What follows is a rough-edit of the episode, so please forgive typos and/or formatting errors.

All content is my own; requests to use this material – with proper citation – can be sent to [email protected]

Episode Number 40:  Cheers to Pulling Yourself Out of a Funk

Hello, teacher friends – welcome to Episode number 40 of the Beyond Measure podcast.  Christina Whitlock here, your Anytime Piano Teacher Friend – and today we’re talking about how to pull yourself out of a funk.

You’re probably thinking, wow Christina… last week we talked about how students quit sometimes, and now we’re talking about picking ourselves up on bad days.  You’re kind of a downer these days, huh?  J

Well, I promise… that’s not the goal.  I also take my role as your Anytime Piano Teacher Friend seriously, and I think it’s important to call out the stuff that contributes to burn-out, and help you find ways to navigate it with a healthy perspective.

So.  Bad days.  Bad attitudes.  Slumps, pits, funks, whatever you want to call them, we all have them.

Please note: and this is a very important disclaimer, friends:  I am not talking about serious conditions related to mental health here. I am NOT qualified to do that on any level.  Depression – in its many forms – is serious and worthy of seeking professional help in every case.  Therapy is great.  Medications to improve your body’s internal chemistry are great. Any of the suggestions I’m offering here today will be trivial in the face of actual, compromised mental health.

So, there’s that.  Moving forward, we all wake up on the wrong side of the bed sometimes, am I right?  Even the most enthusiastic teachers I know (ahem) have days where we just don’t know if we can make it through our lessons that day.  Or, at least, if we even want to.

Teaching is exhausting.  It’s a long-term game, meaning, we operate with very little instant gratification.  Sometimes it feels like our entire job is to convince students to “keep with it” because, “it will be worth it someday!”.   Well, just like our students need convincing sometimes, so do we.  Sometimes you just need a WIN, like, right now.  I get it.

Look. There are all kinds of reasons we find ourselves feeling less-than-motivated to teach.  Sometimes we’re legitimately not well.  Sometimes life has thrown us some heavy stuff.  In fact, we all kind of fit in that boat right now, in one way or another.

I’ll share with you my latest:  On top of some other less-than-awesome things, my family got taken down two weeks ago by that virus-which-shall-not-be-named-on-this-podcast.  (Ha – that’s a throwback to episode #1 of this podcast, which you should totally go listen to, if you haven’t already).  But yeah.  THE VIRUS. The one I basically refuse to give any airtime to, yeah… it came for us. Hard.  My 11-year old brought it home from a school orientation event, then it came for my husband, and then for me.  Our five year old escaped it entirely, but both of my girls missed their first weeks of school (only the first week of middle school and kindergarten, no big deal!), and my hubs and I felt just awful.

Now – because I don’t want to give this thing any airtime, but I also think it’s important to hear ACTUAL experience of REAL people, as opposed to whatever you end up reading on the internet, here’s a quick rundown of our experience:

• Yes, my husband and I were both fully vaccinated – Pfizer, if you’re curious – and, yes, we both got it anyway. My 11-year old is not eligible yet.
• Yes, in our experience, it was actually pretty awful. And recovery has been slow and ridiculously mentally taxing. Seriously, the way this thing works on your mind is unbelievable and we should be talking about that aspect more than we are.
• Finally – Yes, we would absolutely get the vaccines again. We fully believe our vaccinations kept us out of the hospital. We are incredibly grateful to have had them.

If you are curious about our experience, message me because I’m happy to chat about it.  But I’ll leave the virus talk there for today.  Suffice to say, it’s been a long couple of weeks.  Oh, and you know all those great August plans I talked about in Episode 38?  Well, those all went out the window.  I had to quickly draft a solo lesson schedule, go back to exclusively teaching online – which I don’t completely hate, but, as I said in Episode 19 on online lessons, the fact that I’m not doing it on my own terms just sours the whole experience.

Anyway.  I survived my first week of the academic year back in online lessons while I was still very much in recovery, and I’m optimistic this week will be even better.

Regardless, that is an example of a legitimate funk.  But sometimes you’re in good health, you have students you enjoy, and you STILL don’t feel like teaching.  What do we do then?

Well, because we are mature adults who realize sometimes you have to do things, even when you don’t FEEL like doing them… we make the most of it.  Today I’m sharing my top three things to do to pull yourself out of a funk before teaching time.   Are you ready?

#1:  Above all else, PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT. Truly.  Play your instrument. Whether you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes to do so, spending time making music is the absolute best way I’ve found to reconnect myself to the art of what I’m teaching.  Don’t we all preach the fact that being a musician is terrific for managing our emotional health?  Science backs us up.  Our own experiences have proven it true.  So why do so many of us start teaching for the day without ever touching our instruments ahead of time?  The act of making music is such a fantastic neurological stimulator, we basically have no CHOICE but to feel better… as in, more balanced, more aware, more awake than we were before we played.

You might be thinking, BUT CHRISTINA..what if I don’t have time to play my instrument before my students show up?  Well, then you have to get creative.  But, the possibilities are endless.  Can you play warm ups along with your students? Can you tell them, “I’m going to play a short piece of music for you and I want you to tell me what you picture in your mind as I play”.  Or, “I’m going to play some music for you and I want you to hold your arms out wide as I play louder, and bring them closer together as I play quieter.”  Or, “I want you to move to the music I’m creating and I want your movements to reflect the kinds of sounds you hear”.  Or, or, or, or… there are MANY ways you can incorporate activities for your students while they listen to you play.  Then, you’re getting all the benefits of playing your instrument, they’re getting the benefits of the activity (and hearing their teacher play, of course, which is also important!), and everyone wins.  Most importantly, you will very likely find yourself FEELING BETTER after playing your instrument.   So yes.  The number one thing to do when you’re in a funk before teaching is to PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT.

#2:  Move Your Body.  I’m 99% sure you are not surprised by this one.  The correlation between physical exercise and mood is well-researched and completely inarguable, right?  But, we are all guilty of making this harder than it needs to be sometimes.  If I find myself grumpy or down or unmotivated or whatever heading into a lesson block, something as simple as marching 20 steps around my studio, picking my knees up as high as I can with each step, even that is enough to get me headed in the right direction.  Of course, it’s not really substantial enough to count as a daily workout by any means, but in a pinch, it helps get the blood flowing and I do feel better.  The same thing can be said for hopping on the floor and holding a quick 30 second plank.  Planks are great for focus and all kinds of other things… like making yourself feel better before teaching.  J  Whatever it may be, friends, just know moving your body before teaching doesn’t have to mean getting super sweaty or running yourself out of breath.  Instead, find something you like to do to move.  Dance party?  Great.  10 jumping jacks?  Great.  A quick walk around the block?  AMAZING.    Oh, and just like our first strategy of the day, there are also plenty of ways to get creative and move your body DURING a lesson, if you miss your chance before you start teaching.  Again, marching around your studio to different beats of the music?  That’s good for students of any age.  Have littles?  Try playing a game of Musical Simon Says.  Simon says bring your right hand second finger over to your left foot.  Simon says jump up and down to a steady beat.  Whatever.  If you join in on these activities, you are reaping the benefits too.  Stretching with your students is great, there are a billion Dalcroze-inspired exercises you can use with students, the list goes on and on.  For me, this is especially helpful when you hit that midway point of a long teaching block and need a jumpstart to regain some energy for the final stretch.  Anyway, #2 on our list of things to do when you’re in a funk before teaching is MOVE YOUR BODY.

#3: FIND YOUR SECURITY BLANKET.  Okay – what on earth do I mean by find your security blanket?  Well, we all have things that relax us and help us feel taken care of. Of course, I’m not suggesting you actually get a blankie, (haha!) but as grown-ups, I think we all have things that bring us comfort.  I’ll share a few of mine.  Warm drinks.  It’s no secret how much Mrs. Whitlock loves her coffee, but I also can’t drink it all day like I want to.  Same goes for tea.  The older I get, the more I have to watch that caffeine intake or my anxiety just spins out of the stratosphere. But, even moreso than drinking a warm beverage, holding a nice, warm, heavy mug is something that brings me a lot of comfort.  So, especially on days I’m feeling a little sluggish, I make sure I have a nice warm beverage (even if it’s just warm water!) nearby.  If I get too in-my-head at any point during the lesson, wrapping my hands around that warm mug helps me.  I keep my studio stocked with other comfort items as well, and they are always left at arm’s reach.  Things like a small bottle of Laura Mercei hand cream that I just love.  The scent is very light, but it’s a thicker, more luxurious-feeling cream than I usually buy myself.  This one was a gift. If I’m struggling with my mood in lessons, I will often reach for my hand cream, squeeze a drop into my hand, and casually rub it in and around my fingers while my student is playing or while we’re talking.  They would never think twice about it, but in my own mind, I’m secretly doing something to invest in myself in that moment.  The same thing goes for a particular lip gloss I love.  I keep it nearby and will throw it on while a student is playing if I need a little pick-me-up.  Let it be known:  Warm drinks, hand crème and lip gloss may not be YOUR things, but I would strongly encourage you to consider what comfort items you can keep nearby while YOU are teaching.  Maybe it’s a mint, maybe it’s moving a super squishy floor mat under your feet that you like to stand on, maybe it’s some type of aromatherapy… whatever brings you comfort, that’s #3, Find your Security Blanket.

So, what do you think about my top 3?  There are SO MANY other things that could and should land on this list.  I absolutely recognize that, but we’re only a 20 minute show here.  Things like spending time in sunshine.  Getting actual fresh air.  Did you know there’s a bunch of really fascinating research about how much more energized we feel when we spend time with our bare feet on the ground outside?  Something about currents that naturally travel through the ground and how our bodies react to actually making contact with our bare feet.  It’s pretty interesting.  Get your toes out there in the grass, or whatever you have on the ground outside, my friends! J   But seriously… other suggestions for pulling yourself out of a funk include journaling, reflection, prayer, meditation, taking time to get intentional, deep, full, emptying breaths …. the list goes on and on, and I would LOVE to hear what works for you.  Send me a message on Instagram or Facebook, I’m at Beyond Measure Podcast, or send an email to [email protected].

While you contemplate your own list of mood-lifting strategies, allow me to send you off with a toast, to you of course!

Music teacher friends of the world, I recognize you can’t be your absolute best self every moment of the week.  Sure, we’re great at faking it when we’re not exactly feeling it (that’s basically part of the job description, after all), but some days that’s easier than others.  Today we are taking the time to think about what energizes us.  What makes us feel most like our most authentic selves.  And what brings us comfort when we need it. May you find yourself coming back to center with these three steps today:  Playing your instrument, moving your body, and finding your proverbial security blanket.  Cheers to you, my mindful teacher friends.  Here here.

Thanks for joining me for this 40^th episode of the Beyond Measure podcast.  Before we go, I just want to echo, on a serious note, how incredibly important your mental health is.  It’s no secret that those of us in professions that are centered around serving others are at a much higher risk of burnout and even depression than other fields are.  Talking openly to your healthcare professionals is so important.

And, on a similar note, while today’s episode was focusing on how to rally through a bad day and make it through your teaching, there are also times when we don’t need to rally.  We just need to cancel and take time for ourselves.  I’m thinking of a precious friend who called me this week, reeling from a host of extenuating family circumstances, and she was wondering if it was okay to delay her return to teaching by a week.  Um, absolutely.  We all have different circumstances that dictate whether or not canceling is an option, but I will tell you: one of the biggest mistakes I made in my early teaching days was trying to push through and teach through moments when I should not have done so.  Look.  We are all successful teachers because we take what we do very seriously.  But, with all due respect to the music teaching profession, there are plenty of things that rank higher on a scale of importance.  So PROMISE ME, my friends, that you will take good care of yourselves this year.  These are NOT easy days to navigate – for any of us – and, as your friend, I worry about you.  Let’s continue to check in with one another and make sure we can keep serving our studio families with the best of ourselves.  I’m sending my love to all of you, my friends!   Be well.