First thing in the morning and before you go to sleep, try to think about something that happened that you are grateful for. This might be a smile, an extended deadline, laughter with a colleague, or a sunny day.
Love yourself - We spoke about this on a recent Educator Forever Network call – it’s so important to love yourself! This means something different for each of us. Some examples include:
putting on bright red lipstick when you go to the store
buying an iced coffee because it’s your favorite
baking your favorite pumpkin muffins
spoiling yourself by binging on your favorite Netflix shows
staying in and reading a book in your cozy pajamas
Environmental Changes
Making small changes to your surroundings can have a big impact when it comes to teacher self-care.
Change your work environment - Sometimes just working from a new location can make all the difference. If you are currently classroom teaching, you may not be able to decide where to spend your entire workday. But you could decide to grade papers from a coffee shop or plan lessons at the park. If you’re working flexibly in education, the sky is the limit! Experiment to see which work locations are the most productive and pleasurable for you.
Disconnect from technology - In an increasingly tech-heavy world, it’s particularly important to find time to unplug. Be intentional about when you’re going to disconnect from technology. For example, maybe you want to focus on refraining from picking up your phone when you wake up in the morning. Instead, you might partake in some gentle stretching/somatic exercises or do a brief meditation.
Quick Reframes for Teacher Self-Care
The best wellness tips for teachers are the ones that are quick and easy to use in your everyday life. These small shifts are great ways to get started.
Change your perspective – If you find yourself overwhelmed or feeling down about a situation, challenge yourself to see the situation from a different perspective. For example, if you find yourself thinking “I’m definitely going to fail,” consider reframing this to, “I have opportunities for success.”
Surrounding yourself with inspiration – Consider posting inspirational quotes and pictures around your workplace to keep you uplifted and motivated.
Take a break – Schedule breaks during your workday. Whether they are short breaks of five minutes or longer pauses, attempt to get up and move your body. Consider stepping outside to breathe in fresh air or turning on a song and dancing for a few minutes.
Long Term Solutions
The easy self-care tips for teachers we’ve shared in this post so far are helpful and important. But they don’t replace long-term wellness solutions.
Attend Educator Forever’s wellness sessions – One of my favorite things is hosting virtual wellness sessions, where you (along with other educators) can prioritize wellness and reconnect with yourself in a safe space through gentle somatic movement (e.g., breathing, mindfulness, tactile activation, etc.), journaling, and other resilience-building activities. (Want to join? Get access to these sessions (and more!) by signing up for the Educator Forever Network!)
Invest in a therapist – Finding a therapist can be a great way to support your mental health. Psychology Today, Inclusive Therapists, and the National Register of Health Service Psychologists are good places to start looking.
Enjoy creative outlets – Creativity for teachers is so important, so spend time following your passions! Do you love scrapbooking? Knitting? Writing? Reading? Be sure to carve out time devoted to your creative pursuits.
Seek out inspiration and laughter – To help with stress, I love listening to inspiring podcasts, including the Educator Forever Podcast, along with various mindfulness-related podcasts and comedy podcasts… As they say, laughter is truly the best medicine!
Take Teacher Self-Care to the Next Level
Taking care of yourself as a teacher is so important to deal with overwhelm, but it’s not always enough to help you deal with deeper teacher burnout.
Sometimes, overwhelmed teachers need to tune into their needs and explore new ways to make an impact in education. You can leverage your skills and passions to find the career of your dreams in education… and enjoy a more sustainable work-life balance.
Having expert career guidance and support in this pursuit is key!
When you join the Educator Forever Network, you get access to our signature online course and powerful community that gives you guidance and support every step of the way.
Through the Network, you get:
✨ Step-by-step guidance in our signature course, where you'll discover your career possibilities, get clarity, and learn exactly how to find and land flexible jobs in education
✨ Empowering weekly live group calls for career guidance and job search support
✨ Exclusive access to ongoing wellness, creativity, skill growth, and co-working sessions, along with special virtual workshops
✨ Instant exciting job leads and expert support at your fingertips with our private jobs board
✨ An incredible, supportive community of like-minded educators cheering you on as you expand your impact and income in education
Through supporting thousands of educators over the years, we’ve found that having the course and community is what truly propels you forward and helps you embrace your expertise and transferable skills, overcome obstacles, take action, and find your career success.
Whether you want to become a curriculum developer, instructional coach, online teacher, education consultant, or an education business owner (just to name a few of the many options!), joining the Educator Forever Network can help you reach your goals.
Sign up now!