Welcome back to another school year. Although this school year, much like the last is a bit out of the norm, I am hopeful for the a great year. With the start of the school year, there is always a lot to do as we prepare for our students. In midst of it all, we must remember to take time for ourselves and not only practice self care, but 'soul care.' Soul Care is a daily process of cultivating healthy thought patterns and taking inventory of our emotions. This practice is extremely helpful for reflection and essentially helps to build gratitude and motivation. 

During my teacher training, my program required us to complete written reflections of each day of our student teaching. Well naturally, I viewed the process as daunting initially; however, after doing it for a while, I found it to be a great means of relaxation and most importantly, it forced me to take inventory and ownership of my actions as a student teacher. As I think back, this simple process helped me to be a much better teacher. You may be wondering have I continued this process and the answer is yes! Although I am no longer in the classroom, I still journal my reflections each day and I think of it as Soul Care. Whether you think of it as Soul Care or Self Care, take time to reflect daily. This process will help you to inspect, record, and analyze your day. Daily reflections can become a power ally and inevitably help to build your self awareness, especially when so much of what we plan can change in the course of a day!