Even if we wake up cheerful in the morning, after a few hours we often feel a breakdown. How to get your work back? The psychologist, thanatotherapist Vladimir Baskakov tells.
Consider your biorhythms
We often treat ourselves as a mechanism: if you press the pedal, you go faster. But even mechanisms have a limit to endurance. Especially in living beings. Please note that all natural rhythms are cyclic: inhale-exhale, day-night. There is no continuous cheerfulness, just as there is no continuous breath. In order to become more cheerful, you first need to give yourself a rest. The question is how to do it in the middle of the day?
These tips will help you reconnect with your body and rejuvenate.
1. СEat so that you feel the floor with your feet. This advice is suitable for those who work in the office or do not want to lie down. Sit straight and straight, feel the floor with your feet – this is how you “ground yourself”, giving your body support. If you have any feelings or thoughts that you want to take a break from, imagine them as energy and send them to your feet, giving them to the earth.
2.… Or lyag on the floor.If you work remotely and can arrange for yourself a space where no one will disturb you for at least 10 minutes, lay a blanket or rug on the floor and lie on your back. Spread your arms and legs wide, take the “star pose” – it is this position of the body that contributes to complete relaxation. There is a chance that you will doze off – very good! In order not to worry about this and not count the minutes, set an alarm in advance.
3. Relax the lower jaw – as much as possible. If the situation allows, open your mouth. When it is difficult, hard, painful for us, we involuntarily grit our teeth. Also in society we “keep a face” and this creates tension in the lower jaw. When we allow the lower jaw to “fall off”, it helps us to relax.
4. Eyes can be closed or slightly covered, looking down, as you feel more comfortable and calm. But do not close your eyes so as not to create unnecessary tension in the eyelids and around the eyes.
5. If you are sitting, tilt your head slightly forward., as if slightly drooping. Relax your neck muscles as much as possible without dropping your head on your chest.
If a thought becomes especially persistent, promise yourself that you will finish it after you rest, and let it go.
6. Check the condition of the muscles of the whole body, mentally passing it mentally from the bottom up or from the top down. Release tension where you see it.
7. Check again the muscles of the forehead, around the eyes, around the mouth. Allow your face to take on a slightly goofy expression so you can relax better.
8. Pay attention to the abdominal muscles. Are they relaxed? We often strain them so that we have the correct posture, but this prevents us from breathing freely. So let go of all the muscles, and if you are sitting, let the stomach “fall out” in a natural way.
9. Let thoughts flow quietly, come and go. Don’t force yourself not to think about anything on purpose. But if a thought gets particularly persistent, promise yourself that you’ll finish it after you rest, and let it go.
10. Spend at least three minutes in this state. After that, get up – slowly and carefully – stretch (you can imagine a cat or a dog and repeat their movements) and walk a little, feeling how you step on the ground, and it, in turn, does not bend or slip away, but provides you a solid and reliable support. Keep that sense of security in your body.
We carry out basic grounding
This exercise was suggested by psychotherapist Alexander Lowen, the creator of bioenergetic analysis. It’s good for them to complete the day’s rest. It can also be used if you are unable to do everything else.
- Spread your legs slightly wider than your hips, slightly turn your toes inward. Bend your knees slightly so that this position does not require any effort from you.
- Breathe calmly, best with your mouth.
- Slowly lean forward.
- Try to touch the ground with your hands, but do not transfer your body weight to them – let it fall on the toes of the feet.
- Try not to lift your heels off the floor. Keep your head down and your neck completely relaxed.
- You can sway slightly by bending and unbending your knees (but the legs should not be completely straight).
- You may experience a tingling or warm sensation. Then there will be vibration. Give yourself time to feel it, try to enjoy your bodily sensations (but if you held your breath, the vibration will not appear – then do the exercise again).
- Then slowly and carefully lift your hands off the ground and gradually straighten up – first the lower back (head down), then the shoulders (head down) and finally the head.
- Take a few deep breaths in and out.
This exercise will allow you to get rid of excess excitement that creates anxiety, and restore a sense of security and stability.
If the exercises do not help and you still feel a breakdown, it means that you have accumulated a lot of fatigue and you need a good long rest. In some cases, it is useful to turn to doctors: constant fatigue can be a symptom of somatic diseases.
About expert
Vladimir Baskakov — thanatotherapist, body-oriented therapist. His .
On May 21-23, 2021, the Festival of Body Practices will be held in Moscow
Vladimir Baskakov and other body-oriented therapists will share techniques and exercises that will help revive our sensitivity: learn to listen to your body and trust it, breathe deeply, feel the beauty of touch, understand your emotions and interact harmoniously with yourself and with the outside world.