The job of a teacher and practitioner can be hugely rewarding and interesting, but can literally take over your life. We all know how stressful the career can be and how it can often result in anxiety and long hours.
One of the best ways to look after yourself in this role is to make sure you take care of your fitness as well as your class. This can be incredibly difficult due to the aforementioned long hours, but is also incredibly important.
Here are some possible ways to stay active that might fit around your other responsibilities.
Be active at school
If you have to spend a lot of time at school with your students, why not make this time count? Get involved in as many active parts of school life as possible: it may be extracurricular activities, trips, hikes, sport events and more. You will be not just in a better physical condition but establish new bonds with your students as well. You could even sign up the Daily Mile if this is happening in your school!
Start slow and establish a routine that works for you
Taking care of your body doesn’t necessarily have to involve a costly and hard-to-manage gym subscription, or a vigorous workout regime. If you are able to start slow, doing something you like doing once a week such as swimming, or going for a walk with friends you are well on the way to creating a new routine that works for you. The trick is to build something into your life that you can do regularly and then build up from there.
Teach yourself to get up early
Those who already have to get up early and suffer terribly from it often find that moving their rising time even earlier does wonders to their productivity and fitness. It may sound paradoxical, but if you currently feel worn out due to lack of sleep and apathetic throughout the day, try getting up before six o'clock and doing exercises (e.g., jogging or swimming). It will teach you to go to bed earlier, force you to get active physically and get lots of sunshine first thing in the morning and improve your overall energy levels.
Introduce physical activity into your commute
You have to go to the job every day, so why not make it more useful? Some teachers (and many others) solve the problem of finding time for exercise by jogging or cycling to school every day. Don’t be afraid of looking undignified – on the contrary, such activity demonstrates your resolve and force of character, let alone sets an excellent example for students to follow.
Introduce short bursts of activity into your routine
Some studies show that a short burst of highly strenuous physical activity (e.g., as short as 60 seconds) can prove to be as successful at improving fitness and health as 45 minutes of moderately paced exercise. What it accounts to is that you don't have to set aside huge chunks of your time to keep yourself fit – a minute or two interspersed throughout your day now and then can do just as much, as long as you do it right.