Hi Fried Fans! On the last #straightfromcait episode, I shared 5 words with you that come up often as guides on my clients’ burnout recovery journeys. Those words were: safety, owning your genius, embodiment, community, and truth. When it came time to make the infographic for the episode (if you’re not following me on LinkedIn or Instagram, now's the time to get on board! :)), I added one more word - RESTORE.
And when I asked you which of these words resonated most, RESTORE was the winner by a country mile. Some of the comments you left taught me that you still aren’t sure how to turn this word into an actionable step that you can take in your life, so I decided to break it down for you. First, we have to think about what this word means when it comes to being a human. I mean, we could talk about restoring furniture, but I’m not sure if the metaphor would work. The word restore has a simple definition: to bring something or someone back to a former condition but when we’re talking about health, is that really what we mean? Here’s what I think resonated with you in the word restore (and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!) The word restore means to be brought to a state of overall well being. It might be a state that is even better than a state you have ever experienced. It means creating space for healing. It means slowing down, having a respite from day to day events and stressors, and allowing your body to use it’s natural powers of rejuvenation without interrupting her before she’s done. It means sleeping deeply, eating well, and resting without feeling guilty. But that all sounds like a tall order, so how can you start to give your body more time to restore itself today within the schedule that you currently have? Luckily, I have a few ideas ;) 1. 3 deep breaths. I am so serious. I know that a breathing practice or a meditative practice that includes breathing that takes 15 or more minutes is a typical suggestion, but here’s the trick: If your body is in a hypervigilant state, you won’t be able to use those 15 minutes properly anyway - so let’s start by giving you small moments of respite in your day, to get you accustomed to it. Think of this as the couch to 5k of breathing practices. Week 1: take 3 deep breaths a day. 2. Get some body work. Ideally once a week, but once a month is a great start if that’s what you can do right now. Life is reopening as we speak (my acupuncture office in midtown manhattan on 32nd and Broadway is open and ready for you!) and your practitioners are ready and willing to help you create space for your body to rejuvenate. Acupuncture is an amazing tool for this, as is massage, reiki, chiropractic, and so many more.
3. Do a qigong face wash between meetings for a quick refresh. A qi-face-what you ask? It’s simple. If you’re wearing glasses, take them off. Close your eyes, clap your hands in front of your face and then rub your palms together rapidly until they get warm. Place your palms over your eyes for a few seconds and inhale (you can throw a drop of essential oils before you start if that’s your thing ;)), on the exhale, rub your hands over your head and to the back of your neck and then bring them back in front of your face, repeat 2 more times. This should take you less than a minute and you’ll be AMAZED at the difference you feel.
These three things should be enough to get you started and getting started is the most important part. A massive mistake I see on the burnout cycle that so many people are stuck on is that they take a couple weeks off to ‘restore’ and then go back into their lives as usual and the cycle starts again.
If I can get you to start adding in mini relaxations during your day, your nervous system will start to calm and you’ll naturally start adding more - but we need to start where it’s acceptable, where your monkey brain won’t fight with me, where you can get a few seconds of rest without setting off extra alarm bells.
Let me know which of these you’re going to start doing now (or just book your first acupuncture appointment with me and I’ll know which one you chose! ;))
If you feel like you need more personalized guidance than this, you’re in luck! I’m available for free consults to see if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. You can book your 35 minutes by heading to bit.ly/callcait and we can start customizing your recovery plan.
No matter what you’ve done up until this point, I’m sure I can find a way to help you. Just a few weeks ago a client told me after her 3rd session that these past 3 hours were better than 5 years of therapy! :)
Don’t wait. You deserve to feel great and I’m here to help you get there!
XOXO Cait P.S. In case you hadn't heard (which means you're not following me on INSTA... @cait_donovan and @friedtheburnoutpodcast - get on it!) MY FIRST BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! The Bouncebackability Factor is the first book addressing burnout in female entrepreneurs (although my advance readers told me that EVERYONE should read it). Pre-order your kindle copy here: bit.ly/bouncebackorder (or wait until Sept 14th for the paperback!) P.P.S. Also, I’m now booking in person and online speaking events for the end of the year and quarter one of 2021 - so if you need a speaker to inspire self-care and help your team, business, or entrepreneur group beat burnout, I’m your gal! Shoot me an email at cait @ caitdonovan.com to get started!
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