Managing Stress

• Stress management
• Primary Education
• Secondary Education

Managing Stress

Jordan Lucas

What is stress?

Provide your own definition of what stress means to you.

😒🙁😐🙂😃

What is stress?

While stress may be felt and experienced differently from person to person, it occurs when a person is feeling strained emotionally or physically. 

Is all stress bad?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Not sure

How do our bodies respond to stress?

Our bodies respond to stress differently depending on the type of stress we are experiencing and how we each handle stress.

What do you do
when you are
feeling stressed?
(the good & bad)

Let colleagues fill in the blanks and then spend a couple minutes discussing their existing stress management or lack there of.

How we respond to stress matters!

It is important that we, as educators, know how to respond to stress in our lives for our own health and also so we can begin to teach our students how to manage their stress. 

We, as people, can work to get out of a reactive state and view stressors as manageable challenges.

Ways to Manage Stress

The next portion of our presentation will focus on ways to help manage and/or overcome stressors in our lives.  

I can manage stress through...

1. practicing mindfulness
2. exercise
3. strong positive relationships
4. All of the above

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a popular word in education right now but did you know that you can transform your brain through mindfulness? First let's look at what mindfulness is...

Mindfulness...

is about paying attention to yourself, situations, and others with kind attention. To do this, one would intentionally pay attention with kindness and without judgement.

"The Power of Mindfulness” with Dr. Shauna Shapiro

There may not be time to finish the entire video, but I would try to show the first 8 minutes or so, and all of it if possible.

"What you practice grows stronger"

Alane K. Daugherty, PhD, says that we can use these strategies to be mindfully aware and help our stressors:

• Recognize Overt Reactivity
  
• Learn to Pause
  
• Recognize the Power of Your Attention
  
• Become Present
  
• Release Reactivity Through Body & Mind 

Let's take a moment to put a mindfulness strategy into practice:

We will use our five sense for this exercise to become present...

What are five things that you can see?

Four things that you can touch?

Three things you can hear?

Two things you can smell?

One thing you can taste?

For this part of the training, make sure that colleagues have had the opportunity to get a snack, drink, etc. so that they have something for the taste option.

Give enough time for person to record their answers in their heads and have them signal when they have completed the exercise with eye contact back to the presenter.

Exercise

This is a well known stress reliever but frequently something that is overlooked because when we feel stressed, we'd often rather eat and/or sit on the couch. Exercising for at least 30 minutes five times a week can help your body to process stress in a healthy way. 

What is your favorite way to exercise throughout the week?

Know your Triggers

Learning to identify your triggers can play an important role in managing stressors. If you know these triggers, you can then take a step back and ask yourself:

"How can I face these triggers in future moments without them causing my stress hormones to spike?" 

If you can identify your triggers and answer the question you will be able to respond in a calm way when facing triggers.

Journal

The simple act of writing can be a wonderful way to manage and relieve stress. It does not have to be for anyone else's eyes, but simply your own act of writing for yourself.

Write 3 things that you are grateful for today!

Life Generating Activities

A life generating activity is something that you enjoy intrinsically. I have many, but one that comes to mind for me is getting outside in nature and exploring with my family. We all truly enjoy these moments and during these times, any stressors that may be happening melt away. Find time each day to do life generating activities. We should be finding joy every day and this is one way to do that!

Life generating
activities to do in
Udhailiyah

Give teachers a chance to think about and record life generating activities in our city. 

Social Media

When we think of stress and social media, it's probably negatives that come to mind first. Today, let's find the positives! Hop on Instagram and find a social media account that is relaxing or calming to share with your table. 

Allow teachers a couple minutes to search for an account and share amongst their table. Share a couple aloud if time allows. 

Connections

When it comes to managing stress and your overall health, positive connections with family and friends have been proven to have amazing outcomes. Let's watch this incredible video that follows a 75 year study of the lives of men since 1938. 

Mental Health Connects to Physical Health

As I have been sharing ways for you to practice managing stress, I hope you have also noticed the connection that mental health has to physical health. You can choose to make changes and choices in your own life that lead to more thoughtful stress management and a healthier life!

Teacher-Student Connection

I hope that you are able to take this information and apply it to your own lives to be good role models for our students. I also hope that you'll share much of this information with the students in your class so that they develop healthy ways to  manage their stress as they grow and mature. 

Exit Ticket: Please share your greatest takeaway from todays presentation about Managing Stress.