There is one thing early learning professionals (ELPs) know for sure: working with children is hard! So much so, in fact, that the difficulty of our work can sometimes leave us feeling stressed out and struggling to bring our best selves to the job. Mindfulness can be an important tool for managing the stress and anxiety we experience in our roles.
If you haven’t practiced mindfulness before, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to easily incorporate it into your day. And there are plenty of different mindfulness strategies to choose from, so it’s easy to find one that suits your needs.
Two commonly used mindfulness strategies are deep breathing and grounding. Here are a few suggestions for how to incorporate one of these into your stress-management toolbox.
Taking Deep Breaths
Taking deep breaths isn’t a new strategy. It has been around a long time because, the truth is, when it’s done with intentionality and fidelity, it really works! Below are three different ways to use breathing to calm your nerves and regulate your emotions.
- Square Breathing https://youtu.be/cOOd-wlMMRg
- 4-7-8 Breathing https://youtu.be/kpSkoXRrZnE
- Five-Finger Breathing https://youtu.be/HQVZgpyVQ78
Grounding
Grounding is another technique that helps you focus on the present moment. It can help you feel more regulated and reduce anxiety. There are a variety of the ways to practice grounding, including the examples demonstrated in these videos.
- Five Senses Grounding Technique https://youtu.be/30VMIEmA114
- Grounding Techniques for Anxiety https://youtu.be/TZOLQJBYu-E
- Ten Grounding Techniques https://youtu.be/5YtnpPPnqaY
Using Mindfulness in Your Lessons
What’s beautiful about the techniques above is that you can integrate them into your daily lessons! Like many ELPs, you may feel like you can’t add one more thing to your plate, but there’s good news. These techniques can be built into your regular plans and schedule. You can use them as transitions and strategies for calling children to order.
Better Days Ahead
You can do these things for yourself and for your students to create a mindful space for all of you. Modeling mindfulness and making it a regular part of your day at home and at school can be a key factor in how your days progress and in helping reduce your anxiety, frustration, and feelings of burnout.