The mindful teacher

enso by Tim Iverson Perfectionism is one of the  hazards  of teaching. Most  teachers I know work extremely hard, holding themselves to high standards, as well as their students. At times, this is a good thing, while at  other times, it can become too much. The website Health.com ranks teaching as one of the 10 professions with high rates of depression. Expectations keep rising across the board, with many teachers struggling with heavy loads.  And unfortunately, mindfulness can  feed into this process.... " I should be mindful all the time."  "I need to always be happy and kind." "I should be more present" "I'm not doing this right."  With a personal mindfulness practice, we create the intention to be more kind and aware. Who could argue with that? But when mindfulness becomes  a strain, an ideal or another  "should",  it becomes an additional means of self-criticism and pressure. And that's not what mindfulness

This is a guest post from Vickie Woehrle I know that there are many stressful professions in the world today, but I have to think that teaching ranks at least in the top 10.  I have been in teaching for 18 years and I realized a few years ago that if I was going to have longevity in this career, I needed to develop some strategies to manage the stress.  Thankfully my colleague introduced me to the concept of mindfulness. For me it started as a kid-focused initiative. There is no doubt that this practice is beneficial for our students, and I encourage everyone to incorporate it into their classroom repertoire.  It has the ability to have a profound effect on classroom culture, with the hope that it will also work its magic in the lives of students outside of the school day.   I would use mindfulness on a daily basis with my homeroom students.  I found my students bought into the guided imagery practice the most.  Mindfulness takes practice and patience, but it is well worth it.  Student