54. How to Prevent Burnout with Mindfulness
The process of slowing down to avoid burnout is essential. The concept of “non-striving” is one of the 7 attitudes of mindfulness where we stop pushing ourselves and slow down to experience life as it is. Taking a break doesn’t necessarily mean taking a long vacation or quitting your job. It can be as simple as taking a few minutes each day to focus on self-care activities such as exercise, meditation, or hobbies that you enjoy. These activities can help you relax, reduce stress, and recharge your batteries. Join me this week in taking a break.
MINDFUL ACTION: Slow down and experience life.
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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT FOR BURNOUT
Raise your hand if you’re stretched super thin right now and feel the burnout coming on!!! I hope my hand is the only one that is up. I hope you are all doing better than me right now, but unfortunately, I’m fairly confident that that is not the case. Sooooo everybody together now…let’s take a deeeep, calming breath, and send out the good vibes encouraging each other that this will pass.
So here is what I’m going to do. I am going to take a break. And I am going to remind you that it’s ok, and encourage you, to take a break as well.
I was clearing out social media videos on my phone the other day and came across one that I posted last summer. That video talked about self-improvement burnout. And how sometimes you just need be ok with who you are at this moment in time. You just need to say, you know what, I am happy with who I am right now and I’m just going to enjoy it. At some point we need to stop trying to learn new things, and just sit and absorb all that you have already learned. Your mind and your body will never properly adjust to the new things you’ve learned if you’re constantly pushing yourself to get to the next level. If you try to work on improving yourself every single day of your life, you will teach yourself to believe that you are never going to be good enough. And in my mind, that’s not the point of mindfulness, and self-love, and self-improvement. In fact, one of the 7 fundamentals of mindfulness is “non-striving”. Meaning, we are doing less, but experiencing more. We are pushing ourselves less, and just letting things unfold how they are supposed to unfold. Once you have learned enough about something, at a certain point, you will actually get to the next level faster if you slow down, than if you kept pushing yourself too hard. Ergo, burnout. Burnout happens when you don’t take that break.
And then you take 10 steps backwards. Wonder why you’re even trying to do any of this in the first place, and possibly give up. That’s the last thing we want to do.
So, that’s all I’m going to say for today. I’m pulling back, and taking a break with a short and sweet episode to give us all time to slow down and re-center ourselves. Which is going to be your mindful action, for 2 weeks. For 2 weeks! Just SLOW DOWN. Don’t try to do it all. Don’t try to incorporate everything you’ve learned about mindfulness and self-improvement over the past year or so. Take a break, and enjoy this person that you are right now.
Alright, well, don’t worry, I am still including a meditation to go along with this discussion. Because you can’t talk about slowing down and burnout and not use meditation as a tool to get you there, right?!? HaHa.
Thank you to all my listeners, I love you all, and I love that I feel comfortable enough in this space to share these struggles with you. I will be checking in on social media occasionally with you over the next few weeks with reminders about slowing down. And don’t forget, I have some fabulous mediations on YouTube that you can use to practice slowing down with in the meantime. But otherwise, let’s go meditate, and I will see you in 2 weeks!
MEDITATION SCRIPT FOR SLOWING DOWN
Slow your movements in your body. Slow your mind. Begin to settle in. Begin to relax.
Find a comfortable seated position or lie down, whichever feels more relaxing for you. Close your eyes. Your shoulders down and back, creating a straight line along your spine. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Allow yourself to let go of any tension or worries you may have.
As we begin, let’s focus on the non-striving attitude. Mindfulness is not about achieving anything, it is simply about being present in the moment. It’s not about trying to fix anything, it’s about allowing things to be as they are. Non-striving means being in a state of acceptance, without trying to change anything. It’s about allowing yourself to simply be.
Now, bring your attention to your breath. Notice the natural flow of your breath, without trying to change it. Observe the rise and fall of your chest and the sensation of air moving in and out of your nostrils. Simply observe, without judgement or trying to control your breath.
Allow yourself to slow down. In our fast-paced world, we often feel like we need to constantly be doing something. We rush from one task to another, always striving for the next thing. But in this moment, you can let go of that. Slow down and experience life as it is.
Notice any sounds around you. Simply observe the sounds without any judgement or trying to change them. Slow down and experience life as it is.
Notice any feelings inside of you. Slow down and experience life as it is.
Allow yourself to simply be present in this moment. Slow down and experience life as it is.
As we come to the end of this meditation, remind yourself that you can take this non-striving and slowing down attitude with you throughout your day. You can choose to be present in each moment, to observe without judgement or the need to change anything. You can slow down and truly experience life as it is.
When you feel ready, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Wiggle your fingers and toes and gently open your eyes. Remember to carry this sense of non-striving and slowing down with you as you continue your day.
