by Dr. Tim Grivois, Executive Director
Self-care from the inside out is when we take a look around our minds, hearts, and bodies to uncover what we might do to maintain and enhance our overall health and wellness. The inside-out approach is important because the only person who can do your self-care is you, and no one else gets to tell you how to do it.
However, we can’t “self-care” our way out of toxic work environments. If the work itself is the reason why self-care is so important, then the workplace needs to take an “outside-in” approach to self-care, and the eight dimensions of wellness are a great place to start:
Physical:
-Provide access to gym memberships or onsite fitness classes.
-Organize health fairs for basic health screenings and provide access to vaccinations on-site.
Emotional:
-Employee assistance programs to provide free counseling.
-Health insurance benefits with decent mental health coverage.
Spiritual:
-Quiet spaces for meditation and mindfulness.
-Flexibility for religious observances and for time to connect to purpose for those whose connection to spiritual wellness isn’t part of a faith tradition.
Financial:
-Money. Give everyone who works in a school more money.
-Financial Planning Services, and not from the same people selling the 403(b) products.
Intellectual:
-Provide opportunities for teachers to attend professional learning of their own choosing, not directed by their school or district.
Social:
-Create space for teachers across grade levels, content areas, and teams to interact. Don’t take it for granted that this will happen organically.
-Place a high value on teacher voice and choice when assigning teams.
Vocational:
-Be ruthlessly and relentlessly honest about what paperwork we really need teachers to complete for PLCs, IEPs, and 504s. It’s probably much less than we’re currently doing.
-Stop inventing data to collect when we already have enough.
Environmental:
-Come to view the work environment for adults as an essential part of the learning environment for children and youth. The aesthetics matter!
-Good lighting, ventilation, and an overall healthy physical building support everyone’s wellness.
Of course, these are all just ideas. How schools and districts go about their “outside-in” wellness requires tremendous dialogue with the entire school/district team. What matters most, though, is being intentional and purposeful in creating workspaces that are catalysts for wellness, rather than the reason we need so many self-care workshops.