Barriers to Self-Care and Renewal - Page 1 of 3

Barriers to Self-Care and Renewal

Even though renewal is a "natural" growth process and "taking care of ourselves" sounds pretty basic, there are a number of factors that present obstacles or barriers to self-care and ongoing renewal. These factors are usually:

Here's a description of just a few of them:

* Opposition from Society *
Historically, American society has placed more emphasis on giving to and helping others than on taking care of ourselves. This pattern has been reinforced by our culture, religious doctrines, community norms, family patterns, and even school teachings. Taking time and energy for self-care is often labeled "selfishness." The guilt we feel about being "selfish" makes it even harder to practice healthy self-care.

* Pressures of the Profession *
Many of us go into teaching with high expectations of nurturing the growth and development of children. But, overtime, an accumulation of small decisions and almost unnoticed perceptual shifts often puts a damper on our idealism, energy, and commitment. Days become full of problems to solve and seemingly unending tasks to complete and we feel overloaded.

What some call "spirit killers" begin to creep in. Typically, our high spirits are squelched by negative attitudes toward teachers, unrealistic expectations, inequitable salaries, and inadequate resources. We begin to realize that the job of teaching is never finished, results are difficult to evaluate, and the work is often repetitious. Our teaching may feel "stale" and uninspired.

The thought of putting energy into learning something new for ourselves is more than we can handle. A sense of failure brings exhaustion. We feel stagnated, overwhelmed, cheerless and tense.

If our co-workers observe this, they often retreat from us, which increases our sense of isolation and frustration. Any attempt at self-care seems overwhelming and hopeless. If our students notice this, they retreat from us. This increases our sense of isolation and frustration. Any attempt at self-care seems rather futile in light of it all.