Teaching with Yoga Breaths

I am easily susceptible to peer pressure.  And I love to challenge myself.  So when a colleague posted the "Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge for Teachers," I naively thought it was a great idea.  Excitedly, I printed it off on Friday to start Monday.  And now, it's Tuesday.  Already a day behind.

So, here it goes.

Day 1: Write your goals for the school year.  Be as specific or abstract as you'd like to be!

I did think about this specific post all day yesterday.  With the haze of the Labor Day weekend and mound of papers to avoid (I mean grade), I couldn't quite bring myself to commit to anything.  I wanted a unifying theme to encompass all facets of my working lifestyle.  Some idea that would work for everything to make it easier to remember and practice.  (Yes, I always put this kind of pressure on myself.)  Then, as it usually happens, I had the perfect idea just as I drifted off to sleep.

Patience.

I probably need to give my husband some credit for this epiphany.  In the year we have been married, he has taught me the true definition of patience.  Because he does everything at his one pace, I had to learn about prioritizing what needs to get done and what could handle waiting. 

When it comes to my teaching, I want to work on practicing patience with my students, colleagues, administrators, and, probably most importantly, myself.  I envisioned what this would look like with each specific set of people.  When I was practicing yoga tonight, I focused in on how I was going to accomplish this: take yoga breaths.

As any high school secondary teacher knows, practicing patience with students can sometimes be the biggest accomplishment of the day.  By eighth hour, when I've seen 153 students, one more "What are we doing today?" will push me over the edge.  With a pause and ten seconds of yoga breaths, I can answer with the same excitement I had first hour, instead of responding with the stress of an entire day's work.

The same is true of my colleagues, my administrators, and myself.  A pause and a breath can give the reflective thought needed to respond thoughtfully, instead of react instantly.

Succeeding at this goal will make me more focused on the true purpose behind why I became a teacher, and less on the day-to-day tasks that absorb my energy and spirt.