Summer Recharge: Self-Care Strategies for Educators with Sari Laberis

Ready to recharge and find joy this summer? Discover transformative self-care techniques that will leave you refreshed and inspired for the next school year. From completely disconnecting from work to indulging in hobbies, this episode is packed with actionable strategies tailored specifically for educators. Learn how to schedule time for your favorite activities, explore the benefits of mindfulness or meditation, and even rekindle your love for simple pleasures like reading for fun. Your mental health and well-being deserve this break!

Join me, Sari, in our season five finale as I fly solo to celebrate the start of summer vacation and share some tried-and-true methods for educators to practice self-care. Whether it's taking a short vacation, engaging in a cherished hobby, or setting aside time for pure enjoyment, these practices can make a world of difference. Don't forget to share your own tips by emailing us at ExtraordinaryEducators@cainc.com or tagging us on social media. Let's wrap up the season with a focus on rejuvenation and personal fulfillment.

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Transcript

Sari Laberis: 0:22

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Extraordinary Educators podcast. It's Sari. I'm flying solo this week because it is our last episode of season four. Congratulations, you made it to the finish line. Congrats on being on summer vacation if you are already, and if not, I hope it is soon for you. We are so, so grateful for your partnership this season and for continuing to listen. So thanks again, and, as we close out, I thought, for your partnership this season and for continuing to listen. So thanks again. And as we close out, I thought it would be nice to talk about how to practice self-care over the summer, and so we have some strategies and best practices for you, and we'd also love to hear from you. Feel free to email us extraordinary educators that's plural, educators with an S at the end at cainc. com, or tag us in your social posts. how are you practicing self-care over the summer? So here are a few ways that we've heard from teachers who have found success in self-care over the summer. First off, take a break, actually schedule some time completely away from work, whether it's a short vacation or staycation, or just a few days of relaxing at home, where you commit to disconnecting from work responsibilities. This is so, so crucial for your mental health and for your emotional regulation and just everything. It is so, so beneficial. One best practice that our former co-host used to share is that on weekends, she would put her phone in a drawer for hours or days at a time. Feel free to do that. Put your computer in a drawer, put your phone in a drawer, just truly disconnect. If you haven't done this before, it can be a bit anxiety provoking or feel super, super challenging in the moment. That's good, that means growth, and you will feel so much better after, so really encourage you to take a break and let us know how it goes.

Sari Laberis: 2:02

Another way you can practice self-care this summer is engaging in a hobby. Reconnect with an activity or hobby that brings you joy, whether it's gardening, drawing, hiking, playing an instrument, reading. Committing time to this can really help you feel more fulfilled and also has been researched to decrease stress, and so summer is a perfect time to, even if it's just an hour a week, recommit to a hobby and let us know what are you doing for fun. It's really nice to also schedule time for this. Put it in your Google calendar or your phone. However, you manage your time and try to create a routine by doing this at the same time each week or day. So if, for example, you want to garden, you know, maybe every morning you put in your phone for 10 minutes to water your plants or whatnot. But really finding a time and then doing it at the same time every day or week can help you build that muscle memory and engaging with your hobby and doing the thing that brings you joy. Another thing that we recommend, which I'm sure you all love to do, is reading for pleasure. Not reading to learn or not reading to improve your professional development, truly just reading for pleasure, whatever that may be for you, whether it's fiction or nonfiction or whatnot but really using the summer to indulge in reading for pleasure and you can connect with other folks who are reading the same thing, but really just find topics or genres that are enjoyable for you to really just help with that disconnect from work and also just bringing you joy.

Sari Laberis: 3:30

Another thing that you can do for self-care is practice mindfulness or meditation. This is really really hard for me. It's something I'm working on, but I try to do a five-minute meditation at least once a week. I tried to do it daily and then realized that that was way too of an ambitious goal that I was never going to be successful at, so I tweaked it a bit, but these practices can really help reduce stress and increase self-awareness and promote well-being. We are so, so busy plugged into our phones, our computers, the people around us especially obviously when you are a teacher and you are in charge of 30 or 90 or however many little bodies and lives and their future, and so really just finding time to sit there with just your brain is really really hard, but can be so, so, so beneficial. There are tons of meditations online. I like to do mine before I go to sleep because it's a way first of all for me to make sure I'm not scrolling on my phone, and also it just helps me fall asleep. So you can find maybe you want to do it in the morning, maybe you want to do it in the middle of the day or after lunch or before sleep, like I do, but just really trying to practice that can really really help you take care of yourself this summer and potentially bringing that into your, you know, daily or weekly routine during.

Sari Laberis: 4:45

Another thing you can do to practice self-care is exercise, of course. Engaging in physical activity can help your physical health and also your mental health. Go for walks. If you listen to podcasts, take this podcast, for example, on a walk with you. Or, you know, go biking, go running, do anything that brings you joy, but really moving your body can be so, so helpful. Be so, so helpful. Another thing you can do this summer is connect with loved ones, either virtually or on the phone, or just making sure you schedule quality time with family and friends to strengthen your social connections and also, you know, provide emotional support and foster a sense of belonging.

Sari Laberis: 5:22

One thing you can do to challenge yourself is get together with a group of people, whether that's family or friends or colleagues, and try not to talk about work for all of you, not just you. It's hard. We are so committed to our practice and we know that all of our partners or curriculum associates are that you live and breathe work. What happens when you don't talk about it? Maybe you learn something new about someone you're already really close with, or maybe you get into a really deep discussion about something unrelated to your job. You can also reflect and set goals. Now is a really nice time to celebrate what you did this past year and think about what you want to accomplish during the next school year. You can think about areas for growth and set realistic goals for the upcoming school year. Setting these intentions can really help motivate you, as you you know, maybe you have a hard day during the back to school season or you just just providing an area of focus can really help you plan more effectively.

Sari Laberis: 6:14

The last thing you can do, or just another idea that you can do, is prioritize sleep. We have a whole blog and podcast on this that we will link in the show notes. But establishing a healthy sleep routine and prioritizing rest can really really help physical and mental health and just your overall wellbeing. Just like some of these other practices, we do not get enough sleep, and I know that teachers, especially you, are just so, so busy during the day and at home and it's really important just to log those hours. You will see such an increase in your mood, in your I don't know just just how you feel physically, feeling less sluggish and everything, if you prioritize sleep. So we challenge you to prioritize sleep this summer when potentially you could sleep a little bit later or go to bed earlier or take a nap maybe, which is really creating a routine and prioritizing getting rest heading into the school year will make you feel so much better. So I hope these tips and best practices have been helpful for you. Again, let us know how you're practicing self-care this summer. We really, really care about you and your wellbeing and we hope that you test some of these out and let us know what happens. So with that, we are going to close out this final episode of season four. We cannot wait to see you next season.

Sari Laberis: 7:30

We already have some super exciting guests lined up and, as always, if you want to be a guest or have a topic of interest, feel free to email us or message us on social media and we will collaborate. So, as always, be you be true, be extraordinary. Have a wonderful, wonderful summer, and thank you so much for listening. Get inspired by following us on social media and please tag us in your posts on X at Curriculum, asoche and on Instagram at my Eye Ready. If you have feedback about the podcast, a topic of interest, or if you want to be a guest, email extraordinaryeducators at cainccom. Please subscribe where you listen to podcasts and if you'd like to help more educators, just like you, join the conversation and please leave a review. Remember, be you, be true, be extraordinary. The Extraordinary Educators podcast is produced by Curriculum Associates, editing by Shane Lowe, social media by Atsiti Hannon, guest booking by Sari LaBarris and production by Haley Browning. This podcast is copyrighted materials and intellectual property of Curriculum Associates.