Promoting teachers’ health

WE keep talking about the importance of health, hygiene and overall wellness for students and how one must accomplish it. The education system guarantees that students, from a young age, are inculcated with the idea of taking in proper balanced diet and having a healthy lifestyle. Thus, the students' wellness has found its way into academic textbooks and in the school’s extra curriculum.

The promotion of teacher health and wellness is just as important as student health and wellness and may lead to a more positive and effective learning environment overall. Unfortunately, teachers' wellbeing isn't a priority for many schools, and teaching staff need to be proactive in monitoring sleep and other health indicators themselves.

We all get too engrossed with work, and it’s so easy to forget to focus on our well-being. When you feel your self-care resolve slipping away, gently remind yourself that you are a light in the lives of your students, your family, and your friends. In order to shine for others, you must take care of yourself. Prepare a self-care reminder so that you’re actively thinking about and working toward a more holistic approach to your health and well-being each day.

Even though teachers face time crunches, there are simple practices that can be implemented to boost energy, reduce stress, and set a good example for students. Healthy and aware teachers promote healthy behaviors and practices among students, who then emulate these behaviors into their own lifestyle and engage in more health-promoting activities.

Therefore, one sees a simple two step chain with the philosophy, that whatever the teacher or role model does is easily adopted by the students. Teachers are likely to be the first role models any student would have. Students tend to walk on their role model’s footsteps and imitate them.

Teachers, who establish a healthy work or life balance, have more energy and serve as healthy lifestyle role models for their students. Healthy children are fast learners. With the ample benefits that a wellness program offers, the teachers ought to look after their wellness to become catalysts in changing schools and communities for the better.