When it comes to the process of talking and learning about health and wellness and how it manifests for me as a teacher and what it looks like in the classroom three main themes come to mind. These three themes are balance, sustainability and climate. I have gathered these three themes from the journals that I have kept over the duration of this course (Educ 403: Mental health and wellness).

Balance

Balance for me really comes through in the relationship between the body, mind and spirit. These distinct areas of the self all have their own forms, functions and needs. I find that this relationship can really easily start to suffer due to the conditions we are put under in our society. What I mean by this is the constant pressure to be as productive as you can. In partnership with this, there seems to be a rift forming in physical and mental work so, one realm usually gets way more overworked than the other. A real-world example of this is going to work at a desk all day and then going to a gym after work, or being so mentally drained from work that you cannot bring yourself to go to the gym. The two main things that are important to note in this example are that the physical places we are in can shape the activity we are doing (ie, the gym is usually understood and a place for physical activity), and secondly the divide between the physical and mental is clear. In my opinion, this is part of why the mind, body and spirit are becoming so distanced. To maintain balance for me the whole self needs to be integrated based on the changing needs of the individual to maintain that balance.

Sustainability

For me, sustainability is not only for the self but for others as well. I understand sustainability to apply to daily practices and the amount of work we take on. Don’t bite off more than you can chew! is the expression that applies well. This goes for your students as well, you cannot expect more than is feasible out of your students and out of yourself as well. Coming back to sustainability in an environmental sense I think that promoting practices in your classroom such as recycling and reusing things is important as well as explaining the impact these things have with your students. For me personally, I love a good carpool because not only is it good sustainable practice but it’s a good point of connection with another person as well.

Climate

In terms of climate, I see it as the world and environment around you as you move throughout your days. This can be the climate of your home, classroom, community, physical environment and so on. These climates we move through can affect our well-being and our mental, spiritual and physical state. So, as an individual and an educator, I hope to create a comfortable and safe environment for my students that still allows them to take risks. I hope that I can maintain this sort of environment for myself as well. Overall, I believe that these three things that I have talked about in this post and very much interconnected and are important to me as I embark on my teaching journey.