Teachers work tirelessly all year long and prioritize the needs of their students over anything else. So it’s no wonder summer is a time for rest and rejuvenation. But in order to have true summer self care, it’s important to be intentional about how you spend your summer. To help you be intentional, I’m sharing 4 tips on how to rest and have complete summer self care.

Each of these 4 tips tap into different parts of yourself, whether that’s emotionally, physically, or mentally. Because teaching can drain your energy and compromise your mental health, it’s important to decompress and reflect on how the year went and what you hope the next year brings. No matter how you want to spend the summer, just make sure you are intentional to achieve summer self care. 

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It's almost summer, and as a teacher, you are likely beyond exhausted. Because while teaching you deal with more in a day than most people deal with in a month or more, and the emotional toll of teaching is incredibly draining.

So when summer comes, use it as a chance to fully rest and recharge. And really think about what you can do that will be nourishing, and true self care.

I think when people say self care, sometimes it can sound really fluffy. And it can be hard to even know how to decompress from the school year, and really think about living in a more intentional, nourishing way in the summer.

So I want you to think about whether you're in the classroom, or you've moved beyond the classroom how to really rest this summer. And I think culturally, it can be so hard to just know how to really rest, we are part of a culture that is very hustle based, and very go go go and focused on productivity. And it doesn't have to be that way.

And often that rest, that real true nourishing rest is what will actually propel us forward to achieve our dreams. So this summer, again, whether you've been teaching in the classroom, or if you've been working as an educator beyond the classroom, I want you to think about these four tips as you consider how to really build in self care. So let's get into those four tips.

The first one is calming your nervous system. That you can think about how to relax your body and you should think about how to relax your body in order to relax your mind. We can't just do one. And it's not just like massages or exercise, it's really thinking about what is going to make you feel overall calm.

So maybe it's cuddling under a weighted blanket. Or maybe it's spending hours staring at the ocean. Think about ways where you can let go of the tension that you've been holding. The way to figure out what works for you is experimentation, and do what feels good to your body.

So maybe you go for a run and you're like, oh my gosh, this feels amazing. I'm gonna keep doing this. Or maybe it's just like, Nope, doesn't feel great, I'm gonna go outside and just lay in the sun, go put your body on the grass, lay in the sun. See what feels good to you so that you can process all that you've been holding, and let go of that physical stress that you've accumulated over the school year. So again, listen to your body and do what feels good. Do what will make your body feel relaxed.

Tip two is give yourself processing time. The school year can be a constant stream of activities and stress. When we're so on all the time, it can be hard to process what's actually happening. And teachers deal with so much. And we're asked just go on do the next thing, do the next thing, do the next thing.

So as you relax into the slower pace of summer, give yourself time to feel all your feelings whether you need to grieve or to celebrate or reflect, don't hold back. Whatever feelings you're experiencing, don't fight them. Sometimes journaling or talking about your experiences or just allowing yourself time to reflect can help you make sense of the many emotions you likely felt this school year.

But focusing on releasing the physical, mental and emotional weight of the school year can help you find your way forward and actually help you reset. So don't just try to rush through things or ignore things, give yourself time to acknowledge them, to process them, to make sense of them.

And then after doing all of that calming your nervous system processing what's happened over the school year, the third tip is to tune in to what you really want. During the school year, we're always attending to other people's needs. That's like what it is to be a teacher. And so much so that we can become removed from our desires, but not this summer.

Now that you put in some work into processing the school year, you can really get clear on what you want. Some of the best summer self care includes thinking hard about what you want for the future. What feels like the best next step to you? Do want to rest and relax? Do you want to make progress towards your goals? Are you ready to leave the classroom?

Whatever you want is okay. But to get clear on what you want, you have to tune out other voices and influences and instead of that, instead of thinking about what other people say about my future or what's expected for me as a teacher, tune into and trust your inner voice really value what you want.

But to be able to do that, we have to get clear on what it is. So after calming yourself down, processing, tune into what you want get clear on what that is. That doesn't mean that you have to have a 10 year plan written up like I honestly think you shouldn't, because your desires will always change. But get clear on what you want for this next school year, or what you're really desiring.

This can be things like more money, the ability to travel, the ability to walk your dog in the middle of the day, or go to the grocery store when it's not the weekend. Whatever it is for you. Maybe it's more fulfilling work, maybe it's creativity, maybe it's that you want to be out of the classroom in some shape or form and don't really know what it would look like yet. That's okay. Just get clear on what you're desiring.

And then the last tip is to set the pace you need. Now that you've gotten clear on what you want, set some goals. A great summer break doesn't mean having to completely disconnect from your education career. It doesn't mean completely relaxing. Sometimes what we need is not to relax entirely, but to make some progress in a more sustainable way.

So consider what's realistic for you to achieve this summer. And think about the pace you'd like this summer to have. Think about, do you really want it to be slow and leisurely? Or do you really want it to be that you're accomplishing your goals? That you're being really productive? There is no right answer. But I want you to intentionally set the pace for your summer.

If you want to accomplish a lot set goals and take action towards them. If you just need to rest and relax, adopt a snail's pace. There are no wrong answers when it comes to your summer, and how you're going to intentionally go about accomplishing your goals. Listen to yourself, build in time to recover, and design a path forward that works for you.