Always Look After Yourself

The saying goes ‘Put on your own oxygen mask first’, you need to be that role-model.

Several years ago I did an MA in Special and Inclusive Education and in my research I looked at inclusive teaching in the 6th form. One of the overwhelming themes that came out was how the teacher behaved in the classroom. Those that were seen as consistent, fair and non-judgemental were also seen to be more inclusive and students felt safe in their classrooms. Now I don’t know about you, but certainly when I am stressed and tired I am unpredictably grumpy, I might shout unnecessarily at my children or get cross at little things that normally would wash over me. I also know that teachers are very diligent and teaching is very stressful. The consequence of this is that often you will be focused on the students, your work and family and forget to look after yourself.

Much more importantly, how on earth can you support children and young people with their mental health when you are barely holding it together yourself? Grumpy, unpredictable teachers will put anxious and low students on edge: a snapped comment may be evidence that a student’s self-belief that they are hopeless is true or an anxious student may start avoiding lessons causing them to fall behind and lower their self-esteem – I hope you can see how these spirals can start to form. Looking after yourself should be your top priority. However, looking after yourself will be very personal and you need to work out what it looks like for you (and alcohol shouldn’t be top of the list!).

Self care isn’t Selfish

I know what I need to do to ensure I am well, it is a very conscious process and I have friends who call me to account when I am not doing those things. I could list out thousands of activities that you might try to work out that make you feel better but I may still miss your personal favourite. So instead I will give you a simple exercise to have a go at and some further reading to help you with the exercise.

5 Ways to Wellbeing

There are essentially 5 things you can do to support your wellbeing which are evidence based, and as you go into this activity it is worth bearing this in mind. This infographic can be downloaded here and you can get more information on the NHS Website.

What are your ways to wellbeing?

If you print out this table, you can use it as a reflection on what makes you feel good and what doesn’t. Sometimes we do things and can be completely unaware of how it affects our mood, this exercise brings it to the fore. Basically you list the activity and how you feel before and after you have done it where 1 is really low and 5 really positive. Now would be a really good time to have a go at those things you have thought you might like to try but have never quite got round to – perhaps that is rock climbing, learning to paint or joining a choir…the options are endless.

Once you have done this for several days start looking for patterns: What activities consistently improve your mood – could you do it more regularly? What consistently lowers your mood – can you avoid doing it? Is there an activity that makes you feel better at one point in the day and worse at another?

Once you have started to spot patterns then you can make deliberate choices about what you do and when. Make a list of activities that improve your state of mind and make it a priority to do them everyday.