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Burnout is something that has come to my mind recently, and I say a lot because my burnout brain has been struggling to concentrate lately.
I felt like I was stretching in more directions than I could imagine, from working from home while I was raising two young children to spend time with my sick loved ones. I know that many of you can be involved in constant pushes to continue, even when your body and mind are begging for rest.
So I look forward to sharing resources that personally feel timely for me. And I think it’s deeply valuable to this community.
Therapist Morgan Johnson’s eight keys to healing, management, and burnout are part of the long-term 8 Keys series focusing on a variety of mental health issues.
What sets this book apart is its broad perspective. Not only does he talk about the stress of work, he also acknowledges the sacrifices of caregiving, parenting, social pressure and cultural systems. And it offers a wide range of practical, research-backed exercises to help us overcome burnout and begin to heal.
Instead of a quick fix, it gives you a way to reconnect with your body, your emotions, and your sense of meaning – you can feel more exhausted and more alive in your daily life.
I chose three exercises from books that stood out to me as being particularly powerful. Each one is simple, practical and surprisingly effective. I hope it helps just as much as I do!
Activity 4B: Tame by name
When you experience significant internal tension and anxiety, you will notice your condition and name it, and you can reduce stress by up to 50%.
– David Rock
goal
To get used to the techniques of interpersonal neurobiologist Dan Siegel, “name it to tame it” (Siegel, 2013). This can be used both individually and in relation to the family.
Search for Parent Side Quest: “Dance Gel Handbrain Model Video”.
Instructions
Please read the following explanation of Siegel (2023) and the following example: It then helps you to complete the subsequent prompts and think about how to use this in a practical way in your own context.
In the brain, naming emotions can help calm them down. Finding words to label your internal experiences can really help here. This can be called “Name it to tame.” And sometimes these (automatic) states go beyond uncomfortable and confusing. They can even feel life scary. If that continues, talk about it. Sharing your experiences with others is often not about realizing even the scary moments and hurting your trauma.
For example, imagine you arrived home from work. This feels like one of the longest changes in history already recorded, but you are exhausted and over-stimulated. Today you really helped everyone and their dogs, not yourself. As you walk through the door of your house, your toddler is melting down on the floor and screaming bloody murder. Your partner will give you a “SOS” look.
Even if you need to lend a hand in the moment, simply naming a name like “I feel overwhelmed” can really calm your body down very literally in this stressful moment. If your partner says in a supportive tone, “You’re overwhelmed – was it a long shift?”, that’s even better.
Other examples of naming your internal experience
I’m sad. I’m stressed about my work. My face and ears get hot, I’m so mad at the moment. The idea of ___ (concern/anxiety; for example, no break this weekend) is really unsettling right now. I feel a bit defensive now. The story I tell myself is that it’s not okay to make mistakes, and I don’t realize I’m doing the right thing. When you hear you say ___ (repeat the exact words they used), I feel ___ (emotions/emotions and sensations).
Note: Depending on the situation/context, you can name things in many ways.
I wrote it out loud to myself, and I wrote it out loud to someone else in a journaling style (e.g., prayer, connection with my ancestors, loving kindness meditation)
Now, in your life, if you want to practice naming things out loud, who might be the safe person to try this? Who is not a good candidate?
Sharing this way is what you say to recruit people you trust if it’s not something you really did before? (For example, “I’ve read it just loudly about how I feel that it might help my stress. If someone lets you know that someone just listens and doesn’t give advice, is that okay?”))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
How did you develop on the emotions modeled in your environment? Is there anything that feels like this is a bad idea or do you feel it’s not helpful in naming things?
Feel like you’re invited to design your own experiments! Perhaps you will let your partner know that you will “tame it to tame it” when you come to the door at the end of the day. After you put the words into your state, notice how it feels. Does writing it in a journal work well? What if you say it loudly? Why not give a name to a friend? Everyone is different, so give yourself the grace and permission to try multiple approaches.
Activity 4C: Fun movement and exercise
Peace is the joy of rest, and joy is the peace of the feet.
– Re-rental Veronica Goyn
goal
Assess your current level of physical activity compared to your abilities and think about several ways to keep your body moving while minimizing your body negativity.
Instructions
Next simple definition of joyful movement, read some examples from me, then respond to the prompts that follow and write down any notes that you find useful.
Joyful Movement: For the sole purpose of making/keeping movements, not punishing, or making your body smaller. (Tribole & Resch, 2017)
Potential sources of fun movement include:
Gardening gentle stretch pets, adapt to disabled people to try wheelchair basketball or trampoline park dance, gently move water activities adopted for disabled people, intimate activities of dodgeball yoga and sex hiking taichee cycling and padding padding boarding
Caution: Please note that emotional and mental health can be adversely affected if movement is motivated by self-critical thinking, fear, or punishment alone. Training with an exclusively brutal and self-fulfilling feel will confuse primitive parts of your body to make you think you are unsafe. In contrast, Joyful Movement gives you a signal of safety for your body.
Are there already intentional routines that involve physical movements and movements? How consistent is it?
When you are about to move and exercise, what do you notice about your thoughts about yourself? While you’re active? When it’s finished?
What kind of physical activity/movement tends to make you feel happy? After a while, think about what you want to do as a child or at school (for example, walk your dog, play outside, hike, work on a bike).
If you don’t already have a routine that contains a bit of fun moves at least once a week, what is one way you can add in 30 or even 10 minutes without significantly disrupting your schedule?
If you frequently think, “I don’t have free time!”, or you’re feeling, “When should I do more?” Know that every day small things often have the biggest impact. Where are your small moments of everyday life?
Tip: Clients report that transitions such as work-to-home transitions often provide solid opportunities to focus on joy movements (e.g., going in and out of bed, walking to the car, going to the grocery store).
Activity 4D: Come for the air
Taking care of yourself is not self-dulgent. It’s self-preservation.
– Audre Road
goal
To become familiar with some ways to feel refreshed and revitalized, and come up with ideas on how to use your valuable free time in a way that is actually updated.
Instructions
Read a brief summary of the findings from the 2021 study by Clément Ginoux, Sandrine Isoard-Gautheur, and Philippe Sarrazin.
Ginoux et al. (2021) found five characteristics of activities that most affect renewal and recovery from burnout.
Separation (e.g., not doing work-related things on the weekend, reading things that are unrelated to work, or practicing redirects/distractions when work thoughts arise) Relaxation (e.g., not reading solo, with partner/family, or to help you realize that you have a talent, or to have meaning that you will be able to have a talent, or to have a meaning that will help you have a talent, or to have a meaning that will help you have a talent, or to have a gift, or to have a gift that will help you have a talent, or to have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that will help you have a gift that
When thinking about free time, which of these characteristics already describes the activities you are engaged in? How consistent do you have these experiences each month?
If you’re not doing much with the little free time you have, why is the easiest feature to increase or add to your current life? Which one might be more challenging?
If you have little free time and want to curate an activity that contains more than one of the above characteristics, what is the possibility? What definitely won’t work?
When you draw a Venn diagram in your social connection mind, how many overlaps do things relate to work and non-work?
If most of your social interactions relate to people at work, how much time do you spend talking/thinking about work together outside of work? You need to spend time together that has nothing to do with work. How can I let my colleagues know that you are working in this? Maybe your non-work friends enjoy reuniting with people you haven’t seen in a while? If you’re thinking at this point, it’s worth checking out some meetups and local community organizations and events. . . I don’t have any friends.
As you know, positive social connections complete the stress cycle and we are healthier, medically and emotionally complete when we feel that someone has our back when things get hard.
Relational Activity Add-on: If you’re working with a partner or a loved one and it’s difficult to spend time together without nurturing your work, try it out for 30-60 minutes each week to brainstorm what you can disconnect from work. If you try it and like it, how can you regularly carve out the time for it?
Reprinted from Morgan Johnson’s “Eight Keys to Healing, Management, and Burnout Prevention.” WW Norton & Company, Inc. It will be used with permission from the publisher of Norton Professional Books, a division of the company.
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If you find these exercises useful, I highly recommend getting a copy of the book. The eight keys of burnout healing, management and prevention have plenty of practical tools to get you back whenever you need it.
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