As people all around me return to their academic lives I feel compelled to discuss the stress on the physical body that being an educator and student has. We, as a society, spend quite a bit of energy and attention on education, yet we often lack the honor and reverence we should look to those who lit the path for us, as well as the young minds who brave the unknown.
Teachers, in many ways, are our primary caregivers through a major portion of our lives. The role of an educator calls upon an individual to be emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually open and devoted to not just one or five... but a kaleidoscope of people.... day after day after day.
Parents can empathize with the feeling of the incessant attachment to another human being. While being a parent is on a different level, teachers have this attachment multiplied by 30+/- times years of teaching. Even the most well equipped human being can become emotionally exhausted through this work. Everything we do translates into the body, every memory, trauma, excitement and stress the mind may forget, but the body remembers and carries around. Imagine the weight of this many people on one persons shoulders!
The psycho-somatic presence of "the weight of the world" causes our shoulders to roll forward and over time a hunch to form. We restrict full breaths into the lungs and diaphragm which can cause or contribute to depression, anxiety and insomnia. Our necks become stressed tense and lead to headaches and migraines when in the pose.
This is also common to start forming in youth around the time when backpacks are carrying heavier loads. The misuse of backpacks can also cause inward rotation of one side of the body, leading from head to toe and creating pain throughout, or low back stress causing irregular pelvic tilts that can distort the body. Ensuring that students have their back packs lifted closer to the top of the back where the bottom rests mid-back as well as using both shoulder straps to keep weight evenly distributed throughout the body will aid in avoiding problems.
Tedious, repetitive stress on the body, such as long periods of standing and sitting can form muscle memory tension, specifically along the erectors, pects, psoas, and teres muscles. While many experience tension here the long hours of repetitive tasks and poor ergonomics in most classroom settings increases the prevalence in teachers and students. Paying attention to regular breaks, "shaking it out," and sitting up straight with the shoulders pulled open can ease this muscle fatigue.
Regular bodywork- physical therapy, massage therapy, rolfing, and chiropractic care can help the body to release tension. Chiropractic and massage work in conjunction to realign the body and remember its natural resting place. Rolfing is a deeper approach to this physical manipulation.
Other modalities such as counseling can help with the stress of teaching as well as a students task to experience peer pressure, hormonal upheaval, and academic stress.
Proper nutrition is also ALWAYS intricate to a happy healthy body!
Remember to be kind to yourself and honor the teacher and student in you all!
~Lizzie Johnson
Promotionals for September:
- 50% Off for Students and Teachers
Bring in verification (student ID, teaching license, work ID...etc) and receive one massage at 50% off in the month of September
Limit one per person, offer valid for current faculty, staff, and students at pre-k thru college, trade schools welcome.
- $20 Off 90 Minute Massage
All of our clients receive $20 off any 90 minute service for the month of September.
No limit to purchase, must be used at time of purchase- $75 is total cost of 90 minute massage offer only valid in month of September. Offer not valid with any other discounts or offers.
