How close are you to Burn Out?
One of my friends says tooth-pick, chop stick and then 5
foot plank. Why? Well what she is referring to is the signs and subtle messages
that give us a clue that something is going on in our bodies. The tooth-pick is
‘a bit of a niggle’ - you notice something but you choose to ignore it because
you are soooo busy. In fact, what you might do is ignore any signs until later.
That is when the chop-stick makes the signs more obvious, yet still you might
just keep trudging on. It might be a pain, a headache or a whole host of
tension and that is when the plank smacks you in the face and forces you to
stop! Flu? A Migraine? Worse?
I am sure that you have noticed that life is getting busier
and there is more information to process in all directions. We have emails,
calls, texts and deadlines blasting us from all directions and we are always
expected to be available. Why is that? Why have we accepted such a precedent?
So how long can a nervous system and brain maintain such intense activity
without bursting into flames? The answer is different for the individual. Some
people are more resilient while others simply drop to the ground when a phone
rings. The point that I am trying to make is how one needs to constantly pay
attention to the body and how you are feeling. You may simply numb yourself and
continue like a martyr. The problem with that is you build up fatigue and that
fatigue resides in your body. No matter what you do your energy levels get
lower and lower until that dreaded plank hits you with an illness that will
stop you leaving your bed.
So…. I am all about solutions and finding easy ways to fit
wellbeing into life. So this week I went on a Transcendental meditation course
with the meditation trust. I will make this clear, I am not a wafty lettuce
sniffing type who wears floaty scarves and belly-dances down the street with my
underwear on my head. Although that does sound fun. I might try it sometime and
see how the world responds to my new found knicker-head-wear and general
jiggling. Anyway, I digress, so I went on this course because my brother
recommended it. My brother is a university lecturer, academic and complete
rationalist. So when I saw the drop in his shoulders, the general air of
relaxation and the decrease in his anxiety then I knew that type of meditation
was a good thing.
Before I go any further, I have to mention I do meditate.
However, I often wander off into a self- amused plane for 20 minutes and then
realise I ended up being lulled into thought by giggling at my own jokes. What
I needed was a way to stop the inner distraction and TM solved this for me by
providing a specific mantra that I could use. Now I don’t know about anyone
else, but I often get bored during meditation, woops – it is the truth. There
are far more interesting things I could be doing. The mantra combined with the
cyclic rhythm enabled me to enter into a very relaxed state. The thing is it
was while in this relaxed state that I realised how fatigued I was. After each
meditation I would literally pass out and sleep! I did this continually over 3
days. I also had rapid dreams which could be compared to mental Tsunamis or a
mental wildebeest stampede. I was astounded. When I talked to the instructor
about it he said it was quite usual for people in high powered jobs to respond
that way. It was then that I realised that I had probably been close to burn
out. My tooth-pick signs were general grumpiness, feelings of general
negativity (I am not a negative person) and tiredness, even though I had an
excellent diet, sleep well and exercise regularly. The chop-stick signs were –
a sty on the eye, a tooth abscess and tension in my shoulders. Luckily I got on
this course before the plank came in and smacked me one! Now I am not saying
that Transcendental meditation is for everyone; however, it is a great tool to
have for life. It enables you to enter deep relaxation and cope with the
external stresses of the world and personally found that my energy levels have
improved. I will be honest I did not go to the main Transcendental Meditation
group instead I went for the Meditation Trust who are cheaper and very
grounded. The point that I am trying to make here is that one needs to pay
attention to the signs their body is sending them because I honestly had no
clue that I was as fatigued as I was. The thing is I was fatigued to the core
and there was no escaping it. It then made me think that if I am like this and
I do yoga, eat well and exercise then what are other people like? If anything,
I hope this article will remind you to notice the signs and find ways to truly
relax until to you are forced to rest by a large piece of metaphorical wood
colliding with your face.J
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