Self-compassion involves being aware of our own pain and suffering, and understanding that this is a hard, but normal human experience. Directing feelings of kindness and care towards ourselves, and focusing our attention and energy on how we might alleviate our pain, are also crucial components of self-compassion. Self-compassion can bring great benefits for our mental health and well-being. Particularly, self-compassion can activate our soothe system, which calms the threat and drive systems. Our threat and drive systems tend to be overactive for many of us much of the time, and responsible for the difficult emotions we may be struggling with (e.g., anxiety, anger, depression). The opposite of self-compassion is self-criticism. This very negative thinking style often links to difficult emotions and mental health problems. Those who are highly self-critical particularly need to develop the ability to relate to themselves in a compassionate way.

Mindful Practices to Awaken Your Well-Being and Grow Resilience.

As educators, we are constantly bombarded with stress and overwhelm. Even finding the time and space to pause can sometimes feel “one-more-thing.” On this website there is a compilation of mindful self-compassion meditations found in the book “Self-Compassion for Educators.”
Many of the practices are informal practices you can do any place and any time.

The Fourth R is a consortium of researchers and professionals dedicated to promoting healthy adolescent relationships and reducing risk behaviours. They develop and evaluate programs, resources, and training materials for educators and other front-line professionals who work with youth.

Video series are provided for each of the following:

Healthy Relationships Plus Program (HRPP) Skills for Effective Relationships

Healthy Relationships Program (HRP) for LGBT2Q+ Youth Skills for Effective Relationships

The Fourth R Grade 7 Skills for Effective Relationships

The Fourth R Grade 8 Skills for Effective Relationships

The Fourth R Grade 9 Skills for Effective Relationships

Northwest Territories Skills for Effective Relationships

Texas Skills for Effective Relationships

Indigenous Peer Mentoring Skills for Effective Relationships

Les Habiletés pour des Relations Efficaces

This site incudes information on the following:
-Facts about sleep
-Insomnia
-Insomnia and your thinking
-Sleep hygiene

This site also includes worksheets and information sheets available for download.

Smiling Mind can be used with kids, teachers or parents - at school and at home!

"Smiling Mind is a non-for-profit web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists and educators to help bring mindfulness into your life."

To use these mediation, you can use the website, or download the free app from the App Store or Google Play.

There are full programs for classrooms, specifically for teachers, kids as well as adults.

"Spark People shares short videos for all different types of home workouts, no equipment required. There are several categories – Abs, Cardio, Yoga and Pilates, as well as others that diver into healthy cooking and eating ideas. These workouts are great when you are pinched for time. Choose a 10-12 minute routine and squeeze in some activity where you normally would have skipped it altogether."

What is stress? Who does it affect? What can I do about it? How can I help a loved one?

The following is a chart on stress awareness. It includes the following questions:
- What was the stressful situation or event?
- What body sensations did I feel?
- What emotions did I have?
- What were my thoughts?
- How did I react or respond?

A Problem-solving Approach to Stress Management

What is Stress Strategies?
Stress Strategies looks at stress as a problem that can be addressed solved, or at least improved, using practical problem-solving methods.
Stress Strategies:
provides a variety of research-backed stress management strategies
shares real life stories of how people use these specific strategies to manage their stress more effectively
guides you through a few questions to help you make use of these various strategies
When finished, you’ll be able to download or print your own personalized stress management plan.

"Physical signs of stress can include headaches, stiff joints, and sore stomachs. Due to our bodies’ own self-protective measures, we might not realize that we’re living with symptoms of stress for days, weeks, months, or years. To support you, Yoga Ed. has created this toolkit. In this toolkit, you will find body-based practices to manage stress and support your and your students’ physical and emotional wellbeing."

You will need to provide your email to download the kit.

Poses and exercises for:
*headaches
*tension
*tight shoulders
*back ache
*sore hands
*vertigo
*stomach ache
*jaw

This resource contains full online modules for wellness related to Covid.  There is a module for students and a module for teachers.  Please open the resource for more details. 

This is the presentation by Shannon McJannet from the May SBA meeting on supporting staff mental health.

When someone you love has been diagnosed
with a mental illness, you feel a mixture of
emotions. Concern, compassion, disbelief, anger,
relief, anxiety, grief, love, guilt ? any and all of
these emotions are understandable and normal.
Who is taking care of you?, What to do in a crisis? A note on Privacy. Income and Housing Support

Teachers emotionally support our kids — but who's supporting our teachers? In this eye-opening talk, educator Sydney Jensen explores how teachers are at risk of "secondary trauma" — the idea that they absorb the emotional weight of their students' experiences — and shows how schools can get creative in supporting everyone's mental health and wellness.

Wealth of resources on:​

Healthy Spaces​

Promoting Belonging​

Building Resilience​

Mental Health Literacy​

Promising Practices

"Hitting a wall? Explore self-care strategies to battle teacher burnout, and rediscover your inner superhero to bring excitement and creativity back into your classroom."

"Do you want to do bodyweight exercises you can do at home? Craig Ballentyne of Turbulence Training provides a wonderful collection of no-equipment bodyweight workouts designed to help you burn fat and get lean.

These instructional videos are mostly short ones (i.e. under 10 minutes) and can be used to create your own home workouts."

Project this video and have everyone be mindful and calm along with the video for 2 minutes (or just do it by yourself)!

The video prompts the users when to breath in, hold, and when to breath out.

Calming and relaxing. Use this to refocus.

Work-related disorders aren’t just limited to heavy manufacturing or construction. They can occur in all types of industries and work environments, including office/classroom/working at home spaces. Research shows that repetitive motion, poor posture, and staying in the same position can cause or worsen musculoskeletal disorders.

Neck and shoulder pain are common in sedentary jobs. Get loosened up and work out the kinks with these 12 exercises you can do at your desk.

Included are exercises for your arms, upper body, legs, head and shoulders.

Join Learning for Justice for a webinar on the importance of educators practicing self-care. Featuring middle school literacy coach Geneviéve DeBose and school social worker Shoshana Brown, this webinar will help educators understand the science and psychology of self-care, including how educator self-care affects students. You will learn a variety of practices and tools, and you will be able to identify practices that work best for you so that you can thrive and really show up every day in your school community.