As trainers, we often push ourselves to the limit with demanding schedules, frequent travel, and tight deadlines, driven by a passion for positive impact. This dedication, while commendable, can take a toll on mental, emotional, and physical health, leading to neglect of personal well-being. Mental health is essential for being fully present and effective, involving more than just positivity; it requires recognizing when support is needed, building a support network, and nurturing well-being practices.
This module addresses common mental health challenges trainers face, guiding you to develop a personalized "trainer’s toolkit" for well-being. It offers reflection, awareness-building, and techniques to enhance resilience. Remember, these insights are guides, and individual needs may vary. For serious challenges, seeking professional help is advised.
As in all modules, you will be exploring this topic through our structured sections:
- Challenges
- Practical Hands-on Activities
- POV (Point of View)
- Hacks and Practices
- Action Planning
- Connection & Community.
Embedded in this module you will find infographics, a survival guide, short videos and audios, gamified resources, webinar recordings with experts on the topic, as well as a growing collection of hacks and resources from the trainer community where you can add your own.
Make sure you have your learning companion ready - whether it is a notebook, journal, or laptop. This will be your space to reflect, draw mind maps, track your mental well-being, and note down actionable steps to improve your emotional health. Let this module be a time to prioritise your mental and emotional health, so you can continue to inspire others while staying grounded and balanced yourself. Remember, when we take care of ourselves, we set a positive example for those we work with and create a sustainable foundation for our professional and personal lives.
CHALLENGES – Strengthening Your Mental and Emotional Well-being
As trainers, we often focus on the needs of our participants, leaving little time to nurture our own mental and emotional health. But just as we prepare for the unexpected in any of the other topics, we also need to prepare for the challenges that arise within ourselves - whether it is stress, burnout, or emotional exhaustion. In this chapter, we will explore ways to strengthen our mental and emotional well-being through a series of reflective challenges designed to build resilience, foster balance, and cultivate a supportive network.
Before diving into the activities, we invite you to explore Voices of Trainers: Mental and Emotional Well-being, a series of short stories from trainers who have faced similar challenges. These stories highlight moments of vulnerability and strength, offering insights into how fellow trainers have navigated their own emotional and mental health.
Make sure you don't end up like the trainers in the short video "Trainer Hotline: Mental and Emotional Well-being!" where trainers reach out for help with burnout, stress, or emotional exhaustion and receive ... well, some rather unconventional advice. It is a humorous look at what can happen when we neglect our mental and emotional health.
Now, it is time to turn inward and take on these challenges which are designed to help you build your own mental and emotional toolkit.
Activity: Facing Your Mental Health Triggers
- Reflect on Recent Challenges: Think about recent situations where you felt mentally or emotionally challenged, whether it was during a busy work period, while traveling, or dealing with personal stress. Identify your common mental health triggers—specific situations, behaviors, environments, or thoughts that tend to elevate your stress or anxiety levels.
- Assess Your Reactions: Write down what typically happens when you encounter these triggers. How do you respond, and what impact do they have on your mood, energy, and work performance? Consider how these responses affect your ability to function effectively as a trainer or facilitator.
- Evaluate Current Coping Methods: Reflect on how well you currently manage these triggers. What strategies or approaches have been effective for you in the past, and what hasn’t worked as well? Use this step to understand the strengths and limitations of your current coping methods.
- Develop New Strategies: Based on your reflections, identify three actionable strategies to manage your triggers more effectively. These might include grounding techniques, setting personal boundaries, or coping mechanisms like deep breathing, thought reframing, or reaching out to someone in your support network.
- Prepare for Future Triggers: Finally, consider how these new strategies help you feel more in control of your mental health. Document any steps you can take to prepare yourself better for handling these triggers in the future, building a plan to support your well-being during challenging moments.
PRACTICAL HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES
In this section, we offer three practical activities designed to help you actively improve your mental and emotional well-being. These exercises will encourage you to focus on mindfulness, support systems, and creating a toolkit that can help you stay balanced, centred, and resilient.
A) Centring with Breathing Exercises
Sometimes, all we need is a moment to pause and breathe. This simple breathing exercise guided by our fellow trainer Sale Trudic will help you find calm in the midst of chaos, whether you are in the middle of a hectic training schedule.
B) Mapping Your Network of Support
As trainers, we are often the ones giving support. But it is crucial to acknowledge the people and resources that help us stay emotionally balanced and strong.
Instructions:
- Open your learning companion - whether it is a journal, notebook, or laptop - and start by drawing a mind map of your support network.
- Identify the key people who provide you with emotional and mental support - this could include friends, family, colleagues or mentors.
- Think about any practices, routines or resources that help you maintain your well-being. For example, meditation, exercise, hobbies or professional therapy.
- Reflect on any gaps in your network. Where could you seek additional support? Is there someone or something you could lean on more often?
C) Create Your Mental Well-being Toolkit
Your mental well-being toolkit is a personalised collection of practices, people and strategies that help you manage stress and stay emotionally balanced during both routine days and challenging times.
Instructions:
- Review the insights you have gained from the breathing exercise and the support network mapping.
- Identify your top three go-to strategies for maintaining your mental and emotional well-being. These could include the breathing exercise, connecting with someone in your network, engaging in a favourite hobby or anything else that helps you recharge.
- Plan for the future: Write down any new strategies or tools you would like to try in the coming weeks. Be specific - when will you implement them and how will you measure their effectiveness?
POV – Nurturing Your Mental and Emotional Well-being as a Trainer
The demands of training can take a toll on your mental and emotional well-being. Constant deadlines, travel, and juggling multiple roles can leave you feeling drained and overwhelmed. This activity invites you to pause and reflect on how you nurture your mental and emotional health amidst the pressures of work. It is about intentionally creating space for your well-being so you can show up fully for yourself and those you serve.
Exercise:
- Reflect on Recent Experiences: Set aside a quiet moment to consider how your mental and emotional well-being has been over the past few months. Recall both moments when you felt balanced and resilient, as well as times when you felt overwhelmed or emotionally drained. How have these experiences impacted your work and personal sense of well-being?
- Identify Positive Practices: Write down three specific actions or routines that helped you maintain your mental and emotional health during challenging times. These could include practices like mindfulness, talking with a trusted friend, journaling, or setting aside personal time. What aspects of these routines have been most beneficial to your resilience?
- Recognize Key Stressors: Think about three factors that contributed to stress, emotional exhaustion, or a sense of imbalance. These might be external pressures, internal expectations, or aspects of the work itself. Understanding these challenges will help clarify areas where you may need to set boundaries or make adjustments.
- Plan Future Strategies: Based on your reflections, identify ways you can intentionally protect and nurture your mental and emotional well-being moving forward. Write down specific strategies—such as creating boundaries, developing self-care routines, or implementing stress-reduction techniques—to support your resilience during busy training periods.
- Set Reminders and Boundaries: Lastly, think about practical ways to remind yourself to check in with your mental and emotional well-being, especially during high-stress times. What routines or boundaries can you set to ensure that your mental health remains a priority, even when work demands increase? Document these as part of your commitment to self-care.
HACKS AND PRACTICES – Mental and Emotional Well-being Tips for Trainers
Every experienced trainer has their own methods for maintaining mental and emotional well-being amidst the busy, high-pressure demands of the job. Whether it is practising mindfulness, establishing routines for balance or employing stress-management strategies, these small but powerful practices can significantly enhance your well-being.
Before diving into this activity, take a moment to check out the Infographic: Mental Health Reminders for Trainers. This resource contains quick tips and tricks aimed at keeping your mental health in check. With sections designed to help you maintain your balance, reduce stress, and build emotional resilience, this infographic is a useful guide for trainers to stay centred and energised.
- Relaxation and Healthy Living
- Wellness Coaching
- Mindfulness
- Focus
- Support and Feedback
- Motivation
- Stress Management
- Burnout Prevention.
Finally, watch these two webinar recordings, one on “Forms of Therapy and Support”, and one on “Navigating Intensive Work and Recovery”. These webinars offers valuable knowledge from people who have navigated the same challenges you may face, with strategies to manage stress, create healthy boundaries, and sustain long-term emotional health. Do not forget to check out the description below the videos on YouTube to find the links to the resources used during these webinars, eg the slides by the experts.
Now that you have explored the collective wisdom of trainers, expert resources, and insights from the webinar, it is time to build your personal toolkit of mental and emotional well-being practices that will support you, no matter where your work takes you.
Harvesting:
- Identify Your Go-To Practices: Think about your top three mental and emotional well-being techniques—practices that help you stay grounded and balanced during your work. These could include mindfulness exercises, ways to recover from stress, or daily habits that maintain stability. Write them down, and consider how each one contributes to your sense of well-being and energy as a trainer.
- Reflect on Their Impact: For each of these practices, reflect on why it works well for you. How do these specific techniques support your productivity and make your workdays feel smoother and less overwhelming?
- Explore New Strategies: Select two new well-being practices from the Survival Guide or Infographic or Webinars that you haven’t tried before. Plan to integrate these into your routine over the next few weeks, giving each one a fair trial to assess its impact on your mental and emotional health.
- Evaluate and Personalize: After testing the new practices, reflect on their effectiveness. Did any of them resonate with you? Consider how you might adopt or adapt these new strategies to fit your needs and lifestyle more closely.
- Build on Collective Wisdom: Finally, consider how learning from others’ well-being strategies has influenced your own approach. In what ways has this collective wisdom enhanced your toolkit for maintaining mental and emotional health as a trainer?
ACTION PLANNING: Putting Your Well-being Strategies into Practice
Having explored strategies to enhance your mental and emotional well-being, it’s time to put these insights into practice. This Action Planning section will help you reflect on what you have learned and create actionable steps to incorporate these practices into your daily life and work routine.
Step 1: Quick Harvest
Use the Stop, Continue, Start, Do More Of, Do Less Of framework to assess your current mental and emotional well-being practices. Be specific and practical:
- Stop: What habits or practices are currently undermining your mental and emotional health? (e.g. skipping breaks, neglecting self-care routines)
- Continue: What practices are positively contributing to your well-being that you should keep? (e.g. daily mindfulness exercises, regular check-ins with your support network)
- Start: What new habits or practices do you want to implement to enhance your mental and emotional health? (e.g. scheduling regular relaxation sessions, incorporating new stress management techniques)
- Do More Of: What positive behaviours could you increase to further support your well-being? (e.g. engaging in hobbies, seeking feedback and support from colleagues)
- Do Less Of: What should you reduce to minimise stress and prevent burnout? (e.g. overcommitting to projects, neglecting personal downtime)
Step 2: Overall Reflection
Reflect on the entire module and consider the following questions:
- What insights from this module are you most excited to implement in your daily life?
- How have your views on managing mental and emotional well-being evolved through this module?
- What are the key changes you are committed to making in your routine to enhance your well-being?
Step 3: Create Your Action Plan
Develop a clear action plan based on your reflections. Address the following questions and outline concrete steps:
- Goals: What specific goals do you have for improving your mental and emotional well-being?
- Steps: What actionable steps will you take to achieve these goals?
- Resources: What resources or support do you need? Consider tools, apps, or help from peers. (e.g. using a mindfulness app, connecting with a wellness coach, accessing mental health resources)
- Timeline: Break down your action plan into smaller, manageable tasks with deadlines. (e.g. “By next Monday, I will integrate a 5-minute mindfulness practice into my daily routine. By the end of the month, I will assess the impact on my stress levels and adjust as needed.”)
- Immediate Actions: Identify specific actions for this week and next week to start implementing your plan. (e.g. download a mental health app, schedule a session with a therapist, begin a daily gratitude journal)
- Progress Markers: Define how you will measure the success of your new practices. (e.g. “I will monitor my stress levels and overall mood to evaluate the effectiveness of my new routines.”)
- Important Dates: Add important dates, milestones, and regular check-ins to your calendar. Schedule reminders to review and adjust your action plan as needed.
Connection and Community
As we conclude this module, we want to remind you of the importance of pausing, reflecting, and checking in with yourself - just like we have done throughout these activities. The journey as a trainer canbe demanding, and it is crucial to take care of your own well-being, just as much as you take care of those around you.
Reflect and connect with yourself using the ORAI cards.
Here you find a deck of 14 ORAI (Lithuanian for "weather") cards for reflection. Whether it is rain, sun, or snow, these cards are here to guide and support you as you assess your own well-being. Each card serves as a reminder that no matter the external weather, it is essential to check in with your internal weather - how are you feeling? Are you energised, or do you need rest? What steps can you take today to care for yourself?
Engage with the community
Remember, you are not alone in this journey. Here on this Padlet we are collecting hacks, resources, thoughts and messages from the participants of this MOOC concerning Emotional and Mental Well-Being as a trainer. Check what the other participants shared, and add your own contributions!
Stay connected!