April has felt like a big reset.

I’m not sure if it’s just the warmer weather and seeing the sun more, but April has really felt like I hit the reset button. Getting outside in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, has felt invigorating and new. Being able to host outdoor playdates, have a cocktail on the deck, and take walks after dinner have been breathing new life into my days, and I’m grateful for it. Now, full honesty, I live in NH so we’ve had weather that is truly up and down - one week it’s 70 and sunny and the next we have scattered rain and snow storms. All in all though, this month has been feeling refreshing.

It’s a busy time to be a teacher, but when is it not? So as a coach I feel extra motivated in the Spring to connect more deeply with my teachers. I’ve been able to put in more hours this month with in-person sessions (YAY! We all love those the most), but have also been adding in extra pop-up sessions virtually and getting some office time in during the day while my son naps. This all feels really good. At times, overwhelming, like a high-wire balancing act, like I have a million tabs open in my brain and that I’m carrying the weight of thousand books in order to open doors more widely, promote and echo voices and needs more purposefully, and to give more deeply in the places that matter. When it feels like this (spiraling, foggy, busy, hard, emotional) I try really, really hard to ground myself. Sometimes it takes just stepping outside. But in a pinch, the easiest way for me to do that is to repeat one or both of my favorite mantras. They go like this:

1.) Thank you body. Thank you breath. Thank you mind. Thank you muscles. Thank you heart. Thank you health. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

• This is a mantra I started repeating to myself after any at home yoga session. I made it up in 2019 and it’s stuck. I find myself repeating it after yoga, after pilates, during the day when I’m trying not to snap or break because my patience has reached it’s limit, or at night when I’m trying to slow down my brain.

2.) I am healthy. I am happy. I am safe. I am strong.

• This is one that I created and repeated to myself almost daily, at times hourly, in the early weeks of my pregnancy. I would say it aloud to myself while taking walks on my street or in the woods, and I now find myself saying it to my son, even when he’s crying - replacing the “I” with “You”.

I’m not a professional mantra-maker, nor do I know it all when it comes to mindfulness, but one thing I know is that mindset matters. I find gratitude epically helpful in my daily life, and I also find that when I remind myself of the basics (I am healthy. I am safe.) it is enough. I encourage you this month to try mantras or to try something new to help settle or set your mindset. Spring is a wild time in education - wrapping up curriculum, prepping for standardized testing, taking or not taking vacation, EOY Assemblies, assessments and reporting, possibly conferences, EOY Learning Exhibitions or PBL Showcases - It. Is. A. Lot. April may not feel like the refresh button for you, but that doesn’t mean the Spring as a whole can’t be that. Take some steps to find a refresh - maybe it’s a mantra, maybe it’s a journal, maybe it’s something else - and try to slow it down, by just a beat. For lack of better words, take a little time to stop and smell the roses or daffodils and tulips in my case.

With Love,

Lauren

Some things to write about or put into play this month:

• How do you hit the refresh button?

• How is your mindset right now? What tools or practices do you have to help with that?

• Play around with a new mindset tool or practice:

  • Mantras

  • Meditation

  • Quick Walking Breaks or Just Step Outside

  • Hydration Hydration Hydration (sometimes just a water break helps - you’re like a plant, water and sunshine help!)

  • Less caffeine after noon time (caffeine can increase your stress levels!)

  • Gratitude Lists or Journals

  • Journaling in General

• April tends to be filled with a lot of water - thank you rain. How can you be more like water - flowing, filling, reflecting?

• Reflect on Spring habits. Any habits or hobbies that you love to do in the Spring that you are looking forward to?

• Dig into scents. What is a favorite scent for springtime? How can you bring it into your home? Maybe it’s buying a new hand soap or dish soap? Maybe it’s investing in a diffuser and essential oils or even in a new candle? My favorite scents change season to season, reflect on this a little, and find one that you brings you joy and a sense of calm or even nostalgia and surround yourself with this.