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ESC Staff Matters

Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious but can’t imagine finding the time to take care of yourself? Check out the quick videos linked to each title below for in-the-moment strategies to help you move forward in your day! Videos range from 2-10 minutes. 

Looking for more in-depth practice and information on how to support your own and others’ mental health? Please take a look at the PD courses being offered, Mental Health for Educators and Embedding Mental Health Strategies. Additional cohorts can be arranged. Please reach out to Cristin O’Riordan for more information (co’riordan@fairfieldesc.org).

Table of Contents:

Perspective Scale
Feeling overwhelmed? Dealing with a lot of frustrations and/or negativity? This practice can help reframe your situation so you can take a step back. Gaining perspective will help you calm down and move forward with reason. (in the moment practice, can be done anywhere/anytime)

Calm the Body
For the moments you need to calm your mind and body.  (in the moment practice, can be done anywhere/anytime)

Dealing with Negativity
This exercise is a practice in letting thoughts go so that you can better acknowledge and let go of negative thoughts as they arise. (can be in the moment or practice training brain)

Dealing with Difficulty
When facing difficult emotions, we have the power to care for them and see the situation with clarity. It does take time and practice though. This will help you handle difficult emotions vs. pushing them away or letting them take over (in the moment)

Loving Kindness for Others
People pushing your buttons? Or even truly harming your mental health? We actually can train our brains and hearts to respond with care in order to make YOURSELF a much happier and less stressed person. (can be in the moment or practice training brain)

5-4-3-2-1
A wonderful practice for the moments you can feel the overwhelm - physically and/or mentally. This practice will help bring you back to the present so you can move forward with clarity and reason. (in the moment practice, can be done anywhere/anytime)

You Can Handle This
When we are in “it”, “it” can feel completely overwhelming. This exercise is all about practicing mindfulness to process the hard times. By doing this, you can actually train your brain to recognize its own resilience (can be in the moment or practice training brain)

Having a Bad Day
If you feel like nothing seems to be going right and you are having a tough day, this is a great practice to help you find compassion for yourself and rewrite the story (in the moment, more effective in quiet space)

5 Finger Breathing
Need a quick reset to calm your body and mind? This practice will help ground your whole self so you can continue with your day with clarity and reason. (can be done in the moment, anytime/where)

Hand to Heart
For the moments your heart is racing and so is your brain, this practice will remind you that you have more control than you think. It will allow your body and mind to calm in only a couple of minutes. (can be done in the moment, anytime/where)

Rip It Up
We can’t ignore the negative, the frustrating, the heartbreaking, the infuriating. We need to acknowledge it so that we can move on. This is a wonderful, healthy way to release some of these emotions and thoughts. (can be done in the moment, anytime/where)