Burnout is a devastating state of physical and emotional exhaustion. Too often in our healthcare system we look simply at the symptoms so a medication can be prescribed to relieve them. That approach is filled with problems, the most obvious one being it doesn’t work.
Medications all have dangers, even the over-the-counter drugs. The esteemed Mayo Clinic reports that Acetaminophen or Tylenol is the leading cause of acute liver failure in this country. How about the fact that Medical Errors are the third leading cause of death in this country?
This is not to say that you should not seek medical help. But, perhaps it should not be your first line of care. The vast majority of the illness and diseases that people suffer from are lifestyle related.
It’s estimated that 75-90% of all doctor’s visits are for stress related ailments.
Whether you’re a bit fatigued or in a full blown state of burnout the solution lies in your body. Let’s explore where and how. One of the easiest and most direct ways to shift this is with the use of Burnout Recovery Breathing Exercises.
Here’s a post I made that is related to this topic For Your Health Go to Vagus
The Answer Lies in STRESS!
Stress is much more than what you likely think it is. We tend to think that stress is what happens to us whether it’s work, relationships, finances, health. But, the reality is that stress is all about how our brain and nervous system responds to the people, situations, events, and environment of our world.
The world we live in is drastically different from the world in which our nervous system evolved. When I discuss this with clients I point out that the light bulb has been around for less than 200 years. Changes to how our bodies work take a minimum of 100 generations or about 2000 years.
Think about how different our world is now compared to 2000 years ago!
Our nervous system has one overriding priority and that is survival. That was a pretty straightforward task 50 generations ago. Our Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” Nervous System responds to what it perceives as a threat to our survival.
Those threats 1000 years ago were very real and intermittent. The problem today is that our nervous system has not adapted to the thousands of novel stimuli in our environment.
Novel Stimuli = Stress
These stimuli – electric light, electronic screens, commuting, work stress, chemicals, sitting – activate that “Fight-or-Flight” system. What happens when the Sympathetic System is activated?
- Stress hormones like Cortisol and Adrenaline released
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure
- Impaired digestion
- Higher blood glucose
- Increased Inflammation
- Poor quality sleep
- Decreased Immune function
- Increased muscle tension, spasm, and pain
Neurons that Fire Together, Wire Together
The more often the Sympathetic System is activated the easier it becomes to get activated. This is how our nervous system learns anything from typing to riding a bicycle to responding to stress.
Over time the “Fight-or-Flight” system becomes the dominant active part of our nervous system. In the beginning, sometimes for years this feels good. It can be energizing and you often feel very focused and productive.
However, this has its costs. The Sympathetic System tires out over time. Some people will label this as Adrenal Fatigue but the problem isn’t with the Adrenal Glands, the problem lies in the nervous system.
The overactive Sympathetic System suppresses the activity of the Vagus Nerve and this is as much or more of the problem long term. This is more the reason why stress is related to 90% of all illness and disease. The Vagus Nerve is key to your health and well-being.
Take a look at what the Vagus Nerve is responsible for:
- Lowered heart rate and blood pressure
- Healthy digestion
- Lowered inflammation
- Healthy Immune function
- Decreased muscle tension and pain
- Better quality sleep
- Better recovery, repair, and healing
- Healthy human connection
The key to improving your energy and recovering from burnout or any long term stress related condition lies in restoring healthy Vagus Nerve function. It is important to reduce irritation to the Sympathetic System but it is also critical to essentially “wake up” the Vagus Nerve.
Change 4 Simple Things about Your Breathing!
How you breathe can either activate your “Fight-or-Flight” system or you can use it to activate and train your Vagus Nerve. Let’s do the latter. It would seem that breathing is a natural function that we don’t need to think about. After all, it happens 24/7 without you having to give it a thought.
However, many of your life experiences starting in childhood influence how you breathe and the reality is that the vast majority of us breathe in ways that continually activate the Sympathetic System, driving up tension, pain, disturbed sleep, and fatigue.
Here are the basics I teach clients as part of their stress recovery program, whether they are experiencing burnout, chronic fatigue, anxiety, headaches, or any other pain.
#1 Nasal Breathing: Many of us are mouth breathers. The mouth is designed primarily for eating, drinking and talking. Only when under heavy exertion should you resort to breathing through your mouth. The nose is designed for breathing. Some very amazing things happen when you breathe through your nose.
Your nose and sinuses warm the air entering your lungs. The nose also helps to filter the air. In addition breathing through your nose helps with the production of nitric oxide with dilates blood vessels and helps with oxygen delivery through the body.
Nasal breathing will also help you with diaphragmatic breathing in #2. If you are not eating, drinking, or talking then CLOSE YOUR MOUTH and breathe through your nose.
#2 Diaphragmatic Breathing: The first and most important change you must make is to learn to use your diaphragm to breathe the vast majority of the time. The diaphragm is the muscle attached to your lower ribs and separates your chest from your abdomen.
First, stand in front of a mirror with no clothing from the waist up. Take 5 normal breaths in and out and observe where you see your body moving with each breath. Do you see movement in your abdomen, chest, upper chest, shoulders, or neck.
Any significant movement in the upper chest, shoulders and neck is using muscles not designed for normal breathing and is activating that Sympathetic System.
Lie on your back and put your hands on your belly below your ribs. Breathe in slowly through your nose and focus all the movement with each inhale on your belly. Once you can do this easily lying down, move to a sitting position. Once it is easy and natural sitting, transition to standing. This is essential before moving on.
#3: Breathe Slow and Light: Spend 5 to 10 minutes twice a day slowing your breathing down and breathing in and out through your nose. The goal is to breathe slow and light enough that you barely perceive the air entering your nose. You want to be on the edge of needing to increase your breathing because you’re close to not getting enough oxygen.
This accomplishes a couple of important things. It starts to shift your tolerance to carbon dioxide which plays a key role in helping your red blood cells release oxygen in your tissues. It also sends a powerful message to your nervous system to relax because everything is safe.
When you activate your Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” system your breathing increases in rate because your system is getting ready to fight or flee. Slowing down your breathing sends a message that all is well and your system can relax.
#4: Activate the Vagus Nerve: The Vagus Nerve is key to your recovery from burnout, fatigue, chronic pain, headaches, anxiety, and more. It’s important to turn down the Sympathetic System but with any long standing chronic issue it’s critical to wake up and activate the Vagus Nerve.
There are many ways to do this and you should integrate as many of them into your life. Time and regular repetition are key. You will be taking advantage of “Neurons the fire together, wire together”. The more you activate the Vagus Nerve the stronger and more active it becomes over time.
This is a process that you will see an impact almost immediately and will take months to shift the imbalance of your nervous system
The easiest method of activating the Vagus Nerve is through conscious breathwork. You will build on the foundation of nasal breathing, slow breathing, and diaphragmatic breathing. When you lengthen your exhale you activate the Vagus Nerve.
The easiest place to start is to use a breathing practice where your exhale is twice your inhale. If you inhale through your nose for a count of 4, then exhale through your nose or pursed lips for a count of 8. Do this for at least a minute or two as many times throughout the day as possible.
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