One of our go-tos as teachers to get through the day is often food. There are a range of situations and emotions that come our way throughout the day and without even realising it, we may find ourselves reaching for food as a default response.
But have we ever stopped to look a bit closer and connected the dots to consider what foods we are reaching for, and when?
A super way to build a deeper and more nourishing relationship with food, our diet, our bodies and ourselves, is to consider that the foods we reach for are the result of any number of situations and emotions that we encounter on a daily, and hour to hour basis, in a teaching day.
Joining the dots between the situation we experience with the type of foods we are reaching for, can bring a deeper understanding of ourselves and establishes and supports the development of a foundation of true self-care. Becoming aware when we are looking for certain foods is an important first step in deepening our relationship of getting to know our bodies in this way.
As we start to bring more awareness to what we are experiencing in our classrooms, and in our interactions with students and teachers, we may see a pattern emerge of what foods we reach for in certain situations. For example, I am someone who will often reach for salty foods first. If a lesson has been particularly challenging, I can easily find myself in the tuck shop looking for a packet of chips. Other colleagues may reach for sugary foods based on what happens in the classroom, such as the colleague who came into the staffroom recently and was on the prowl for sugar, grateful when I produced some lollies I had stashed in my drawer.
Often a staffroom table can have an assortment of foods to placate a myriad of reactions and emotions following a lesson or event. Carbs are a common go to, and so is caffeine or soft drinks. I’ve observed more recently, colleagues - which includes myself - who may normally be quite conscious of what they eat (including what might be seen as a fairly clean or healthy diet), often walk into the staffroom and impulsively reach for foods they don’t normally eat, to ease the tension of something they’ve just experienced. On other occasions, we reach for foods as a result of feeling tired or exhausted.
As teachers we often experience challenging situations. One way we can support ourselves is to identify what the situation is which triggers the reaction and the foods we end up grabbing. These situations could include a particular student behaviour, a parent communication, overload of work, playground duty on an already heavy timetable load, a lesson that didn’t go well, pressure to get through content, or balancing home life challenges.
Developing a non-judgemental observation of ourselves is key to bringing awareness to our relationship with food. And while adjusting our overall diet may sometimes be needed, this is different to the impulsive reaching for foods that at times feels uncontrollable.
It’s not about judging ourselves for eating or not eating certain foods or going on a hard core diet or wanting to ignore the situation altogether. It simply becomes an observation exercise and a building of our relationship with our bodies.
Bringing this level of awareness to situations in our teaching day and ‘connecting the dots’ is a powerful tool to engage with. I know I reach for less salty foods when I’m not tired and I’m not frazzled. A smooth, fun or flowing day has me not munching on as many chips!