HEALTHY LIFESTYLE, HEALTHY TEACHER

 HOWDY!

Summer holidays are arriving at the end and a new uncertain school year is at the door. We are all a bit worried for the current situation. We are specially concerned with how our teaching is going to be: in-person, virtual, hybrid? This is really important because it is our job; but, please, don't forget to keep having a healthy lifestyle. Keep reading. I have some tips for you.

• STAY POSITIVE

More than never we need to stay positive. Remember that our thoughts are powerful and can have affect our health.

• EAT REAL FOOD, NOT PRODUCTS

As Hypocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine". We all know that to be healthy, we have to eat the appropriate food. Choosing how we are going to feed our bodies makes an impact on how we are going to feel later. In the book "Paleovida" by Carlos Pérez, I read "Eat real food, not products". What does he mean? It means that we should eat fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and fish, not manufactured or at least the less manufactured possible. Let's try to avoid sugar and coffee in excess. 

You may think "that sounds great, but I'm all day rushing". What we do at home is planning the meals weekly so that when we go shopping we know all the ingredients we will need. Another thing we do is cooking on Sunday some meals so that during the week we don't have to worry about that.

• PLAN YOUR WEEK

 Planning your week will give you a view of all the events you are going to face. This will help you predict what you need every day and prepare it the day before. This will also allow you to find out the time you will have for self care (exercising, mediating, reading...). 

•  PLAN YOUR DAY

Once you have planned your week, you will know what you are up to every day. Remember to prepare all what you will need the next day beforehand. This includes:

        -the clothes you are going to wear (yes, I know, but every item is  ready the day before it can make you win some minutes);

        -your school bag with your laptop or your tablet and all the materials you will need;

        -if you have lunch at school, you can also prepare your lunch box -time flies, but in the mornings time flies even more.

•  EXERCISE

Exercising is vital for our mental and physical health. I can tell from experience how well I feel when I exercise. I love going to the gym to do my workouts, but you may like running or exercising at home. The point is that we exercise 2-4 days a week. And remember that nowadays there are lots of online platforms to workout at home. I particularly like Noelle Benepe. I follow her on Instagram and she has great workouts.

•  MINIMISE BLUE LIGHT EXPOSURE

We are all day connected to our devices and we are not aware of how the blue light they emit can affect us. Blue light can have a negative impact on our eyes, our mood, our sleep or our skin. We are not conscious enough, but we can find a lot of information regarding this topic. It is important that stop using our devices before 10pm.

By the way, how many hours do we feel on our devices every day including weekends? Have you ever thought about switching off all your devices once a week? I have recently read that Aaron Sams, one of the authors of "Flip your Classroom", switches off all his devices on Sundays to spend time with his family. I think that's a great idea and that's something I would like to put in practice this school year.

•  MEDITATE AND RELAX

I practise yoga two day a week. I loooove it! Yoga has helped to learn to stop my mind. However to meditate you don't need to take up yoga classes. You can just sit at a cosy place, close your eyes and concentrate on your breath. If you need help to meditate, you can find guided meditations online. If you want, you can also burn incense (I do love it!).

You can also relax in a different way. I also like listening to jazz while I am having nothing else, but having a cup of tea.

• SUNLIGHT EXPOSURE

Did you know that some recent studies have shown that in countries like Spain we sometimes have a deficiency in vitamin D? Yes! That's the same face that I made when I heard this. Exposure to sunlight doesn't mean sunbathing for long hours. It refers to spending 20-30 min at the sun and if it is possible without sun cream. No, I haven't gone crazy. This exposure has to be at early hours and without sun cream because sun cream blocks the sun light necessary to synthesize vitamin D. I usually exposure a skin to the sun at 9-10 am while I am having breakfast. During the school year, I can't do this during the week, but I do at weekends.

I hope these tips can help you stay healthy and have a WONDERFUL school year.

Eva 💖