Key Points
Back to top- Most advice for teacher well-being focuses on the big resets, like wellness days, summer breaks, and after-school self-care routines.
- What if the solution isn’t finding more time to rest, but using the moments we already have?
- Gain practical strategies for integrating mini-breaks into your busy day.
I had a conversation with a teacher in our community that has stayed with me. She said, “By lunch, I’m already emotionally spent. I give and give all morning, and by the time I have a break, I’m running on empty.”
Her words resonated because they’re so familiar. The emotional labor of teaching is relentless. We’re managing behaviors, navigating difficult conversations, making hundreds of decisions before noon, and holding space for students’ big feelings while often neglecting our own.
Most advice for teacher well-being focuses on the big resets, like wellness days, summer breaks, and after-school self-care routines. These matter, of course. But they don’t address the daily emotional depletion that happens in real time, between first bell and dismissal.
This leaves me wondering …
What if the solution isn’t finding more time to rest, but using the moments we already have?
Why Small Moments Make a Big Difference
Back to topStress compounds throughout the day. Little stressors stack up, and by the time we finally get a break, we’re already depleted.
That’s why small, frequent resets work better than waiting for a big one. They interrupt the cycle before it becomes overwhelming, like compound interest for your well-being. Brief pauses throughout your day catch you early and often, helping you stay regulated before depletion takes over.
When you regulate yourself, your students benefit too. Research shows that our emotional state naturally influences students’ emotions, too. Taking care of yourself is taking care of your students.
The Micro-Moment Menu
Back to topThese 30-second to 2-minute practices fit naturally into the school day without demanding elaborate routines. Here are some favorites from our community of educators:
Morning Arrival
One-Thing Gratitude: Before students arrive, name one specific thing you’re grateful for or something that went well yesterday to prime your mindset for the day.
Post-It Affirmation at Your Desk: Place a positive reminder where you’ll see it first thing when you arrive (“Everything works out for me” or “I start each day with a grateful heart”).
I wrote ‘I am always learning’ on a Post-It at my workspace. Just the act of doing this simple action reset my mood from being overwhelmed with school starting to pausing and appreciating the beauty around me with a smile.
Linda
Intentional Smile Practice: Purposely smile for 10 to 30 seconds while setting up your classroom to help boost dopamine and lift your mood.
I practice smiling on purpose daily with my class and at home with my kids.
Asima
Between-Class Transitions
Doorway Breathing Reset: Take one deep breath every time you walk through a doorway to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
I absolutely love taking a deep breath as I cross through a doorway!
Julie
Quick Humming Break: Hum quietly to yourself for 30 to 60 seconds during transitions or between student interactions to stimulate the vagus nerve and help reduce stress responses.
Stretch and Shake: Brief movements like stretching your arms overhead or rolling your shoulders when standing up from your desk can release physical tension.
During Planning or Lunch
Music and Movement Moment: Play an uplifting song and have a little wiggle or dance (even seated) during your planning period to boost your mood.
I listen to music to give me an energy boost for the day.
Natalie
The 20-Second Connection: Give or receive a genuine twenty-second hug or warm greeting with students or a colleague during breaks to support higher oxytocin levels and lower stress.
The Bathroom Breath Break: Use any bathroom visit as an intentional reset with three deep breaths to allow your nervous system to recalibrate.
I offer ‘release time’ for teachers. At any time during the day, if a teacher needs time to regulate and use the restroom, they will send me a message, and I then go serve the needs of that teacher.
Judy
Making It Your Own
Back to topYou might be thinking, “This sounds nice, but I barely have time to breathe as it is.” These practices, however, are designed to meet you where you already are.
Think about it …
You’re walking through doorways anyway, using the bathroom anyway, and transitioning between classes anyway.
Once you start practicing them yourself, they naturally overflow to students. Doorway breathing can become a classroom transition routine. Intentional smiles during morning greetings shift the energy. Brief stretches between lessons help everyone reset.
Another community member, said:
I LOVE all these micro moments. I want to incorporate all of them … one a week.
Community Member
So start there. Choose one practice that resonates. Try it for one week in one specific moment and notice how you feel.
After a week, assess if it felt sustainable. Add a second practice when you’re ready or switch to a different one. There’s no perfect way to do this. The best practice is one you’ll actually use.
Small moments sustained over time create the capacity we need to show up for the work we care about. These practices help us maintain our baseline so we can be fully present for our students.
Remember, your well-being is the foundation that makes everything else in your classroom possible.
Research Links
- The Importance of Teachers’ Emotions and Instructional Behavior for Their Students’ Emotions – An Experience Sampling Analysis
- Turn That Frown Upside Down: The Mood-Boosting Benefits of Smiling
- The Power of Humming
- Affectionate Touch and Diurnal Oxytocin Levels: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study
Links
The views in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CASEL.
Giselle Shardlow, M.Ed., is the founder of Kids Yoga Stories, creator of the popular Breathing Exercise Cards for Kids and home to the School Yoga Program, which for over 13 years has supported educators, therapists, school counselors, yoga teachers, and parents worldwide with tools to bring calm and focus to children’s lives. Giselle draws from her experience as an international teacher in Guatemala, Australia, Canada, and the United States, as well as her journey as a certified yoga instructor and mother to a daughter with additional needs. She is passionate about empowering children with practical tools to self-regulate, manage big emotions, and thrive in today’s world. You can follow her work at kidsyogastories.com and on social media @kidsyogastories.
Related Posts
- 5 Simple Ways to Weave Social and Emotional Learning Into Your Busy School Day
- 5 Meaningful, Standards-Based SEL Activities for the Classroom
- 5 Back-to-School SEL Strategies for Educators
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Back to topAs an educator, you know that you can’t teach what you haven’t learned yourself.
In Cultivating Social and Emotional Learning for Adults, you’ll learn about, reflect on, and practice important SEL skills such as self- and social awareness, empathy, curiosity, problem-solving, goal-setting, and more, so that you can better model those skills for your students.