Elementary teachers need a toolkit of strategies for how to reduce stress as a teacher now more than ever. Let’s face it: in today’s education world, we as teachers do more than teach kids. We are so overloaded with extra tasks. Some examples are data tracking five different ways, meetings on top of meetings, sponsoring after school activities, field trip planning, and community relations that we have spread ourselves thin!
When we get home from a ten hour day at school (sometimes longer), we’re in dire need of relaxation time. Our bodies tell us to take a break and relax. However, we have that stack of papers calling us from the bag we just toted home. We also have a hungry family that wants a home-cooked meal. We must listen to our bodies when they tell us to take a break and relax! It is so important to find time for yourself to just unwind and recharge. Not only is your stress level affecting your mental and physical health, it’s also going to affect your job performance.
One of the great benefits of being a teacher is the breaks that we are given during the year (and summer of course). These times allow us to recharge. Unfortunately, we don’t always time our through-the-roof stress levels around the breaks. As a result, we need to have ways to relax and reenergize ourselves during the workweek. Squeeze out some time for yourself in the evenings to do one or more of the strategies listed below to help keep your stress level in check. Read below for 7 strategies for how to reduce stress as a teacher below!
7 Tips for How to Reduce Stress as a Teacher
Below are 7 teacher relaxation ideas to choose from. Find which one works best for you!
1. Music Therapy
The first tip on the list of ways to reduce stress as a teacher is music therapy. I love music! Depending on my mood, I could be listening to anything from pop hits to country to punk. It doesn’t matter what your taste in music is. Any bit of music can help remove some of that stress that’s weighing you down. Pop in your favorite CD and just dance around the room. Go onto YouTube and find a music video by your favorite artist to watch. Play your favorite classic Disney songs and sing along! If none of those sound like you and you’re musically talented, pull out your instrument. Play a couple of songs (or make up your own).
2. Yoga
You don’t have to have a gym membership or be the most athletic person to do yoga. There are DVDs, video games, or even online videos you can find that will walk you through a yoga session. Yoga is about finding your inner peace and calmness. You did this through breath control and meditation all while stretching your body and burning calories. Put on your favorite workout pants, light some candles, and stretch through the stress!
3. Mindfulness
The third tip on the list of ways to reduce stress as a teacher is to practice mindfulness. It is so hard to turn off the teacher part of our brains and focus elsewhere. But, we must do it! Put all of your focus on things that are important to you, like family. Be aware of what’s going on around you and not what you’re worried about teaching next week. Have those coffee dates with friends. Intently watch your child score a home run at their game. Enjoy a real conversation with your significant other. No matter the task or environment around you, focus on it. Your school stuff will still be there tomorrow, but the opportunities in front of you right now might not be.
4. Coloring
Another great way to reduce teacher stress is to color. We’ve all seen the coloring book trend come back in style in the past few years. You know you’ve looked at a few of those “adult coloring books” while in line at the store. So, why not get one? Coloring can be so relaxing! There are thousands of coloring book themes to choose from. You’re bound to find one you like (anywhere from Harry Potter themed, to mandalas, to flowers). You can choose to color with crayons, colored pencils, markers, or fancy gel pens. Find a comfy chair and get lost in an artistic creation of your own!
5. Journaling
Sometimes we have so many thoughts and ideas going through our heads that we feel like we couldn’t possibly fit anymore in there. This is where keeping a journal can be beneficial. You don’t have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning author to keep a journal either. Writing out your thoughts can help release the pressure of remembering everything you’ve been thinking about all day. It helps de-escalate your stress level. You can be honest and real about what’s going on in your head when you keep a journal.
6. Spending Time Outdoors
I don’t know about you, but I do not have a green thumb! I’ve tried growing my own little garden of vegetables before and I just can’t do it. Ok, it was a radish in a cup in 4th grade for the county fair, but it still counts. If you have the gift of growing plants, gardening may be your relaxation outlet. You could plant some beautiful flowers outside your house. You could start an herb garden that you’ll use in your cooking in a few months. If gardening isn’t your thing, take a walk through a park. If you’re lucky enough to live close to a state park, then head there. You don’t have to be an avid hiker to enjoy the fresh air, warm sun, and beautiful trees. Take your stress and release it into the outdoors! This is my favorite way to reduce stress as a teacher.
7. Meditation
The final way to reduce stress as a teacher is to practice meditation. Like yoga, meditation focuses on calming yourself and finding your inner peace with controlled breathing. However, it doesn’t require you to be actively moving or stretching. Play a CD of classical music or use a sound machine with nature sounds. Choose whatever relaxes you. Find a spot to sit that you will be uninterrupted. Focus on deep breaths in and out and the sounds of the music or sound machine. Some people also find it soothing to have a candle or essential oils burning as well. And don’t worry, you don’t need to sit in the lotus position to fully benefit from meditation.
I hope you found these ideas for how to reduce stress as a teacher helpful! No matter what method you try to help relieve some of your stress that comes with teaching, just do something that benefits you! Stress will always be there (as will those extra tasks), so we need to be creative in finding ways to keep ourselves in tip-top-shape mentally. Our students depend on us to be the best teacher we can be and decreasing our stress levels through various effective relaxation methods is one way to help us get closer to that.
If you found this post about how to reduce stress as a teacher helpful and interesting, then you may also be interested in these other posts:
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