The Power of Being in the Moment

I'm Brian Martin, a second grade teacher who find so much joy and fulfillment in what I do. Being in the classroom for almost 20 years, I know all about the time, effort and energy that you are continuously pouring into those you serve. That's why each week, I'm going to bring you an inspiring message to give you a little joy, and help fill your cup back up. Thank you for being here. And welcome to the teaching champions podcast. What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. October's here my friends in you can definitely feel in the air, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting a little bit cooler, the leaves are starting to change color. There's hot cider and pumpkin spice lattes being served. Buffalo Bills, football is going strong. And I'm definitely a big fan of the seasonal adult beverages that are out right now. So it's a great time of the year. And I want to share something real quick with you that I started doing recently at school, my classroom is right next to the entrance of the school. And the way the rooms are located, I have a perfect view of everyone that's coming and going in every morning, for just a few seconds, I take a glance out that window. And at any given time, I can look up and I can see a mom giving a kiss on her child's head, I can see a father giving his child a hug a high five, a fist bump, I see a whole lot of love. Now, I live in the second poorest county in the state of New York. And we might not have as much as some. But if you come stand next to me, and you watch these parents drop off their pride and joy. And you see those hugs kisses and high fives you'd see, we might not have as much as some. But we have more than what we need. Now I share that story with you. Because I've made that a part of my morning routine is something that I look forward to every single day. Because it's a beautiful moment. And in a world. That is pretty crazy at times. It's a reminder of the love that's here. And it reminds me of what an honor and responsibility it is for me to work with these champions. And in this profession, you know, we need those reminders. And I would say we need them off. And as we roll into October, the school year is well on its way, the newness and excitement of opening day has worn off. And at this point, we're really buckling down on academics. And there's an ebb and flow to the school year. And this time of year, it can be tough, because many of us have been going strong for a long while now. And knowing that we have a large chunk of the school year still ahead of us, the workload at times that we're facing, it can seem heavy, and things might be starting to take a toll on you. So it's important that we set up routines and rituals that can help us face the challenges that we're going to face day in and day out. And this episode is all about ways that we can help keep our cells present. Focus at the task at hand, help us stay afloat and maintain that joy. Now I've been diving into a great book by Lena Aguilar titled onward, cultivating emotional resilience in educators. And in it she says one of the most powerful things that we can do in creating emotional resilience is staying in the present moment. Being in the now being present, being where our feet are at. And in it. She says that we can stay present by developing a mindfulness practice by finding joy and by laughing and in her book, Atlanta talks about the power of mindfulness and meditation. She says taking a few minutes every single day to practice Mindfulness helps us become attuned with our feelings. And this practice can be done while having that first cup of coffee or tea in the morning while you're doing the dishes, or even having a conversation with mindfulness, she says, helps us manage our emotions and our responses to situations. Now think about this. Have you ever had a situation in class where you may have done or said something that you would later regret? Have you ever read an email that fired you up so much, that you jumped on the keyboard, let your fingers fly away, and you ripped out an email in response, only later, to regret that you did that. I believe that pretty much, all of us have done that. And you see, we're creatures of habit. And then we're for not intentional, then we're going to respond to the triggers that the day has to offer. And we're going to do that over and over again. And our responses, they can affect our relationship with our students, our relationship with the parents of our students, and they can affect the relationships that we have with our colleagues. So it's important that we develop a mindfulness practice, so that we can become aware of our feelings, what triggers those feelings, so that we can learn to accept what's happening in the moment, so that we can be intentional about what we say what we do, so that we can change our world. And this is Aguilar says, mindfulness, it allows us to hit a pause button, so that we can view the situation that we're in without judgment. And when we have that interruption in class, when we get that email that is not so nice. It allows us to take that step back to make a clear headed decision. It allows us to avoid saying or doing some things that we may end up regretting. It allows us to keep perspective. And like anything, if you want to be more mindful, you have to make it a habit, you have to practice it daily. And in her book, Elena walks you through the process of meditation, or you can go to YouTube and look it up, you can ask a friend who practices this, I want you to learn from experts on the art of meditation. And that's not something that I feel I'm strong enough to give out advice on. I will say, I do practice it, though, I'm still working progress. But there are so many benefits to it. And the more mindful we become, the more we can be in charge of ourselves. Because you know, each and every day, there's going to be situations that we're going to be confronted with, and how we respond to it matters. So if you want to be in charge of your reactions, and not let your initial emotions dictate how you respond, then look into starting up a mindfulness practice to that. Another key aspect of being present that Alaina writes about is finding joy in your day. You know, how many of us spend our days counting down to win the dismissal, bell rings, how many of us have that countdown till Friday, at three o'clock, that we live for the weekend. And by doing this, we miss out on so much. Find that joy in your day. And before you can find that joy, you have to know yourself, and you have to know what joy means to you. So think about in your classroom, what have been the moments that brought you the most joy? What happened this past week that filled you up? Is there time throughout the day, where you can find more of these moments. You know, one of my favorite times each and every single day is when I do a read aloud. Now I go all in on this I tried to hit all the voices of the different characters. I'm like, basically a failed actor from the Disney network. And what the talent is lacking. The effort hopefully makes up for it. But it is so amazing. When you look up from the book, and you see these seven and eight year olds staring at you listening to every word, just getting lost in the story. It's so awesome. And another one of my favorite moments within the classroom is when I play The growth mindset song of the week, each and every single week, I have a new song that I share with the students. That is uplifting, and it's encouraging. And I put it up on the smartboard. I have the lyrics on the board. And we go a little karaoke style with this. So we stick the same song up all week. And by the end of the week, the kids have a doubt. And that's a moment for me mid morning, to turn off the lights, put that song on, step back, and listen to the students say, and in that moment, the day slows down. And there's a closeness and a feeling of togetherness. It's definitely a moment, it's so special, and I absolutely love it. And you have those moments too. There's joy to be found in your day, you just have to be open to it. You have to be willing to see it, to hold on to it. You need those moments. Because rarely does a day go nice and smooth. There's ups and downs twists and turns. In those small moments, they can help you stay above water. So let me ask you, what are your most joyful moments during the day? When interactions fill you up? What conversations Did you share? What aha moments Did you witness? What was that moment where you were in flow, and everything was amazing. Our days, they're filled with micro moments of joy, those tiny moments of connection, satisfaction, fulfillment, contentment. And we often miss them though. And we have a negativity bias. we're hardwired to see the bad it's genetic survival. And I was listening to Speaker the other day, and he said, we don't see the good, because we're blinded by the bad. So Mrs. Aguilar says, set your intentions at the beginning of the day. Set them before the school day starts, or before a certain point in the day. And be on the lookout for those joyful moments. Identify the things that bring you joy, pay attention to them. And in the future as you do this, it's going to help you stay in the moment, it's going to help you recognize the joyful things that are happening all around you. When you see those moments, hit pause, savor holding that feeling stored, because you deserve to feel that joy. Now a third thing to staying in the moment and being content is finding laughter in your day. You know, humor helps you stay in the moment, it can help you break free of some of the toughest moments of the day. And I don't know when it happens. But as kids, we laugh all the time. But as we get older, we get bogged down by deadlines, responsibilities, stress, and we start taking ourselves way too serious. And what happens is, we stop finding as much joy in the day. And there's a long list of health benefits of laughter from relaxing the body, to strengthening the immune system, releasing endorphins that promote an overall sense of well being. laughter is good for our mood. It helps us connect to others. It helps you handle the difficult moments that life throws at you. The research is there. So bring that laughter bring that joy to your classroom. Don't take yourself so serious, create moments for your students, where you bring that laughter to class. You know, every morning, my principal sends out a morning announcement. And he ends the message with a joke. The students love them, and they wait for them every single morning. So just like we talked about with joy, be intentional when you walk into the class, recognize the moments of laughter and allow yourself just to enjoy that moment. You know, create an environment that promotes humor. Laughter it helps you shake off those tough days as well. Those days when it was a full moon the night before. And the champions came into the classroom and they're at a whole nother level for the day. And it seems like everything that could go wrong goes wrong. And sometimes you just have to throw your hands up in the air. chuckle about it. So embrace the laughter. And as we go out into this school year, make it a habit of being in the moment. being present, being where your feet are at, practice mindfulness, find that joy, laugh, life is too short. So enjoy the ride. Thank you for being here. I truly appreciate it. The teaching champions community is amazing. We support we encourage we lift each other up. And if you think another educator would benefit from this message, I would truly be grateful if you could share. It's all about trying to build this community, bring in some positivity, some joy, some encouragement to others out there who might need it. And always remember, whether you're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada, to Spain, to Bahrain, we're all on that same team. We're all on that same mesh. And we're always better to gather. And my challenge for you this week. Earlier in the episode, I talked about finding that joy, being aware of that moment, starting my day out, looking out the window, seeing knows mothers, those fathers, the grandparents, drop those children off, giving them the hugs the kisses, the high fives, and how beautiful it is. Find that joy. Look for those beautiful moments that are out there. Be aware of them, capture them, hold on to them. Our days, they go by fast, our days can be stressful. But our days are also beautiful in so many ways. So don't miss out on that beauty. Look for it, hold on to it, capture it, embrace and celebrate the day my friends. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as we go out into the week may step into your strength, may you step into your shine, and let's build our champions up. Have a great week, everybody.