Mental Health And Self-Care Resources For Chicago Teachers

At IPaintMyMind, CPS teachers are our heroes. We are always inspired by the care, love, and empathy that our teachers have for each other and for students all over the city. Throughout the pandemic, teachers have been on the front lines, both as educators and advocates for students. 

At the end of the year, we wanted to provide a list of mental health and self-care resources for our teachers, to let you know we appreciate the hard work you do. Happy holidays from the IPaintMyMind team! 

Take Advantage of Chicago’s Free Museum Days 

Our first self-care tip for CPS teachers is free museum days at some of the city’s best cultural institutions. There’s nothing as relaxing as a slow day strolling through a museum with a friend, family member, or your thoughts to keep you company! 

For Illinois residents the Art Institute of Chicago is offering free admission on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays between January 3rd and March 17th, 2022. The Field Museum offers free admission days for Illinois residents every Wednesday, starting in January. The Adler Planetarium offers free admission to Illinois teachers every day of the year! The Museum of Contemporary Art is always sliding scale pay-what-you-can, and the National Museum of Mexican Art is always free for all! Finally, most museums in Chicago offer free admission to anyone with Link, EBT, or WIC, any day of the year. 

Follow Chicago Teacher Memes on Instagram

If you aren’t following @chicago.teacher.memes on Instagram, you’re missing out. From totally on-the-nose pandemic teaching memes to CTU solidarity, Chicago Teacher Memes has you covered! We love how relatable, Chicago-specific, and hilarious these memes are and bet that you will as well. 

Take a Pay-What-You-Can Art Class at Hyde Park Arts Center 

Hyde Park Arts Center offers a range of community-supported programs for adults and children, where art classes are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis. From watercolors to sculpture to painting to book making: get creative and inspired with one of these great classes. Art is a great way to relax, unwind, and feel optimistic, and we love taking art classes whenever we can. Plus, Hyde Park Arts Center even offers Family Art Time classes where you and your whole family can make art together! 

Take a Sliding Scale Yoga Class at Chi-Town Shakti Yoga 

Chi-Town Shakti Yoga is located on Devon Ave., on the Northside of the city. They offer sliding-scale yoga classes and pay-what-you-can meditation classes to make their programming more widely accessible. Whether you are a yoga novice or a seasoned pro, there are classes for any difficulty level. Yoga can be a great way to relax, destress, and get in touch with your body! Meditation is also a valuable tool for managing periods of high stress. Plus, many Chi-Town Shakti Yoga’s classes are offered online via Zoom if you are unable to get to their physical location! 

Access Affordable Mental Health Care with Open Path Therapy Collective 

Affordable therapy can be hard to access under many insurance plans and many of these new online therapy services are ineffective at best. Open Path Therapy Collective is a great solution to the problem. Traditional psychotherapy–via Zoom or in person–at reasonable prices? It sounds too good to be true! 

However, Open Path Therapy Collective providers are united around the goal to make therapy available to all. After an initial $50 sign-on fee, each session of Open Path therapy is between $20-30 for any provider! Therapy is beneficial for everyone, and a great way to take care of yourself and be proactive about your mental health. 

In addition, make sure you’re subscribed to our mailing list and following our blog articles. We love to send out free lesson plans and resources for teachers. Check out our list of 8 Pieces of Art That Literally Changed the World (To Share With Your Students), or 16 Free Lesson-Planning Resources for Art Teachers.