As teachers, sometimes we are our own worst enemy when it comes to the expectations we place on ourselves. We care about what we do, we strive to meet the needs of our students and the job has no end. One of the toughest aspects of teaching are the expectations we place on ourselves to perform, rise above the challenges and support students as best we can. We care so much and try so hard, the tasks required us often seem endless. This is when our thinking doesn’t stop with all the things we have to do. From exploring resources for our lessons, to then planning our lessons, not to mention all the required admin that goes along with that, there is little opportunity for down time. If we do take some down time for ourselves we often feel guilty because we could be working instead. The problem is, feeling guilty only perpetuates the stress and contributes to feelings of helplessness and resentment. Even if we do take some down time, we often find it difficult to switch off this part of our brain.
The antidote to this cycle is self-compassion, i.e., nurturing yourself, establishing healthy boundaries and modelling self-care. By cultivating compassion we gift ourselves fresh perspectives on how to solve challenges, think more freely and have more energy to give our students.
Self-compassion requires us to observe and control fearful or negative thoughts and reframe perspectives to acknowledge ourselves as worthy of the same love and care we so readily give to others.
Below are 5 enemies of self-compassion that become thinking traps for teachers. These traps, if unchecked, can become habits that contribute to teacher stress and burnout.
The Enemies of Self-Compassion
Perfectionism; Shame; Competition and Comparison; Busyness; and Neglecting your own needs. These have been identified as the big ones, and you can read the rest of the article here >>
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