Wellbeing for educators – How can you support your educators?

When educators have a strong sense of wellbeing, they are better equipped to be responsive to every child and their needs, and work together as a team. You can support your team by emphasising how important it is for them to think about self-care and their wellbeing. We need to think about what everyone brings to the team and channel these thoughts as a starting point for creating change.

Incorporating some time into your day to visualise yourself in a setting that brings you happiness can help give you a boost to make your day brighter. Your future depends on what you choose to think here and now.

A basic visualisation routine might look like:

Mindset is a strong contender to workplace wellbeing. How can we use the language of the mind to consistently achieve specific and desired outcomes?

Our thoughts become things. When we have negative thoughts, try to change the channel in your mind as you would change the channel on the television. Think of something empowering, loving and positive. You are in charge. Spark your own change of mindset and watch how it can impact your day.

For example, if you were thinking about how the rainy weather was going to affect your day with the children, think less about the mud and mess, or being cooped up inside. Instead, appreciate the days you enjoyed the sunshine, the beach, being outside and present in nature, and channel that happiness into your day. Your positivity will set the mood in the room. It may be raining outside, but you have the power to bring sunshine into the room.

Visualisation is an impactful strategy when practicing mindfulness. You may benefit from taking the time to exercise your imagination and taking the time to visualise yourself in a setting that brings you calm.

• Picking a time to sit down somewhere you won’t be disrupted for 2-10 minutes

• Imagining a scene and picking out every possible detail; the sight, smell, sounds and colours

• Reaching for the emotion you want to feel

• Putting yourself in the picture

• Visualising the end result

When we are faced with challenges, it is important to consider what we are feeling, what is underneath the emotion and how to look at this differently. If an educator is coming to you with a problem, sit down with them and unpack their problem. Uncover all aspects of the challenge at hand and discover the “real” objection before moving forward. When an educator says they don’t have enough time to focus on their wellbeing, try responding with “if I can prove to you that its worth finding the time, and you could find the time, what else might stop you from moving with change?” It is vitally important to encourage our team, peers, friends, family, to take care of their wellbeing, and believe that they can and are worthy of a positive lifestyle and workplace environment.

Encourage others to take ownership and believe in themselves and their positive thoughts.

Having a supportive management team in a service to enable their educators to care for themselves and their wellbeing will make all the difference to a well balanced team. The mood of an educator can set the tone of the environment for their colleagues, children and families. We need to give our teams the tools to be resilient and remain proactive and positive in the work environment. A team with a clear vision, ability to communicate openly, nurture a positive culture and share duties is set to be successful.