The one thing I am absolutely terrible about, is taking a break when I need it. I push myself and push myself. Overextend myself. Until the flu or a cold creeps in. Most people get over the inconvenience in a few days but mine, lingers, hunkering down, making itself at home. The coughing begins but instead of taking it easy, this invasion never happens when I can for some reason, I have to keep plugging through because something, this week Edcamp and TQBA competition, makes my students need me more then ever. Then I get worse, almost to exhaustion, then I can take a day or two to recover. But, by then I am really bad, and need antibiotics because now it is bronchitis or sinusitis. Thus, welcome to my Sunday morning. My intentions yesterday were to stay healthy enough to make it through Quiz Bowl, I did kind of, only a few major cough attacks that led to dry heaving in the courtyard. Thank goodness it was only a few of my team parents around and not students. My body telling me unequivocally you need to rest. But I made it to the end and now today, worse for the wear, I am home, coughing and now I have laryngitis and can't talk. My intention now is get healthy no matter how many more days of school I have to miss, I had two days off last week but they didn't do any good.
Mindful does not mean always seeing others around you and then awareness of their needs. It means taking care of oneself no matter the cost as well. This is my downfall about every 2-3 months. I used to get sick a lot more but now with meditation, lots of vitamin C and sleep I stay healthier. But, I get so busy I ignore the signs my body is giving me, I become to aware of the outside world and let the inside world take over. The inconvenient microorganisms get a strong hold and well, this. But my quiz bowl duty is a bit more relaxed now next competition, State, is April 22nd and Nationals, May 12-14th so I have some time to relax a little. Finally, all my other clubs/competitions are over. So focus shirt. Now that I am home, curled up and typing I can write my evening installment, which is now the next mornings installment, I actually went to sleep early last night. Step one of recovery,
Yesterday, my six teams played their best, 3 making it to the finals. The end results were not fantastic BUT the point was to build camaraderie and help them raise their stats. This back fired a bit as they instead focused merely on their own stats, to the detriment of their team. This is why their overall team scores were low. I never thought this would happen. When some students came and told me what these students were doing I was a little shocked. My 6th graders had fun and worked together great. Two of the three teams made finals, they won some games which is a great improvement because at the last competition they barely won any. For them though it was camaraderie and practice and they succeeded in these measures. My 7th and 8th graders, well they did not. Not all of them got cut-throat the girls especially tried to unify their team and stay focused but there were still a lot of them who buzzed in, even with the wrong answer, just to prevent the rest of the team a chance from getting it. Sad indeed. After the competition, before each team left, I had a mindful talk with them. Explaining the importance of trust and cooperation. Most of them were 8th graders so they are no longer in my class but at our next quiz bowl meeting I am going to have a lesson on mindfulness.
My mindful motivation was a bit encumbered with my illness. I had a very hard time keeping track of everyone and their motivation or personal lack there of. But it was a great eye opener to me, I am definitely going to teach mindfulness to my science club kids, Especially my Quiz Bowl teams going to State and Nationals. A team is not a team when the I becomes the focus. I am going to teach them breathing techniques and stress relievers. My intentional day turned a bit side ways. We can never expect things to go our way merely be relieved when they do. It was overall a good day they played the game fiercely, they were kind to one-another but during the game a bit overzealous but their team results I know showed them that this kind of behavior does not work. They all left happy, parents were happy too. They did their best and that is all we can ask.
My intention today is to reflect a bit back on the days events now that I can. It was all I could do not to cough and fall over yesterday. Being home, cozy and in bed allows for more introspection and thought. Teaching mindfulness is even more focused for me now. I am seeing the need for it everywhere. Simple strategies to bring about calm, balance and focus for my students. Techniques to unify and bring awareness and attention to others but also a deeper focus one oneself because when we lose that focus, that inner, driven, calm, and balance we get run down and sick. That is what I did. So I am reflecting on how to alleviate the need to put all my energy out into the world. I need to keep some back for myself. That is my main intention for awhile, find the balance of energy between self and others. Stay healthy and that only comes from quiet, calm, reflection and lots of sleep and relaxation.
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