4 Wellbeing activity for Week 6
Anyone who plays a sport, or is serious about their fitness, knows that rest and recovery are an important part of any training plan. If there is inadequate rest the person will soon become tired and run down and performance will drop. Similarly rest and recovery are important for educators in order to maintain optimal performance and ‘re-charge batteries’. This can be achieved by building in different forms of ‘down time’, relaxation or ‘switching off’ into your working and everyday life.
Take some time to reflect on what helps you to feel calm, relaxed and re-energised. Then consider how much time each relaxation or re-energising activity takes and if any require any special arrangements – for example, maybe some can only happen with certain people or in certain places, or at specific times.
Finally, think about when in your day, week and month you could appropriately fit such relaxation and recovery activities into your schedule. For example, a brief coffee and chat with a colleague(s), some deep breathing or a mindfulness activity, may only take up 10 minutes but could provide a useful break giving you a chance to relax your mind and body. These might therefore be good actions for when you quickly need to de-stress and re-focus in between academic work and teaching or at the end of the day.
Just like the pre-flight checks on a plane, where you are asked to fit your own air supply first before helping others, you need to prioritise your own relaxation, recovery and wellness. If you are not OK, how will you be able to support others?
