Dear Teachers,
Share this Educational Cat Box Breathing Exercise video with your students so they can reduce their anxiety from poor air quality, global warming, bleak job prospects, food insecurity, undisclosed abuse at home, or anything that is bothering them that you cannot change.
See below for free downloads of Box Breathing exercise PDFs in a choice of two color schemes to match your classroom decor: trendy but anxiety-producing orange, or basic boring blue. Now you can coordinate your SEL curriculum with your interior design plan.
But what about you?
Are you experiencing anxiety about not being paid enough to support your family?
Try a Box Breathing exercise! The US military uses them. Lots of people in the military are underpaid too, so it could work for you as well.
Benefits do not include fair compensation for your work, but Box Breathing does promote better sleep, lower stress levels, lower blood pressure, and a reduced sensation of pain.
To do the exercise:
Breathe in on the count of four, that’s the number of unpaid work hours you put in every day.
Hold your breath to the count of four, that’s the number of extra years you will have to work to have sufficient retirement funds based on your inadequate pension.
Breathe out on the count of four, that’s the number of times more than your salary a less-qualified administrator is earning at your school.
Hold to the count of four, that’s the number of times you have considered quitting this week.
Repeat next year in the fall, and every year decide you can’t quit because you love the students and your classroom spider plant, a gift from your first class, that has almost grown to touch the floor.
Take care of yourself, the school district won’t!
Meow,
Harried Administrator (not the overpaid one)
The Association of Imaginary Schools
Disclaimer:
The military, who developed this Box Breathing technique, does not endorse its use for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in the classroom or by the Association of Imaginary Schools. The use of these cat SEL templates is strictly off-label.
Also Read: Free Haiku Classroom Template Download