Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog!
If you are new here, I am Julia Park and I am a junior Early Childhood Education major at Millersville University! In my last post, I discussed ways that parents can spend time with their children during this unexpected time of needing to stay home for everyone’s safety.
In this post, I want to share some tips and tricks for teachers to remain healthy at home while dealing with this transition to online learning. I hope this information helps you in some way to cope with this overwhelming change in our world and eases your mind when teaching your students!
Why Self-Care?
I believe that it is so important to check in with ourselves, mentally and physically, on a daily basis. Self-care is especially important right now with the limitations of seeing friends, family, and the outside world. Most people need those factors to thrive and without them, it can be hard to keep spirits high. It is also important as teachers to make sure we are staying healthy and motivated for our students. Taking care of ourselves will provide our students with a positive influence on how to work through this and can even provide them with extra support that they might need right now.
Sleep Well, Stay Healthy!
The first piece of advice I have for hardworking teachers is to keep up with positive sleeping habits! Getting enough sleep, which should be about 7- 8 hours a night, can go a long way. Some benefits of sleep include improved concentration and productivity during the day, a stronger immune function, and increased energy that will help with both physical and mental aspects of life. Click the picture of the adorable sleeping pup for information on how to improve your sleeping habits!
Take Time for Yourself!
During this time, you may begin to feel hopeless, lonely, or overwhelmed by all the uncertainties of the future. Those feelings are all valid because of what we are going through. With those thoughts in mind, it is crucial to do activities that will make you happy. These activities can include watching your favorite movie, arts and crafts, having a random dance party, staying connected to your friends and family, listening to music, or whatever you love to do! You are working so hard right now to be the best you can be for your students, but it is perfectly normal to take some time for yourself to feel better and healthy during this pandemic.
“It is so important to take time for yourself and find clarity. The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself.”– Diane Von Furstenberg, Fashion Designer
Inhale, Exhale
Another tip I have for anyone struggling with anxiety while staying at home is participating in breathing exercises. I remember being in my high school theatre class, and my teacher would always have us do this one breathing exercise. We would close our eyes, inhale for six seconds, and then exhale for six seconds. This would go one for a little while, allowing our heartbeats to slow down and our body to relax. She would also tell us to picture any happy place we could think of as we closed our eyes. I would feel much calmer after those exercises and was ready to conquer whatever acting activities were coming my way! Since those days, I will always be a huge believer in breathing exercises. Some exercises include deep breathing or even just sitting outside to get some fresh air! Don’t forget to take the time to breathe and remember that we will get through this difficult time.
Music Brings Us Together
One more piece of advice that I would like to share is to listen to music. This seems very simple and self-explanatory, but music is so much more than a melody and lyrics. Music has gotten me through so much, and I know it can help others too. Finding songs with uplifting messages can make a huge difference in your mood. I have decided to include two videos of songs that have really helped me during this questionable time.
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Chromatic Expansion Virtual Acappella Group)
“When you need a friend I’m sailing right behind. Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind” (Simon and Garfunkel).This song symbolizes so muc…
Kacey Musgraves – Rainbow (Live from Late Night with Seth Meyers)
Kacey Musgraves performing “Rainbow” live from Late Night with Seth Meyers. Listen to the new album, Golden Hour, here: http://strm.to/GoldenHourYDSign up to…
The first video is Millersville’s Chromatic Expansion, which is an A Cappella group, singing their rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” This song means a lot to me because this was our senior song in my high school choir. The other video I have included is “Rainbow,” performed by Kacey Musgraves. This song is all about staying positive during difficult times. Both of these songs provide me with support and comfort, which is so helpful right now. I hope they make you happy as well and I also hope that you are inspired to find your own style of music to listen to!
“Everything is alright now…”- Kacey Musgraves
As Kacey Musgraves so wonderfully reminds us, “there’s always been a rainbow hanging over” our heads. It will all be alright eventually, and for now we are all doing our best! To the hard workers out there: this is not the time to be super hard on yourselves! Keep pushing through this and striving to be the best you can be for your students. I believe in you.
Thank you so much for reading!
I hope you found this post to be helpful in any way and are able to stay safe and healthy during this time! I appreciate you stopping by!
-Julia 🙂