Episode 14: The Three-Minute Pause

Description: In this episode, Tina offers a gentle alternative to pushing through the stress of December. With only three minutes a day, you can reset your breath, recognize one thing that went right, and set a small intention for tomorrow. This tiny pause can create a lot more space than you think.

Subscribe here to receive a weekly reminder for each new episode.

Resources:  Use the code Wellness20 to get 20% off Tina's book 180 Day of Physical Wellness for Busy Educators. ENDS NOVEMBER 30th!

Listen Now:

---

Transcription: Hi, I'm so happy you are here. This is Self-Care for Educators. I am your host, Dr. Tina Boogren. This is season six, episode 14, and this episode is coming out right after Thanksgiving. So here's a belated happy Thanksgiving message from me. I hope you know that I am always so grateful for you, and I hope that you were able to take a little bit of breathing room over the Thanksgiving holiday and really sink into the gratitude. Please know how grateful I am for all of you, and that leads us into this invitation. 

What we know is that you're moving into what might be called the stretch between breaks. The stretch where our to-do list multiplies, our patience starts to run thin, and the coffee to water ratio can start to look a little questionable. So this stretch between Thanksgiving and our winter break is the time where the days can feel both really, really, really long and really short at the same time, right? The holidays are coming, students are restless. We're all just trying to keep our head above the glitter and the grading, and I just remember this time so vividly when I was in the classroom and in schools. I remember my December planner looked like a holiday themed Tetris board. Every block was perfectly stacked with just holding my breath, that knowing that just one wrong move would make it all start to crash down. And so, whew. 

Here's our goal for this stretch between Thanksgiving and winter break. What I want us to kind of shift our thinking is instead of thinking about powering through, can we pause through it. Let's make this tangible. So I want to kind of introduce/reintroduce, we've talked about things similar to this, but I think the timing of this is important to revisit. Let's call this the three minute pause. So for this week in particular, but hopefully for these next few weeks between now and winter break, I'm gonna ask you, invite you, to take just three minutes a day and do the following.

For the first minute, I want you to take three-ish deep breaths. So remember that circular breathing in through your nose, out through your mouth. Slow it down, let your shoulders drop. Unclench your jaw. So for the first minute, I just want you to take some deep breaths. For the second minute, I want you to think of one thing that went right today. Not perfect, just right. Maybe you got that one particular student to smile. Maybe you got a quiet moment in the middle of the chaos. Maybe your coffee stayed hot for longer than usual. So minute two is about thinking of one thing that went right today. Minute three is to set a tiny intention for tomorrow. Something simple, something specific, that you want to put into place for tomorrow. So maybe- I'm going to listen before I respond, or I'm going to find one thing to laugh about tomorrow, or I'm going to drink my stupid water and get it all in starting well before noon tomorrow. 

That's it. Three minutes. And quite honestly, it might not take you three minutes. You could think of it as three things if three minutes feels like too much. So thing one, deep breath, or a couple of breaths, hopefully. Thing two, think of one thing that went right today and thing three, set that tiny intention for tomorrow. Three things. Three minutes-ish. If you do it every day this week, it can make that world of difference, right? 

So what's happening is it's shifting your focus from what's left undone to what's already working. And so I'm gonna do this right beside you. I hope to do this not just this week, but every week between now and winter break. And I offer the same invitation for you. 

And think about, you know, pairing it with some other pieces that, that we have talked about. Maybe you bring back from a few weeks ago, also that inspirational video that you might be able to watch as part of your three minutes. So if you take that deep breath while you're watching the video, right, just a few minutes a day, just teeny tiny little things.

Again, setting our intention. I know I've mentioned this before, I like to repeat things to remember them, and what we know again, is that our brain is always looking for an assignment. And if we're not careful, that assignment can be not so great. We can be biased towards the things that aren't going well and how stressed we are and how we're feeling so disillusioned. But if we can just make that tiny little shift in our mind that says, okay, I am gonna pause and I'm gonna identify what went well today, and I'm going to already set that intention for tomorrow of something that I really wanna promise myself. And keep that promise to myself. These tiny little shifts can make such a huge, huge, huge difference.

So try that this week. Again, remember everything that I share, think of it as being on a dial. We might be able to turn the dial up. We might need to turn the dial down all as well. So if three minutes or three things feels like too much, can you do one of those? Can you do one of those once this week? If it feels like this feels really good, turn the dial up. Commit every single day that you're gonna spend the full three minutes, or you're going to do all three things this week and put it in your calendar like you would any other appointment so that you make sure that it actually gets done. 

I want to just go back and say it again. I want us to really feel like rather than powering through these few weeks. Can we pause through these few weeks? That shift can feel really important and powerful, and again, gives us that hope that we know is so essential, especially during this challenging time of the year. 

So that's it. That's what we're gonna try this week. I'm doing it right beside you, this three minute pause. Minute one, take some deep breaths. Minute two, think of one thing that went right today. Minute three, set a tiny intention for yourself for tomorrow.  We've got this. We can totally do this. 

Cheering so hard for you. I know Adrienne’s cheering hard for you as well. We're cheering hard for Adrienne. Solution Tree and Marzano Resources are also helping to support us as always, And I want to just again, express my immense gratitude to all of you, this badass self-care squad. Oh, so grateful for you. Thank you for doing this work. Thank you for doing this work. When it's really hard, feel my hand on your back as you move through this week. You've got this, you've got this, you've got this. I'm cheering so hard for you. I love you. Make it a great week.  

If this episode resonated with you, find more mental wellness episodes here.