Relax & Renew
Although I am not a teacher in a school, I can certainly understand the importance of the summer break for educators, as well as students. We all benefit from times of relaxation and renewal.
Summer break offers an opportunity to learn and practice new skills that may help us cope with stress and maintain a calm and compassionate presence with ourselves and others. For those of us who are enjoying summer we may have particular places near or far that we visit during these warm months that bring us a sense of peace. Taking in and relishing those moments and places of peace and contentment so that we can recall them and “go” to those places in our minds when we need to later in the year can be of tremendous value.
In addition, we all need to have people that we feel connected to in this work of fostering welcoming, inclusive and respectful environments that restore and support the whole child and the whole adult. Knowing that you are not alone and having others to discuss successes, challenges, new ideas and to offer support are vital to our well being enabling us to find the strength and courage we need when times get tough. Our communities of support can help us feel that sense of renewal and rejuvenation. Edutopia has a good article about finding community and support for educators in particular. You can read it here. Meetup.com is another way for anyone to find a community of like-minded people.
Please share with us what you do to relax and find community. 🙂
