Healthy Teachers, Healthy Classrooms

Home
Canada
Acme, AB
Healthy Teachers, Healthy Classrooms

Start Living Empowered and Full of Purpose Alberta
Agriculture
Women

08/01/2025

Whether it's what you eat/drink for fun, if you're a cat or dog person, or you love being at the beach, August has some fun days to celebrate. Hope you are having an amazing summer!

07/30/2025

Teacher Tip Tuesday: Let Them Step Up

You’ve been holding so much for so long.
Lesson plans, classroom energy, parent emails, lost water bottles, big emotions, broken staplers… all of it.
No wonder you’re tired.

But here’s something to reflect on while you’re soaking in the sun:
When students carry more responsibility, you carry less weight.
And they grow more, too.

So when you return this fall, consider:

Where could you step back just a little, so your students can step up?
✨ Class jobs
✨ Peer coaching
✨ Group norms that they help create
✨ Letting go of “doing it all” so they can learn by doing

You don’t have to build it all now. Just imagine what might feel lighter.
Let that vision guide your prep.
Not perfection. But shared ownership. 💛

Because leadership isn’t about doing everything - it’s about knowing what’s yours to hold, and what you can hand over.

07/25/2025

It’s International Self-Care Day… but what if we treated self-care like a rhythm, not just a reward?

This week, I’m inviting you into a 5-Day Self Care Challenge, with small, soul-nourishing actions that don’t require more time, just more intention.

They’re simple. They’re real. And they remind me: I don’t need to hustle for my worth.

📌 Save this post to revisit your list each day
👇 Tell me in the comments - which one are you starting with?

07/24/2025

Just like muscles need rest to grow, your brain needs pauses to integrate, recover, and reset.

Not just once in a while, but often, in small ways.

We call these micro-pauses: tiny moments of intentional rest that tell your nervous system: “You’re safe. You can slow down now.”

Especially during summer, when your schedule might feel looser but your mind is still spinning, these quick resets are powerful.

✨ Try this today:
Box Breathing:
Inhale for 4…
Hold for 4…
Exhale for 4…
Hold for 4…
Repeat 3–4 rounds.

Set a timer for 60 seconds and let yourself just breathe. No fixing, no analyzing, no expectations.

This isn’t about zoning out - it’s about tuning in.
You need small, honest pauses.
Start with one today, and notice what softens.

07/23/2025

“I don’t have time.”
How many times have you said it this week?
(…today? Before your coffee even brewed?)

It’s become the anthem of educators who are doing all the things, running on fumes, and still feeling like they’re falling short.

But here’s the quiet truth:
You do have time.
It’s just that everyone else has claimed it.

Your calendar is full of expectations, obligations, and well-meaning requests that somehow landed on your plate.
And where are you on that list?
…Probably scribbled in the margins. Maybe.

Let’s flip the script.

This week, block out 10 minutes just for you. Just you.

💛 A quiet coffee in your car
💛 A breath and a stretch between errands
💛 A guilt-free scroll, walk, journal session - whatever feeds you.

You don’t need a sabbatical to feel like yourself again.
You need a sliver of space that says: “I matter too.”

Because you do.
And no one’s coming to pencil you in unless you do it first.

07/18/2025

A lot of you are new around here, and I realized I haven't introduced myself in a while. 🙂

I’m a teacher, coach, and author who helps educators reconnect with what matters, without sacrificing themselves in the process.

After 15 years in the classroom (and 20+ in education), I found myself burned out and barely hanging on. That experience didn’t break me - it rebuilt me. Now, I walk alongside teachers as they rebuild too.

Through coaching, workshops, retreats, and my book "Teachers First: A Guide to Avoiding and Overcoming Burnout", I support teachers in creating rhythms that restore their energy, leadership that reflects their values, and classrooms that feel more like communities. I believe that teaching is leadership, and it starts with how we show up every day.

I live on a ranch in Alberta, where the rhythms of land, family, and aligned living continue to shape both my life and my mission. If you’re an educator who’s poured everything into your classroom and still feel like it’s not enough, know this: you’re not alone. And you don’t have to do it all.

Come walk with me. Let’s build something sustainable...together. 💛

07/17/2025

Feeling behind before the day even starts? That’s not laziness. That’s a signal.

Your body, your energy, and your attention—they’re all trying to tell you something.

As teachers, we get so used to pushing through that we forget to pause and check in.

Today, I’m inviting you to take a breath, stop for just a moment and ask yourself:

Body → Am I tired, tight, hungry, buzzing, grounded?
Mind → Am I focused, scattered, foggy, clear?
Heart → Am I holding stress? Sadness? Excitement? Nothing at all?

This is where real self-care starts—not with bubble baths, but with awareness.

Forward this to someone who feels drained.

07/15/2025

What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
If it’s doomscrolling or diving straight into checking texts and emails… consider a new rhythm:

🌞 Step outside.
📖 Read one paragraph from something that feeds your soul.
☕ Sip in silence.

Small tweaks = big shifts.

Tag someone who needs to hear this!

07/11/2025

You made it. Summer is here!

Before the PD plans start piling up and your calendar fills with “just one more thing,” I want to ask:

What if this summer wasn’t about catching up...
But about catching your breath?

Teachers First is the book I wrote for teachers who have given so much that they’ve forgotten themselves. It’s filled with real stories, practical tools, and gentle truths about burnout, boundaries, and reclaiming your energy, without blowing up your life.

This is your season to rest. To reflect. To reset.

📖 Grab your copy on Amazon or through Indigo.

Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/teachers-first-a-guide-to-avoiding-and-overcoming-burnout-in-the-classroom/9781961347083.html

Amazon: https://a.co/d/9EGeRyM

Let this be the summer you choose you.

07/10/2025

You’ve probably heard this quote before, but have you really felt it?

Because if you’re constantly tired… snapping at your own kids after school… forgetting simple things… or waking up already tense, it’s not just “a busy season.”

It’s your body trying to speak up.

It remembers the stress you pushed through.
The meetings you smiled through.
The lunches you skipped.
The trauma your students carry, some of which you’ve quietly carried, too.

Your nervous system is the backstage crew to every decision, interaction, and emotion.

And when it’s dysregulated, everything feels harder than it needs to.

So this week, we’re not adding another thing to your to-do list.
We’re pressing pause - with intention.

Try one of these:
✔ Stretch before bed (even 2 minutes). Your muscles are storing more than you think.
✔ Step outside for 3 minutes without your phone. Feel the air. Let your eyes rest on something green.
✔ Practice a long exhale. Inhale for 4, exhale for 8. Do it once. Or five times. Let your system downshift.

You don’t have to meditate for 30 minutes or book a retreat to feel better.
Your body will thank you for even the smallest repair signals.

Because healing starts in the nervous system, not in your calendar.

07/09/2025

Trying to revamp your whole routine at once? Don’t. Pick one thing that takes under 5 minutes—maybe drinking water before coffee, doing some deep breathing, or getting yourself out the door and grounding yourself by putting your feet on the grass. Let that small act anchor your day.

07/04/2025

You’re not lazy. You’re tired.
This week, let rest be an act of reclamation. Block off 30 mins this week for something that soothes your body, not just numbs your brain.

Address

Acme, AB
T0M0A0

Website

https://healthyteachers.ca/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Healthy Teachers, Healthy Classrooms posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Healthy Teachers, Healthy Classrooms:

Shortcuts

Carman...Life Architect

Carman Murray has many roles: entrepreneur, yoga teacher, healer, teacher, mom, rancher, wife, leader, woman. My why in life is to model for my own children that each one of us has the choice to shine our gifts to the world. My what is working with others and inspiring them to move away from overwhelm, anxiety and stress and move toward ease, thrive and building supportive network of people around them – their tribe. I run my own business where I lead workshops, retreats, yoga classes, dynamic groups and courses.