Day 6- Reflect: Do you treat your body with love? My well intentioned "resolutions" were: Making and bringing breakfast and lunch to school everyday Cooking dinner at night Less takeout Exercise starting with very small steps- walking Leia down to the playground every morning Day 7-  MANTRA: EXERCISE SHOULD FEEL GOOD; HEALTHY EATING SHOULD FEEL GOOD; SELF-CARE SHOULD FEEL GOOD. My response:  Day 8- Activity (Putting your hand on your heart or something to be present) This one I've done in a bit of a different way. For when I'm in an all out tizzy, my best friend who is also my best therapist/social worker, gave me the "inner child" techniques, where I can actually visualize one of my babies (used to be my daughter, now it is one of my nephews) being hurt the way I'm hurting. How would I comfort THEM if they were in my shoes. Would I just agree with the critic? Hells to the no! Physically comforting them (hugging myself, rubbing my...

Thanks for listening to my recap 😘 It is February 24, and I am on Day 18 (aka January 18 😅) Luckily, day 18 is merely "reflection" aka nothing. So I present to you, Day 19. ( purple is my dialogue) Day 19: Reflect This week we are focusing on how to avoid two big threats to fostering a mindset of self-compassion. The first is COMPARISON. As a teacher, it can be very easy to compare your teaching journey to another teacher's. Or maybe what you compare has nothing to do with teaching, but has to do with your appearance, your relationships, or how much you have. Use these reflection questions to get a better sense of what you compare, when you compare, and to start brainstorming what you can do when you notice you are comparing. REFLECT: THE COMPARISON TRAP .  What do you tend to compare the MOST?  (ex: your job, your work, a talent you have, your appearance, your relationship status, etc.) Money When do you find you compare yourself the most with other peopl...

REFLECT: WHAT DO YOU NEED? Part 1 These are questions you can journal, reflect on, or talk through with a partner.  What are the activities I need to do every day to feel good in my skin?  Well the point of me doing this 30 day challenge is to figure this out! I still have not. What are the activities I need to do every day to feel good in my mind?  Listening to music or my audiobook has been helping me decompress on the way home from work...does that count? What are the activities I need to do every day to feel prepared for work?   Checking my calendar every morning. Keeping on top of what is due and when. My Things to Do list. What activities do I need to do less of to feel good in my skin?  Stop worrying and ruminating about what is happening at school/in the classrooms What activities do I need to do less of to feel good in my mind?  I don't know... What activities do I need to do less of to feel prepared for work?  I don't know... Par...

Day 14- Mantra Do you struggle with feeling worthy of self-care? Do you struggle with self-love, or have you ever thought your worth is determined by how much you do? This is the mantra for you, my friend. You are worthy now of your love, your time and so much more Eh, not really relating to this post...I am overwhelmed, but I don't think I'm not worthy... Day 15- ACTIVITY: SAY NO PRACTICE: Write down just one responsibility, person, or habit that you want to partially or fully say "no" to. Write down exactly how you plan to say "no" and put it into practice TODAY. Now this is going to be a hard one. I do NOT know how to say no...at work that is. The position I'm in makes it very difficult for me to not do everything I'm asked to do. The biggest issue are the things that come up...I'll be sitting there with my "Things to Do" List, then the phone rings, or a provider/teacher stops by, or I get paged...and with my ADHD brain, ...

Day 13: Activity  Rewrite your 3 life priorities from yesterday's reflection.  1. My Family 2. My Work 3. My Health- not only physical but mental. Mental health is really important but where I struggle the most. A piece of this priority is fostering my creativity. Look at priority 1: What is something you need to do daily or weekly to feel fulfilled in priority 1? Take 5-10 minutes per day to sit and talk with the girls and old Wilson one to one Less tv Dinner around the table (Oh, also making dinner at home) Talk about our days- high/low Weekends should be less lazy- it's so hard because I'm so drained, but it really bothers me that even playing a board game is too much mental energy. We need to spend time doing something together- going out somewhere, playing a game, something, anything.  Look at priority 2: What is something you need to do daily or weekly to feel fulfilled in priority 2? Keep work at school- literal work. This is hard because I ofte...

Day 11- Recap My recap: I'm fat, but I am starting to be more healthy. Day 12- Reflect This week we talked about SETTING BOUNDARIES. "A common feeling among teachers is that they are  "never doing enough"  - Can you relate? I'll tell you one reason why - In teaching, you could technically always be working! And that's rough on the mind." Oh boy! This hits the nail on the head...I am constantly putting the work I have to do on the backburner because I think I should be in the classroom (a specific classroom at the time) because it is basically on fire and the teacher is pouring gasoline instead of water. I cannot take a step back, even though this week has given me an inside look at the amount of shit this woman goes through on a daily basis. But it is also making it abundantly clear how behind these students are, and that there is absolutely nothing being done about it. Partly because she isn't trained properly, doesn't know the curriculum,...

Oh, hello! I'd like to present to you my Self-Compassion and Beat Burnout Challenge... The Cliffnotes (I'm the purple dialogue) Day 1- Your Inner Critic What types of things do you typically judge or criticize yourself for? (career, appearance, relationships, parenting, etc.)  I definitely judge my ability to be a good mom to my children after a long, strenuous day at work. What language do you use with yourself when you notice a flaw or mistake?  You suck at life, you're ruining your children's lives. Close your eyes and get in touch with the voice behind that negative language. What does the owner of that negative voice look like to you?--what name would you give it? I cannot name names, but I decided to give my critic the nickname "The Bitch!" because when I started at my current position, the Bitch that previously held the post told me "You're going to drown!" I was so furious- how DARE you assume that I cannot handle this! I s...

This year so far has been sucking the life out of me. I work full time in the city, a 2 hour round trip commute, have 2 girls, and a husband, a dog, a cat, and a house- and all of this gets pushed to the back burner because of my work. I love my position, but I’m emotionally draine d this year, with not only my responsibilities at my job, but with the added personal issues and circumstances of my students and their struggles. It’s to the point that I get Angry when I see articles with “tips” on self care because 1) they make no sense for me personally, 2) they take up time I don’t have, and 3) none of them get to the root of the burnout. I like the “self care” and “self compassion" ideas, because they seem more realistic, based on individual needs, and personal self growth.  I joined a Facebook group challenge, in hopes to gain some much needed relief. It began on January 1st, and I tried ever so hard to keep up with it, but alas...I got up to day 17. It is most of the way throu...