After we reflect is important for us to release the pent-up energy and emotions from our time in the classroom. Like I shared in the reflect article the emotions we feel as educators are big and vast. We are constantly being hit with waves of emotions and experiences that are fueled by the 25+ children we have in our care each day during the school year. To add to the emotional waves of our students we also first and foremost have our own personal lives and the natural ebbs and flows of emotions that come with life to handle on top of our educator emotions. So how do we release all the pent-up emotions and energies that so easily can follow us home and into our personal lives after a day at school? Well I don’t have the magic answer sadly, I guess if I did I’d be writing a very different article right now but here are some ideas and things that worked for me in allowing me to release the emotions and leave the stress and challenges that being an educator brings at school so I can attend to my personal life when I’m not at school.
Some prompts and ideas to facilitate release:
Identify emotions, thoughts, and events you want to release from your day, week, month or year. Write a list if that helps you to keep track.
Take time to do a ritual to release the energies, emotions, events, regrets, stress and/or grief. Your ritual can be anything that you find best: tearing up your list, throwing away your list by crumpling into a ball, shredding the paper, creating a recording of you saying the things on your list and then deleting it, burning it in a fireplace or firepit, talk with someone who you can vent to and share your emotions and thoughts with, listening to a song and sitting with the list and then releasing the list when it is over. Whatever works for you.
Find a positive hobby to help like hanging out with friends or family, an exercise class or routine, crafting, sports, play an instrument, whatever might make you relaxed and give you time and space to process.
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