Not every day is rainbows, unicorns, and cupcakes with sprinkles. Sometimes the only side of the bed you can wake up on is the wrong side.  And that’s okay. It’s all part of this big amazingly messy experience called life. While you can’t necessarily control your mood or all the thoughts that pop into your… Read More

You love your students. And many of them come to school with traumatic backgrounds and stories that hurt your heart and affect you down to your soul. You listen. You care. You do everything you can to help these children manage and survive. But the most important element in helping others is being able to… Read More

Between caring for students and caring for family, sometimes the only alone time we get is those few minutes in the car on the way to or from work. But guess what? It’s still ALONE time and it should be celebrated and treated like the sacred gift it is. Make the most of this time… Read More

Pencils have erasers for a reason. Mistakes are a part of life. Mistakes mean we’re learning. We’re trying. We are pushing ourselves in new and sometimes uncomfortable ways. That’s the whole point. And, when we flip the switch on our perspective, we realize that mistakes truly are blessings in disguise — and those blessings may… Read More

You’ve heard of the 12 Days of Christmas but this year, how about trying the 12 Days of Balance? We know that there are never enough minutes in a day to get our professional work done, never mind personal to-dos. Plus, many educators are truly passionate about their jobs and research shows that creative jobs… Read More

The use of water to heal the body and comfort the mind is as old as the Greek myths you may be teaching your students.  Hydrotherapy is used for rehabilitation, chronic pain, and musculoskeletal disorders — and spas around the world have added it to their menu of services to aid in detoxification, tension release,… Read More

Adding mindfulness to your life can create a calm in the storm, help you become more present, and train your thoughts to actually engage instead of just going through the motions. Mindfulness Training for Teachers walked you through mindfulness with two mindfulness pros over at Intel: Marissa Powers and Lindsay Benjamin. And Mindfulness Activities for… Read More

The school day starts early. And you were up late last night preparing lessons, grading papers, and cutting out 35 new teddy bear name tags. Sleepiness is weighing down your eyelids and creating a mist through your brain. Caffeine may take off some of the edge, but what you really need — and want —… Read More

You’ve perfected the art of deep belly breathing, you’re a meditation master, you’ve got mindfulness on lock. But have you tried palming? If you haven’t heard of it, keep reading. It may just be your new go-to move to alleviate tension and even improve your vision. Palming for relaxation Perfect for relaxation of the eyes,… Read More

Each year, as you sit through those Right to Know meetings, do you ever wonder if the really dangerous toxins are actually some of the people in your life and not the Clorox wipes you have hidden in your file cabinet? Let’s be honest. Some people really need a clear label saying, Danger: Hazardous to… Read More

When it comes to resilience, an interesting exercise is to take a look at the multitude of quizzes available online. From the popular BuzzFeed to more of a magazine format to pop-psychology evaluations, you can get a generalized sense of how resilient you are/aren’t compared to the masses (always keep in mind there can be… Read More

Yes, your passion for learning and inspiring others led you to a career in education. But what about your other passions? Remember those? Those things that make you tick, or give you butterflies, or make your eyes sort of twinkle? Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve even thought about those things. Maybe you’ve thought… Read More

One of the worst things about being a working adult — especially a teacher —  is trying to decide what’s for dinner. Long days being in charge of a classroom can leave you feeling like you’d rather get a root canal than make another decision. But decide what’s for dinner we must. And let’s be… Read More

As a teacher, sometimes a full glass of water during the day seems like a luxury. Most educators find themselves limiting their water intake because, well, there’s often a limit to the amount of bathroom breaks one can take. But without water, you can’t stay properly hydrated, and proper hydration is paramount to a healthy… Read More