To care for my overall wellbeing I meditate, journal and exercise every day. I speak with a few friends daily.

Educator insights: How I care for my own wellbeing

Wellbeing by Teacher is dedicated to improving the lives of teachers and school leaders by providing them with informative, evidence-based strategies and stories on how to care for their body, mind and overall sense of wellbeing. We also share recipe ideas, fitness tips, book reviews (and more!) from teachers, school leaders and others working in the sector.

In today’s piece, Kahli Schroder, a Teacher and Wellbeing Leader at St Bede's School in Victoria shares insights into how she cares for her own mental health and wellbeing.

I am grateful for… being able to love and trust myself. I have definitely had to work on this and I am so grateful that I can now say that I do.

To calm myself I… walk and walk and then walk some more while listening to music. I also journal. Both walking and journaling help me to clear my mind, gain perspective, compassion and understanding. I also love doing some deep breathing.

I am proud of my body for… letting me know how I am feeling and helping to make tough decisions and the right decisions.

My workout playlist always includes… I love just putting on a Spotify workout playlist and getting a surprise.

To switch off from work I… love coming home and having a shower in the dark, I do light a candle and I also put on some quiet reflective music. It is honestly the best, I highly recommended it. You can even change it up with some songs you can sing in the shower.

A book I’d recommend reading is… I can’t decide. I love Untamed by Glennon Doyle, Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris or The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I love reading books that I can find myself in, get lost in, feel deep emotions with and books that help me to gain perspective to be better.

On the weekend I like to… be on continuous brunch dates with friends, I basically like to eat and walk my way through my weekends.

To care for my overall wellbeing I…meditate, journal and exercise every day. I speak with a few friends daily. I am also currently seeing a kinesiologist but have also seen psychologists and counsellors.

How do you care for your own health and wellbeing? Do you have any tips that you’d share with your colleagues in education? We’d love to hear about it. Email us with a brief outline and we’ll be in touch.