SELF-CARE FOR BURN OUT

212NYC's board member and programming Chair Monique Braham-Evans hosted a Self-Care for Burn Out Workshop with the amazing Rebecca Regnier, a media veteran turned wellness expert and the founder and CEO of True Self Care. Over 50% of attendees reported not having enough time to practice self-care. This replay and the tools below will help you start or continue your journey. Turn on some relaxing tunes and dig in.

OUR BODIES ARE LITERALLY MADE FOR THIS! 

One of the factors that cause burnout (especially consistent burnout) is our disconnection from being in tune with our humanness/ thoughts and inability to release the following hormones 

Big Four Happy Hormones 101: (Insight Slide Image and delete red below)

1) Dopamine --> Increases motivation

  • Ways to increase: Completing Tasks, Celebrating Wins, Eating/ Sleeping, Practicing Self Care Exercises

2) Oxytocin--> Improves mood and form social bonds

  • Ways to increase: Meditation, giving compliments, and playing with animals 

3) Endorphins--> Helps reduce pain/ stress and stimulate pleasure

  • Ways to increase: Listening to soothing music, Laughing, Exercise, essential Oils, Acts of Kindness (sharing generously/ gratitude)

4) Serotonin--> Regulates Mood and Sooth Digestion

  • Ways to increase: Being in sunshine, waling in nature, swimming, cycling/ outdoor exercise, visualizing happy moments 

SELF-CARE PRACTICES THAT ANYONE CAN DO!

Practicing gratitude is one of the best ways to release a ton of these hormones and allows our bodies to be ready and prepped for when moments of stress and adversity arise. 

One way to practice gratitude in your own life is to create a Gratitude List (5 minutes)

Step 1: Create a gratitude list adding any and everything you appreciate in your life (extra points: Write it physically vs. typing it on a screen and play some soothing music in the background while you do it!) 

Step 2: Review your gratitude list and imagine/ visualize in your mind what your items look & feel like/what pops up as you review (create happy visualizations)

Step 3: Notice any sensations in your physical body - this sets yourself alive which gives more touchpoints / memory structures to get back into those feelings of gratitude 

 Step 4: Repeat Daily

 

Another way to practice gratitude is to outwardly express gratitude to others in your life. To make this practice easier - create a Gratitude Cheat Sheet  (~5 Minutes). 

Step 1: Think of all the ways you can reach out to someone, using all the types of technology and communication practices we have in our arsenal and write them down (i.e. 1:1s, Email, Quick Video Chat, etc.) 

Step 2: Think of all the ways you can express your gratitude / create samples of ways to express yourself (i.e. Thank you, I value you, taking something off someone else's plate, etc.) 

Step 3: Reference this list so the thinking part is already done and then you can change your delivery of gratitude depending on the person you are talking with. Remember the simple act of saying "Thank You" all the way to a gushing expression of your appreciation will result in a similar hormone response in both yourself and the recipient

Step 4: Repeat as often as you can!

 

SILENCE THAT CHATTY BRAIN/ VOICE IN YOUR HEAD 

If you're thinking:

"What am I getting out of this?"
Your Ego/ Voice in your head responds well to results so at the beginning of your practice check in with yourself (scale of 1-10) and then do the same thing again at the end to prove value in a quantifiable way.  Even a small lift (6.2-->6.4) can satisfy!

 

"I don’t even have 5 minutes to think let alone practice self-care"
Integrate gratitude practices into your every day without adding any work by asking yourself “What am I grateful for” during mundane tasks i.e. When you are brushing your teeth. 

 

"I will do this but only when it's a big enough deal to warrant it" 
Things don't need to be a "big deal" to practice moments of gratitude - our bodies will release the same amount of hormones regardless of the circumstance/ gravity of the situation. 


 "I feel weird/ silly expressing gratitude"
Be mindful in your delivery and try to meet people where they are to ensure all parties are comfortable. Remember while you might have anxious thoughts, the actual experience for others will always be positive. 

 
"Pff - no one ever tells me thank you" 

The stronger you can be in your own internal cheerleading the less it will matter what others say/ do. 

"Things are so bad that I can't even think of 1 single thing that I am grateful for"

Try to shift your perspective - reframe and focus your gratitude that you GET to work instead of I HAVE to work. 

"This all sounds great but my work culture does not jive"

Rome wasn't built in a day - start with yourself and become the case study/showcase example and let others get curious. In addition - you can always take advantage of resources like Rebecca to start to craft organization level changes.  

 

"I am so beyond managing these symptoms - I am officially burnt out" 

There are so many other tools (5 minute breaks, Celebrating Yourself, Setting Intentions, Finding your Why) and Resources (Therapy, Group Coaching) to ensure you get yourself into a more manageable place. 

The better you at your own self care practices - the more you can show up in business. By dedicating time and investing in self-care it is actually allowing you to become more effective in your work resulting in less distraction, more focus, clear ideation which can all result in time efficiencies. What was maybe 3 hours of work can reduce itself down to 1 hour!

For more information please check out the True Self Care website (https://trueselfcare.org/) for more on self-care workshops and coaching for your teams.

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