Contents
Half a century ago, it was believed that doctors, rescuers, teachers, and social workers were mainly affected by burnout. Now this condition is the norm in any profession. Why is this happening and how to deal with the feeling that everything is meaningless?
The most common symptoms of emotional burnout are a sense of the meaninglessness of what you are doing and apathy. A doctor who treats patients every day and knows that not everyone can help. A teacher who has been plodding through the same outdated textbook with students for decades. Familiar story?
But these people wanted to save lives, help, teach, drew inspiration from their calling. What and at what stage “broke”? Emotional burnout occurs for several reasons. And you can cope with them yourself with the help of exercises.
At the same time, one should not forget that the help of a specialist psychologist in such a situation can be invaluable, and sometimes vital.
Not interested
How to maintain interest in work if it brings nothing but disappointment? In this case, the best medicine is to look at your profession from a new angle – to open it again. And if it doesn’t work, learn a new one.
What will help us take a fresh look at our activities and find ways of development? The hourly signal exercise is a great way to revive a dying interest.
To get started, set an alarm on your watch or phone and every time it beeps, ask yourself the question: how interesting am I now?
It is important that the scale on which you evaluate your interest does not start from zero, but from one: if you are unbearably bored, put one. If you like everything, reward yourself with a ten.
Every hour, take a few seconds off your daily routine, track your level of interest, and return to your usual activities. Do this exercise for at least a week, and you will be surprised how your life will change. The ability to find and cultivate the desire to act, to do something is a good skill.
No forces
In order to actively develop in certain areas of activity, to find new opportunities, to be interested, strength is needed. But for those who are faced with emotional burnout, they are at zero. Why?
In Chinese medicine, it is believed that experiences “burn” the energy the most – we do nothing, but we get tired. And, what is most offensive, we cannot run away or hide, because the source of destruction is within us.
In this case, you will need not only work with a psychologist. It will be necessary to restore the energy balance. Please note: the sequence should be exactly this – first remove the experiences, then return the energy.
Where to get additional energy? I suggest two consecutive steps:
1. Remove muscle clamps. Against the background of stress, habitual muscle clamps are formed in us. They cause negative emotions, and those, in turn, provoke bodily tension. Working with a psychologist, you will gradually get rid of stress and negative emotions. And if you add to this work with the body – the practice of active relaxation – then things will go much faster.
What is active relaxation? Performing certain exercises, you relax, relieve tension, restore the ability to move smoothly, plastically, correctly.
For example, Qigong for the spine Sing Shen Juang allows you to experience the body in a new way. As the tension goes away, the body stops wasting energy on muscle clamps. And that means more power.
2. Learn to get extra energy. Where? We do not have many sources of energy: sleep, food and breath. Obviously, in order to restore strength, it is necessary to establish an adequate sleep pattern and eat right. And also learn to breathe so that the breath nourishes the body.
In the Chinese tradition, a practice called neigong just helps to restore and accumulate vitality through breathing exercises. For women, special women’s Taoist practices are provided.