I know from my own personal experience and helping clients suffering from burnout that getting them to recognize when they are stressed and then teaching them the skills to activate their parasympathetic state is one key to recovery. So let’s start with recognising when you are stressed.
Recognizing When You Are Experiencing Stress
Recognizing when you are experiencing stress will mean you have to become more aware of your habitual way of operating in the world, i.e. what you do automatically as a response to what happens. It’s really all about becoming more conscious of your body, paying more attention to it, and becoming aware of when you are operating in auto-pilot mode, which is usually survival mode. I encourage you to develop the habit of regularly checking in with yourself to see what’s happening in your body. Asking yourself questions like;
• am I thirsty?
• am I tired?
• am I lonely?
• am I feeling sad/down?
• am I feeling overwhelmed?
• am I feeling overworked?
• Am I rushing?
• Am I hungry?
There is a small chapter devoted to teaching you how to develop this habit called How to Check In With Yourself.
In the next chapter How to Reprogram Yourself, you’ll learn that when you’re not present, which is 90% of the time, your subconscious programming controls your behavior. You are going to learn how to change that programming and create new habits that help you get into the parasympathetic state, the state you need to be in to recover from burnout. So the next chapter is a must-read.
Some Signs You May Be experiencing Stress and Be In The Sympathetic State Are:
• you’re rushing
• you’re worrying or overthinking things
• you’re not present and thinking all the time
• you’re pushing yourself without a break
• your heart rate and breathing have increased
• your blood pressure is up
• you feel anxious, shaky, moody, and/or light-headed
• you’re experiencing brain fog
• you’re hungry or thirsty
• you’re hot or cold
• your environment is too messy/noisy
• you feel out of control
• you’re feeling tired and lethargic
• you’re having trouble thinking about things logically
• you’re making silly decisions
• you’re dropping things or running into things
• you’re just not present with the moment
• you’re not sleeping well
• you’re rushing while eating
• your self-talk is not supportive
• you’re being tough on yourself
You will need to be a stress detective and look for any of the above signs (which mean you are in the fight-or-flight mode) and as soon as you realize, stop what you are doing, and use one of the tools you will learn in this workbook, to get yourself into the rest-digest-detox mode.
Every chapter in this workbook contains a new tool or habit that will help you be in the rest-digest-detox state. Each one has information on what the habit is, why it’s important, how to create it using linking, signalling, visualization, and affirmations.
Getting Your Mindset Right
Your mindset is equally important as improving your nutrition and sleep habits. Why? Improving your sleep and diet won’t matter if you’re always stressed, over-committed, working excessively, and rushing through life. The tendency to rush, people-please, and over-work may be attributed to a range of factors, but at its core, it often relates to your subconscious beliefs that have impacted on your level of self-love and self-worth. Having a low self-worth may lead to decisions that jeopardize your health and well-being.
Dr. Bruce Lipton found that when muscle testing is used to assess subconscious programming, most people’s subconscious minds reject the statement “I love myself.” Remember to be kind to yourself and treat yourself like your own best friend.
The key to cultivating the right mindset is to decrease or eliminate behaviors that activate your stress response and hinder your ability to enter a parasympathetic state, such as:
• overcommitting
• being a perfectionist
• overworking
• overexercising
• not spending time with friends and family
• rushing all the time
• placing too much pressure on yourself to perform
• not placing enough importance on connection with people
• worrying all the time
• being self-sacrificing and not honoring your own needs
Merely writing or committing to stopping the above behaviors won’t be enough to stop or decrease them, as you’ve been doing these things a long time. These behaviors are likely ingrained habits, requiring serious reprogramming that you’ll discover in the next chapter How to Reprogram Yourself.
Questions
1. Tick or highlight any of the following behaviors you know you have. These behaviours activate your stress response and hinder your ability to enter a parasympathetic state, such as;
• overcommitting
• being a perfectionist
• overworking
• overexercising
• not spending time with friends and family
• rushing all the time
• placing too much pressure on yourself to perform
• not placing enough importance on connection with people
• worrying all the time
• being self-sacrificing and not honoring your own needs
2. List three signs that you may be stressed.
3. From now on I want you to pay more attention to your body movements and what’s happening inside your body. Too often in the past, you have pushed yourself over your limits, and ignored your bodies signs of being in the fight-or-flight mode. Pay attention to any stiffness in your body, any rigid and quick movements, and try to slow yourself down by saying the affirmation “I have all the time in the world”.
Here’s the latest review for my signature book From Broken To Beautiful (How to recover from burnout).
This book provides an incredibly informative and comprehensive guide to recovering from burnout, adrenal fatigue or other fatigue related conditions such as ME/CFS. I recovered from CFS a few years ago, and the book made me feel understood and validated. Many of the experiences described by the author resonated deeply with me. It not only reaffirmed the methods and strategies I’ve been using but also introduced me to fresh ideas.
I particularly valued learning more about the mechanics of stress and cortisol and how to get out of a chronic stress cycle, and how to heal spirit, soul, and body. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone dealing with burnout or supporting a loved one through it. MK
