How are you feeling lately?
Stressed?
Exhausted?
Stretched thin, with a million things on your mind all day everyday?
Run down, even on your days off?
These are all signs of burnout and adrenal fatigue. It’s no fun – I’ve been there, and I think most of you reading this have felt this way at some point in time. It’s hard to be energetic, focused and clear headed at work and to be “on” for people all day when you have no energy left to give. Consequently, this affects your performance, your patience, your relationships, and certainly your overall sense of well-being.
Here’s a huge tip nowhere near enough people take seriously in their mental recovery:
Get Quiet Everyday
I’m not talking about sitting on the couch watching TV with wine (although that certainly can have its place). I’m talking about shutting off everything, tuning out ALL external stimuli, and just being with yourself. Even more importantly, doing it once a day everyday.
Call it meditation, or you can call it mindfulness, or just call it quiet time. Either way, you need to give your brain a rest. Looking at your phone, watching TV, and listening to podcasts are all forms of stimulation that keep your brain active, which done in excess is suboptimal for recovering your nervous system from all the stress being put on it every day.
A popular option is to either get a guided meditation app (we love Headspace), or just close your eyes, set a timer and just focus on your breathing. If you’re prone to anxious busy thinking like many are, it will undoubtedly feel uncomfortable at first. You’re not “doing it wrong.” Read that again – if you feel distracted and/or uncomfortable, that’s normal and you are not doing it wrong.
Just like anything you’ve ever learned, practice makes perfect. If you want to have less stress and anxiety, you have to practice being less stressed and anxious. It’s literally a skill, just like playing an instrument or a sport. We have to learn to be okay with just being with ourselves. If you need to constantly distract yourself with your phone, tv, or other stimuli, it’s going to be much more challenging to feel better long term.
Being quiet everyday teaches your mind and body to relax, which takes you out of survival mode and frees up more energy in your body and mind so your burnout becomes more manageable.
Because of this you’ll likely start sleeping better, feeling less reactive by any potentially triggering people and situations around you, and be less likely to default to anxious, worried thinking as your natural state of mind.
Give it a try and let us know how you feel.
Want to learn more? Schedule a free initial session with one of our personal trainers here.
