Written by: Jennifer Degen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As you might be aware, developing a deep sense of peace and ultimately experiencing work-life balance feels out of reach for most people in caretaking professions.
Why do you suppose that is?
Is it working with inherent life, health, and death situations? Or is it the constant shouldering of the emotional, physical, and health burdens of others? Perhaps it is the denying of one’s own basic needs of food, water, and rest that ultimately wear down the nervous system.
By nature therapists', doctors, and healthcare workers are perpetually interested in pleasing and serving others. A significant amount of these people have a habit of denying their own needs in favor of others.
Vulnerability to burnout and compassion fatigue is real. The pandemic increased the pressure on households, hospital administrators, and healthcare professionals to give more, and recuperate less.
The problem with denying oneself over time is that the adaptive pattern of putting oneself last on the to-do list becomes a well-worn habit. The mindset or belief that goes along with this can be a whole host of things; “I am too busy” “this is the industry I am in”… ”I love working with people and this is a downside”. In other words, there is an acceptance in the healthcare field that allows for the pattern to continue.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
The chronic nature comes from working long hours, poor sleep habits, and a lack of replenishment. Simply put, the reserve tank of one’s energy is lost. A lack of vitality leads to feelings of apathy, lack of engagement, exhaustion, and eventually, a feeling of slogging through life takes over.
So what does one do when slogging through life? Many people quit! They leave their field in the caretaking profession and pivot into new ones. They take time off or become traveling workers as a means to make more money, have more flexibility, and bring back more feelings of autonomy.
The brain under stress does not reason well
And when the body is ignored during conditions of stress, it is hard to take a slogging body for a walk, run, or to a stress management class. It wants to check out, numb out, or just sleep. This begins a cycle of perpetual working and taxing the adrenal glands. The whole hormonal system gets thrown off. Work becomes a dopamine boost and a temporary wave of drive rises and free time falls back into exhaustion and recuperation. A more potent solution is called for to effectively create permanent change.
Here is a start to responding to the body on the body’s terms.
Step 1 ‒ Awareness
The first step is to bring awareness and presence to the truth of what is happening in your body.
Our brains need a new set of hormones to clear up the fog, and a deeper focus on your body's sensation will allow a new possibility to unfold. Acknowledge the truth and recognize that the body has been through so much, and exhaustion is a reality.
Step 2 ‒ Accept new neural pathways
A framework based on psychological and neurobiological research makes it easy to understand why body-based approaches work. Mindful walking, swimming, yoga, and tai chi facilitate interoceptive awareness (sensations in the body). These activities regulate and integrate a sense of the whole self. The outcome with body focus is that the mind can't stay spinning in thought. We also improve the brain body connection. When you recognize your internal experience, you grow your body's attention. This allows new neural pathways to form. Ease and relaxed responses repeated ‒ grow. With time and the right tools, the parasympathetic Nervous System response goes up.
Step 3 ‒ Change takes patience
It takes patience to develop new habit neuropathways to create a greater sense of well-being. Changing one habit at a time builds somatic awareness. We almost thaw out like ice during a spring melt. We then listen to new ways of being more relaxed, open, and clear-minded. Slowly we embody practices uniquely designed to teach interoceptive awareness and skills to increase capacity for emotional regulation, expression, and understanding.
Do you know someone suffering from chronic stress and burnout? Let’s take a small step to develop A sweet spot for self-care changing one habit at a time, and befriending the body as a whole.
Jennifer Degen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Her work as a Somatic Coach and Resiliency Expert draws on 30 years of eastern and western traditions. Jennifer’s post-traumatic growth from having brain surgery was a catapulting force that led her to shaping sustainable wellness solutions. Her work with health professionals, caretakers and leaders focus’ on Expanding connection, Opening to creativity, Life work balance, Embodied mindfulness, Self-leadership, Insight and Sustainable change. Mind Body Awareness is the intersection of somatic psychology, neuroscience, mindfulness and personal growth.
