Survival Tips For Teachers
by Finis Jhung

The Kitchen Sink Stretch:
As you brew your morning coffee or tea, why not stretch out at the kitchen sink?

Stand arms length away from the sink, feet parallel and apart. Hang onto the edge of the sink and pull away, leaning back on your heels and stretching your arms, shoulders, back, and hamstrings. Look at your feet; let your back sag. Now use your abdominal muscles, tilt your pelvis upward, and start bringing your knees (bent) over your toes.

 Keep pulling away from the sink, so you're stretching. As you start to come forward with your thighs, roll up one vertebra at a time, until you come all the way up. Now lean forward against the sink, stretching your calves. Do it slowly, exhale throughout. Repeat several times.

People Who Skip Breakfast Pay a High Price.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies have shown that breakfast skippers are less productive and handle tasks less efficiently than those who eat breakfast. Skipping breakfast impairs memory and mental performance. Your brain runs on glucose, and when the supply runs low, it is forced to depend on stored fat, a less efficient source of fuel.  If you're worried about calories, calories consumed early in the day are least likely to put on pounds. The leanest people tend to be those who eat three or more meals a day. Ideally, breakfast should supply one-quarter to one-third of the day's protein plus fiber-rich carbohydrates and a small amount of fat.

Here are good examples: a half cup of whole-grain cereal (cold or hot) with fruit (half a grapefruit) and low-fat or skim milk; low-fat or nonfat yogurt with fruit and whole-wheat bread with jam or margarine; a shake made with yogurt, fruit and skim milk plus whole-wheat toast, or a turkey, cheese or peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread with fruit juice and milk. If you can't bear to eat first thing in the morning, try a glass of juice and a piece of bread before leaving home with a portable breakfast (like a container of yogurt or a sandwich) to eat later when hunger strikes, often just before your work starts. (Excerpted from an article by Jane E. Brody in the New York Times)

Meditate & Pray
The dictionary defines Meditate as 1. To focus one's thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over  2 : to plan or project in the mind, to engage in contemplation or reflection. To pray is defined as: 1 : Entreat, implore ­ often used as a function word in introducing a question, request, or plea. 2: to get or bring by praying (1. to request in a humble manner  2: to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving.

Those definitions say a lot, don't they? I've been meditating and praying each morning for the last 33 years. I wouldn't think of leaving the house without this private time (40 to 60 minutes) to reflect, to plan, and to pray. I give thanks for my personal good fortune (I could have been born in a country at war, or in poverty, or be living where natural disasters strike) and that I have been able to live the life I have always wanted. I have gotten all my ideas for teaching from meditation & prayer. I've been able to go through enormously difficult situations and emerge on the winning side. Have you ever flown on a dark and rainy day? The world looks ominous, but once the plane is over the clouds, you see clear skies and a land of sunlit, billowing white clouds. I think that this is what meditation and prayer does for me each day. It reminds me that it's a fresh new day, full of new challenges and possibilities. And that it's all up to me.

Floor Stretches
After meditation and prayers, I do my floor stretches. I feel the difference when I don't do my floor work. Here's still more quiet time for you to "feel" your body and to think about what you're going to teach today.  (See separate article on instructions)

Take a Walk
Walking (a problem for those of you who drive door to door) is a necessary activity for body and mind. It's good for your heart, joints, and bones. More time to contemplate and plan. I always walk to the studio (about 15 minutes), and depending on how much demonstrating I did in class, walk back home. It's a good way to relax and unwind, and lose the pressures of the day.

Drinks & Snacks
Always carry a healthful snack on in your dance bag. A nibble here and there throughout the day keeps you from getting hungry & tired. Unpeeled (for fiber) fruits and nuts (especially almonds) are good. So are carrot and celery sticks. Health bars (made with whole-grain) are good.

And, of course you must have a water bottle. Sip, sip, and sip. When the heat goes up, and you perspire excessively, sport drinks really do help.

The Mediterranean Diet
Researchers have found that people who live along the Mediterranean Sea suffer only a tiny fraction of the heart attacks and coronary deaths experienced by Americans and people in other Western industrialized countries. Among people along the Mediterranean, dietary fat consumed is mostly of vegetable origin; among the others, diets are rich in highly saturated animal fats from meat and dairy products.