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Resilience: A Learned Skill

Sarah Said
Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully (COSEM) Board Member
Alternative High School ELL Teacher in Illinois

Nelson Mandela once said, “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” As we know success is not linear, and it often comes after much trial and error in life. Our hearts and minds don’t always accept this reality, but this is the journey of life.


During and post covid, society has tagged teachers for being “resilient” as we made our way in and out of the pandemic. What is difficult for people to realize is that resilience is not something that we just wake up and have. Resilience is a learned skill. It is unfortunately learned in difficult moments in our lives. The more we struggle, the more we overcome and the more we learn. 


This does have a strain on our mental and physical health. Here are some thoughts on how to support yourself with learning the skill of resilience:


The following are invitational practices to personally explore to nurture seeds of resilience: 

  • Keep a Resilience Journal: Journal about your failures for the day, then journal about your successes for the day.  Reflect on how your mind and body handled the ups and downs of your day or week. Celebrate a mindset shift. Continue learning and developing further insights through self-exploration.


  • Ensure Yourself Physical Movement in Your Day: Whether it’s a walk, yoga, or other well-being supportive practice, ensure that you have a time for movement. You can also choose to reflect on your day during movement. 


  • Meditate on Resilience: Take a moment to reflect on your challenges or failures for the day. Notice how this makes your body feel then exhale it away. Now, reflect on your celebrations or successes for the day, and smile. Notice how this makes your body feel then breathe it into your heart. Also, as you do this, become aware of your self-talk. What you say to yourself can impact your feelings and mood.


  • Think About What Brings You Joy In Your Classroom: Read the following Edutopia article on Restoring the Joy in Teaching that I wrote in 2022.


  • Practice Smiling: Studies show that smiling tricks your mind into a positive mood. When you smile it stimulates the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, which really starts to encourage a positive state.


We can plant the seeds of resilience in our own lives and help grow our lives and the lives of everyone else with them. As we close this year in the month of December, let’s reflect on how we used our resilience in 2024 for a strong 2025.


Featured companion Mindfulness-Based SEL Lesson Inspiration for COSEM Members:

  • COSEM members, be sure to log into your account before clicking the link so you are taken directly to this resource. Not a member yet and would like to gain access to this resource and more? Consider joining us today or ask your school/district leadership team to invest in a COSEM Group Membership so every staff member has access. 



 


About the Author

Sarah Said is an educator who has served in various roles: teacher, assistant principal, dean, curriculum coordinator and multilingual coordinator. Sarah is an advocate for the students she serves and is a strong voice in education. She currently works in Elgin School District U-46 as an ELL English teacher at the district's Alternative High School- Dream Academy. Sarah started her mindfulness journey years ago when we served as a district administrator- she saw she needed to work on herself and began practicing yoga. During the pandemic, Sarah wanted to support students and families in their mindfulness journey and became a 200 Hour Certified Yoga Instructor through Breathe for Change. She is currently working on her 500 Hour Certification. Sarah runs Yoga, Tea and Justice, an organization she has just begun to support women, particularly Muslim Women in their Mindfulness and Yoga practice. She has been published in various publications such as Edutopia, Learning for Justice, EdWeek, Teaching Channel, and Confianza.

 

Connect with Sarah!

Twitter/X: @MrsSaid17


 
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