59. Breathing Life into Education: The Power of Breathwork in Reducing Stress & Teacher Burnout with Dr. Katie Raher [Summer Self-Care Series]

Ready to learn the Ins and Outs of Using Your Summer to release stress and finally make this coming school year burnout free?  Then take a breath.

No seriously.  Breathwork is one of the number one easy (and free) ways that you can use your body's natural systems to work with you instead of against you.  Just because we're talking about it today, I bet you'll start noticing your own breath. Most teachers and people in general spend most of their day in shallow breath without realizing it. This breathing prompts the sympathetic response – emotions you feel when you're stressed.  But it's not just about breathing, right?  Our bodies do that on their own.  It's about breathing with intention.  

Using Breathwork to Reduce Stress & Teacher Burnout

In this episode, I get to interview one of my good friends, Dr. Katie Raher, and she shares her journey from teacher to psychologist through multiple breakdowns and burnout, which lead her to becoming who she is today, a certified trauma-informed breathwork facilitator.  She shares with us what breathwork is, the science behind how it works, and how you can start using it as a tool to transform your burnout recovery this summer.

Dr. Katie Raher is the Founder and CEO of Constant Love and Learning, an award-winning teacher turned School Psychologist, a Certified Trauma-Informed Breathwork Facilitator, and a Kimochis Certified Trainer. She creates wholehearted experiences of healing, connection, and learning that help educators transform their inner and outer worlds, one breath, one feeling, one moment, one relationship at a time.  She is also one of 20+ amazing teacher experts, who is presenting at the third annual Summer Self-Care Conference for Teachers.

TOPICS COVERED:

• Dr. Katie's path from teacher to school psychologist and mental health advocate
• Her story of Burning out and breaking down
• How community & small steps lead her to making massive change in her life 
• What is breathwork and how it impacts unconscious programming & facilitates healing burnout
  • The profound emotional release and unconscious processing that can occur during a breathwork session
• Explanation of the ABCs of conscious breath: Awareness, bringing in intention (Breath), and Connected, continual conscious breath.
• The Science Behind Breathwork to Regulate Your Nervous System 
  • Different breath patterns used in breathwork, and their potential impact on the body.
  • The benefits of breathwork, such as stress relief, expansion of the window of tolerance, and healing of the body.
  • The process of breathwork, shifting the pH in the blood and altering the state between carbon dioxide and oxygen, allowing for deeper connection with the body.
  • The accessibility of breathwork, which can be practiced with minimal resources.
  • The positive impact of breathwork on vagus nerve tone and heart rate variability.
• What does a breathwork session look like?
  • The structure of the speaker's breathwork sessions, ranging from short sessions for relaxation and clarity to longer, meditative sessions for deeper, unconscious work.
  • Safety considerations during breathwork sessions, and the empowerment of individuals in the process.
  • The use of mindfulness and guided voice instruction in breathwork sessions.
  • The power of community and sharing experiences during breathwork sessions.
• The effectiveness of breathwork in managing stress and promoting self-awareness.
• Importance of making time for self-care and addressing personal issues.
• Benefits of integrating breathwork into daily routine for stress management.
• Overcoming skepticism towards mindfulness and breathwork due to personal experiences
• How to introduce breathwork into a classroom setting as a tool to manage stress and promote calmness among teachers and students.
• The importance of giving yourself permission to pause and engage in mindfulness or breathwork.
• Exploring different ways to incorporate breathwork into various activities (e.g., listening to a song, setting a timer, dancing, etc.).
• How to participate in a pay-as-you-can breathwork session with Dr. Katie & learn more
• About Katie's workshop at the Summer Self-Care Conference: Trauma-Informed Breathwork as a Gateway to Deep Healing and Honoring Your Wholeness

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:

• Grab your FREE ticket to the 2023 Summer Self-Care Conference coming July 21-23rd, 2023 & Learn more from Dr. Katie in her session.  The Summer Self-Care Conference is a FREE LIVE virtual conference for educators to beat burnout, work smarter (not harder), and live their best lives in and out of the classroom with over 20+ teacher expert presenters, giveaways, prizes, and SO MUCH MORE!

  • "Trauma-Informed Breathwork as a Gateway to Deep Healing and Honoring Your Wholeness " | Dr. Katie Raher

    12-12:30 - Q&A in the Facebook Group

     

    Most people know that doing some intentional breathing can be restorative for them and the kids they support, AND the power of the breath is so much more! A foundational piece of creating meaningful, trauma-informed relationships, interactions, and environments for children is the adults’ connection with their own nervous systems. Breathwork is a powerful body-based practice that allows adults to deeply cultivate that connection with the body. Learn about and experience the power of continual, conscious, active breath as a means to cultivate a deep listening to the wisdom within the body and a felt sense of safety, while being given agency and empowered choice to honor your own needs through a trauma-informed approach.

• Learn More about Breathwork with Dr. Katie - https://www.constantloveandlearning.com/breathwork

   

CONNECT WITH DR. KATIE RAHER:

• Instagram: @constantloveandlearning_
• Website: https://www.constantloveandlearning.com/

CONNECT WITH BRITTANY:

• Connect with Brittany on Instagram @teachingmindbodyandsoul
• Learn more on TikTok with Brittany @msprincessteach
• Connect with The Resilient Teacher Community - FREE on Facebook

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 55: Why Summer Break is the Best Time To Begin Teacher Burnout Recovery: The 3 Essential Steps to Using Summer to Break the Burnout Cycle
• Episode 56: 3 Ways to Stress Less Starting this Summer & Beat Burnout Next School Year
• Ep 3: Why Summer Break is Not Going to Get You Out of Teacher Burnout (Ep 3 - Summer Burnout Recovery Series)
• Ep 4: The 5 Must Have Methods for Teachers To End the Stress Cycle this Summer (Ep. 4 - Summer Burnout Recovery Series)
• Ep 5: How to Develop a Burnout Recovery Plan in Less Than an Hour (Ep. 5)
• Episode 36: Teacher Pep Talk: Slay the Sunday Scaries
• Episode 16: TEACHER PEP TALK: “Quiet Quitting” For When You are Struggling with Setting Authentic Boundaries

MORE ABOUT THE RESILIENT TEACHER PODCAST:

The Resilient Teacher Podcast is the show that will give overwhelmed educators the support, tools, and mindset to reduce teacher burnout and keep teaching sustainable. Each week, Brittany Blackwell, M.Ed. & her guests will share inspiration and actionable steps to avoid or recover from the dreaded teacher burnout. You'll be inspired to individualize self-care and learn to prioritize your well-being and mental health, all while making a bigger impact on your classrooms and community.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW ON ITUNES:

Are you subscribed to the podcast? If not, I encourage you to do that NOW so you never miss another episode! New episodes are added every Tuesday, and if you're not subscribed there's a good chance you might miss out on notifications that a new episode has gone live. Click here to subscribe on iTunes!

And if you are feeling extra amazing, I would be super grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes, too! Those reviews help other educators who are burned out and needing support find the podcast, and I love shouting you out on the Community Reviewer of the Week Segment! Just click here to review, select "Ratings & Reviews" and "Write a Review" and share what you are loving about the podcast!  

Some links on this page are affiliate links. This helps to support this podcast at no additional cost to you.